The WAFL Eagles battled the Perth Demons, but a dominant third quarter saw the Demons surge ahead to secure a 38-point victory, 14.14 (98) to 9.6 (60).

Senior coach Kyal Horsley said it was an exciting contest with both teams playing similar styles which led to a fast-paced game putting both teams under real pressure.

“To Perth’s credit, in the end they were able to sustain it for longer, win more contest when it mattered and get the little things right, which took the game away from us.” Horsley said.

“Our players showed real resilience and threw everything at Perth in the last quarter.

“But Perth were able to respond winning contests which led to goals, taking the wind out of our sails.”  

Top Performers

Clay Hall

Another four quarter performance from Clay. His work rate in offence and defence has been a feature on the weekend. He led the way in possessions, inside 50’s and contested possessions. He’s in strong form and is putting his case forward with every performance.

Tom McCarthy

Tom had another impressive game. He defended well and won or halved his contest which gave us real dash from our back line. His ability to create for others was a feature.

Malakai Champion

Malakai set the standard with his defensive pressure and the rest of his game flowed from there. He kept things simple and chose the right option every time. We got our best looks when Mali was involved.

Campbell Chesser

Chess worked extremely hard on the wing and looked to be moving at a different speed and intensity above. While he didn’t get the reward with ball in hand this week, there is no doubt it will start to transfer in coming games.

Bailey Williams

Bailey split his time between forward and ruck. He had some real dominance in the ruck and his pressure at ground level was a highlight. He suffered from our ball movement like the rest of our forwards but did look dangerous when we moved the ball well and gave the talls a chance.

Coen Livingstone

Coen split his time between forward and ruck. Like all our keys, he struggled with the ball movement up the ground being hard to read. He did have some strong marks inside 50 when we did get it in quickly.

Harry Barnett

Harry split his time between ruck and forward but lacked his usual presence. He didn’t crash packs and impose himself at the same level. Looking forward to seeing his response this week.

Hamish Davis

Hamish played on the wing and a bit of forward position. He owned the outside of the ground well, got forward to kick a nice goal and laid some strong goal saving tackles.

Harvey Johnston

Harvey played on the wing and had his best game of the year. He was able to see his weapons with ball in hand, was strong in the contest and impacted the game defensively.

Rhett Bazzo

Rhett put in another four-quarter performance. He defended well, set up our ball movement and his voice and leadership to his teammates was evident all game.

Jacob Newton

Tough start to his West Coast Eagles journey. The way he carried himself and his want to play and learn our system was impressive. The game’s flow made it challenging for the forwards to have an impact. Keen to see his growth as he starts to understand our system and his teammates.

Tom Gross

Tom played as an inside mid all game and had a strong duel against a high-quality midfield. He acquitted himself well in the cauldron and was able to generate eight clearances and 14 contested possessions.

Jobe Shanahan

Jobe played down back again. His defensive craft has grown, and it is starting to show in with five spoils this game. It’s great to see him get rewarded in offence. He was dominant coming out of our back half.

Jack Petruccelle

Great to have Petch back. He looked dangerous up forward and won or halved every contest he was in. Unfortunately for him we didn’t give our forwards the best chance this week, so it limited his impact.

Lucca Grego

Another game down back and he keeps evolving. His ball use and lateral movement was on show, as well as signs of growth in other aspects of his game. He's expanding his skill set in ways that will serve him well throughout his career.

Loch Rawlinson

Loch had a day where he got caught in between a lot. He wasn’t reading the game as quickly as he has been, which set him behind.  Loch has been doing this well over the previous weeks so no doubt we will see a response.