{"id":932257,"date":"2026-10-18T05:26:04","date_gmt":"2026-10-18T05:26:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/932257\/"},"modified":"2026-10-18T05:26:04","modified_gmt":"2026-10-18T05:26:04","slug":"aflw-2026-west-coast-fall-to-dispiriting-53-point-defeat-to-geelong-to-all-but-end-finals-hopes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/932257\/","title":{"rendered":"AFLW 2026: West Coast fall to dispiriting 53-point defeat to Geelong to all but end finals hopes"},"content":{"rendered":"

West Coast\u2019s hopes of a second straight AFLW finals campaign have been emphatically put to bed as Geelong powered to a 53-point victory on Saturday.<\/p>\n

Needing to win their final three games of the season to have any chance, the Eagles fell to their biggest defeat of the season in an 8.18 (66) to 1.7 (13) defeat at Sullivan Logistics Stadium<\/p>\n

It came despite a bright start that saw the Eagles dominate portions of the first half with the second-placed Cats looking well off their best.<\/p>\n

But with leading goalkicker Amy Franklin (personal reasons) missing the clash, it was hard to see where the goals would come from.<\/p>\n

The answer was Bella Lewis, but it unfortunately did not come until late in the fourth quarter as she at least prevented her side from being held goalless for a fourth time in club history.<\/p>\n

A three-goal third term put the contest to bed as Georgie Prekspakis ran wild, racking up 39 possessions with eight of the top 10 ball winners all in the hoops.<\/p>\n

Ella Roberts looked sore at times, having done a mountain of work last week, finishing with 19 touches, though still won the most clearances for the home side.<\/p>\n

It was a dispiriting way for Daisy Pearce to celebrate her contract extension and said the performance was a stark reminder of the gap between themselves and the top end of the competition.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were clean and predictable for each other. It just goes to show that we have a lot of work to do to catch up,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur attitude next week is important. The girls will be disappointed after that, but we have to go after it again next week.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Eagles weren\u2019t without their chances early as Lucia Painter hit the post from less than 10m out to deny the Eagles the perfect start, while Bella Lewis overcooked a kick running onto open goal to miss the pass to Painter and fly through for a behind.<\/p>\n

\"GeorgieCamera IconGeorgie Prespakis of the Cats kicks the ball. Credit: Daniel Carson\/AFL Photos\/AFL Photos via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Against a Cats side looking for a ninth straight AFLW win, they were errors the Eagles simply could not afford to make as Geelong slowly worked into the game.<\/p>\n

After getting smashed in the tackle count against Port Adelaide, recording just two tackles in the opening term was a disappointing response, as a defensive lapse allowed Aishling Moloney to kick the first goal time on into the first term.<\/p>\n

Pleasingly, the Eagles were able to lift their pressure in congestion, but they were powerless to stop the Cats once they got off the leash as they began to rack up uncontested ball.<\/p>\n

That was compounded by a lack of composure from West Coast, whose disposal efficiency was sitting below 60 per cent for most of the game.<\/p>\n

It meant they were often caught in transition as Geelong were able to stream through an outnumbered Eagles defence, though their own poor finishing kept West Coast in the game.<\/p>\n

\"NinaCamera IconNina Morrison of the Cats celebrates a goal. Credit: Daniel Carson\/AFL Photos\/AFL Photos via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Their halftime score of 2.8 (20) was their lowest since their 16 points against powerhouses North Melbourne in round one, which is something the Eagles defence could take pride in.<\/p>\n

But West Coast just could not threaten the other way and the weight of numbers was starting to bury the Eagles with the Cats eventually finishing with a whopping 114 more disposals.<\/p>\n

As the Eagles grew increasingly frustrated, some ill-discipline started to creep in as Geelong were able to rack up the score in the final term and drive the nail into the coffin of West Coast\u2019s finals hopes.<\/p>\n

SCOREBOARD<\/p>\n

GEELONG 1.3 2.8 5.12 8.18 (66)<\/p>\n

WEST COAST 0.3 0.5 0.7 1.7 (13)<\/p>\n

GOALS – GEELONG: J Parry A Moloney B O\u2019Rourke K Surman J Stewart N Morrison C Mason R Kearns. WEST COAST: I Lewis.<\/p>\n

BEST – GEELONG: G Prespakis M Bowen C Mason N Morrison A McDonald. WEST COAST: C Thomas E Roberts I Lewis K Gibson.<\/p>\n

INJURIES – B Schilling (illness) replaced in the selected side by G Cleaver.<\/p>\n

UMPIRES: J Ball J Kerr E Stark. CROWD: 2,234 at Sullivan Logistics Stadium<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"West Coast\u2019s hopes of a second straight AFLW finals campaign have been emphatically put to bed as Geelong…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":932258,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,25912,64,63,55,639,13659,588,85,7067],"class_list":["post-932257","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-aflw","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-geelong-cats","tag-sport","tag-sports","tag-west-coast-eagles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/932257","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=932257"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/932257\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/932258"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=932257"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=932257"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=932257"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}