West Coast beat Essendon by 30 points at Optus Stadium on Sunday, turning a windy, slippery afternoon into their biggest victory of the season. The Eagles won 12.13 to 8.7 and moved to 4-8 under second-year coach Andrew McQualter.
That is the kind of result that draws attention in Afl Scores searches because it changed the shape of both teams’ seasons in one match. West Coast had recently gone down as favourites against a depleted Richmond at home, but this time they seized control early, then kept pressing until the margin blew out to 53 points before Essendon scored the last three goals to make the final line look a little gentler.
Harley Reid was central to the win with 24 disposals and nine score involvements, while Tim Kelly led the Eagles with 28 disposals. Milan Murdock and Jake Waterman each kicked three goals, and Willem Duursma added 25 disposals, six inside 50s and a goal as West Coast stacked up their fourth win of the year. Reuben Ginbey also took on Nate Caddy as part of a defensive job that helped keep Essendon at arm’s length when the game was there to be won.
Essendon did not arrive with much margin for error. The club was already forced into five changes and its injury list had swollen to 16 players, yet it still threatened early before West Coast ripped through the middle of the game with eight unanswered goals either side of half-time. Dean Solomon’s first match in his caretaker stint as coach was briefly alive, then quickly got away from his side.
The contest was made rougher still when Archie May suffered a dislocated shoulder and was ruled out for the rest of the match. His absence left Essendon even thinner on a day when it was already carrying a long injury list, and the final three-goal burst only softened a scoreline that had already been decided. West Coast’s next chance to build on this comes at Optus Stadium again, with Port Adelaide and North Melbourne to follow before the bye.
For McQualter, the result was the clearest sign yet that his side is starting to settle. It was West Coast’s biggest win under him, and a reminder that even in ugly conditions, their best football is beginning to look harder to shake.
