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    Saturday, September 29, 2018

    AFL grand final: West Coast beats Collingwood by five points at the MCG in classic decider



    West Coast Eagles have won their fourth AFL premiership, beating Collingwood at the MCG to take the flag west for the first time since 2006.
    Adam Simpson's men were jumped by Collingwood early, trailing by as much as 29 points in the first quarter.
    But the Eagles slowly gained a foothold in the game, and trailed by only two goals at half-time before getting on top in the final quarter and sealing victory with a Dom Sheed goal to win 11.13 (79) to 11.8 (74).
    The Magpies — who were attempting to match Richmond's achievement in going from 13th on the ladder to premiers — looked like winners for most of the day, but they couldn't take enough of their chances, and ran out of run at the wrong time.
    This was the seventh consecutive grand final between a team from Victoria and an interstate side.
    Victorian sides had won the previous five editions. West Coast was appearing in the grand final for the seventh time in the AFL era (since 1991), the joint-most along with Geelong.
    It was a sixth time in the decider for the Magpies.
    The big query going into the day was the fitness of West Coast key defender Jeremy McGovern, who had been slowly recovering from a bump to the hip from Melbourne's Christian Petracca in last week's preliminary final.
    Coach Adam Simpson had declared himself "extremely hopeful" that McGovern would play — the Eagles' swingman took his place at the captain's run on Friday afternoon, but the acid test came on the MCG a day later, and he passed.
    Josh Kennedy had the first chance 90 seconds in after a solid move, but he missed a set shot from 25m out.
    At the other end, the first storyline of the day came when Travis Varcoe — whose sister died after a head injury in a local football game in Adelaide — ran inside 50 and slotted the opening goal for Collingwood five minutes in.
    The Eagles were under the pump, and Collingwood made a break around the 10-minute mark when Rising Star Jaidyn Stephenson kicked a couple in quick succession — first a snap from the right forward pocket, and then a dribble kick as the Pies fans roared in the stands.
    The Magpies were forcing West Coast out of their usual game — and when Jordan De Goey spun out of two tackles and snapped another from the left forward pocket Collingwood led by 23 points at the mid-point of the quarter.
    West Coast was looking desperate on the MCG, and Will Hoskin-Elliott added to the Eagles' problems when he drilled a set shot to make it 5.0 - 0.2.
    Things were looking reminiscent of the Magpies' first-half demolition of Richmond last week, but deep into time on West Coast finally managed to get on the board with an unlikely effort, as the ball bobbled in the goal square, and Willie Rioli managed to get the back of his shin to it before it crossed the line.
    Then with a minute to go, Luke Shuey found Kennedy for a mark close to goal and he converted, to leave the Magpies' lead at 17 points at quarter-time.

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    Item Reviewed: AFL grand final: West Coast beats Collingwood by five points at the MCG in classic decider Rating: 5 Reviewed By: billsports
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