It was a tale of two halves for the WAFL Eagles on Saturday, with a third-quarter serge from Perth ultimately the decider in the 36-point loss.

While the Eagles fell short in the 9.9 (63) to 15.9 (99) defeat, there were plenty of highlights to take away from the game, with youngsters Jobe Shanahan, Loch Rawlinson and Malakai Champion finishing with two goals each, and co-captain Shannon Lucassen managing a game-high seven tackles.

Senior coach Kyal Horsley said the team struggled to perform at the required level for a full four quarters.

“It was tight tussle until midway through the third quarter, then momentum swung, and Perth were able to pile on four quick goals and took the game away from us,” Horsley said.

“To our players credit, they steadied and fought it out to until the end but couldn’t make any inroads into the margin.

“While we give credit to Perth for their ability to capitalise when they had momentum, it was a poor performance on our end, only playing at the level we expect of ourselves for short periods of time.

“I’m really looking forward to our response this week against Claremont, playing on Anzac Day is a privilege, and something we don’t take for granted.”

Top Performers

Tom Cole

Coley produced a standout performance for the team, his intensity and work rate was excellent, and our younger players got a first-hand look at the effort and level required.

Noah Long

Noah was able to impact the game in multiple ways, and he had some ‘save-the-day’ moments with some big tackles when it looked like Perth were destined to score. 

Bo Allan

Bo produced a solid four-quarter performance, providing a lot of drive off halfback and was able to defend and beat his man then get involved and link up in offence.

AFL Listed Players

Bailey Williams

Baz had real influence in the ruck, giving our mids first look, and his follow up was evident with 10 clearances and 16 contested possessions, while also showing his aerial power with three contested marks.

Clay Hall

Clay had a good battle inside against a very strong Perth midfield and felt he more then held his own. He would have got a lot out of the challenge, and it was good to see his game grow throughout the contest.

Rhett Bazzo

A well-rounded game from Rhett, with three intercept marks and three spoils to go with 26 disposals, showing he is playing all phases of the game well at the moment.

Lucca Grego

Lucca matched up against an experienced Perth midfield and looked more then up to the challenge. We are seeing some real growth in his reaction time to defend and attack which is allowing him to get involved more in general play.

Harvey Johnston

Harvey’s ability to cover the ground at speed and create for others by hand and foot was noticeable on the weekend, and he opened the game up for us on multiple times.

Sandy Brock

Sandy’s positioning and speed to either help his teammates in the contest (eight spoils) or release them to intercept gave our backline a different look to previous weeks and was a big part of us being in the game at half time.

Jobe Shanahan

There’s a lot to like about Jobe’s progression, and I feel he is on the brink of putting it all together and really grabbing a game and taking it away from the opposition.

Loch Rawlinson

It was a pleasing response from Loch and was good to see him producing the exciting football we saw in the pre-season, and great to see him get rewarded with two goals.

Malakai Champion

I was really pleased to see Mali get rewarded with two goals in the last quarter. His work rate and pressure are really growing, and he always looks to pass to teammates in better spots when he can which is great trait of his game.

Tyler Brockman

We got to see flashes throughout the game of what Tyler can produce, but he was hampered early with a knock that was causing him some grief. To his credit, he tried everything to help the team, he stayed on and pushed through the discomfort.

Jack Petruccelle

While statistically it was not a big game, his speed was evident, and he created multiple turnovers with the pressure he was able to apply to the opposition. I thought he competed well in the air, he didn’t get out-marked, and he looked like he was about to hang onto multiple big grabs, but they just got dislodged at the last moment.

Harry Barnett

I thought Harry’s first half was solid and he more than halved his contest but fell in the second half when Perth got on top. The Demons produced some really slick ball movement, and it became difficult for our backs to keep the damn wall from bursting.

Coen Livingstone

Coen was able to compete well in the air, he was constantly outnumbered and was able to at worst bring the ball to ground for the smalls to get to work on.