It had disaster written all over it.
And for a half it was the stuff of nightmares for West Coast fans as the new era at the Eagles looked to be off to a horror start.
A Gold Coast win was almost fait accompli before the ball was even bounced at People First Stadium on Sunday evening.
The gap and experience alone were enough to have the Suns as overwhelming favourites. West Coast’s team featured nine players with 10 games’ experience or less.
Add in the fact it’s their longest trip possible and the Suns had already played in Opening Round, and the odds were overwhelmingly against last year’s wooden spooners.
Yet the young Eagles showed considerable fight in the second half of the 20.11 (131) to 10.12 (72) defeat to one of the premiership fancies to leave coach Andrew McQualter with plenty to work with.
Suns spearhead Ben King continues to trouble the Eagles’ defence, backing up his six goals from the corresponding fixture last year with five.
King could’ve had a big day out though had it not been for monstrous defender Reuben Ginbey, who put his body on the line several times to ensure the big Sun couldn’t have it all his own way.
Star recruit Christian Petracca was destructive in both the midfield and up forward with 23 touches to go with four goals, while captain Noah Anderson glided across the ground effortlessly to rack up a game-high 34 touches.
Most of the Suns’ dominance seemed to revolve around their big ruckman in Jarrod Witts, who was a colossus in the middle.
Witts dominated in the ruck with 51 hit-outs but also influenced the contest at ground level with seven clearances from 20 touches.
There were plenty of positives for West Coast. Mature-age recruit Milan Murdock showed why he should’ve been on a list a while ago, with two goals from 22 disposals and five tackles.
Former Brisbane midfielder Deven Robertson was among the Eagles’ best with 17 touches, 12 tackles and five clearances, while Harley Reid started the season in promising fashion to record 23 touches and five clearances.
And their new forward leader Jake Waterman slotted three goals in his first AFL game since round 11 of last year.
It looked ominous early for the Eagles when the Suns kicked consecutive goals quickly to stamp their authority.
West Coast looked up for the contest in the first 10 minutes though, matching the intensity of the home side who were expected to win the game easily.
Murdock got the dream start to his career when he kicked a goal with his first possession, catching Suns’ defender Mac Andrew holding the ball before he was awarded a 50m penalty.
It was the last moment of celebration for the visitors in the first term, with the Suns relentlessly attacking a resolute Eagles’ defence.
West Coast’s backline held up well, but the Suns kept peppering them relentlessly with an incredible 19 inside 50s in the first term alone.
And it was their new superstar Petracca who was tearing the game apart, kicking three of their seven goals in the opening term.
The Norm Smith medallist was so dominant that it forced McQualter to call upon veteran Elliot Yeo (17 disposals and two goals) to go down back to try to curtail him, sending the midfielder down back.
Quarter time couldn’t have come quick enough for the Eagles who looked out on their feet.
The Suns weren’t in any mood to ease off though, relentlessly attacking through free-flowing handballs and speed.
By half-time the margin had blown out to 62 points and a record win was at the feet of this new-look Gold Coast superpower.
West Coast took until the third term to kick consecutive goals courtesy of Yeo, who slotted a beauty from beyond 50m before kicking his second from the goal square from a 50m penalty.
Gold Coast seemingly took the foot off the gas and West Coast took advantage, finding a spark to win the quarter against the odds.
They kicked five goals to three on the back of some better ball movement, running harder for each other and willing to create a contest.
Most importantly the effort was there, and it was exemplified by the fact West produced their biggest-ever positive tackle differential for a single quarter with 27 tackles to the Suns’ six.
West Coast’s next challenge was to sustain the effort in the humid conditions come the final term when the Suns would look for a percentage boost.
And to their credit they held it together well, transforming the game into a scrap as best they could to stop the Suns’ ball movement.
McQualter used the last few minutes to send No.1 draftee Willem Duursma into the centre ball ups after he spent the majority of it on the wing to see what he had.
In the end it was a respectable but expected defeat with a winnable game against an in-form North Melbourne at Optus Stadium on the horizon.
GOLD COAST 7.3, 13.6, 16.8, 20.11 (131)
WEST COAST 1.1, 3.4, 8.8, 10.12 (72)
Goals – GOLD COAST: B King 5 C Petracca 4 L Lombard 2 N Anderson S Clohesy A Davies J Farrar B Long T Miller D Rioli J Rogers J Witts. WEST COAST: J Waterman 3 M Murdock 2 E Yeo 2 J Newton J Shanahan A Reid.
Best – GOLD COAST: J Witts N Anderson C Petracca J Jeffrey B Uwland J Noble. WEST COAST: M Murdock H Reid D Robertson E Yeo R Ginbey J Waterman.
Umpires: L Fisher P Rebeschini J Fry J O’Brien. Crowd: 13,309 at People First Stadium.
https://thewest.com.au/sport/afl/west-coast-eagles-smashed-in-first-half-produce-fight-in-second-half-in-59-point-season-opening-loss-to-suns-c-21949113
