To say time has not been kind to West Coast would be an understatement.
Less than two years ago the Eagles were at the pinnacle after holding off a fast-finishing Sydney to claim the 2006 AFL premiership flag.
Fast forward to the present day and West Coast are a rabble.
Geelong gave them a stark reminder of how times have changed when the reigning premiers romped their way to a crushing 135-point triumph over the Eagles at Subiaco Oval tonight.
It is a result that perhaps Geelong would merely call another good win.
The Eagles, meanwhile, might consider it as one of the darkest days of their proud history.
Dogged by tanking allegations in the lead-up to the match after winning just twice in the opening 12 rounds, West Coast were atrocious as Geelong cruised to an emphatic 28.14 (182) to 5.17 (47) victory.
It was West Coast’s second biggest loss in their history, just falling short of the 142-point defeat suffered at the hands of Essendon at Windy Hill in 1989.
But the fact this defeat occurred at Subiaco Oval would hurt the Eagles even more.
To rub salt into the wound, West Coast tagger Adam Selwood was taken to hospital at halftime after suffering what appeared to be a throat injury in the first term.
Gary Ablett enhanced his Brownlow Medal prospects with a scintillating 37-possession, two-goal display, while David Wojcinski, a late replacement for Mathew Stokes, also starred with 21 possessions.
The Cats has 12 separate goalkickers, with Cameron Mooney (five), Paul Chapman (five) and James Kelly (four) leading the way.
Mark LeCras was the sole shining light for West Coast with three goals.
The Cats effectively had the game sealed by halftime when they romped to a 63-point lead, with 10 of their 13 first half goals coming courtesy of turnovers from the opposition.
Time and again the Eagles butchered the ball and Geelong were in no mood for mercy.
If the Eagles thought the Cats would put the cue in the rack in the second half they were in for a rude awakening.
The Cats slammed through 10 goals to one in the third quarter to take a 116-point advantage into the final break, while the final quarter was party time for Geelong.
The majority of the 38,414 crowd at the ground were stunned into silence, while thousands left before three quarter-time in disgust.
The win propels Geelong (12-1) to sole ownership of top spot on the ladder following Hawthorn’s surprise loss to North Melbourne earlier today.
West Coast, meanwhile, are in danger of earning their first ever wooden spoon.
Only Melbourne (1-11) are standing between them and that undignified honour … for now.
Geelong coach Mark Thompson described the win as a dream performance.
“Outstanding. We never in our wildest dreams thought we’d win by this much,” Thompson said.
“I thought the boys played extremely well.
“It’s up there (as one of our finest wins ever).
“To win by 135 points interstate against West Coast, which is a pretty proud club, is a great effort. We’ve had some horrible days here over the years so we were pretty pleased to take that.
“It’s just nice. it’s sweet. It’s great to see a group of guys play so well for a large period of time.”
West Coast coach John Worsfold refused to compare the mammoth defeat with other big losses experienced by the club.
“After days like that you don’t reflect on other dark days,” Worsfold said.
“It was an impressive performance by Geelong and a disappointing performance by us.
“Their use of the footy was exceptional and that gives us something to measure ourselves against and to work on.
“That vision of the future seems a long way away at the moment but the reality is it’s only six days away from us, our next game. That’s something to look forward to.”
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Old mate summing it up better than anyone possibly could!
