Brisbane might’ve had a Saturday afternoon feast.
Instead, they performed with their meals and nonetheless managed a straightforward 81-point win over West Coast.
Taking on the Lions on the Gabba fortress off a six-day break is an arduous activity for even the perfect of groups, for the Eagles it might’ve been the stuff nightmares have been manufactured from.
And after a brief flurry within the first quarter, they provided little resistance, with the wasteful Lions their very own worst enemies in a 16.20 (116) to five.5 (35) victory.
Brisbane have been removed from the polished outfit they’ve been for a lot of the season and price themselves a percentage-boosting win, with the Eagles breaking a three-game streak of triple-figure defeats away from house.
West Coast by no means threatened to harm them for his or her errors and spent a lot of the sport making an attempt to mitigate the harm on the scoreboard.
When they did get a uncommon inside 50 they selected to kick it within the course of Lions defender Harris Andrews, who confirmed little respect to Jack Williams and Ryan Maric, leaving them to have 12 intercept possessions and 13 marks.
Early on West Coast introduced the strain they displayed in opposition to St Kilda to carry Brisbane at bay for 9 minutes however as soon as the house facet kicked their first via Jaspa Fletcher, the floodgates opened.
Brisbane smashed the Eagles on the clearances, scoring 43 of their 45 first-quarter factors from stoppages regardless of their key forwards not having an impression.
Will Ashcroft (28 disposals, seven clearances and 7 tackles) ran rings across the Eagles’ flat-footed midfielders whereas Cam Rayner (21 disposals and 7 inside 50s) offered the category and Lachie Neale (31 disposals, 9 clearances and 5 tackles) the grunt across the congestion.
It took almost half-hour for the Eagles to get a significant scoring alternative because the Lions piled on the primary seven objectives of the sport.
Jayden Hunt would kick their second moments later, however it could be their final aim till Oscar Allen transformed a set shot within the third time period.
West Coast have been doing their finest to attempt to management the footy out of defence, however once they received it mistaken it was expensive, gifting the Lions two simple objectives within the second time period with horrendous turnovers when kicking throughout objectives.
Jeremy McGovern (20 disposals and 9 marks) slotted comfortably again into the staff for his first sport in 14 weeks, partnering with Tom Barrass as they did their finest in an under-siege defence earlier than McGovern was subbed out at three-quarter time.
Draftee Elijah Hewett (18 disposals, 4 clearances and 5 tackles) continued to indicate promise on the clearances, whereas Tim Kelly had a powerful first time period with 10 touches to complete with 26 touches, six tackles and 6 clearances.
Despite being anticipated to fade given Brisbane had an additional three days relaxation, West Coast held their very own within the remaining time period with Gunston’s three objectives costing them an opportunity to win the quarter.
Scoreboard
BRISBANE 7.3, 10.8, 13.14, 16.20 (116)
WEST COAST 2.0, 2.2, 3.3, 5.5 (35)
Goals – BRISBANE: J Gunston 6 E Hipwood 2 H McCluggage 2 Z Bailey J Fletcher O McInerney C Rayner B Starcevich D Wilmot. WEST COAST: O Allen J Darling J Hunt T Kelly J Williams.
Best – BRISBANE: H Andrews W Ashcroft L Neale C Rayner J Gunston Z Bailey. WEST COAST: L Duggan B Hough T Kelly T Barrass J McGovern E Hewett.
Umpires: C Fleer C Dore A Adair C Jones. Crowd: 24,843 on the Gabba.
Source: www.perthnow.com.au
