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West Coast overcome loss of captain Luke Shuey to beat Sydney on Gold Coast

The West Australian
VideoWATCH: Kicked from 60 metres out - as a drop punt - how good is this from Jake Waterman?!

It wasn’t make or break in West Coast coach Adam Simpson’s opinion, but Saturday’s AFL win over Sydney brings some much-needed relief to the Eagles.

Winless after three matches in their Queensland hub, the Eagles turned it on in the second-half at Metricon Stadium to run away with an 11.11 (77) to 6.7 (43) win over the Swans.

Despite losing captain Luke Shuey (hamstring) in the opening quarter, the Eagles were too good for an undersized and undermanned Sydney, kicking six goals to two in the second half.

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Up against part-timer Aliir Aliir, Eagles superstar Nic Naitanui had a field day in the ruck, notching 39 hitouts to Aliir’s five.

Midfielder Elliot Yeo shrugged off his indifferent form in recent weeks to stand tall in the absence of Shuey, picking up 21 disposals, 12 of them contested.

There was also impressive efforts by the Eagles’ generation next with Oscar Allen kicking three goals while Jake Waterman booted two majors including a 55m drop punt after the first quarter siren which gave West Coast a big boost.

Jack Darling and Jamie Cripps also found some form with two goals each to leave Simpson relieved after the match.

“We lost three in a row, really disappointing, it would have been really difficult to drop one today, but not the end of the world,” Simpson said.

“Our players ... I know they’ve got really good resilience, so to respond like they did, I’m not surprised.

“I wasn’t losing it last week. I’m not going to go over the top this week. I’m happy we’ve performed at our level and I’m expecting us to do it next week.”

Simpson said Shuey and Jamaine Jones (hamstring) or both set to miss next weekend’s final hub clash against Adelaide at the Gabba while Jack Redden could have a nervous wait after being placed on report for striking in the first quarter.

Sydney, who flew up to the Gold Coast on Saturday morning after Thursday’s clash between Richmond and West Coast was canned due to Victoria’s coronavirus outbreak, were brave in the opening two terms but couldn’t stay with the Eagles.

Luke Parker marked his 200th game with 19 touches and six tackles while Jake Lloyd had a game-high 26 possessions.

Hayden McLean, who split the ruck duties with Aliir, kicked two goals for the Swans.

“They’re 42 games on average each, more experienced than us,” Swans coach John Longmire said.

“They’ve got some big bodies and some of our young boys got a lesson.

“There was a few we’ve been happy with that have been going OK, but they got a lesson in what a big, mature, hardened AFL footy team is like.”

While the Eagles wrap up their Queensland hub next week against the Crows, the Swans are also in Brisbane next weekend to take on premiers Richmond.

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