West Coast secured second place on the ladder on Saturday night with a big win over St Kilda but look likely to lose Chris Masten to a hamstring injury.
>>MATCH REPORT: Masten hurt as Eagles secure home final
West Coast 18.17.125 def. St Kilda 4.6.30
The West Coast Eagles need to defeat the St Kilda Saints tonight to lock in a home final next week. Join The Roar for live scores and coverage from 5:40pm local time, 7:40pm AEST.
Hawthorn’s win earlier today over Carlton has put the pressure on West Coast once again and they know that if they lose tonight they will tumble down the ladder to third or fourth, depending on other results.
That said, the task in front of them shouldn’t be too much for them to handle – they come up against the St Kilda Saints who despite some feisty displays have still been one of the poorer teams of the season.
The Eagles can boast five straight wins over the Saints, not having lost to tonight’s opponents since they met at Etihad stadium in Round 17, 2011.
Further to that, they haven’t had a home lose to St Kilda since Round 9, 2010 – and only three of the Saints who were in that winning team will take the field tonight.
All in all, it should be an easy romp for West Coast. They’ve got everything to play for and they know it, while the Saints are probably looking forward to the season being over.
They went down to Sydney by 97 points in their biggest loss of the year last week, a clear sign of a young team that is ready for the season to finish.
While they’ll no doubt look to come out firing and bounce back from that display a little, that’s not likely to lift them to any great heights.
West Coast have their own poor performance to bounce back from. They were blown away in the first quarter against Adelaide last week and will be keen to enter finals on the back of a win.
Win tonight and they will be hosting Hawthorn at this same ground next week in a qualifying final. Lose and they will either travel to face Hawthorn in Victoria, or face Fremantle as the ‘away’ team, depending on the result of tonight’s other game.
Prediction
The Eagles should win this one without any major surprises.
West Coast by 48 points.
Join The Roar for live scores and coverage from 5:40pm local time, 7:40pm AEST.
Josh
Expert
Eagles win by 95 and that's the end of that, they'll play Hawthorn in a qualifying final at this ground next week!
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Expert
FULL TIME WEST COAST 18.17.125 ST KILDA 4.6.30
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Expert
GOAL WEST COAST Elliot Yeo marks on the goal line and sinks one, the Eagles lead by 95. WEST COAST 18.17.125 ST KILDA 4.6.30
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Expert
BEHIND ST KILDA Nick Riewoldt kicks a behind. With just five minutes left, it's the Saints second scoring shot of the second half. WEST COAST 17.17.119 ST KILDA 4.6.30
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Expert
BEHIND WEST COAST Elliot Yeo with a late set shot, it starts right and never changes. WEST COAST 17.16.118 ST KILDA 4.5.29
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Expert
Mexican Wave going on at Domain Stadium now. The Perth crowd is psyched for finals!
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Expert
GOAL WEST COAST Nic Naitanui sends home his third goal of the night. WEST COAST 17.15.117 ST KILDA 4.5.29
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Expert
GOAL WEST COAST Jack Darling kicks his second goal - Eagles lead by 82. This is getting ugly. WEST COAST 16.15.111 ST KILDA 4.5.29
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Expert
GOAL WEST COAST Mark LeCras sinks goal number four. WEST COAST 15.15.105 ST KILDA 4.5.29
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Expert
GOAL WEST COAST Jack Darling sinks a goal, his first of the night. WEST COAST 14.15.99 ST KILDA 4.5.29
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Expert
BEHIND WEST COAST Sharrod Wellingham has a ping on goal but Leigh Montagna gets back and touches it across. WEST COAST 13.15.93 ST KILDA 4.5.29
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Expert
Final term underway.
Josh
Expert
Eagles in the lead by ten goals at the final change, that's pretty much the game and lock in a home final for them too. Major goal for the last quarter will be to avoid any more injuries.
Josh
Expert
3-QUARTER TIME WEST COAST 13.14.92 ST KILDA 4.5.29
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Expert
GOAL WEST COAST Kennedy sinks goal number three after the 3-quarter time siren. WEST COAST 13.14.92 ST KILDA 4.5.29
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Expert
BEHIND WEST COAST Kennedy unlucky, has a snap and misses. WEST COAST 12.14.86 ST KILDA 4.5.29
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Expert
GOAL WEST COAST Eagles find Josh Hill up forward and he moves the margin out to 56. WEST COAST 12.13.85 ST KILDA 4.5.29
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Expert
BEHIND WEST COAST Kennedy kicks another behind. WEST COAST 11.13.79 ST KILDA 4.5.29
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Expert
BEHIND WEST COAST Shannon Hurn kicks a behind. WEST COAST 11.12.78 ST KILDA 4.5.29
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Expert
BEHIND WEST COAST Josh J Kennedy kicks another behind, he has 2.2 for the night and the Eagles lead by 48. WEST COAST 11.11.77 ST KILDA 4.5.29