Murphy Reid could be the first dual purple role citizenship recipient. We haven’t seen skills and smarts like that since David Mundy got the tap on the shoulder! Time to Restump Podcast the brushing aside of the Eagles.

We celebrate the win and welcome the four points but we left a lot score out there and the questionable skills remained on display. You get the feeling that while it was enjoyable, after the dust settled, it was more of a relief than it was a thumping return to form.

The return to form of Caleb Serong was a sight to behold, but to be honest, there was no reason why he shouldn’t have against such opposition. And right there lies the mixed feelings when reviewing and assessing Sunday. 

You want be thrilled and elated by a win, but after the first two weeks Sunday’s performance had to be about method and process rather than score. Had we lost that game, the season was over but despite our form in rounds one and two, what West Coast were able to serve up and where they’re at as a club, the result was pretty much a formality. 

But you can only take out of it what was served up. Yes, we saw the Caleb Serong and Andy Brayshaw we have come to know and love so well. Luke Jackson put in a staggeringly good performance, Jai Amiss found some footy and space between the big sticks, the Captain ensured Oscar remained in his trash can, we got to enjoy Izzy Dudley’s polished debut and, amongst some extremely ordinary ball use, we got to see some super smarts and some silk in the form of Murphy Reid. 

So, we take the positives and a measured approach to the value and the meaningfulness of the victory. Maybe not as pronounced and maybe there has been some improvement, but the reality is you couldn’t watch that game and not understand how poor west coast eagles are and you surely can’t think the issues from round one and two have evaporated. 

We’ve obviously got plenty of work to do but the four points on Sunday gave a shot of life to our season. The Bulldogs next week will be a formidable opponent and it will tell us where we are and what to make of yesterday.

Jojo took umbrage at the AFL’s pathetic post-game AI generated image so we’ll see what his beef is about. And the Chief is disappointed at the lack of support for Caleb Serong and the lackluster retaliatory effort after Harley’s Reid’s cheap shot.

We love and cherish a derby victory and we hope it has delivered some much-needed confidence for the team. Is it the embryonic stage of trend change? That remains to be seen.

So, grab your microscopes, put on your lab coat, bang on the safety goggles and come with us as we put yesterday under the Bunsen burner. We’ll further dissect our first win of the season to find and celebrate the positives while trying to find the missing ball use formula. 

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