Roar Guru
West Coast have beaten the ladder leading Adelaide Crows by 29 points, enough to move themselves above Melbourne and into eighth spot on the ladder.
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Final score
West Coast Eagles 15.10.100
Adelaide Crows 10.11.71
The final match of the 2017 home and away season is out west, as the West Coast Eagles host the Adelaide Crows at Subiaco. Join The Roar for live scores and a blog from 4:40pm AEST (2:40pm AWST).
The events of this weekend have seriously raised the stakes on tonight’s contest.
While Geelong’s win on Saturday night means that Adelaide are guaranteed to finish on top of the ladder, Melbourne’s loss to Collingwood yesterday has put the Eagles in with a serious chance at finals.
That would be a major accomplishment after the Eagles’ difficult year.
Should West Coast win they’ll draw level with Melbourne on wins, probably also with Essendon, and will need percentage to go ahead.
And percentage is very tight indeed. A win by roughly 20 or 25 points might well be enough.
To take one example, should the Eagles score 100 points and the Crows 79, West Coast are in the finals. Should the Crows score 80 points, then Melbourne will stay ahead.
If the Western Australians have a narrow lead late in the game you can be sure some desperate Demons devotees will have their calculators out sweating on the numbers.
Adelaide’s squad has been reduced with the injuries to Daniel Talia and captain Taylor Walker, who’ll get an extended break ahead of the finals.
Talia’s loss in particular might be telling against West Coast’s gun forward Josh Kennedy, who needs six goals tonight to claim his third Coleman Medal.
The Crows have also omitted youngster Hugh Greenwood, with Hartigan, Milera and Seedsman recalled.
West Coast have made just one change, with veteran Mark LeCras coming in and at the expense of Josh Hill.
This could be the last game for that player, out of contract at season’s end. It might also be the last appearance for teammates Matt Priddis and Sam Mitchell. One way or the other it’ll be their last game at Subiaco, so this is sure to be an emotional occasion.
Prediction
There’s no question the Eagles have more to play for tonight. But equally there’s no question that the Crows are in superior form and have shown their ability to perform under pressure over the course of the season.
While nothing would surprise, I’m tipping Adelaide by 20 points.