New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/a><\/p>\n\u201cWe haven\u2019t had the best month of footy, but the way we responded in such a special round at home\u2026 couldn\u2019t be more proud of the boys,\u201d Eagles defender Reuben Ginbey told foxfooty.com.au<\/p>\n
\u201cThey were dominating us in field position and stoppage\u2026 but I was happy with the way we held up behind the ball.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey had a patch in the third \u2013 in the past we\u2019d probably let that game slip.\u201cJust super proud.\u201d<\/p>\n
And while the Eagles came away victors, GWS will be left to rue a horror start where they dominated the first term but could only manage 2.6 on the scoreboard at quarter time.<\/p>\n
When the Eagles pressure ramped up late, the Giants lost their transition game and couldn\u2019t find the response.<\/p>\n
\u201cTheir season is in bad shape now,\u201d Adam Papalia said, with Healy fearing top six was now out of reach for Adam Kingsley\u2019s men.<\/p>\n
THE 3-2-1 \u2026<\/p>\n
3. PRESSURE PROVES TOO GREAT FOR WASTEFUL GIANTS<\/p>\n
GWS were completely dominant to start this contest on Sunday night \u2013 but could only bank 2.6 for their efforts.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s despite having double the inside 50s, nearly double the clearances, a 4-1 marks inside 50 count and +40 disposals.<\/p>\n
\u201cGame could just about have been over if they were more accurate,\u201d Gerard Healy said at quarter time.<\/p>\n
Statistics showed the Giants had 176m gained by handball compared to West Coast\u2019s -41m. And their handball receives was more than triple that of the Eagles.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are playing two totally different games,\u201d Healy said.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne is safe, secure and totally slow (West Coast).\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOne is positive and one is negative,\u201d Brad Johnson added.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just slow and stationary and backwards and sideways.\u201d<\/p>\n
But Eagles coach Andrew McQualter refused to panic \u2013 instead telling Fox Footy at the first break: \u201cWe\u2019re under a fair bit of pressure there. I thought we held up quite well\u201d.<\/p>\n
And from there, West Coast went on the attack.<\/p>\n
The match was completely flipped on its head in the second term as West Coast ramped up the pressure \u2013 and put it on the scoreboard.<\/p>\n
\u201cTheir pressure was through the roof \u2013 I haven\u2019t seen this from the Eagles all year!\u201d Healy praised.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was supreme!<\/p>\n
McQualter speaks on ‘exceptional’ Reid | 10:03<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was much more instinctive footy.<\/p>\n
\u201cNobody wants to play going slow and sideways. Nobody grew up doing that!\u201d<\/p>\n
And when the Giants went on a five-goal run in the third term, the Eagles refused to wilt.<\/p>\n
They lifted their early third term pressure rating of 140 up to a remarkable 263.<\/p>\n
And with West Coast able to shut down GWS\u2019 big strength \u2013 defence 50 to inside 50 transition, it was the Eagles who claimed their third win of the season.<\/p>\n
2. HARLEY\u2019S HEROICS INSPIRE EAGLES<\/p>\n
West Coast were getting \u201cslaughtered\u201d early in the contest, but GWS couldn\u2019t put them away.<\/p>\n
So when Harley Reid lifted in arguably one of the best quarters of football this season, it put the Eagles in front.<\/p>\n
Reid was everywhere with 14 touches and two goals \u2013 including one after individual brilliance that included a fend off on Joe Fonti, a bounce, a free kick and then the around the body goal.<\/p>\n
\u201cHarley Reid may well be having his best-ever game,\u201d Brownlow Medallist Gerard Healy called.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Eagles talisman and he was full of power and precision in that second quarter,\u201d Adam Papalia said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat a change in the game we saw in that second term. 10 points down at quarter time the Eagles \u2026 Harley Reid had a big say on that contest.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was absolutely brilliant,\u201d Healy added.<\/p>\n
Harley Reid celebrates one of his two goals.Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
\u201cJust led the way \u2013 and it needed somebody to grab this game.<\/p>\n
\u201cHarley Reid out of the centre \u2013 he just brutalised a number of people and then he just kept on going.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe handballed, tackled, he harassed, he kicked goals \u2013 he was absolutely brilliant.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brad Johnson said Reid\u2019s efforts \u201clifted everybody\u201d at Optus Stadium.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was outstanding by their best player,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s taking the competition by storm and now he\u2019s absolutely starting to show it consistently.\u201d<\/p>\n
Teammate Reuben Ginbey was full of praise for Reid\u2019s growth in season 2026.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo have Harls is ridiculous,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe amount of pressure he\u2019s had as a young fella \u2013 I think he\u2019s coming into his own this year.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis strength, the way he backs up his teammates, his defence is getting so much better \u2013 he\u2019s such a great pressure player. I love playing with him.\u201d<\/p>\n
1. TO 50 OR NOT TO 50 \u2026 THAT IS THE QUESTION<\/p>\n
Bulldogs great Brad Johnson was left baffled by two big no calls in the Eagles-Giants clash on Sunday.<\/p>\n
On both occasions, the whistle had been blown and players then kicked the ball away \u2013 but no 50-metre penalty was given.<\/p>\n
The first was after a big Toby Bedford tackle on Jack Williams in the first term.<\/p>\n
\u201cShould be 50 metres,\u201d Adam Papalia said.<\/p>\n
\u201cGot to be! Phoaw!\u201d Johnson added when it wasn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re seeing it more and more \u2026 the umpires aren\u2019t calling 50. That there, whistle was clearly blown. Kick was well after.<\/p>\n
\u201cHad to be 50 metres.\u201d<\/p>\n
Adam Kingsley addresses Giants’ concerns | 06:14<\/p>\n
Replays showed not only did Eagle Tom McCarthy kick it away, but Tom Cole got a handball in too after the whistle.<\/p>\n
And in the third term, it was GWS who got away with the same offence.<\/p>\n
Reuben Ginbey was pushed in the back and the whistle blown for the free kick \u2013 but Toby McMullin opted to kick the ball away.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s 50 \u2013 you can\u2019t kick the ball after the whistle is blown,\u201d Johnson said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is becoming frustrating in the game.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a clear 50m penalty and we all know it and all see it, and it\u2019s just not being adjudicated.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s got to be a reason why the umps aren\u2019t calling it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Eventually there were a few 50m penalties paid \u2013 three against Eagle Milan Murdock, including two together making it a 100m penalty.<\/p>\n
Re-live Eagles-Giants in our blog below!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Harley Reid has inspired West Coast to a thrilling 17-point upset win over Greater Western Sydney on Sunday…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":677367,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[2534,638,64,63,689,55,639,696,9203,34681,10124,2105,241343,4508,6462,142568,677,3473,46,85,7067,3439],"class_list":["post-677366","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-aaron-cadman","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-brad-scott","tag-catherine-healey","tag-crystal-palace-football-club","tag-fremantle-dockers","tag-getty-images-inc","tag-harry-oliver","tag-jack-williams","tag-live-updates","tag-match-details","tag-oceania","tag-paul-kane","tag-perth","tag-sports","tag-west-coast-eagles","tag-western-australia"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/677366","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=677366"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/677366\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/677367"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=677366"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=677366"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=677366"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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