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Double joy

After a season filled with horrors for West Australian football it was certainly too much to expect both teams could win on the same weekend, especially minus their captains.

However this is exactly what happened in an extraordinary round 17 that saw six of the top eight fall over.

West Coast’s victory was perhaps most surprising given they were missing two of their best three players in Darren Glass and Daniel Kerr and they were up against an opposition in top form with everything to play for.

The first quarter went according to the script with the saints jumping the Eagles for a four goal lead but the young Eagles fought back on the back of brilliant games from Brent Staker, Brad Ebert and Quinten Lynch.

The significance of the performance of these three guys should not be lost as it represents two of West Coast’s most maligned players as well as their best young talent leading from the front.

All three have benefited from the opportunity presented by injury and suspension and they led a midfield barely recognisable from last year.

Staker has been as inconsistent as he seems talented in his 103 game career.

He has all the attributes of the modern day footballer but has failed to put it all together and while he cannot be declared a great player from two performances it is a promise of more and an indication that perhaps he’s found his niche.

Lynch has been a workhorse for many seasons now and while he will never be brilliant his bullocking on the weekend was invaluable and he proved his flexibility once more.

For some time I have said Ebert is West Coast’s most promising 2007 draft choice which is perhaps unfair to Chris Masten who has been affected by injury but a tribute to how comfortable Ebert looks in AFL ranks.

Many were surprised he was left as late as he was in the draft and since debuting Ebert has shown much skill and an old head for a game that is often filled with poor decision makers.

Ebert’s performance complemented his senior teammates perfectly and indicated his ability as a future leader.

West Coast’s kids are beginning to show the benefits of the faith and games put into them and it’s great to see the enthusiasm of guys like Wilkes, Spangher and Selwood.

West Coast’s three wins have come against Brisbane, Adelaide and St Kilda who are all top eight contenders so they have shown they can beat good sides but they are yet to do it away from home.

Fremantle’s young side on the other hand managed to bag their first win away from Subi against a hapless Port Adelaide side

AAMI stadium has been a happy hunting ground for the dockers in recent times and they ran hard to support, tackled hard and with 22 contributors managed to break a club record of 15 individual goal kickers.

If you had said pre season that Fremantle would go to AAMI stadium to play last year’s grand finalists without Peter Bell, Heath Black, Paul Haselby, Des Headland, Roger Hayden, Dean Solomon and Matthew Pavlich and come away winners most would have laughed.

Pavlich in particular had not missed a match in 160 and many believe no Pavlich means no Fremantle.

Indeed on Thursday night’s footy show Jonathon Brown announced Pavlich would beat the Power on his own and he has certainly been Fremantle’s best this year with consistently brilliant performances.

Many wondered where the goals would come from and if they had been told Farmer and Tarrant would only score one goal between them they would have been even more sceptical.

In the absence of and with the retirement of many key players this year Fremantle have for much of the year been lead by their younger and mid range age performers.

Ryan Crowley was once again fantastic as he has been all year and Byron Schammer continues to benefit from greater responsibility and opportunity in the midfield.

Rhys Palmer continues his incredible first year and Garrick Ibbotson grows and grows with a cool head under pressure, skill and speed.

Chris Mayne is a fantastic competitor and continues to learn and Josh Head is improving at a rapid rate both with his solid defensive efforts and offensive run and carry from half back.

With these guys standing up the likes of Josh Carr improved a lot with his work around the packs and Michael Johnson got back to some of his best work.

The great news for Fremantle is that their best and key players will be around for a number of years to come and they have the chance to add to it with this year’s draft.

Shaun McManus like Bell is making the best decision for himself and the club by creating another opportunity for a younger player which will have benefits far into the future.

Both teams had very few players backing up in the WAFL this weekend which is a good indication of the number of injuries they have but also how much of their lists they’ve been able to assess this year.

Let’s all just bask in the glory of a week of winning and look forward to what should be a memorable derby.