After defeating the Saints by 33 points, the West Coast Eagles find themselves in the NAB Cup Grand Final for the second time in club history. Behind five unanswered goals in the third quarter, West Coast throttled St. Kilda 1.10.16 (85) to 0.7.10 (52) at Patersons Stadium in Perth; one of these goals was a super goal from Jack Darling, which gave West Coast a 42-point advantage at three-quarter time.
St. Kilda scored four goals in the final quarter, but West Coast hung on for the victory. Saints coach Scott Watters admitted that having last week’s game against Essendon called off hurt them against West Coast.
“Really, that felt like a first game of pre-season for us tonight,” said Watters. “We were outrun between the arcs tonight by a side that looked a little more match conditioned.
“It was a start for us and we really needed it to assess where we’re at.”
The NAB Cup Grand Final will be played next Saturday at 7:40 PM AEDT at AAMI Stadium in West Lakes, South Australia (where the Adelaide Crows and Port Adelaide Power play their home matches).
