Eagles slaughter flightless Crows

West Coast 26. 9 (165) def. Adelaide 12.11 (83)

West Coast have blown suggestions they are not the real deal out of the water, using a fast start and a nine goal third quarter to register an 82-point pasting of Adelaide at Subiaco this afternoon.

Despite losing to the Bulldogs and Collingwood and only just scraping home against Carlton and Sydney in recent times, the Eagles kicked the first five goals of the game and never looked back, crushing a side who many have already pencilled in as the 2006 Premiers.

Prior to the game, John Worsfold's men were paying $2.40 for the win, unheard of for a game at Subiaco, and those odds were further lengthened by the absence of game breakers Andrew Embley and Adam Hunter. However, the Crows looked flat from the beginning, with West Coast's man on man tactics proving too much for a side that relies on running in numbers.

Of course, many will claim this was the loss Adelaide needed to have and may even be stronger for it, but to discredit its opposition would be grossly unfair.

It all started in the middle for the Eagles, with Chris Judd (21 touches), Daniel Kerr (34), Ben Cousins (38) and Michael Braun (41) all outstanding, repeatedly getting the ball forward and even converting themselves, combining for eight goals. Quinten Lynch and Ashley Hansen kicked four and three goals respectively in key forward posts, while youngsters Sam Butler and Adam Selwood were also impressive, the latter accounting for in-form Crow Brett Burton.

For Adelaide, finding meaningful contributions was a bit harder. Scott Thompson racked up 30 possessions and Simon Goodwin and Tyson Edwards in excess of 20, but this was in a midfield that was slaughtered all day. Brett Burton kicked three, but all three were with the game's outcome already decided, as he was held in check for most of the afternoon.

Any chance of another sluggish West Coast start was snuffed out by their skipper, with Judd booting the first of the game, which sparked a run of five goals in 15 minutes, capped off by a goal to Mark Seaby, entrusted with a massive job in the absence of Dean Cox and Michael Gardiner.

A free kick gifted Adelaide its first through its own captain, Mark Ricciuto, but a quick reply to Brent Staker kept the margin out past 30 points at the first change, with the Premiership favourites looking uncharacteristically flat.

Lynch further punished the Crows in the first minute of the second quarter, receiving a free kick and converting, before the visitors finally got some luck. Edwards hit the post, but was pushed over and received a second kick, and he made no mistake from close range. Hansen replied immediately however, much to Neil Craig's chagrin.

Matthew Bode wasted an excellent chance before Goodwin kicked truly from the boundary, but Steven Armstrong gave the crowd a lift by snapping a seemingly impossible goal, as all the breaks were falling with the home side, this further underlined by a Rowan Jones miskick falling into Lynch's lap for his second of the quarter. Thompson snagged a late reply in what was a long quarter (34:26), but the Eagles went into the main break with a 34-point lead.

Ricciuto kicked his second to open the third term, but from there it was all Blue and Yellow. West Coast kicked nine of the next 12 goals to stretch the margin out past 60 points, as at times the game resembled first versus last, not the top of the table blockbuster it was billed as.

Kerr, Judd and Hansen all kicked two in the term, while Armstrong snapped a second miraculous goal and Cousins celebrated his return with a second. It was hard to believe this was a team who had struggled to kick goals over the last month and a half, as the Eagles reminisced of last season in which they were untouchable at home.

The final term was all about statistics and stretching the margin even further, as another seven goals to four erased any possible questions about West Coast's attack having enough potency, against a defence that hadn't conceded more than 10 goals in a game since Easter

Next week, the Eagles face a test against an in-form St Kilda at the Telstra Dome, while Adelaide return to the comforts of AAMI Stadium for a date with Collingwood.

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