West Coast banked four more valuable premiership points in a grinding win over Adelaide, but it was the heroics of one Eagle in particular that stole the show.
In a second quarter explosion, Jack Darling dominated the Crows and almost single-handedly turned a seven-point deficit into a 29-point buffer at the long break.
His five-goal blitz in the space of just 10 minutes not only turned the game on its head, but his fourth major also saw the powerful spearhead become the first player to kick 100 majors at Optus Stadium.
“He’s been an outstanding player,” midfielder Dom Sheed told 6PR.
“He’s been in ‘JK’s’ (Josh Kennedy) shadow for a number of years now because of how good ‘JK’ was, but I think that he’s really started to take another step forward in his game, and he stood up, put the Superman cape on for us on the weekend, so that was nice.
“He’s got everything to him, he knows what he’s good at, and he plays a role for the team and he nails it.
“He’s strong, he’s unbelievably strong. He’s in a good form at the moment, he’s complementing the forward line nicely, and it helps free up Oscar (Allen) and ‘JK’ as well.”
Sensing Darling was ‘on’, Kennedy and the Eagles forwards worked to isolate the red-hot 28-year-old and gave him the space to get to work.
“It was pretty exciting. Jack with his strength and his speed, when he’s on, he’s on, so you try and isolate him as much as you can,” Kennedy said to 6PR.
“Had a bit of an inkling coming towards the back end of that first that he was starting to really find his way.
“In the second we were able to isolate him a bit and move around him so he had the best position to take a mark which he pursued, which is pretty cool.”
Darling is renowned as one of the best set shots in the league, but after a three goal burst in quick succession, he decided increase the degree of difficulty.
Namely, by taking a mark from Jake Waterman and following it up with a nutmeg through the legs of stunned Crow, Brodie Smith.
“Not too sure about that dribble goal, that nutmeg goal that he did,” Kennedy laughed.
“It was pretty casual by him, so he must have known what he was doing.
“I think he was sick of kicking a normal set shot, just wanted to make them a bit more fancy.”
Sheed added Darling could expect a mention during the Eagles players’ weekly fines session.
“That will come up this week, don’t worry about that, I don’t know what he was thinking to be honest, he’s one of the best set shots in the comp, but I think he thought he could run around the man and dribble it through, but you know you’re on when that’s happening and you still kick a goal,” Sheed said with a laugh.
“He was cooked, he should’ve just taken his 30 seconds.”
And Darling wasn’t the only Eagle in the limelight on Sunday evening, with Jamie Cripps also getting his time in the sun after a steady couple of weeks.
The pacey forward had a day out with 11 score involvements, 25 disposals, 10 marks, three tackles and a goal of his own.
“His role has stayed the same, I think he’s finally just got reward for it,” Sheed explained.
“He does a lot of sacrificial play for the team, his work rate, week in, week out, along with games, he plays that sort of tough role, where some days he’ll kick four and have 20 touches, and other days he’ll not kick a goal and have 10.
“But his consistency and the way he approaches a game never changes, so it’s good to see him get some reward for that.”
Jarrod Brander was another big name who had a noticeable impact against Adelaide, with the classy wingman’s building his form over the past few weeks.
A 19-disposal, four-mark match sees him amongst a new generation of young Eagles rising through the ranks.
“He’s playing a vital role for us at the moment on the wing,” Sheed said.
“For a bloke his age, all you’re looking for is a game, improvement and consistency to follow it, and I think he’s done that throughout this year so far, so hopefully he can keep trending upwards and keep playing good footy.
“Being so tall and on the wing, he’s got such a great ability to be anything, it’s taken a bit longer, but at the same time, he’s had to crack into a pretty decent midfield group, so it’s probably taken him an extra year or two to do that, but you won’t see him going out of the team now I don’t think.”
It’s fair to say coach Adam Simpson is going to have some difficult selection decisions with the likely return of defensive stalwart, Shannon Hurn, and high flyer Liam Ryan.
“If he’s (Ryan) anywhere near an ice bin or in the pool swimming, you know he’s actually ready to play,” Kennedy laughed.
“He’s been avoiding them for the last few weeks, but he’s back in yesterday, so I’m sure his body is feeling good and he’s ready to play.”
Captain Luke Shuey and fellow midfield star Elliot Yeo are also on the comeback trail.
“We’re going well at the moment, our skipper might have to come back through the twos,” Sheed laughed.
“Nah, we’ll always have a spot for Elliot Yeo and Luke Shuey and we’re looking forward to having them back.
“The last sort of three weeks the other midfielders in there have stepped up and we’ve all been gelling well together, but we’re looking forward to having them back.”
