Rejuvenated Eagles aim for repeat dose
West Coast wingman Andrew Gaff says the Eagles must learn from the way they performed against Adelaide and play brave, attacking football for the rest of the year.
The Eagles stunned Adelaide when they overcame a 24-point deficit in the first quarter to win by 31 points at Adelaide Oval last Saturday.
It was a performance which puts West Coast in a confident mood for the clash with Collingwood at Patersons Stadium on Sunday.
The Eagles added ruckman Dean Cox, defender Adam Carter and utility player Ash Smith to the 22 that beat the Crows as they look to keep their finals hopes alive.
The Magpies welcomed back defender Alan Toovey from a back injury. Luke Ball, Clinton Young, Josh Thomas and Ben Kennedy were also added to make up the interim 25-man squad.
Kyle Martin was dropped and Taylor Adams (finger) could not be considered.
West Coast kicked 20 goals for only the third time this year against Adelaide as Josh Kennedy and Jack Darling combined for eight majors.
"Our delivery into the forward line was good. It's the best it's been all year," Gaff said.
"We're pretty unstoppable with those guys down there and you can throw Gov (Jeremy McGovern) in if he's playing forward. We've got to get it down there more times because that's what happens if we get it down there and kick the ball well.
"We took the game on a bit more. It's funny how in footy things open up sometimes. Guys like (Shannon) Hurn and (Luke) Shuey use the ball so well."
West Coast's midfield was questioned leading into the game because Adelaide had a strong on-ball division, led by Patrick Dangerfield, Rory Sloane and Scott Thompson.
But Gaff had 31 possessions and kicked three goals, Matt Priddis collected 30 disposals and Shuey amassed 30 possessions and nine clearances. Hurn was incredibly damaging with his kicking inside attacking 50 and the Eagles scored from 62 per cent of their inside-50 entries - behind only their round-two win over Melbourne at the MCG.
Gaff said the midfield knew it had to play daring football.
"The week before against Richmond we weren't very brave, even though it was in the wet," Gaff said. "That made it pretty tough.
"But you take what the opposition gives you and it worked out well.
"We've spoken as a midfield group about being hard to play on. That means kicking goals and being dangerous. My goals have all come in a couple of games. It's nice to kick straight."
But Gaff said the Eagles could not tolerate inconsistent efforts and they knew they had to repeat the Adelaide effort.
