'Embarrassing' first half sets up West Coast for Perth Stadium slaughter at hands of Sydney
Sydney slaughtered West Coast by 63 points on Friday night and the bulk of the damage was inflicted in an "embarrassing" first half.
As the Swans cruised to an 18.13 (121) to 9.4 (58) victory over the Eagles in Perth, West Coast was kept to zero points in the first term and two goals before the main break.
The Swans registered 20 scoring shots to two in the opening half, as well as 39 inside 50s to the home side's 10 – the largest half-time differential in inside 50s in the AFL since 2018.
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An atrocious opening half set West Coast up for a 63-point thumping at the hands of Sydney at Perth Stadium. Daniel Carson/Getty Images
In another indication of its horrendous start to the game, it was West Coast's first scoreless opening quarter in Perth ever, after 429 completed games.
The Swans thrashed the Eagles without megastar forward Lance Franklin, who's undergone finger surgery and is expected to miss another one to two games.
Melbourne great Garry Lyon labelled the first half "an absolute demolition".
"An embarrassing-looking scoreboard from the West Coast Eagles' point of view, but for the Swans it looks absolutely superb," Lyon said on the Fox Footy coverage.
"They're all at sea, West Coast at the moment," added Brisbane icon Jonathan Brown, "but Sydney have been magnificent, as well."
Sydney livewire James Bell tries to muscle through a Shannon Hurn tackle. Will Russell/Getty Images
Lyon added: "There's nothing good about this".
Gun forward Isaac Heeney booted three goals from 16 touches to move into third on the goal-kicking leaderboard.
Callum Mills (28 disposals), Errol Gulden (27) and Luke Parker (26) were the leading ball-winners.
As West Coast prepares for a clash with Port Adelaide at Adelaide Oval next Saturday, Sydney will search for three victories in succession in a match against Hawthorn in Launceston on Anzac Day.
