West Coast’s form on the road this season has detracted from how dangerous Adam Simpson’s side is on their home deck. Despite losing their three games outside Western Australia, the Eagles form at Domain Stadium is intimidating.

Whilst some media pundits have been quick to question the Eagles’ flag aspirations, at 4-3, and sitting 7th on the ladder, West Coast is clearly a finals contender, littered with elite class across all parts of the ground.

The Eagles three losses this season have come against genuine premiership contenders in Hawthorn (Round 2 at the MCG), Sydney (Round 5 at the SCG) and Geelong (Round 7 at Simonds Stadium). The Swans and Cats sit inside the top-four, whilst reigning premierships Hawthorn are in sixth spot, underlining the degree of fixture difficulty West Coast has faced early.

At home, which is where St Kilda faces Simpson’s men in the Sunday twilight slot this weekend, the Eagles boast one of the most formidable records in the AFL, having won their last nine at the ground and 18 of their last 20. Two of those wins are from last year’s finals series against Hawthorn and North Melbourne to emphasise their work on home soil.

Star ruckman Nic Naitanui has started the season in scintillating fashion, putting himself in All Australian calculation alongside Max Gawn and Todd Goldstein. On the back of his dominance in the air, West Coast is ranked No. 1 for hitouts differential (+19.9) and hitouts to advantage differential (+6.7). 

On the back of his maiden All Australian guernsey in 2015, dashing wingman Andrew Gaff has been one of the Eagles prime movers in the opening part of the season, continuing to accumulate big numbers.

In all but one game this season, Gaff has collected 30+ possessions at an average of 31 per game (ranked 4th in the AFL), to go with 478.1 metres gained (ranked 10th), to be the Eagles best performed midfielder so far this season.

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2014 Brownlow medallist and 2015 runner up Matt Priddis (28.7 possessions and 6.7 clearances) has continued to acquire leather at will in 2016, but apart from Luke Shuey (25.1 possessions and 6.3 clearances) and Gaff, the Eagles don’t have another player averaging more than 20 disposals.

A year after bringing Elliot Yeo home, the arrival of another former Lion in Redden has added more class to the Eagles engine, although premiership Swan Lewis Jetta has been dropped this weekend after joining West Coast, along with Redden, during last October’s exchange period.

Last year’s Coleman medallist Josh Kennedy has had a somewhat indifferent start to the season. Aside from his 8.2 against Brisbane in Round 1, the Eagles vice-captain hasn’t managed more than three goals since.

Inaccuracy has hurt his bottom line, with 1.4 against Fremantle and 3.6 against Collingwood preventing him from having a more prosperous start to the year. Still, with 20.17, Kennedy sits equal 5th in the goal kicking and is averaging 8.0 marks a game (ranked 4th in the AFL). Sam Fisher usually gets the job on Kennedy, so with the stalwart defender not making the trip west, expect to see Sean Dempster manning last year’s leading goal kicker.

The return of 2014 John Worsfold medallist Eric MacKenzie this season has strengthened West Coast’s back six on paper. Although they have slipped from averaging 71.9 points per game to 84.3 in the first seven rounds of 2016, scoring across the competition has risen this year. Jeremy McGovern continues to be an intercepting machine, averaging 8.3 per game (ranked 5th).

Star:

2012 All Australian ruckman Nic Naitanui is arguably in career-best form, producing better numbers than when he claimed the coveted team of the year recognition.

The game’s most athletic ruckman is ranked No. 2 by Champion Data after seven rounds, behind Melbourne’s Max Gawn. He is 3rd for hitouts (34.3 per game) and 4th for hitouts to advantage (11.0), but 1st for hitouts win percentage (59.1 per cent), contested possessions (12.9) and clearances (4.4).

Match-up:

With the Eagles possessing such a marquee weapon in Nic Naitanui, you could mount a sizeable case for Tom Hickey’s encounter with the star ruckman to be the most intriguing match-up on the ground. But with Nick Riewoldt in such brilliant touch, and Josh Bruce working his way into the year nicely, the likelihood of star defensive pair Jeremy McGovern and Eric MacKenzie rolling through the Saints forward pairing presents a mouth-watering battle within a battle.

Key numbers:

-        4th Inside 50 differential (+7.3)

-        3rd time in forward half differential (+9:24)

-        5th points against (84.3)

-        1st hitouts differential (+19.9)

-        1st kick to handball differential (1.33)

-        17th tackle differential (-9.0)

Team:

B: B. Sheppard, E. MacKenzie, W. Schofield
HB: S. Wellingham, J. McGovern, S. Hurn
C: A. Gaff, M. Priddis, E. Yeo
HF: M. LeCras, J. Darling, C. Masten
F: J. Hill, J. Kennedy, S. Lycett
R: N. Naitanui, J. Redden, L. Shuey
Interchange: J. Bennell, S. Butler, J. Cripps, T. Cole, L. Duggan, M. Hutchings, P. McGinnity

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