Eagles cut down the Giants

Josh Kennedy kicked six goals, Josh Hill snapped four and the Eagles bagged an 87-point win.

But West Coast’s 18.12 (120) to 4.9 (33) romp against a hapless GWS at Domain Stadium on Saturday night will be remembered just as much as the night that Adam Simpson unleashed Elliot Yeo and Liam Duggan in his midfield as a night the Eagles took the Giants apart.

West Coast kicked 14 of the last 15 goals of the game. The Giants kicked just one goal after quarter time.

But Yeo had 19 touches to half time as the best player on the ground to that point, while the silky Duggan finished with 25, most used to good effect as he slid easily into an engine room crying out for size and class.

Throw in Chris Masten’s 33 touches, Andrew Gaff’s 32 with a goal and 29 for Matt Priddis, not to mention great games from Jeremy McGovern and Brad Sheppard in defence and this was a performance of all over dominance.

Take out Dylan Shiel’s 36 possession effort against the odds in the Giants midfield and this was a significant step back for Leon Cameron’s young team.

The Giants had not come closer than 76 points in four previous visits to what is now known as Domain Stadium, and the early signs weren’t good for them on Saturday night as a Nic Naitanui tap from the first bounce led to a Luke Shuey clearance, Kennedy mark and a goal within 40 seconds of the start of the game.

But while West Coast dominated the early clearances, the Giants steadied as the quarter went on and were within four points at the first change.

Kennedy had kicked two goals for West Coast, as had Hill. But Toby Greene answered with two at the other end for the Giants, including a beautiful 50 metre strike after the quarter time siren.

Shiel had had 12 touches to be a midfield driving force and Lachie Whitfield had gathered nine, although Whitfield’s ball use left plenty to be desired, including a pass inside attacking fifty that got focal point Jeremy Cameron taken out by Shannon Hurn in a mid-air collision.

Yeo, Duggan, Shuey and Masten all had big terms for the Eagles. The move of Yeo to the midfield paid an early dividend when he had five decisive first quarter possessions and that dividend grew exponentially in the second quarter as Yeo went on a hard running rampage to run up 14 touches, including four inside fifties.

As Yeo became the dominant player on the ground, West Coast became the dominant team in the ground.

They piled on five unanswered second quarter goals to blow the half time lead out to six goals.

Naitanui got forward to kick two second quarter goals, Hill added a third for himself and the only concern for the Eagles was the departure of forward Josh Kennedy mid term after suffering an elbow injury.

The Giants were held scoreless for the term and wilted in the face of fierce Eagles tackling.

They were also the victims of their own sloppy ball use, with the Eagles consistently forcing them into turnovers and getting the ball headed the other way at speed.

Masten and Sheppard joined Yeo in his first half possession fest. Shuey, Sam Butler, Wellingham and Priddis were others to see plenty of the ball.

Shiel continued to win plenty of possession but to little effect.

The Giants needed to hold firm in the early part of the third term to give them some hope of a revival but they couldn’t. Kennedy had his third goal inside the first minute and his fourth before the quarter was over. GWS managed their first goal since the first quarter when Cameron snapped truly 10 minutes in but the Giants were still outscored three goals to one for the quarter leaving a 50-point three quarter time deficit.

Masten continued to win plenty of the ball. Yeo was quieter but the damage had already been done. Shiel was tireless for the Giants and roamed up and down the grounds in a bid to create attacks but his teammates were too unsure with the ball and too stagnant in attack to make his efforts amount to anything significant.

The opening minutes of the last quarter summed the game up. Three Giants players with the ball in their hands trying to transition from defence to attack simply gave the ball up to Eagles attackers. The frustration boiled over into a high tackle on Shuey, fifty metre penalty and the first goal of the quarter to West Coast.

Two minutes later Kennedy had the second and his fifth overall, seven minutes later he had his sixth.

And the Giants could not score. West Coast rattled on six goals to nil to close the game out with an 87-point win.