21/06/2008 11:32 PM
West Coast's season has hit a new low as Geelong thumped the 2006 premier by 135 points at Subiaco on Saturday night.
The Eagles may have fielded one of their most experienced sides this season but they were taught a football lesson by Geelong in a 28.14 (182) to 5.7 (47) thrashing, the second-greatest loss in Eagles' history by seven points.
West Coast was made to pay for their poor skills and numerous turnovers during the first half before Geelong lifted a gear in the third quarter, thumping on 10 majors as both Paul Chapman and Cam Mooney finished the night with five goals.
James Kelly cropped up with four but it was the Gary Ablett show once again, the Brownlow favourite amassing 37 possessions and two goals as he took advantage of some slack Eagles' marking once West Coasts' premier tagger Adam Selwood was taken to hospital with a throat injury after an off-the-ball incident involving Steve Johnson in the first quarter.
For the Eagles, Daniel Kerr was tagged out of the encounter by Cameron Ling, his 22 stats being mostly ineffective, while Mark LeCras was the only forward offering any resistance, booting three goals.
Geelong set the tone in the second minute. After Adam Hunter missed a first-up opportunity for the Eagles, the Cats produced a smooth transition of play, easing the ball forward with consummate ease to Chapman who drilled the opening goal from 25 metres.
It was not that West Coast was overly bad, however. Possession wise and at ground level, the Eagles almost matched it with the Cats, but the home side's dreadful inaccuracy when hitting targets produced numerous turnovers that were always going to hurt.
By quarter time, Kelly had booted two while Johnson, in his 100th game, laconically curled in a long-range banana kick with the outside of his boot as the Cats amassed seven goals to one to take a 34-point lead into the quarter-time huddle.
It only got worse during the second term as Geelong fired in another six goals to effectively end the contest.
In the third minute of the quarter a Dean Cox turnover in defence allowed David Wojcinski, a late replacement for Matthew Stokes, to run the lines and pass to Tom Lonergan for another major.
The Eagles did lift the intensity during the early stages of that quarter as LeCras snapped his second for the game, but the hosts had no effective forward targets and were under pressure every time they went forward.
By half-time, West Coast had amassed 22 inside 50s to 26, but the Cats defence, led by skipper Tom Harley, rebounded it 19 times, laying the foundation for wave after wave of attacks.
The pressure was so intense that 10 of the Cats' 13 goals came from turnovers as Geelong made the Eagles pay through some ruthless efficiency.
After the main break, the Eagles effectively capitulated. Geelong slammed on seven goals within the first 15 minutes to extend the lead to 106 points, the Eagles deficiencies encapsulated by Darren Glass and Brad Jones coughing up the ball in defence, allowing Ablett to take possession, shrug another tackle and handpass to Travis Varcoe for the forward's second goal of the term.
Adam Hunter goaled in the 19th minute for West Coast - the Eagles first major in over a quarter - as the Subiaco crowd offered bronx cheers, but the Cats simply added another three goals to take a 116-point lead into the final change.
Geelong coach Mark Thompson, in his 400th game as player and coach, was spotted lazily chomping on a pie in the coach's box but there was no drop in intensity from his charges, with Darren Millburn giving Andrew Mackie a roast for an innocuous mistake with the Cats already a hundred points ahead.
The final term seemed something of an anti-climax as Geelong added a further five majors to two, finishing the game with the highest score by any team this season, eclipsing Collingwood's 173 against the Eagles, as the Cats sent out their most ominous warning to the other 2008 premiership contenders.
WEST COAST: 1.5, 2.9, 3.14, 5.7 (47)
GEELONG: 7.3, 13.6, 23.10, 28.14 (182)
GOALS: West Coast: LeCras 3, Hunter, Cox
Geelong: Mooney 5, Chapman 5, Kelly 4, Johnson 2, Rooke 2, Lonergan 2, Varcoe 2, Ablett 2, Taylor, Mackie, Prismall, Bartel
BEST: West Coast: LeCras, Embley, Cox, Schofield
Geelong: Ablett, Chapman, Mooney, Harley, Wojcinski, Ling, Mackie, Bartel
INJURIES: West Coast: Adam Selwood (throat)
Geelong: Nil
REPORTS: Nil
CHANGES: David Wojcinski replaced Matthew Stokes (knee) in the Geelong selected side
UMPIRES: Donlon, Rosebury, Kamolins
CROWD: 38,414 at Subiaco Oval
Sportal AFL Player of the Year votes:
3. Gary Ablett
2. Paul Chapman
1. Cameron Ling