WEST Coast has got one hand on a maiden AFLW finals appearance, standing up under pressure in Pride Round to beat Geelong by 31 points at Sullivan Logistics Stadium on Friday night.

In a high stakes clash that will go a long way to shaping top-eight positions, the Eagles produced their grittiest and most rounded performance this season to see off a fellow finals contender and win 7.8 (50) to 2.7 (19).

EAGLES v CATS Full match coverage and stats

While the Eagles move to sixth with a 6-4 record, the loss for Geelong all but ends their season, with the Cats now two wins and percentage outside the top eight with clashes against the Western Bulldogs and Melbourne to come.

The Eagles can secure their first ever finals finish with a win against either Sydney next Saturday or Carlton in the final round of the season, franking a breakout season under second-year coach Daisy Pearce.

Lucia Painter was the star on Friday night, kicking an equal career-best three goals and providing a constant target inside 50, finishing with 13 disposals and putting the icing on the cake with a 50m goal in the dying minutes.

Young defender Jess Rentsch shut down star forward Aishling Moloney in a significant performance for the young gun, while former skipper Emma Swanson executed a shutdown job on gun midfielder Georgie Prespakis.

While the lockdown jobs were vital, Emma Roberts (25 disposals and six inside 50s) got the job done again offensively, with Lauren Wakfer brilliant with 17 disposals and a goal.

The stakes were clear from the opening bounce as West Coast attacked the game with intensity, creating early chances through their tackling pressure as midfielder Bella Lewis snapped the opener.

Roberts was everywhere, dodging and weaving on the forward flanks and then setting up her forwards with eight opening quarter disposals and four inside 50s. Missed opportunities and front half skill errors cost them, however, as they entered the first break with a six-point lead.

The second quarter was a midfield demolition as the Eagles won the clearances 6-0, getting the game on their terms and building a 20-point lead through powerful forwards Painter and Amy Frankin.

Prespakis remained subdued and had five touches for the quarter, but a pair of those came in a late chain that ended with Zali Friswell kicking the Cats' only goal for the half after the siren.

The Eagles made their big move in the third term, kicking three unanswered goals to open a match-winning 32-point lead.

Among the flurry, Swanson won a big contested ball and then converted on the run, landing another blow on the Cats after doing her job defensively on Prespakis.

When Painter got free inside 50 to mark overhead and kick her second goal, the Eagles were in complete control and proved impossible to stop in a significant win for the club.

Eagles plan for Prespakis
Georgie Prespakis averages 7.1 clearances a game this season as the leading stoppage player in the AFLW, but West Coast came with a plan for the star midfielder on Friday night. Emma Swanson put the clamps on from the opening bounce and kept Prespakis to two disposals before the Cats set about breaking the tag by sending Prespakis to opposition star Ella Roberts at stoppages. The match-up eventually settled and Swanson took the points, kicking an important goal and finishing with 19 disposals in a performance that revealed another weapon at Pearce's disposal in the run to finals.

Daisy's favourite gets big job 
West Coast coach Daisy Pearce has been campaigning for defender Jess Rentsch to get a Rising Star nomination and was finally successful this week. To celebrate, she handed the 19-year-old the massive job of shutting down Geelong start Aishling Moloney, who booted six goals against the Eagles last season. It was well-placed faith, with Rentsch keeping her opponent to seven disposals, three marks and 0.1, shining alongside Georgie Cleaver, Charlie Thomas and Zoe Wakfer, with the Eagles building a formidable backline combination.

Up next
Geelong has a nine-day break before taking on the Western Bulldogs at Mars Stadium in Ballarat on Sunday, while the Eagles travel to Sydney for another finals-shaping clash against the Swans on Saturday.

WEST COAST  1.3   3.6   6.6   7.8 (50)
GEELONG     0.3   1.4   1.6   2.7 (19)

GOALS
West Coast: Painter 2, Franklin, Lewis, Swanson, L Wakfer
Geelong: Friswell, Mason

BEST
West Coast: Painter, Swanson, Roberts, Rentsch, L Wakfer, Lewis
Geelong: Morrison, McDonald, Gunjaca, Bowen

INJURIES
West Coast: Nil
Geelong: Rankin (calf)

Crowd: 2,428 at Sullivan Logistics Stadium