2018 AFL Second Qualifying Final West Coast 86 Collingwood 70

THE FACTS

2018 AFL Second Qualifying Final COLLINGWOOD v GWS Time & Place: Saturday September 15, 7:25pm EST MCG TV: TBA Weather: Min 9 Max 21 Chance of rain 70%: < 1mm Wind: W 11kph Betting: Collingwood $1.60 GWS $2.35

WEST COAST       3.3.21   6.7.43   7.11.53   12.14.86
COLLINGWOOD     1.3.9    7.4.46   9.9.63    10.10.70

GOALS - Collingwood: Adams 2, De Goey 2, Mihocek 2, Stephenson, Thomas, Varcoe, Mayne

BEST - Collingwood: Sidebottom, Adams, Grundy, Goldsack, Treloar, Mihocek

INJURIES - Collingwood: Nil

REPORTS - Collingwood: Nil

OFFICIAL CROWD -  59,585 at Perth Stadium

TALKING POINTS

1. Lewis Jetta has exorcised his finals demons  West Coast speedster Lewis Jetta delivered the moment of a classic qualifying final when he intercepted the ball 45m from goal with five minutes to play and snapped a magnificent goal to put his team four points ahead. Swamped by teammates after celebrating in the style of Cristiano Ronaldo, it was a dream moment that should erase any nightmares Jetta has had about poor past performances on the September stage, including last year's semi-final against Greater Western Sydney. The former Swan finished with 20 possessions and, his brilliant goal aside, was critical in a famous September win for his team. 2. You can't keep Josh Kennedy down for four quarters In his first game since suffering a hairline fracture in his right shin injury almost seven weeks ago, Josh Kennedy looked off in the opening quarter. When things didn't improve in the second, and he entered the main break with two disposals and no marks, the Eagles would have been concerned. Kennedy had been an inch off all night, and the situation looked dire when the two-time Coleman medallist fluffed a simple 25m shot in the third quarter. But things finally turned his way in the third minute of the final term when he took a clean mark on the lead, converting from 45m on the boundary to lift his team on his shoulders at a critical moment. Kennedy was beaten on Saturday night, but he lifted when needed, and he's not likely to be that inch off when the Eagles' host a preliminary final in two weeks' time. 3. The Pies did the right thing at selection Although Collingwood didn't get the result they desired, the selections of Tyson Goldsack, Adam Treloar and Jeremy Howe in returns from injury earned a big tick. Goldsack, in particular, was an inspired selection, with the popular veteran returning from a knee reconstruction inside six months to take the points against Kennedy. Goldsack's added height (193cm) was important for an undersized back six, allowing Tom Langdon and Howe to split their duties on Jack Darling (two goals). Treloar, meanwhile, started with a rush before slowing down to finish with 24 possessions (13 contested) and six clearances. All three will be critical – and better for the run – when the Magpies face Greater Western Sydney in a cutthroat semi-final.   4. The Magpies hold no fears on the finals stage Premiership Magpie Steele Sidebottom has missed the finals stage, and the finals have missed him, with the midfielder producing a brilliant performance that fell just short of delivering his team victory. But while Sidebottom could draw on 14 games of finals' experience, 14 of his teammates had none. That group included stars Treloar and Taylor Adams and Jordan De Goey, who each stood up to kick important goals in the second half. Coach Nathan Buckley has harnessed his young group's energy this season, and will no doubt have seen aspects of Saturday night's performance worth taking confidence from. "We won't dwell or cry over spilt milk," the coach said post-match, immediately focusing on next week's clash against the Giants. 5. Travis Varcoe deserved his moment Travis Varcoe showed incredible strength to fly across the country and play on Saturday night following the death of his sister Margaret last week. A minute's silence was observed pre-game, and Eagles Shannon Hurn, Tom Cole, Tom Barrass and Jetta made a point of shaking the experienced Magpie's hand before the bounce. Then it was time for Varcoe to pay his own tribute of sorts, swooping on a loose ball at half-forward, steadying, and kicking a brilliant running goal from 50m on the boundary. The Magpies were better for having Varcoe, who also laid a team-lifting chase-down tackle on Luke Shuey in a tense third quarter.

THE MEDIA

SUPERFOOTY COLLINGWOOD coach Nathan Buckley insists his team is “still in the fight” after the Pies were overrun by West Coast in the dying stages of a pulsating qualifying final. After being jumped in the first quarter, Collingwood dug in to shade and the second and third quarters before the Eagles’ late surge saw the home side snatch a dramatic 16-point win. Buckley vowed his side, which has responded to adversity in various forms all season, was again ready to hit back - starting with a sudden-death semi-final against a rejuvenated Greater Western Sydney. “We haven’t been a group that have dwelled too long. We’re still in the fight and we have an opportunity now to make sure we take the lessons from this experience and dust ourselves off and go again,” Buckley said. “We’ve been a group that look out for one another and prepared to play for each other and I don’t think we saw anything different tonight. “Our conversation after the game was around the fact that we’ve spent most of the year learning a lot from our failures and the things we haven’t got right and this group are definitely focused to improve and we want to be better. “We still feel like there’s three wins for us to get and we didn’t get it tonight, unfortunately. But we earned the double chance and now we need to get three in a row and we start next week. “We won’t cry over spilt milk.” The Pies were winning the midfield battle and led by 10 points at the last change, but were overpowered in the last half hour. The Eagles came to life in the last quarter, winning contested ball 46-32 and the inside 50s 16-10 to power home. But they last night flew home to Melbourne knowing this was an opportunity lost. “We gave up some momentum at stoppage and got done in contested ball. That’s where finals games largely exist,” Buckley said. “We thought we were able to handle it for the most part and were in a position at three quarter-time to go on and finish the game off, but we didn’t. “The opposition you have got to give credit to for their persistence and what they were able to do ...we were just outworked in that last 30 minutes and West Coast deserved the win. "But we will take lessons from it.” AFL WEST Coast has snatched an epic qualifying final victory and broken Collingwood hearts after downing the brave Magpies by 16 points in a classic contest at Optus Stadium on Saturday night. After trailing the visitors by 10 points at three-quarter time, the Eagles stormed home, inspired by some brilliance from twin towers Josh Kennedy and Jack Darling, to book a home preliminary final for the first time since 2015. West Coast booted five goals to one in the fourth quarter, running over the top of an under-siege Collingwood, despite losing vital defender Brad Sheppard to a potentially season-ending hamstring injury in the first term. In an unforgettable final at WA's new football mecca, the Eagles' most experienced September campaigner Lewis Jetta was the hero, snapping a brilliant major with just over five minutes on the clock to put them ahead by four points. It was the 11th lead change of drama-packed encounter, and when Darling kicked his second goal soon after, the home side had done enough. At the final siren, Jack Redden sent the record 59,585-strong crowd into raptures by slotting his set shot, ensuring the Eagles ran out 12.14 (86) to 10.10 (70) winners. The margin didn’t do justice to the contest, which ebbed and flowed from the opening bounce. Collingwood reclaimed the lead by two points at the 17-minute mark of the final term after Jordan De Goey slotted a clutch goal, and will be shattered after taking it up to West Coast with a frenetic, high-pressure game style. The Pies are now facing a cutthroat semi-final at the MCG against Greater Western Sydney, while the Eagles can sit back over the weekend off and await the victor of Hawthorn's do-or-die clash with Melbourne. It had been a fizzer of a finals series until Saturday night's bout, but West Coast and Collingwood more than made up for it with a thrilling and absorbing clash. The Eagles had all the momentum early, with finals debutant Liam Ryan overcoming early nerves and drilling two majors to hand the home side an 18-point break in the first term. But Travis Varcoe, whose sister Margaret passed away last week, inspired the Pies with a deadeye finish from 50m out near the boundary before the break. Varcoe was swamped by his teammates after his superb finish, and after resetting at quarter-time, Collingwood got the game on its terms in the second quarter. West Coast hasn't lost a game all year when taking more than 90 marks and piled up 33 by quarter-time, with star defender Jeremy McGovern pulling in seven of his own. However, the Pies soon turned the game into a ground-level battle and took a three-point lead into half-time with a six-goal-to-three second term. The third quarter was almost unbearable, with both sides missing some golden opportunities in front of goal. There was no bigger culprit than returning star Kennedy, who missed three shots before finally finding the major opening. The rusty dual Coleman medallist was superbly held by Tyson Goldsack in his miraculous comeback game from a ruptured ACL only six months ago, but found some form in the second half and finished with two majors. The Pies rolled the dice at the selection table, but gun midfielder Adam Treloar (24 disposals) was outstanding in his comeback from a rare double hamstring and defender Jeremy Howe contained Darling until the final quarter. Collingwood's All Australian duo Brodie Grundy and Steele Sidebottom were brilliant turning the tide after quarter-time, with strong support from Taylor Adams and Brayden Sier. Elliot Yeo was the Eagles' best four-quarter performer in a midfield which matched the Pies for clearances (36-37). The Eagles won contested ball (169-163), with Dom Sheed, Luke Shuey and Redden stepping up in the second half to help send the Eagles through to the preliminary final. MEDICAL ROOM Collingwood: Midfield Taylor Adams had to be helped by trainers early in the final term after copping Elliot Yeo's knee to his head, but he was soon back in the action. NEXT UP The Pies have to regroup quickly before facing the dangerous Giants in a do-or-die semi-final. REAL FOOTY This qualifying final carried an unrelenting tension from start to finish. The hometown favourites West Coast were expected to defeat Collingwood to move into a home preliminary final. And when the Eagles kicked the first three goals of the game and their All-Australian defender Jeremy McGovern was marking every forward thrust, the match looked to be going to script. But Collingwood have not followed the script all season so there was no reason they would do so in foreign territory with such a reward on offer. It was Travis Varcoe who inspired the Magpies, kicking a brilliant running goal from the boundary line at the 23-minute mark. The moment came just 25 minutes after Varcoe had stood between his mates, Jack Crisp and Will Hoskin-Elliott, as 59,000 people observed a minute’s silence to honour his younger sister Margaret, who had died less than a fortnight earlier after a knock playing football. Such courage on a football field is rarely seen and from that point on the Magpies settled, joining in on Varcoe’s mission to get in and out of Perth with a finals win. They attacked the Eagles with a ferocity that has defined their brand all season and began to win the ball out of the centre. All of a sudden what had seemed unlikely early in the first quarter became possible and every possession was fraught. The shift in mood was in keeping with Collingwood’s season, because to describe what has happened at the Magpies in 2018 as unlikely would be an understatement. There were signs on the ground for everyone with a black and white persuasion to see too, with Tyson Goldsack, who tore his ACL in March and found himself matched up on the previous year’s Coleman Medallist, Josh Kennedy, in his first game back leading the charge. Midfielder Adam Treloar sat behind the veteran on the podium, coming back from tearing both hamstrings in round 14 to have 14 disposals at half-time as he worked in unison with the unlikely but deserving All-Australian Steele Sidebottom, who helped the Magpies to a six-goal second term. Then there was Brody Mihocek, who was wearing a Port Melbourne jumper a year earlier, with two goals before half-time to give the Magpies a sniff. That he couldn’t kick what might have put the Eagles away just before three-quarter-time was unfortunate because in every other aspect of the game he played like a veteran. That moment came after Varcoe had changed the momentum again late in the third quarter when he chased down Luke Shuey to stop him as he strode purposefully towards goal. Mihocek found himself alongside Chris Mayne, a player all but given up on who worked his way back into the team in round six and stayed. Suddenly, in a final, he found himself with the most important job in the game in the second quarter when he was asked to quell the influence of the big marking McGovern, who had taken seven marks at quarter time and looked impassable. Mayne wasn’t perfect but he provided a contest and applied forward pressure at every chance. Buckley was as rewarded for keeping the faith in Mayne as the Magpies had been for keeping their faith in the coach who had just held on to his job despite four years without a finals appearance after a wide-ranging review. Throw in Josh Thomas, who had spent two years sidelined after an anti-doping infraction, Jordan De Goey who was ordered to do some community work after being caught drink driving and an American in Mason Cox, who was laughed at after round one when he dropped mark after mark. With just seven minutes remaining that rag tag bunch had taken Collingwood to one point in front and the stadium was reverberating like a crater. But attempting to rob a final from the Eagles’ home is not done without the likelihood of pain. And it came with five minutes remaining when Lewis Jetta kicked a snap goal to put the Eagles in front and the crowd came to life. Then Jack Darling kicked a goal to put the margin beyond two goals. The Eagles were in the preliminary final and Collingwood were heading back to Victoria, heads held high, and likely to be hard to beat in the semi-final.