West Coast overcame woeful wastefulness in front of goal to deliver an emphatic 56-point win over Geelong and remain in second spot on the AFL ladder.

The Eagles dominated almost every facet of the game except goalkicking accuracy to secure the 16.24 (120) to 10.4 (64) victory in front of 37,676 fans at Domain Stadium.

Nic Naitanui was a star in the ruck with 36 hit-outs, seven clearances, 17 disposals and two goals.

He also took one of the marks of the season when he soared onto the shoulders of his 200cm teammate Callum Sinclair to haul down a remarkable grab. He slotted to set shot from 45m on a tight angle to bring the entire stadium to its feet.

Josh Kennedy also starred up forward with six goals, while Andrew Gaff (32 disposals), Chris Masten (31) and Matt Priddis (29) racked up big numbers in the midfield.

Tom Hawkins kicked three goals in a lone hand up forward for the Cats, while veteran Corey Enright was outstanding in defence with 21 disposals and 10 marks and Steve Johnson was creative with 27 touches and a goal.

But the Eagles dominated general play with 149 contested possessions to 117, 46 clearances to 34, 61 inside 50s to 34 and 40 scoring shots to 14. The Cats stayed in the game for three quarters, but only on the back of some West Coast's inaccuracy.

Eagles coach Adam Simpson was happy with his side's performance despite their inaccuracy.

"We had everything going our way except for the scoreboard in that first half," Simpson said. 

"It was disappointing we couldn't convert. But we've been pretty accurate this year. I think we're one or two for accuracy, so put it down to an aberration." 

Geelong lost Rhys Stanley and Mitch Clark immediately after half-time, which affected their rotations and severely hampered them in the ruck but coach Chris Scott refused to use it as an excuse.  

"We played poorly," Scott said.

"I think that's close to as bad a performance as we have put in for the season. There are a lot of things that we need to go back and have a close look at.

"Obviously the composition of our team changed a lot when we lost both of our ruckmen, which made it difficult. But even before that we weren't happy with how we were performing."

The Eagles had the football in their attacking half for 65 per cent of the first quarter, had four more inside 50s and four more scoring shots but the Cats' defence held firm as they took a one-point lead into quarter-time.

The Cats were able to make the most of their chances on the counter-attack with Johnson and Hawkins kicking early goals.

The Eagles' two goals came through accurate set shots from Kennedy with five of their six behinds from hurried shots on the run.  

The Eagles dominated the second term, but couldn't find the goals as they missed shot after shot.

They kicked 2.11 from 19 inside 50s, while the Cats managed 2.1 from just five forays forward.  

Rhys Stanley was subbed out of the game for Mathew Stokes at half-time and then Mitch Clark hurt his ankle not long into the third term leaving the Cats one rotation down and Mark Blicavs to ruck solo for the entire second half.

The game opened up in the third term and Josh Hill broke a string of nine consecutive Eagles behinds to wobble through his first. 

Naitanui's influence was profound as the Eagles scored three goals from marks or contests he was involved in inside 50. 

But the Cats kept hitting back as Hawkins remained a threat at the other end with the hosts taking an 18-point lead into the final quarter.

The Eagles ran away with the match with seven final-quarter goals as they wounded Cats faded badly.

 

WEST COAST    2.6   4.17   9.21   16.24   (120)                  
GEELONG           3.1   5.2     9.3   10.4   (64)           

GOALS
West Coast: 
Kennedy 6, Hill 2, Naitanui 2, Sinclair 2, McInnes, Cripps, Shuey, LeCras
Geelong: Hawkins 3, Johnson, Caddy, Gregson, Murdoch, Stokes, Kersten, Mackie 

BEST 
West Coast:
 Gaff, Priddis, Kennedy, McGovern, Naitanui, Shuey
Geelong: Johnson, Enright, Hawkins, Caddy, Motlop, Mackie 

INJURIES 
West Coast:
 TBA
Geelong: Stanley (knee), Clark (ankle) 

SUBSTITUTES
West Coast:
 Brant Colledge replaced Jamie Bennell at three-quarter time
Geelong: Mathew Stokes replaced Rhys Stanley at half-time

Reports: TBA

Umpires: Fisher, Farmer, Dalgleish

Official crowd: 37,676 at the Domain Stadium