1. The monkey’s off the back, but the gorilla awaits
Before this victory, it had been 287 days since the Eagles beat a top-eight side. But after comfortably accounting for North Melbourne at Domain Stadium, all that now remains for West Coast to convince most pundits they are serious contenders in 2016 is for the Eagles to win an away game against a top-eight team - and they won’t get the chance to do that until they take on GWS in mid-August. In the meantime, away games against Carlton and Collingwood will prove challenging, while they will also take on Melbourne and Fremantle at Domain Stadium. Given those four match-ups, West Coast is well set up to push into the top four before they hit a tough run of fixtures to finish the season – GWS (away), Hawthorn (home), and Adelaide (away). The GWS match looms as being just as important for the players’ confidence as it will be for the four points.

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2. West Coast’s ruck problems could be about to get worse
Scott Lycett has already been forced to sit out a couple of matches this year. The first was the game against Sydney at the SCG after he was suspended for hitting Richmond key forward Ty Vickery in the head. Then, the club sent him back to the WAFL, forcing him to miss the Brisbane Lions game after he broke team rules. Now, West Coast could be forced to do without the improving ruckman for Sunday’s game against Carlton because of a first-quarter incident involving Jack Ziebell, which may come to the attention of the Match Review Panel. It couldn’t come at a worse time for West Coast, who won’t get star ruckman Nic Naitanui back for at least another few weeks and are using forgotten defender Mitch Brown to pinch-hit in an effort to protect the more obvious choice in Jeremy McGovern.  

3. North has some discipline issues
Both teams were riled up in the first half, but North paid more dearly for its aggression. While Elliott Yeo would likely have kicked a goal in the second term after marking just 30m from goal, Jack Ziebell’s late hit made a certainty of it. Scott Lycett, meanwhile, would have faced a much tougher shot, from outside 50m, until Trent Dumont threw the ball away. On the other side of the ledger, West Coast’s Patrick McGinnity handed the visitors a goal when he laid a hip-and-shoulder that put Sam Gibson into the fence, leaving the umpire with little choice but to give Gibson a free kick. From about 40m out, Gibson converted with ease.  Then, there were two 50m penalties given away by West Coast in defence, both of which relieved the pressure of the press and allowed North to move the ball forward of centre. The second half wasn’t much better for the Roos. Ziebell gave away another 50m penalty to gift Andrew Gaff an easy shot at goal, while Josh Kennedy’s shot at goal was made much easier when he was taken to the goal line after Scott Thompson felled Jack Darling off the ball.

4. Lindsay Thomas still can’t get a free kick
Plenty has already been said about Lindsay Thomas this season when it comes to free kicks. Brad Scott was even forced to pay a hefty fine after he claimed umpires didn’t want to pay Thomas free kicks and one had even labelled the veteran goalsneak a ducker. Against West Coast, Thomas must have wondered whether there was any truth to the claim. During the third term, the ball came over the back and Thomas was best placed to win the ball on the wing. He would have then been able to race towards an unguarded goal. Realising Thomas would likely take the ball and get a kick on goal, West Coast defender Brad Sheppard held Thomas back and must have expected a free kick to be paid against him. But it wasn’t. Halfway through being tackled, Thomas grabbed Sheppard’s hand and held on to it, accentuating the effect of the tackle. But that doesn’t mean it wasn’t there. 

5. How the mighty have fallen
The ladder was always going to be a talking point for this match. Going in, the teams were placed seventh and eighth – hardly a top-of-the-ladder affair. But so tight is this year’s competition that fifth spot would almost certainly go to the winner (North could conceivably have grabbed fourth), while the loser would find themselves in eighth at the end of the weekend. So, North were big losers in this one. It’s amazing to think that the Kangaroos sat atop the AFL ladder just a few weeks back. And injuries to Mason Wood and Farren Ray leave them in a precarious position, especially given their tough finish to the season.