Eagles will give everything: Worsfold - Sports News - Fanatics - the world's biggest events

Eagles will give everything: Worsfold

By Justin Chadwick 27/08/2008 05:01:03 PM Comments (0)

With the end of semester fast approaching, West Coast coach John Worsfold is bracing his students for a painful AFL lesson as Geelong prepares to deliver a lecture the Eagles are not likely to forget.

When the two teams last met in round 13, the Cats romped their way to a 135-point trouncing over a defenceless West Coast outfit.

The scary thing about Geelong's performance that night was that it was achieved at the Eagles' supposed fortress of Subiaco Oval.

Even scarier, however, is that Saturday's re-match is at Skilled Stadium, a venue where West Coast has tasted success just once since 1999.

Leading bookmaker Centrebet quoted West Coast at an unprecedented $15 chance to upset the Cats but Worsfold refused to concede defeat before the battle had even begun.

"We can," Worsfold replied when asked if the Eagles could do the unthinkable and defeat Geelong.

"It would be a big win if we could do it but all we can guarantee is that we'll go out and give it everything, not just count down the minutes in the game until the end of the season, but just go out and enjoy the challenge of playing against a great side.

"This week we'll go out to compete and play at our best and the expectation is probably not that we're a great chance to win but anything can happen.

"All over the ground (we) just really (need to) compete hard and take it up to them and make them earn the win if they're good enough, make sure they've actually earned it.

"We don't have our 2006 premiership side running out there on the weekend - if that was the case I'd back us in."

Geelong coach Mark Thompson has promised West Coast "the hardest day they are ever going to have in their life" but Worsfold said his charges were ready for the challenge.

"We are going to lap that up, that's one thing for sure," Worsfold said.

"It's a great learning environment for a lot of our players, it will be a great learning environment for me.

"We are looking forward to the challenge. They are a very good side and it's one of the great opportunities for our young players to learn."

Worsfold said David Wirrpanda was almost certain to miss his third game on the trot with a hamstring injury, leaving West Coast with just 26 fit players to choose from.

Forward Mark LeCras, who was a late withdrawal from last week's loss to Hawthorn, is facing a race against time to prove he has overcome his groin complaint.

Geelong will be without Max Rooke after the 26-year-old accepted a one-week suspension for his bump on North Melbourne's Sam Power, while small forward Mathew Stokes (groin) is a chance to return to the side after his late withdrawal last week.

James Kelly, who also missed the win over the Kangaroos, will spend another week on the sidelines with a quad injury.

West Coast have won just four times this season and need to beat Geelong to avoid posting the club's outright worst win-loss record in their 22-year history, which currently belongs to Ken Judge's 2001 outfit (5-17).

Brought to you by AAP AAP © 2024 AAP

0 Comments about this article

Post a comment about this article

Please sign in to leave a comment.
Becoming a member is free and easy, sign up here.

« All sports news