Yips leave McKinley perplexed

WEST Coast forward Ben McKinley has called on the Eagles to show more consistency after poor kicking and a second-half fadeout saw them fall to their fourth loss of the season.

The Eagles blew a 23-point half time lead against arch-rival Fremantle to lose their fourth consecutive derby by 13 points.

West Coast’s forwards were wasteful in the first half and their poor kicking allowed Freo to remain in touch when the game could have been over.

McKinley – who kicked 1.3 – said he was at a loss to explain what went wrong.

“We really put some good pressure on their defenders, particularly in that second quarter,” he said.

“We pressed up hard and closed down their run and we were able to force a number of turnovers.

“But we missed some set shots that we really should have put away; shots we’d normally kick.

“So while we started off well and had the better off them for most of the first half, we didn’t really kill off the game when we had the chance.”

Backing up after last week’s trip to Launceston, the Eagles appeared flat in the second half of the clash as the temperature hovered around the 28 degree mark.

Daniel Kerr, in particular, struggled with vomiting and cramp throughout the second half.

But McKinley played down the heat as a factor in the loss.

“It shouldn’t have been a factor at all,” he said.

“I think we’re fit enough and we’ve clearly down a lot of hard work in the pre-season to cope with days like this.

“I think it was more a mental problem than a physical problem.”

McKinley agreed with coach John Worsfold’s assessment that the Eagles needed to work on their kicking skills, tackling and movement of the ball into the forward 50.

“In the second half we really fell away in all of those key areas,” McKinley said.

“All of the things we were doing in the first half just went missing and to lose a game that was there for the taking is just hugely disappointing.

“So now we have to move on and go through our review and honestly pull out all of those areas where we fell down and were deficient.

“It’s only round six and finals are still our focus. We’ve just got to be up with our intensity and workrate and skills for every game, whether it’s a derby or not.

“Next week against Melbourne is obviously a must- win so we’ve just got to back up and really make a stand as a playing group.”