Eagles overcome Pies in grand final thriller
West Coast has ended the recent Victorian stranglehold on the AFL premiership cup, defeating Collingwood by five points in a thrilling and dramatic 2018 grand final.
The Eagles conceded the first five goals of the match but managed to grind their way back into the contest. After a see-sawing second half, they sealed the win when Dom Sheed slotted through a set shot from 40 metres on the boundary in time-on of the final term to give them a four-point lead.
Melbourne teams had defeated higher-ranked non-Victorian clubs in the past five grand finals, but the Eagles ended that streak and in doing so elevated themselves to the status of most successful non-Victorian AFL club, with four flags.
Collingwood looked in the box seat after jumping out to an 11-point lead seven minutes into the final quarter, but then had to endure a sustained burst of West Coast pressure that began with a Josh Kennedy goal that cut the Pies' lead to five points.
For the next 12 minutes the ball barely left the West Coast forward half. The Eagles were peppering the goals, but were unable to take the lead.
Liam Ryan hit the post with a snap to cut the deficit to four points, then missed with a 35-metre set shot to make it three. Kennedy and Chris Masten both missed with set shots of their own to reduce the margin to a single point.
When Collingwood managed to clear the ball down the field and kick it to forward Mason Cox, for a set shot from 45 metres, the match was in danger of slipping away. But Cox missed and the Eagles managed to get the football back into the attacking half of the ground.
Ryan, who had earlier had a moment to forget when he dropped a straightforward chest mark 30 metres out, rose to take a contested overhead mark on the wing. His kick found Sheed on the boundary, with Willie Rioli doing well to block Pies opponent Brayden Maynard out of the contest without giving away a free kick.
The Eagles had a chance to further press home their advantage with a minute to play when a kick forward found Jack Darling alone in the goal square. But he inexplicably fumbled the mark, allowing Collingwood to rush a behind.
With 58 seconds to play the Pies tried a torpedo kick in from full-back, but Luke Shuey marked it inside the centre square, snuffing out any hopes of a late Collingwood goal.
It was a fitting contribution from Shuey, who was outstanding throughout with 34 disposals (19 contested) and was awarded the Norm Smith Medal for the best player on the ground.
Key forwards Cox and Darling, both virtually unsighted for their respective teams in the first half, lifted their games after the long break and became focal points in the pulsating second half.
West Coast sprang to life in the third quarter on the back of a team-lifting burst from Darling. The Eagles key forward, criticised for a contribution in the 2015 grand final, was equally poor in the first half here, contributing just one short kick, two handballs and a couple of unconvincing moments.
But to his credit he lifted, pushing hard up the ground, grabbing six marks and contributing seven disposals and a goal as the Eagles hit the lead for the first time in the game at the 20-minute mark of the third quarter.
A series of behinds had scores level as the three-quarter-time siren sounded. Will Hoskin-Elliott had the chance to break the deadlock with a 50-metre set shot after the bell, but it fell short.
Collingwood had begun the match with greater composure under pressure, handling cleanly in the clinches, handpassing slickly and hunting the Eagles with fierce tackles. The Pies booted the opening five goals to lead by 29 points at the 22-minute mark, prompting Eagles 2006 premiership captain Chris Judd to observe: "You can't win a grand final in the first quarter, but you can lose one."
His Triple M radio colleague, former coach Paul Roos, stated: ''They look like a beaten team, the
Eagles."
But with the game looking head for a Pies rout, goals from Willie Rioli and Kennedy in the moments just before quarter-time kept the Eagles in touch and revived the contest.The second term was an arm wrestle, with just one point scored in 20 minutes of frenetic and desperate play and both defences well on top whenever the ball punctuated the forward arcs.
A goal from Jordan De Goey broke the deadlock, but the Eagles responded immediately with goals from Mark Hutchings and Shuey to cut the margin to 12 points and have the game evenly poised at the main break.
For all of their early dominance, Collingwood struggled to find avenues to goal. The Magpies' preliminary final hero, Cox, had no bearing on the first half, with Eagles defender Tom Barrass keeping him to just one inefficient kick while gathering 11 disposals of his own.
The victory was West Coast's first in a final at the MCG since their 2006 flag, and their first finals victory over a Victorian club at the ground since 1999.
WEST COAST 2.2 4.3 8.7 11.13 (79)
COLLINGWOOD 5.1 6.3 8.7 11.8 (74)
Goals: West Coast: Kennedy 3, Hutchings, Shuey, Sheed, Darling, Yeo, Cripps, Vardy, Rioli Collingwood: De Goey 3, Cox 2, Stephenson 2, Hoskin-Elliott, Varcoe, Mihocek, Adams.
Best: West Coast: Shuey, Barass, Sheed, Vardy, Kennedy, Hurn. Collingwood: Adams, Mayne, Langdon, De Goey, Varcoe, Sier.
Injuries: Collingwood: Thomas (lower leg), Maynard (shoulder).
Umpires: Stevic, Ryan, Rosebury.
Crowd: 100,022 at the MCG.
Votes
Shuey (WC) 9
Barrass (WC) 8
Sheed (WC) 8
Adams (Coll) 8
Mayne (Coll) 8