West Coast Eagles torched in third quarter as fellow strugglers Richmond produce 49-point win at Optus Stadium

West Australian

a day ago

West Coast are firmly facing the prospect of a one-win season for the first time in their 39-year history after losing the battle of the cellar-dwellers to Richmond by a devastating 49 points.
Against a team that some predicted wouldn't win a game for the year, the young Eagles capitulated under the pressure, while the effort and leadership of the majority of their senior players was left wanting.
It resulted in a horror 16.9 (105) to 8.8 (56) defeat in front of 44,252 of their faithful at Optus Stadium on Saturday night, effectively ensuring they will claim their third-ever wooden spoon.
For many, this game had long been circled as one West Coast could win as they looked to claim a morale-boosting win late in the season.
The Tigers had other ideas, blowing them away in an eight-goal to one third term that many would argue resulted in their worst loss for the season.
After a week in the spotlight for his style of play, No.1 draftee Harley Reid produced a commanding first half with 20 disposals, six clearances and five inside-50s as he tried to lead the Eagles to victory.
Richmond coach Adem Yze decided he wasn't going to let Reid grab the four points from their grasp, sending Jack Ross to him in the second half with great success, forcing Andrew McQualter to send the 20-year-old to full-forward.
Not only did Reid not get enough support from any teammates, but none stood up to fill the void in a performance that will not help them convince the talented Victorian to stay in WA.
Richmond's leaders in Tim Taranto (30 disposals, seven clearances and three goals), Jacob Hopper (32 disposals, nine clearances and two goals) and Nick Vlastuin (24 disposals) belted the Eagles, who had no answer.
The story of the first half was little moments rather than dominant periods of play.
And it was the Tigers, led by Maurice Rioli, who were able to stand tall when the game called for an individual effort.
The first big one came when Rioli produced an incredible effort to run down Brady Hough in the middle of the stadium as the Eagle went to take a third bounce and kick on goal.
It resulted in the first of two consecutive goals to Taranto as the visitors went into the first break with a slender five-point lead.
Rioli then produced another remarkable highlight midway through the second term when he smothered a Harry Edwards kick in defence, before toe-poking the ball to himself and setting up ruckman Toby Nankervis in an unguarded goalsquare.
At this point the Tigers led by 16 points, despite early on the Eagles having the ability to lock the ball in their front half.
Their midfield-forward connection was the main issue plaguing the home side, with the absence of injured forwards Jake Waterman and Oscar Allen evident.
When West Coast would miss a turn the ball over inside 50, the Tigers go into a kamikaze like-attack, trying to get the ball in the hands of speedsters Rhyan Mansell (three goals) and Seth Campbell (two goals) who backed themselves to cover the turf.
Still the Eagles managed to scrap enough to be within a kick leading into half-time until another moment came back to haunt them.
Wingman Ryan Maric missed an easy kick to an unguarded Reid at half-back so badly that it resulted in a Hopper goal that deflated the parochial crowd leading into the main break.
The Eagles needed to find a way to seize some important moments early in the second half, but they continued to struggle to stop the Tigers' ball movement from halfback.
Co-captain Liam Duggan had a moment he'd like to forget when he went with a one-armed effort to try to stop Kamdyn McIntosh, who set up Jonty Faull for the first goal after half-time.
Liam Ryan (two goals) showed the way when he was able to dribble a ball over the head of Richmond defender Tylar Young from deep in the right forward pocket for one of the goals of the season.
It was only a momentary bit of relief for the Eagles who continued to make poor decisions under pressure.
Tyler Brockman decided to kick back into defence rather than go long down the line, only to turn the ball over to Faull who kicked his second.
When Tyler Sonsie kicked Richmond's fourth goal of the third term after Tyrell Dewar over-ran the ball at centre-half-back to cough up another turnover the visitors had the game under control.
West Coast looked lost for answers and by the final break the Tigers had gone from a nine-point half-time lead to a 53-point advantage to ensure they would head home with the premiership points.
West Coast finally strung together three consecutive goals for the first time in the match thanks to Reid's impact out of the goalsquare who kicked two of them.
But the amount of effort it took to kick those goals meant they were only able to make a small dent in Richmond's lead.
The Tigers finished the game strongly to not only crack 100 points for the first time this season but claim consecutive wins.
RICHMOND 3.2 6.3 14.7 16.9 (105)
WEST COAST 2.3 4.6 5.8 8.8 (56)
GOALS – Richmond: T Taranto 3 R Mansell 3 J Faull 2 J Hopper 2 S Campbell 2 T Sims T Sonsie J Short T Nankervis. West Coast: H Reid 2 L Ryan 2 C Hall J Shanahan B Williams J Cripps.
BEST – Richmond: T Taranto J Ross N Vlastuin J Hopper T Nankervis T Sonsie. West Coast: H Reid H Edwards L Duggan B Hough R Ginbey.
INJURIES – Nil.
UMPIRES: L Fisher J Power R O'Gorman A Heffernan.
CROWD: 44,252 at Optus Stadium.