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It was deja vu all over again (with apologies to baseball legend Yogi Berra and CCR's John Fogerty), in a game eerily similar to that against South Fremantle at Leederville a few weeks ago.
Given the combination of inclement weather, playing a Perth side that is far better than its ladder position would suggest, and with a core of Royal automatic selections on the injured list, I thought this would be a tight game from go to woe.
I didn't expect EP to lead by 54 points midway through Q3 on the back of 7 unanswered goals, after having a scoreline of 4.10 late in Q2.
And I certainly didn't see Perth's spectacular revival coming, with the Demons posting the last 8 goals of the game.
A feeling of relief was an understatement when the bell rang a minute or two before I expected it to, though 7 points was a "comfortable" margin compared to the three previous results of 1 (L), 3 (W) and 3 (W) points.
The highlights for me were Bono booting 4 goals in his first league game for the season and Jonah Brooks' pearler of a banana/checkside goal, which turned out to be the Royals' last major for the afternoon.
Until EP can string four quarters together, other teams will always be confident of overrunning us, though "winning ugly" builds the resilience required to be a genuine contender. 

hear there was a bewildering incident in the reserves where an EP player has gotten a free kick & 50 metre penalty - he's run in and kicked it through the goals but has struck the goal umpire somehow with the kick
and now he's been reported for umpire contact 
just complete incompetance 

 

Southerner wrote:

hear there was a bewildering incident in the reserves where an EP player has gotten a free kick & 50 metre penalty - he's run in and kicked it through the goals but has struck the goal umpire somehow with the kick
and now he's been reported for umpire contact 
just complete incompetance 


 

Was not aware that the player had been charged, think it was Page who kicked it. Was being a bit overzealous/careless with the kick and the umpire had no way of avoiding. Thankfully she seemed ok as she walked off the ground to well deserved applause.

that isn't a reportable offence mate 

 

Southerner wrote:

that isn't a reportable offence mate 


 

agreed, being unlucky is not any basis for reporting it

Agree it should not have been reported but the WAFC will find a way .... insufficient effort to avoid contact or interference with an umpire perhaps!!

What is the game coming to?? Cant tackle, cant bump, defenders cant touch a forward ... on and on it goes.