1. It took only a few minutes to understand the skill set that Sam Mitchell brings to the club when he was a central figure in an opening quarter onslaught that rocked Fremantle. In conjunction with Matt Priddis, Luke Shuey, Andrew Gaff and Lewis Jetta, the Eagles' midfield was ruthlessly efficicent and pin-pointed the ball inside the attacking half.
  2. While most of the attention fell on the performance of Mitchell, who excelled with 28 possessions, two more of the club’s off-season signings also wielded an influence. Both Nathan Vardy and Drew Petrie did their job in the ruck, but also looked dangerous when pushing forward. Both will take great confidence and satisfaction from their early experiences with their new club.
  3. Such was the dominance of West Coast early that Fremantle struggled to get their hands on the ball – and that story was told in the statistics. The Eagles had a whopping 200 more possessions than the Dockers (414 to 214) and that resulted in a lop-sided inside 50 count of 45 to 27.
  4. The run out of the West Coast defensive area was also impressive. While Jeremy McGovern and Sharrod Wellingham cut off many of the Dockers’ forward thrusts before they mounted to scoring chances, the dash from defence was fantastic. Linking play with bold running and creative handballing, the Eagles were surging in waves.
  5. The West Coast Eagles has had a strong link to the State’s Mid-West since the likes of Murray Wrensted, Chris Mainwaring and Andrew Lockyer were a part of the inaugural squad. That connection remains strong and the majority of the 8,800-strong crowd was supporting the blue and gold. Current local heroes Josh Kennedy and Jamie Cripps did not let their home fan base down with strong performances and the game was the culmination of a highly-successful 2017 Australia Post AFL Community Camp. The players relished the visit, the interaction with local fans of all ages and the hospitality. Thanks Geraldton!