West Coast coach Adam Simpson feels his side are better placed to win this year’s flag than in their failed 2015 campaign after booking a spot in the AFL grand final with a crushing 66-point win over Melbourne.
In what became a preliminary final bloodbath, West Coast booted the first 10 goals of the match against the Demons on Saturday to set up the 18.13 (121) to 7.13 (55) win in front of an Optus Stadium record 59,608 fans.
West Coast will now take on Collingwood in next Saturday’s grand final at the MCG.
The Eagles copped a 46-point thumping at the hands of Hawthorn in the 2015 grand final.
Twelve Eagles players from that team will return for West Coast’s latest premiership attempt, and Simpson feels they are primed to give it a red hot crack.
“It’s a different style of play, it’s a different maturity amongst our players,” he said.
“Last time it was a little bit of ‘What’s going on here? This is our second year together, and how did this happen?’ This year I feel we’re a little bit more settled.”
Collingwood secured their spot in the decider with a shock 39-point win over Richmond at the MCG on Friday night.
Simpson acknowledged the Magpies would present his team a tough challenge, especially in-form American Mason Cox, who booted three goals and took eight contested marks against the Tigers.
But Collingwood will also be on red alert after watching West Coast dismantle Melbourne in 27C heat.
The Demons managed just 0.6 (6) in the first half and didn’t kick their first goal until 41 seconds into the third quarter.
By that stage, the margin was 63 points and the game was already over.
Eagles spearhead Josh Kennedy booted four first-half goals in an inspired effort, while Jack Darling (three), Jamie Cripps (three) and Mark LeCras (three) also heaped pain on the Demons.
The Demons had beaten Hawthorn and Geelong in the previous two weeks to spark hope they could snare the flag from fifth spot.
But they will spend the summer licking their wounds after putting in one of their worst finals displays.
Melbourne were expected to dominate the contested possessions, but the home side won that stat 87-73 in the first half to set up the win.
“All year we’ve stood up for contested ball. It’s not everything in the game, but it’s a big part of the game and it’s a big part of the way we’ve built our club,” said Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin.
“That’s the greatest learning for our group because if you go down fighting you want to go down doing it your way and we weren’t able to do that.”
The Eagles are set to take an unchanged line-up into the grand final, despite Jeremy McGovern and Luke Shuey having injury scares.
Shuey hobbled to the rooms with a left ankle injury early in the second quarter but was able to play out the match.
McGovern copped a heavy knock in the opening term and then was rested for most of the final stanza in a bid to freshen him up for the decider.
