West Australian Football

WA will look to take a number of positives out of Saturday’s 27-point loss to Vic Country in the third round of the NAB National 18s Championships.

After two weeks of soul searching following an upset loss to NSW/ACT, the Victorian side got away to an unassailable lead in the first half and then managed to hold off a fast finishing WA side to secure their first win of the championships, 11.4 (70) to WA 6.7 (43).

The game was played in perfect conditions as the curtain-raiser to the West Coast versus Geelong game at Subiaco Oval. Vic Country made a number of changes to their side from the previous game against NSW/ACT and the extra running players they selected made a difference on the wide expanses of Subiaco Oval.

The game was all but over at half-time with the Victorians kicking eight first half goals to WA’s single goal. Despite dominating the third quarter and keeping the Victorians goalless, the WA side could not take advantage on the scoreboard. Matt De Boer, Stephen Hill and Neville Jetta were amongst the better players for the WA side.

WAFC Talent and Coaching Manager Jon Haines said the Victorians deserved full credit for the manner in which they went about the game.

“We expected them to be stung by the criticism they had received on the east coast after their loss to NSW/ACT and our players were certainly on notice to expect a hard, physical contest,” Haines said.

“Unfortunately we didn’t handle the early part of the game well and when we did finally get some ascendancy, we simply didn’t take our chances.

“We’ll be treating the experience as a terrific learning opportunity. The players showed some great character to get back into the game. Then to finish with 43 inside 50’s to 23 is testimony to the fact that we won plenty of the football but we just didn’t execute as we would have liked. We certainly take a lot of positives out of the game and I’m sure the experience will hold the group in good stead as we look forward to our final two games in Melbourne.”

WA State 18s remaining NAB Championship fixtures

Saturday 5th July - WA v Tasmania  - Casey Fields - 10.00am

Wednesday 9th July - WA v Vic Metro - Telstra Dome - 2.30pm