Eagles mitigate, move on from Lions loss

Murray Wenzel | July 9, 2023

West Coast coach Adam Simpson is happy to move on quickly from a Brisbane Lions mauling that could have been far worse if not for some early mitigation at the Gabba.

The Lions kicked seven goals inside the first 25 minutes to lead 45-0, before the visitors stopped the rot with two late efforts of their own.

Simpson tweaked his side’s approach after the break, the Lions wastefulness also contributing in what became a 16.20 (116) to 5.5 (35) Saturday cruise for the hosts.

“We wanted to start well, and for the first five or six minutes it was a pretty tightly contested game, then the floodgates opened,” Simpson said after his side’s 14th-straight loss.

“From quarter time we made it as hard as we could for them to score.

“You’ve got to adapt and try to mitigate a little bit.

“We don’t want to attack every game like that but just had to pull some levers after that poor start.”

Jeremy McGovern (20 disposals) was an uninjured substitute for the Eagles after playing three quarters in his first game since a round-three hamstring injury. 

Fellow returnee Tim Kelly (26 touches, 12 contested, one goal) clashed heads with Jack Gunston in the first term but recovered to be one of his side’s best. 

Eagle Oscar Allen kicked a goal to keep his season streak alive while Brady Hough played the majority of the game on Charlie Cameron, who was kept goalless.

Simpson said Luke Shuey and Shannon Hurn would be fit to play Richmond at home next weekend.

“It’s a challenge at the moment. Playing the best team in the comp, I think, it was always going to be hard,” he said.

“We’ll take a small step with some of that exposure and we get to hit the Tigers next week.”