The West Coast Eagles demolished the Sydney Swans on Thursday night for a second straight AFL NAB Challenge pre-season win, spoiling the debut of Lance Franklin.
West Coast’s solid turnaround continued against the Swans in Blacktown as the Eagles nabbed a 0.10.12 (72) to 0.5.7 (37) victory a week after crushing crosstown rivals Fremantle by 85 points back in Perth.
Buddy’s debut wasn’t a memorable one- the $10 million off-season recruit managed a goalless six-possession outing in the Eagles’ 35-point win.
Lance Franklin Impresses As Swans Return To Training
Veterans Chris Masten, Scott Selwood and Matt Rosa led the way for West Coast despite the wet and slippery conditions, breaking the game open in the third term when they kicked 6.4 to a scoreless quarter from the Swans.
Rosa accumulated a team-high 25 disposals, while Mark Hutchings (23, 11 tackles), Andrew Gaff (23) and Xavier Ellis (23) were all major ball winners.
For the second straight week, West Coast walked away from their pre-season hit-out with a number of positive signs.
After managing just seven games in 2013, youngster Blayne Wilson had a big night out to the tune of 21 possessions and eight marks. Brisbane recruit Elliot Yeo impressed with clean disposal and 17 touches and 19-year-old Brant Colledge was also a standout with 15 touches and two goals.
Backup ruckmen Callum Sinclair and Scott Lycett were also among West Coast’s best, although the same could not be said for the lacklustre performances of Pat McGinnity and Josh Hill, who combined for just nine possessions and face an uphill battle to claim round one spots.
A frustrated performance from Lance Franklin summed up the Swans’ night against a West Coast side missing stars Luke Shuey, Matt Priddis, Dean Cox and Nick Naitanui.
Well held by Mitch Brown, Franklin had more issues marking the ball and gave away a couple of free kicks attempting to influence the play in the second half.
Heath Grundy (35 possessions), Craig Bird (32), Ryan O’Keefe (28) and Nick Malceski (25) were Sydney’s top ball winners.
Among those rested for Sydney were Kieren Jack, Jarrad McVeigh, Josh Kennedy and Ted Richards, Ben McGlynn, Adam Goodes and Kurt Tippett.
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Photo: Brendon Thorne/Getty Images.
