Waalitj Marawar (West Coast) take step backwards into dark days in Kuwarna (Adelaide) thrashing

From one of their brightest days in recent years to one of their darkest, Waalitj Marawar (West Coast) went from the toast of the town to smashed in a week.

The Eagles’ upset win over Narrm (Melbourne) seemed an eternity ago as a ruthless Kuwarna (Adelaide) hammered the listless visitors by an embarrassing 99 points.

It was more of the uncompetitive Eagles of 2023 rather than the side that had dominated a premiership fancy, seemingly leaving their form in the airport lounge.

The signs were ominous for the Eagles from the first bounce for the Eagles in the 21.11 (137) to 5.8 (38) defeat at the on Sunday, with the Crows doing as they please.

Once a happy hunting ground for the Eagles away from home, Adelaide Oval has become a place of nightmares and the club has lost their past six games at the venue by an average of 62 points, including a 122-point thrashing by the Crows.

The return of star Elliot Yeo from injury was meant to strengthen their already impressive midfield but he struggled, finishing with only 15 disposals and seven clearances.

Meanwhile, the Crows midfield ran rampant with Rory Laird dominating at the clearances with 31 to go with 10 disposals, while skipper Jordan Dawson was herculean in his performance with 32 disposals and nine inside 50s.

Despite this Eagles coach Adam Simpson was adamant the Eagles were not scarred by the experiences. His side proved him wrong.

Simpson decided to send Dom Sheed to run with Crouch rather than Dawson and the move proved disastrous.

Dawson dominated the hapless Eagles in the first term with a clinical two goal, 12 disposals quarter.

The Eagles’ pressure was non-existent and they were almost spectators as the Crows moved the ball as they pleased and massacred the visitors on the scoreboard.

West Coast couldn’t get their hands on footy, with only 66 possessions to 111 at quarter time, while the Crows had an incredible 31 uncontested marks such was the Eagles lack of intensity.

The most damning stat was on the scoreboard, with the Crows kicking the only seven goals to lead by 44 points.

Sheed was moved to Dawson after the first break and his influence was curtailed with only five disposals for the term, but the damage had already been done.

Jack Williams broke through for the Eagles in the second term on the back of a stellar 10 minutes from Tim Kelly (23 disposals and eight clearances) who was doing his best to turn the tide.

Veteran Jamie Cripps kicked their second not long after and there was a glimpse of the Eagles from seven days earlier.

Unfortunately, for Eagles’ fans it was only a glimpse as the Crows not only restored their lead, but they continued to extend it, booting six of the next seven goals to blow the margin out to 61 points.

The Crows were so confident they even subbed out in-form midfielder Jake Soligo at half-time to manage his load.

Trying to find a spark, Simpson moved premiership Liam Ryan to half-back and captain Liam Duggan into the middle.

It didn’t work as the Eagles came out of the main break without any energy and the Crows continued to swoop.

They home side were running so hard it looked as if they had twice the number of players on the field, when in truth it was just that they had more players willing to work.

The only bit of fight they showed was when they retaliated to some treatment of their No.1 draftee Harley Reid (14 disposals and four clearances) by Dawson.

Reid responded with a strong goal from a forward clearance amongst his eight disposals for the term.

The teenager’s resistance was not enough unfortunately, as the Crows continued to pile on the misery.

Adding salt into the wounds the Eagles lost in-form defender Alex Witherden to a calf injury as they prepare for consecutive home games leading into the bye.

Pummelling the Eagles for three quarters seemingly tired the Crows as their scoring dried up and they fell a point short of a triple-figure win.

SCOREBOARD

KUWARNA 7.4, 13.5, 18.9, 21.11 (137)

WAALITJ MARAWAR 0.2, 3.4, 4.7, 5.8 (38)

Goals – KUWARNA: C Jones 3 B Cook 2 J Dawson 2 D Fogarty 2 B Keays 2 J Rachele 2 T Walker 2 C Burgess L Murphy R O’Brien H Schoenberg L Sholl J Soligo. WAALITJ MARAWAR: J Cripps J Darling H Reid J Waterman J Williams.

Best – KUWARNA: J Dawson R Laird D Fogarty L Sholl C Jones B Keays. WAALITJ MARAWAR: T Kelly L Duggan B Williams H Reid J McGovern T Cole.

Injuries – WAALITJ MARAWAR – A Witherden (calf) D Sheed (nose).

Umpires: N Foot H Gavine A Whetton C Jones. Crowd: 40,965 at Adelaide Oval.