Andrew Embley

Four weeks ago the Adelaide Crows and the West Coast Eagles were both near the bottom of the table looking at the Wooden Spoon. What a difference a month makes. Since then Adelaide had won their last three games and climbed slowly up the ladder while the Eagles had slipped to last place. On a wintry Perth day Adelaide had the chance to win four on the trot and virtually cement the Eagles in bottom position.

Over the last few seasons St Kilda has been a team that you could bank on to win just about every game they played. This season, with the loss of their key goal kicker Nick Riewoldt, they have been shaky, losing three out of eight games. The West Coast Eagles have not fared much better but they were coming off two wins in a row and playing at their home ground in front of 38,000 faithful fans. The bookmakers had the game evenly balanced and there was an air of belief in Perth that the Eagles could knock the Saints down a peg or two.

TRIBUNAL

Charges Laid:
James McDonald (MELB), striking North Melbourne's Andrew Swallow: assessed as intentional conduct (three points), low impact (one point) and body contact (one point), equaling five activation points, a Level Two offense, 125 demerits, and a one game suspension. His five year good record reduces the penalty 25% to 93.75 demerits. He accepted, reducing the penalty a further 25% to 70.31 demerits. As a result, he comes away with a reprimand with the demerits held over toward his future record.

Janet Linn reporting for AFANA from Subiaco Oval

All indications for the Round 11 West Coast versus Geelong match predicted that the Eagles would struggle to produce a half-respectable performance against the Cats' talented and so far unbeaten team. In past years, Subiaco Oval has been infamous as a hostile ground, difficult for interstate teams to conquer but this time, even with the home town advantage, the pundits were anticipating a thrashing for the Eagles.

A bumper crowd of 41,654 watched Matthew Pavlich become one of only three Fremantle Docker players to reach the 200 game milestone, joining former team mates Shane Parker and Shaun McManus in the illustrious 200 club. In a Western Derby played in two starkly contrasting halves, Pavlich started slowly and had minimal influence until after half time. Moving into the center of the ground in the third quarter, the Captain imposed his strength and willingness to go in hard after the football and turned the tide of the game.

Janet Linn, reporting for AFANA from Etihad Stadium, Melbourne

A withering display of class and teamwork boosted St Kilda’s Premiership rating sky high on Easter Saturday. The Saints were in outstanding touch, completely wrong footing a disappointing and ineffective West Coast Eagles side. Coach John Worsfold must be shaking his head in dismay over the lack luster performance of his senior players who capitulated in dismal fashion under a devastating football lesson handed out courtesy of the unstoppable Saints brigade.