West Coast Rivalries

By Kim Densham for AFANA in Melbourne

Essendon and the West Coast Eagles have a colorful past with a rivalry that goes back to the days when Coach Kevin Sheedy started waving his jacket whenever the Bombers defeated the Eagles. At the start of this season, the Eagles, like the Bombers, had not been given much chance of success. Coach John Worsfold was inked in as one of the first coaches to be fired. Both teams however showed epic pre-season form, both making the Preliminary Finals and both losing to Collingwood in the NAB Cup.

This match would be a test of where each team was at in the season and would provide legitimacy of their Top Eight aspirations. Last time the teams met Eagle Mark LeCras kicked 12 goals. West Coast had won the past four encounters, not losing to the Bombers since Round 12 in 2008.

Essendon renamed the Lockett end of Etihad Stadium to the Fletcher end for all their future home games. Fans loved the concept of having the ends named after the two current day champions, Lloyd and Fletcher. The Eagles are celebrating 25 years of club history by reaching out to their interstate fan base, with supporter functions at away games enabling loyal fans to mingle with each other and the players.

It was a grueling encounter and full of heavy body contact with the Eagles taking the early lead and maintaining scoreboard dominance as the teams traded goals for much of the game. The ruck pair of Dean Cox and Nic Naitanui dominated the Essendon trio of Paddy Ryder, David Hille and Tom Bellchambers. The Eagles dominant forward line included the welcome return to form of big man Quinten Lynch and an early return from injury of Mark LeCras. A third quarter concussion to hard nut Brett Stanton saw him substituted, a move which changed the shape of the game, forcing Essendon into more run through the center. The Bombers eventually scored twice in succession and went on to win a tough contested match against an uncompromising West Coast outfit.

For game time action check out this link:

http://www.afana.com/drupal5/category/image_galleries/2011_season/2011_season_photo_essays/rd_7_essendon_v_west_coast_eagles/14-1

Essendon   16.10 (106)
West Coast 12.18  (90)