WEST COAST have discovered life without Ben Cousins and Chris Judd is not going to be easy, eventually managing to overpower the Brisbane Lions 14.8 (92) to 11.10 (76) at Subiaco, despite six goals from Jonathan Brown.
Brown lived up to his billing as the AFL's most influential player with a magnificent display, keeping his side in the contest after the Eagles had kicked the first six goals of the game.
Hauling in a 37-point deficit, the visitors took the lead late in the third term, before Dean Cox and Adam Hunter gave the home side a slender advantage going into the last quarter.
And despite the Lions refusing to go away, four Eagles goals to two in the final term sealed coach John Worsfold's seventh successive round-one win.
Life without their past two captains started so well for West Coast, with the absence of the two Brownlow medallists forgotten in an incendiary start.
With Daniel Kerr roaming free without an opponent early, the Eagles' new number one on-baller ran riot, picking up 11 first-quarter possessions.
And with Cox dominating, Beau Waters and David Wirrpanda both kicked doubles, with Mark Seaby and Mark Le Cras also chipping in.
Lion spearhead Brown tried everything to get himself into the contest, but despite his solitary goal, the statistics - 128 Eagles possessions in the first term to 71, and 14 hit-outs to seven - told the early story.
With a 30-point gap to make up, the Lions needed to find some claws - and their senior men began to deliver.
Luke Power was posted on Kerr to shut down his influence, with Simon Black beginning to exert his own, finding a torrent of football to finish with 30 possessions.
The Eagles could not find a way to subdue Brown either, with three majors in the second term reducing the Eagles' lead, despite being hampered with a jarred knee.
If the Lions were to continue their comeback, Brown needed some assistance and he got it from the returning Daniel Bradshaw, whose comeback from a knee reconstruction bore three goals in the third term.
Jamie Charman briefly gave the Lions the lead after a pack mark, but Cox and then Hunter restored the Eagles' advantage going into the last quarter.
With Charman missing a great chance to put the Lions back in the lead early in the last term, the Eagles lifted - with Chad Fletcher putting an ordinary kicking performance behind him to slot from the pocket.
When Quinten Lynch goaled from a free kick and Le Cras kicked a second, the Eagles lead was back out to 23 points, and the 39,591 home fans believed their side had done enough.
But Josh Drummond's goal on the run and Brown's best of the night kept the contest alive, until Brent Staker's long distance sealer.
WEST COAST 6.2 7.5 10.7 14.8 (92)
BRISBANE LIONS 1.2 4.4 9.6 11.10 (76)
Goals: West Coast: B Waters 2 D Wirrpanda 2 M Seaby 2 M LeCras 2 M Braun D Cox A Hunter C Fletcher Q Lynch B Staker. Brisbane Lions: J Brown 6 D Bradshaw 3 J Charman J Drummond.
Best: West Coast: D Cox B Waters D Kerr M Seaby M Priddis. Brisbane Lions: J Brown S Black D Bradshaw L Power J Drummond.
Umpires: M Head M Ellis C Hendrie.
Official crowd: 39,591 at Subiaco Oval, Perth.
