The West Coast Eagles' season took a turn for the worse as Jake Waterman's goalkicking woes proved to be their downfall in a heart-wrenching one-point loss to North Melbourne. Waterman, who had been struggling in front of goals, had the chance to steal victory for the Eagles with only 42 seconds left in the game. However, he hit the post from directly in front, and the Kangaroos held on for a 10.14 (74) to 10.13 (73) victory at Optus Stadium.
This loss marks a disappointing end for the Eagles, who had kicked the final three goals of the match on the back of an incredible Jobe Shanahan marking masterclass to nearly chase down a 21-point deficit early in the last term. Waterman's poor goalkicking continued, with him kicking 28.34 headed into the game, and it was former Eagle Jack Darling who had the last laugh, kicking four first-half goals to turn the Kangaroos' fortunes around.
Darling's performance was a catalyst for the Kangaroos' run of six unanswered goals either side of half-time, which set up a vital win for coach Alastair Clarkson. The Eagles, on the other hand, will head into the bye ruing what could've been after missing consecutive opportunities to add rare wins to their tally with missteps to Port Adelaide and North Melbourne.
The biggest question heading into the game was how West Coast's defense would hold up without Ginbey marshalling the troops down back. While Tylar Young was brave but outmatched by Kangaroos skipper Nick Larkey (four goals) and Rhett Bazzo did a good job on Cooper Trembath, the Kangaroos were simply too tall for the Eagles' backline to cover.
Recruit Brandon Starcevich was forced to match-up on Darling and, while the Eagle was only 3cm shorter, he lacked the strength and craft to match it with the West Perth product. In the midfield, Harry Sheezel simply ran the Eagles off their feet with 33 touches, nine score involvements, and 10 clearances, while Luke Parker (22 disposals and nine marks) was at his disruptive best down back.
West Coast simply didn't have the same spread in their midfield. Harley Reid had a blistering first term but finished with only 21 touches and five clearances as Jy Simpkin put the clamps on the star Eagle. Tagger Brady Hough heavily restricted North Melbourne gun Luke Davies-Uniacke (20 disposals), while veteran Tim Kelly (27 disposals and nine clearances) was the Eagles' best.
As expected, North Melbourne came out full of fire in response to their disastrous defeat to the Dockers a week earlier. The Kangaroos were helped by a lack of concentration defensively from the Eagles, who were giving up simple shots at goal with several lapses. North Melbourne were poor in front of goal, however, and by all rights should've been up by a lot more than the 11 points they led by when Larkey kicked his first goal.
West Coast responded through co-captain Liam Baker, but it was Reid both through his own efforts and the Kangaroos' ill-discipline which changed the course of the game. Reid simply dominated the quarter, collecting 11 touches and five clearances, while he was gifted a goal after defender Griffin Logue gave away a free kick. North Melbourne continued to target the Eagles' star, but it was to their detriment.
The match took a turn for the worse when exciting young wingman Hamish Davis suffered a concussion after his head was slammed into the turf when he was tackled by Kangaroos forward Paul Curtis. This left the Eagles down to 22 players for the rest of the match, an uphill task for a young side halfway through a season.
Despite the setbacks, the Eagles showed resilience, with Waterman kicking two goals within two minutes early in the second term. However, Darling changed the entire contest as he began to take advantage of a size mismatch against Starcevich, kicking three unanswered goals before half-time to give North Melbourne the slenderest of leads at the main break.
North Melbourne came out an entirely new team in the third quarter on the back of Darling's inspirational efforts. Trembath lucked into a goal when the ball ricocheted off Darling and onto his shin, before Sheezel and Larkey produced classy crumbing snaps to blow their lead out to 20 points. West Coast finally broke the run when Tom Cole chased down Dylan Stephens to catch the Kangaroo holding the ball before slotting the important set shot.
The Eagles began to look tired, and there was a feeling that everything needed to go right for them in the last term to claim a second come-from-behind win against North Melbourne. It started poorly when Larkey kicked his fourth goal, before the Eagles coughed up several chances to hit back. Shanahan finally settled West Coast with his second goal of the last half, before Waterman seemingly put his set shot woes behind him for his third to get them within nine points.
However, Waterman missed the match-winning goal, which will leave the Eagles with a 4-10 record ahead of a break before they head east to take on Carlton in round 16. The loss serves as a stark reminder of the team's struggles in front of goals and the need for improved consistency and focus to turn their fortunes around.
