1. Nic Naitanui can take a mark after all...
West Coast's human highlight reel had come in for recent criticism over his lack of marks but he produced a grab against Geelong that will forever rank among his best. As if Mark Blicavs didn't have it hard enough after Geelong lost Rhys Stanley and Mitch Clark to injury, Naitanui added insult by launching himself over the big Cat – and Callum Sinclair, and Jared Rivers, for good measure – to take an enormous screamer that will take some beating for Mark of the Year.  Blicavs continued to battle manfully against the Eagles' ruck duo but the imbalance was eventually telling. Geelong will be fervently hoping that Stanley and Clark recover well enough to give Blicavs a hand against Essendon on Saturday.

2. ... but the Eagles need goalkicking lessons
When the siren sounded to end the first half, West Coast had a nine-point lead over the Cats. But that margin was a poor reflection of the Eagles' dominance during a half that saw the home side enter their forward 50 on 33 occasions for 21 shots on goal. Geelong, meanwhile, managed 15 entries – their worst first half in 10 years – for seven shots on goal. West Coast's profligacy was breathtaking and the chief culprits were Josh Hill, who uncharacteristically booted three behinds after going into the game with 18.3 to his name in 2015, Callum Sinclair and Jamie Cripps. The inaccuracy was contagious, too, and, as the half drew to a close, the growing pressure caused others to miss seemingly easy shots at goal.

3. It was a changing of the guard
Geelong has had the wood on West Coast for years. Since 2007, the Cats have won nine times against the Eagles and lost just twice, both times by single-digit margins in Perth. But times, they are a changin'. The Eagles have turned a corner and seem poised for some meaningful assaults on finals football in the coming years, while the Cats are starting to rebuild after one of the most successful periods in the club's history. While the final margin didn't bear out the gulf between the teams, other statistics do. The Eagles were dominant through the midfield, winning the clearances 46-34 and the centre clearances 15-8. Matt Priddis, Luke Shuey and Chris Masten extracted the ball at will while the Cats relied too heavily on captain Joel Selwood and Josh Caddy. If it wasn't for big Tom Hawkins, the 56-point margin would have been a lot greater.

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4. Hawkins stretched West Coast
The home side's injury woes have been well documented and several critics have been surprised the Eagles have been able to cope in defence without star full-back Eric Mackenzie and his understudy Mitch Brown. Against Geelong, that defence was really stretched by just one man – Tom Hawkins. While the big forward's opportunities were limited by a lack of supply, there was a feeling of inevitability that he would mark on each occasion the ball was lobbed in his direction. Will Schofield tried hard, but didn't have the size to match it with Hawkins and it was only the intercept marking of Jeremy McGovern that kept Hawkins from kicking a bag. He still took seven marks and kicked 3.2 for the day.

5. West Coast needs to put its foot down over its playing uniform
Last year, West Coast was forced to wear its clash strip against Richmond and was understandably upset that the Tigers, as the away team, weren't forced to change instead. Against Geelong, the Eagles were again told to change their playing uniform for a home game. This time, it was their shorts. Apparently, the Cats couldn't wear white shorts with their Indigenous Round jumper, so they wore their regular navy blue shorts. West Coast was forced to wear the white shorts they usually wear for away games. They were not happy. None of this, however, explains the brain fade by Eagles runner Kyle Wheeler, who was wearing all pink when he gifted Tom Hawkins a goal in the first quarter by running through the mark and giving away a 50m penalty.