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The West Coast Eagles narrowly escaped with a six-point win over the Melbourne Demons, despite having 29 less inside 50s than their opponents.
» Click here for the full match report
Final score
West Coast 10.6.66
Melbourne 8.12.60
The West Coast Eagles will host the Melbourne Demons at Domain Stadium today in a crucial match for both sides. Join The Roar for live scores from the match and a blog of the game, starting from 4:35pm (AEST).
The Eagles can’t afford to drop a game like this if they want to push towards the top four. They’ve coughed up too many games on the road this year to be able to afford dropping a match to a team from outside the eight at home.
The Demons on the other hand still have a very unlikely chance at finals which will become virtually entirely snuffed out if they lose here today. After North Melbourne’s Friday-night win, they’re four games out of the eight but could reduce that to three with a win today.
One thing standing in the Demons’ way is the fact they’ve got an abysmal record in the west in recent times, and the last time they won here is well out of memory.
The Eagles, on the other hand, have won all but one of their matches at home this year, their only loss coming to a high-flying Adelaide. Their wins have all been by fairly comfy margins, too.
The Eagles have made a number of changes this week after nearly coughing up a win to Carlton in Round 17. In comes a key tall in Eric Mackenzie, as well as young talents Liam Duggan and Jackson Nelson, while Jon Giles also joins the side to help combat the threat posed by Max Gawn. Will Schofield is out with ‘soreness’, while Patrick McGinnity, Mark Hutchings and Mitch Brown have all been dropped.
The Dees have also made four changes. Aaron Vandenberg will miss with a hip while the likes of Jack Grimes, Ben Kennedy and Mitch White have all been dropped – Chris Dawes is an inclusion along with three young talents in Sam Frost, Billy Stretch and Alex Neal-Bullen.
Prediction
While there’s a little upset potential here, the home ground advantage that West Coast hold at Domain Stadium will almost certainly prove too much for the Demons to overcome.
West Coast by 30 points.
Join The Roar for live scores from the match and a blog of the game, starting from 4:35pm (AEST).
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