The last time the Swans lost to West Coast was in Ben Cousins’ comeback game in 2007. Brett Kirk, Nick Davis and Jude Bolton were among the Swans’ best that day, while Chris Judd was still running around in a blue and gold jersey. Only six current players from each side were involved. Since then, the Swans have won eight straight against the Eagles and that streak doesn’t look like coming to an end any time soon. Better still for the Swans, the win over West Coast was the club’s 11th in succession against all teams, which is just one short of the club's all-time record. The table-topping Swans will get the chance to equal that record, which it achieved in 1918, 1933 and 1935, against Carlton on Saturday. But to break it, they would also need to overcome Hawthorn at the MCG a week later.

 

It looked innocuous at first, but West Coast star Josh Kennedy should be particularly nervous about his bump on Zak Jones during the first quarter. Playing just his third game of AFL football, the 19-year-old Jones struggled to get to his feet and was subbed out of the game soon after. Replays showed that Kennedy didn’t raise an arm or leave the ground, but his decision to bump and the resultant injury will likely see him come under scrutiny from the Match Review Panel. If Kennedy is suspended, it will come as a huge blow to the Eagles, who now sit three games adrift of the top eight with just seven games to play.

 

It’s not often that one of the highlights on a wet day is the match-up between a full forward and full back. But the duel between Swans superstar Buddy Franklin and no-nonsense Eagles defender Eric Mackenzie was epic. At times, the pair could be seen on the ground wrestling as the ball floated inside the 50m arc. Few would argue the under-rated Mackenzie came out in front. While it may not have been a day for tall forwards, Mackenzie thwarted Franklin at every opportunity and consistently forced the ball towards the boundary. But Franklin did have some impact. His eight tackles were particularly important, even if he only managed one goal.

 

Given Dean Cox is coming to the end of his glittering career, the question is whether Scott Lycett or Callum Sinclair should play as the second ruckman alongside the exciting Nic Naitanui. For now, it looks as though Lycett has a mortgage on the spot. His leap at the opening bounce was reminiscent of Naitanui, and his long goal in the third quarter put West Coast back in the game, but his sloppy kick into the man on the mark during the second quarter would have provided Sinclair’s supporters with plenty of ammunition with which to argue his case. Sinclair, meanwhile, has been in good form in the WAFL. He was an emergency for the game against the Swans but could have come into the side if the weather had been more favourable.

 

It was a day that was tailor-made for tough football. And both the Swans and West Coast provided just that. The Swans regularly rack up big tackle counts and, before the game against West Coast, they had been involved in 12 of the 40 games with the highest combined tackle counts in AFL history. Now, they have been involved in 13. The 197 tackles laid by the two sides was the highest tackle count in 2014, surpassing the 194 recorded in the game between Fremantle and the Brisbane Lions. It was also the equal 11th highest of all time.