A shoulder injury to star forward Jake Waterman has rubbed salt into Waalitj Marawar’s (West Coast’s) wounds in a heavy 66-point defeat to Kuwarna (Adelaide) at Adelaide Oval on Sunday.
Waterman had been one of the Eagles’ best with three goals but the All-Australian forward was taken from the field holding his right shoulder after finding himself in the middle of a massive collision early in the final quarter.
It came after the Eagles were ambushed by a ruthless Crows in the third term, the home side kicking seven goals to one to shake off the brave visitors and secure a 19.14 (128) to 8.14 (62) victory.
The Eagles went into the game having lost their past eight games at the iconic South Australian venue, including a 99-point defeat 264 days prior.
For more than a half of footy, Andrew McQualter’s men gave the Crows a fight but ultimately the home side were able to make the scoreboard reflect the gap in class between the two outfits.
Crows captain Jordan Dawson lifted his game in the third term when Kuwarna put the Eagles to the sword, finishing with 27 disposals, eight clearances, two goals and 11 inside 50s.
Sam Berry relished his rare exposure to full midfield minutes with 26 disposals, four clearances and a goal, while prized recruit James Peatling (16 disposals and two goals) glided across the ground in an eye-catching performance.
West Coast’s day was epitomised by defender Reuben Ginbey who was incredibly brave – including taking an amazing mark back with the flight – but butchered the footy when given the chance.
Their veterans who had been so staunch in the past fortnight looked tired as the toll of a gruelling season begins to take its toll already.
The Eagles’ undersized defence would’ve breathed a sigh of relief when the Crows withdrew former skipper Taylor Walker before the bounce.
And then the reality of the monumental task ahead of them would’ve set in when Riley Thilthorpe (two goals) out-positioned two Eagles defenders to kick the first goal.
Skill errors plagued the Eagles early at both ends of the ground as simple missed kicks left them exposed on the turnover and cost them early scoring opportunities.
Oscar Allen (two goals) would’ve been the most frustrated man in South Australia, with the Eagles’ co-captain beating his opponent on several occasions only for his teammates to be unable to find him on the lead.
Promisingly, the visitors didn’t let the mistakes discourage them and they maintained their strong pressure to create turnovers the other way and hit the scoreboard.
They could’ve been in front had they been cleaner going forward, with the Crows taking an incredible nine intercept marks in the first term alone.
And they didn’t fix the issues at quarter time. Waalitj Marawar went from competitive to on top through the middle of the ground and it allowed them to dominate the territory battle.
While they had 18 inside 50s for the term, for much of the quarter it looked as if their only goal would come courtesy of a lucky bounce from Tyler Brockman, who was trying to find Allen but overcooked the kick.
At the other end Adelaide were efficient with their limited opportunities and held a 23-point lead when Thilthorpe kicked his second late in the term.
Waterman kept the Eagles within touch when he converted a long-range set shot after the half-time siren, but they could’ve been a lot closer had their midfield-forward connection been better.
The Crows was finally able to break the game open late in the third term, kicking five unanswered goals in a 13-minute ambush to blow the 17-point half-time lead out to 57 points at the last break.
Waterman’s unfortunate injury seemed to suck the life out of the contest as Josh closed the door on a miracle comeback when he ran into an unguarded goalsquare to kick his fourth of his five majors.
Within 30 seconds the Eagles’ day may have got worse with premiership defender Tom Cole limping from the ground with a potential ankle injury.
Recruit Liam Baker may face scrutiny from the match review officer after pushing his elbow into the back of Peatling’s head after giving away a free kick.
SCOREBOARD
KUWARNA 4.2, 8.5, 15.12, 19.14 (128)
WAALITJ MARAWAR 3.2, 5.6, 6.9, 8.14 (62)
Goals – KUWARNA: A Rachele 5 J Dawson 2 J Peatling 2 L Pedlar 2 R Thilthorpe 2 S Berry D Fogarty B Keays A Neal-Bullen R O’Brien I Rankine. WAALITJ MARAWAR: J Waterman 3 O Allen 2 T Brockman B Hough H Reid.
Best – KUWARNA: J Dawson S Berry R Thilthorpe J Rachele J Peatling I Rankine. WAALITJ MARAWAR: R Ginbey J Waterman J Graham T Brockman S Brock H Reid.
Injuries – KUWARNA: T Walker (managed) replaced in the selected side by S Draper. WAALITJ MARAWAR: T Cole (ankle) J Waterman (shoulder).
Umpires: L Haussen C Deboy A Adair N McGinness. Crowd: 39,271 at Adelaide Oval.
