West Coast has defeated Fremantle by 58 points in a spiteful Western Derby, with a spate of ugly incidents marring the match and putting a sour note on what was otherwise a captivating round of football.
The main story of the game lay with Andrew Gaff, after his head-high punch on Angus Brayshaw off the ball certainly cost him a chance at the Brownlow, and potentially a chance at playing in the finals depending on the MRO’s findings.
Fremantle didn't take kindly to the incident, with the fourth quarter culminating in a series of scuffles, resulting in the margin blowing out to nearly 10 goals.
The Eagles dominated from start to finish, with their ability to capitalise on turnovers the big
difference between the two sides.
Fremantle got off to a flyer through small forward Brandon Matera, and proceeded to dominate
the opening five minutes, with more than a hint of a potential upset on the cards.
West Coast ,however, managed to stem the flow, and responded emphatically with three goals in a row to give themselves a 13-point lead halfway through the first term.
The rest of the quarter played out in a relative stalemate, with both sides creating clear-cut scoring opportunities, however unable to capitalise, until Scott Lycett kicked truly after the siren to give the Eagles a 20-point advantage at quarter-time.
With both sides continuing to be sloppy both inside 50 and in front of goal in the same vein as the first quarter, the game was quickly becoming scrappy viewing for the crowd, until electric forward Willie Rioli finally broke the drought and slotted home from 35m out directly in front.
Both sides continued to go goal-for-goal, with Fremantle having the upper hand in the clearance
and inside 50s, however consistently letting themselves down with a poor conversion rate and
sloppy turnovers to the likes of intercept kings Jeremy McGovern and Shannon Hurn.
With the Dockers looking to ease themselves into half-time with a deficit of 22 points, the Eagles
struck twice through Jack Darling’s second of the match and vibrant forward Liam Ryan.
Coupled with a deflating miss from 25 metres out by Brady Grey, the Eagles headed into the break 33 points in the ascendancy and with all the momentum in the game.
West Coast got off to the best possible start in the second half through Jamie Cripps and Darling,
as they slotted home three majors to extend the Eagles margin and drive Fremantle to breaking
point.
However, Gaff's brainfade - which all but ruled out any potential of a Brownlow
medal and left Brayshaw clutching his jaw - the Dockers' cobbled together a spirited resurgence, and managed to pull two back and reduce the margin to 38 points.
With tensions threatening to boil over, goals to Sean Darcy and Matt Taberner threatened a minor fightback, however West Coast never looked out of control of the game, piling on a further three goals to lead by 52 points at the last interchange, and the game nearly out of sight.
The last quarter, while producing ample goals, will not be fondly remembered by members of the AFL community as it became apparently clear what Ross Lyon’s team talk at the break had been about.
Fremantle players targeted Gaff at every opportunity, resulting in multiple melees breaking
out across the field, with the Eagles trying to focus solely on the footy.
In respect to the action, as Fremantle had clearly abandoned all plans of achieving a respectable
result, West Coast began to run rings around their opponents, with eleven scoring shots to five,
extending the margin to 58 points in a game the AFL will want to eradicate from their memories
rapidly.
West Coast will hit the road next Saturday to take on Port Adelaide at Adelaide Oval, while Fremantle will remain in the west to face the embattled Carlton in seven days.
WEST COAST 4.4 9.7 16.10 21.16 (142)
FREMANTLE 1.2 4.4 8.6 13.6 (84)
GOALS
West Coast: Cripps 4, Darling 4, Ryan 3, Yeo 2, Vardy 2, Lycett 2, Rioli 2, Gaff, Redden
Fremantle: Matera 2, Taberner 2, McCarthy 2, Walters 2, Cox, Ballantyne, Darcy, Langdon, Neale
BEST
West Coast: Yeo, Hurn, Redden, Cripps, Sheppard
Fremantle: Neale, Mundy, Hill, Matera, Walters
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