Lloyd Meek

The bottom of the ladder clash rounded out this footy weekend.  Both teams winless, with the Hawks in 17^th and the Kangaroos in 18^th position. Fans from both teams arrived today hoping to see their club's first win for the season. The Kangaroos were quick out of the blocks and a long kick to the goal square saw Eddie Ford rove at the back of the pack and snap it home from a tight angle to open the scoring. The Roos backed it up when again the long kick in traveled over the top of the pack and was scooped up by the quick running Jy Simpkin who ran into goal to score from point blank range.

Hawthorn finally found some composure and Macdonald's kick over the top to find Gunston deep in the pocket, making for an easy set shot around the body for the veteran. A minute later he marked at the top of the 50 meter line and dished off to Amon who was running past and easily cleared the goal line to put the Hawks in front for the first time today. The Hawks began to dominate around the ground, but their kicking was letting them down a bit. A nice hit up of Moore 30 meters out straight in front though, saw them kick their 3rd goal and take a seven point lead to the first break.

The Fremantle Dockers returned to the winning list by dominating the undermanned West Coast Eagles at Optus Stadium. The Eagles had made thirteen changes to their side from the previous week, with several stars returning from injury and Covid protocols. However, the team appeared underdone and flat footed as they offered little resistance to the pacy young Dockers.

West Coast started well with Josh Kennedy booting a goal in the first five minutes. From there it was all Dockers apart from Eagle defenders Jeremy McGovern and Shannon Hurn, who battled manfully in defense against the Docker onslaught. It was only the Dockers’ inaccuracy in front of goals which kept the Eagles within striking distance until the eleven-minute mark of the third quarter.

The West Coast Eagles have confirmed that Nic Naitanui has a torn the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) on his right knee. His left knee was reconstructed in late 2016 and kept Naitanui out of the competition for all of 2017. American specialist Bill Knowles, who assisted Naitanui with his recovery in Philadelphia last July, has suggested that this second reconstruction could require a longer recovery period. It is expected that Naitanui will undergo reconstruction surgery as soon as the initial swelling subsides. He will miss the rest of this year and most of the 2019 season. The twenty-eight year old has played 160 games for West Coast; he will be nearly 30 when he returns to the game.