West Coast have been humiliated by a dominant Hawthorn team, being held goalless for three quarters, kicking their equal third-lowest score in their history and losing by 66 points.
The Eagles were no match for the Hawks and went inside 50 just 17 times for the day and seven times after quarter time as they lost 11.8 (74) to 1.2 (8). It was West Coast’s sixth-largest-ever defeat.
The club also has an injury concern after Kellie Gibson left the field in pain late in the match after an off-the-ball clash with Ainslie Kemp.
It was a day they would rather forget after the only major came when kicking with the strong breeze in the first quarter. That was their only joy for the day.
Hawthorn kicked a tumbling goal in the opening minute and then defended grandly with immense pressure and strong tackles denying the Eagles whenever they got into positions to score.
Hawthorn instantly punished West Coast when they had the breeze. Aine McDonagh made Zoe Wakfer pay for giving away a free kick for a push in the back at the top of the goal square and booted the Hawks’ second major. IT became a trend as West Coast constantly gave away free kicks in the backline.
When Louise Stephenson snapped truly from 50m out moments later, the lead had ballooned to 13 points and the then nailed another opportunity as Emily Bates took the advantage when her team won another free kick inside 50 and she gave the Hawks an even bigger lead.
West Coast coach Daisy Pearce pushed numbers into the backline to halt Hawthorn’s momentum and that prevented the home team from kicking any more goals for the half.
But Hawthorn had 14 inside 50s to two for the quarter and the Eagles’ final forward entry was when Mikayla Western attempted a 60m set shot after the siren.
The Eagles had to kick the first goal of the third term to put pressure on Hawthorn with the breeze, but the Hawks got the ball forward quickly and hit the scoreboard.
Aileen Gilroy charged forward after receiving a handpass and ran into an open goal. A 27-point margin suddenly looked imposing.
West Coast couldn’t get the ball forward to even have a chance of scoring and Emily Bates made it a 34-point contest with her team’s eighth forward entry for the term.
The Eagles took more than 10 minutes to get the ball forward but only managed two behinds for the term while Hawthorn kicked four goals as they surged to a 45-point advantage.
The Hawks then piled on more pain with three goals to none in the final term to leap into top spot on the AFLW ladder.
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