West Coast 3.2 4.2 5.5 7.7 (49) Indigenous All-Stars 1.2 5.6 5.8 5.11 (41)
Goals: West Coast: J McGovern, B Sheppard, S Wellingham, A Gaff, J Cripps, R Powell, T Lamb. All-Stars: Shaun Edwards, L Jetta, S Yarran, J Pickett, B Hill.
Best: West Coast: C Masten, C Sinclair, S Wellingham, W Schofield, R Powell. All-Stars: S Burgoyne (Polly Farmer Medal winner), J Harbrow, J Martin, S Hill, S Yarran, N Jetta.
Crowd: About 10,000 at Medibank Stadium.
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Perth A young West Coast team kicked off their 2015 pre-season with an eight-point win over the Indigenous All-Stars at Medibank Stadium on Friday.
While there were senior players missing from the best teams that both sides could have played, the presence of a well-trained game structure was the difference between the Eagles winning and losing.
The All-Stars didn't generally get as close to goal for their shots as the Eagles, except for Josh Hill (an Eagle playing for the All-Stars) who missed a goal early in the first quarter from the top of the goal square.
His regular teammates managed to sneak in a couple of extra goals from close distance though, with players left unattended at the back of a pack. And in a low-scoring game, those goals hurt.
Rookie-listed Eagle Rowen Powell did just that half-way through the final term to give his side the lead. They had trailed by 10 points at half-time and by three at the last break. The goal came during an exciting period for the former Claremont player (via Broome) who also set up teammate Tom Lamb for a goal that sealed the game.
Lamb is one newcomer to the Eagles who is expected to push for an AFL debut at some stage during the 2015 season. He looked solid in the final quarter, although a bit of sting had gone out of the game by then.
There was a lot of pace early in the game and much of that came from exciting Gold Coast player Jack Martin, who had half a dozen touches before many other players even got a sniff of the leather.
But that also resulted in the run going out of the game late in each quarter. There were a lot of hands on hips in the second half of each quarter, including the first, but it is only February and the NAB Challenge hasn't started yet.
The All-Stars concept was certainly not lost on their senior players, with Hawthorn premiership player and Indigenous team captain Shaun Burgoyne taking out the Polly Farmer Medal for best on ground.
Jarrod Harbrow and Stephen Hill were also impressive; as was Shane Yarran, who plays for Subiaco in the WAFL and was surprisingly overlooked in the last draft, but was called upon on Friday to fill a spot in the All-Stars side.
He looked right at home at the level and was one of five goal scorers for his side – and will no doubt have scouts watching his 2015 season with interest.
While the Eagles would have been happy with the performances of newcomers Lamb and Powell, the efforts of Sharrod Wellingham and Will Schofield would also have impressed.
Wellingham kicked a goal in the first term and played a part in Brad Sheppard's major a couple of minutes earlier. Along with Schofield, in defence, and stand-in captain Chris Masten, he led the way for the Eagles.
The game ends a week-long camp that the AFL's indigenous players have been a part of in Perth this week and kickstarts the pre-season for the Eagles, who head to Mandurah next Friday to play Carlton.
