GWS thump hapless Eagles at Perth bogey ground

The Orange Tsunami is already in full steam for 2024, with GWS continuing their perfect start with a 65-point win at their bogey ground Optus Stadium over West Coast.

The Giants kicked eight unanswered goals from late in the first quarter to the 12-minute mark of the third term on the way to sealing the 16.12 (108) to 5.13 (43) win on Sunday.

It brought redemption for the Giants, who suffered a shock 19-point loss to West Coast in Perth last year, and were 1-8 at Optus Stadium before Sunday's win.

GWS will head into their bye with a perfect 3-0 record after earlier wins over Collingwood and North Melbourne.

Kieran Briggs.
Kieren Briggs dominated in the ruck as GWS ended their Optus Stadium curse.

"We haven't won over here very often, it was 1-9 and now it's 2-10," Giants coach Adam Kingsley said.

"So it's really nice, and it's a great ground to play at. We really enjoy coming over to Perth.

"Obviously we've got some homegrown talent playing for us, as we saw during the weekend on the front page (of the newspaper).

"They love coming back and playing in front of their families, and our boys really get around them to support them doing that."

The inside-50m count read 67-44 in the Giants' favour on Sunday, with the Eagles' horrendous skill errors costing them dearly.

West Coast went goalless from the 14-minute mark of the first quarter until the second-minute mark of the fourth.

"I think sometimes looking at the score at the end of the game you can stay quite negative, but I thought our effort was there," Eagles coach Adam Simpson said.

"I mean we turned some balls over that you probably couldn't defend.

"We just lost our way with the fundamentals."

Giants big man Kieran Biggs dominated the ruck contest, tallying 34 hit-outs to go with 21 disposals and 12 clearances.

Sam Taylor was a rock in defence with six contested marks, while Lachie Whitfield (36 disposals), Tom Green (34 disposals, eight clearances) and Josh Kelly (27 disposals, two goals) racked up big numbers.

Eagles veterans Jeremy McGovern (26 disposals) and Elliot Yeo (27 disposals, nine clearances) battled hard, but it was to no avail in a losing effort.

No.1 draft pick Harley Reid made a bright start and finished with 17 disposals and three clearances.

The Giants kicked five goals to two in the opening quarter, but it was the Reid show that generated the most buzz.

Reid had seven disposals for the term, and his first meaningful piece of play resulted in him selling the dummy to one Giants player before fending off another on the wing.

His clever kick on the boundary a short time later set up a one-handed mark to Jake Waterman in the goalsquare, and he was a battering ram in the middle on the way to picking up another disposal.

Giants captain Toby Greene pushed the line when he went studs-up for a mark and connected with the chest of an Eagles player. 

It's an action Greene has been in trouble for in the past, most notably when his outstretched leg caught then-Bulldogs midfielder Luke Dahlhaus in the face, but he is set to escape any punishment for the latest incident.

"Toby's a pretty good player, an experienced player, he knows what he's doing," Kingsley said.

"He knows if he oversteps the line to correct it, but I haven't seen it (the incident)."

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