WEST COAST 4.3 7.9 8.14 11.17 (83)
GEELONG 1.2 2.3 5.6 10.10 (70)
GOALS - West Coast: Sheed 2, Darling 2, Jetta 2, Gaff, Petrie, Cripps, Duggan, Schofield. Geelong: Stanley 3, Menzel 2, Taylor 2, Cockatoo, Dangerfield, Motlop.
BEST - West Coast: Shuey, Mitchell, Sheed, Jetta, Vardy, Yeo. Geelong: Dangerfield, Duncan, Guthrie, Tuohy, J Selwood, Taylor.
UMPIRES Donlon, Stevic, Dalgleish, Hosking.
CROWD 35,719 at Domain Stadium.
We're half-way through the season and we're no closer to knowing whether West Coast are legitimate contenders this season, or not.
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Eagles stumble home against Cats
West Coast have broken a three game losing streak with a gritty 13-point win over Geelong at Domain Stadium.
The Eagles performance in the first half of their 13-point win over Geelong at Domain Stadium on Thursday night would suggest they are. The crucial four points, after three consecutive losses, sends them back into the eight.
But again, the win came at Domain Stadium, where their only slip-up this season was against GWS in round 10 and by just five points. They have been terrible away from home.
It could be a while before we can determine the Eagles credentials as three of their next four games are at home, including next week against Melbourne when key forward Josh Kennedy is likely to return.
But will they have Sam Mitchell? The Brownlow medallist was back to his creative best in a physical game, but a few altercations between him and Geelong captain Joel Selwood will be looked at closely by the Match Review Panel.
Mitchell and Selwood could both face scrutiny – after the two had an ugly 10-15 seconds where they clashed several times.
And so for the seventh season in a row, Geelong have lost the week after their bye.
The Cats enjoyed a three-game winning streak prior to the break and a win would have seen them join Adelaide and the Giants on top of the AFL ladder with nine wins.
While many Cats fans will point their finger at suspended forward Tom Hawkins for the loss, his absence wasn't the reason they didn't win.
The ball wasn't in Geelong's forward line enough, especially in the opening half, for the big fella to have been able to contribute.
The team averaging almost 54 inside 50s a game had only 17 in the opening half on Thursday night – and 43 for the game. The result was a half-time score of just 15 points (2.3), the Cats worst first half since they managed 1.3 against Sydney at the SCG in round 11 of 2014. They trailed by 48 points at the main break in that game and by 110 at the end of the game.
On Thursday night, they improved as the game went on and Harry Taylor started to provide a presence up forward. Rhys Stanley also kicked three goals in a rare appearance at AFL level.
After trailing by 31 points late in the third term, the Cats kicked three consecutive goals to get the margin back to 13 points. Stanley's second reduced that to only 12 with seven minutes left on the clock.
They had already beaten North Melbourne (in round two) and St Kilda (round six) after trailing at half-time this season, but both were after being behind by six points or less – not 36.
Being down two rotations hurt the Cats though. Nakia Cockatoo was sitting on the sidelines with a hamstring injury midway through the first term, while Scott Selwood joined him just before three-quarte-time with the same problem.
Cockatoo had just kicked the first goal of the game, while Selwood was good in the midfield with eight tackles.
The goals kept coming for the Cats, but they couldn't stop the Eagles from hitting the scoreboard.
Without Kennedy, West Coast managed 28 scoring shots, although their inaccuracies early in the game did put them under some pressure late in the game. They kicked 11.17, including 1.8 from stoppages.
The win could have been much more impressive.
Lewis Jetta put on a kicking clinic to provide opportunity to his forwards and if Jack Darling and Drew Petrie had have received the returns they deserved for their efforts, they would have won by a lot more.
The pair kicked three goals between them.
The win was crucial for the Eagles as it broke a three-game losing streak. It also provided them their third win against a top-eight side after victories in rounds seven and eight against Port Adelaide and the Western Bulldogs.