LIFE without Nic Naitanui almost started without a hitch for West Coast in a 54-point trampling of the inexperienced and outclassed Western Bulldogs at Optus Stadium on Sunday.

But the Eagles will have an anxious wait ahead of next Sunday's tricky clash with North Melbourne in Hobart after skipper Shannon Hurn sent onballer Mitch Honeychuch to hospital with a high bump.

The match stopped for several minutes in the third quarter while Honeychurch was carted from the ground on a stretcher and taken away in an ambulance, with the incident certain to be looked at by the Match Review Officer.

EAGLES ROCK Full match coverage and stats

The Bulldogs are concerned for Honeychurch's neck and he will spend Sunday night in Perth and have scans.

"It just shows you how brutal the game can be at times," coach Luke Beveridge said after the game.

"We all care deeply about our players and it's quite disconcerting when there's possibility of serious injury.

"The early indication is he will be OK."


It was a bad moment in an otherwise comfortable encounter for West Coast, when it needed to move on quickly from the shattering loss of star ruckman Naitanui to his second knee reconstruction.

The Eagles put the Dogs to the sword early with their best first quarter of the season – booting 6.4 - after the visitors made a dream start with Mitch Wallis and Luke Dahlhaus converting the first two inside 50s into majors.

That only sparked West Coast into action, with the Eagles piling on the next seven unanswered goals before the clash descended into a scrap after half-time.

"It was pretty scrappy but, with the conditions and the wind, our ability to score was pretty good, but we probably just didn’t convert when we really had dominance," Eagles coach Adam Simpson said.

"We probably could have won by a bit more in the end there, but the Doggies fought hard all day.

"The start was really important for us. We didn’t get off to a great start after the first five minutes but after that the boys settled pretty well and we get the win."

With their 13th win, a 14.16 (100) to 6.10 (46) triumph, the second-placed Eagles are right in the hunt for two priceless home finals come September.

West Coast also received a handy percentage boost, although the margin could have been even greater if not for some ordinary finishing.

The Eagles booted a combined 3.11 in the second and third terms, while the visitors lacked any bite in attack, despite only losing the inside 50 count 44-52. 

The 14th-placed Dogs' (5-12) defeat extends a shocking record in Perth, now standing at 11 losses from the past 12 trips west.

It was also the eighth loss in nine games for Luke Beveridge's injury-hit men, who are limping towards the end of the season with key personnel on the sidelines.

EAGLE'S NERVOUS WAIT Five talking points

The Eagles took some time to work themselves out around clearances on Sunday without Naitanui, but gun midfielders Luke Shuey (28 disposals), Elliot Yeo (28, one goal) and Andrew Gaff (34) turned the tide after the Dogs' fast start.

Big men Scott Lycett and Nathan Vardy will face tougher challenges on the road to September but won the hit-out count (39-30) against Tom Boyd and Jordan Roughead and helped West Coast edge the clearance battle (34-30).

Small forward Jamie Cripps snared three goals, while Jack Darling made amends for some early misses with three final-quarter majors.  

WATCH Darling does some damage

The Dogs didn't have a multiple goalkicker and a hard-working effort from the likes of newly re-signed Toby McLean (24 disposals), 100th gamer Lachie Hunter (28), Caleb Daniel (23) and half-back Jason Johannisen (21, one goal) wasn't rewarded.

After trailing by 34 points at the long break, the Dogs lost yet another second half, their 15th for the season, but at least weren't completely blown away.

"Obviously we got off to a promising start and a sloppy tackle here and a fumble there and we let the Eagles back in and found it hard to recover," Beveridge said.

"We had to move things around a bit to stop their momentum. I was pleased after that the players hung in there.

"They fought it out and probably minimised the damage in the end."

On a wintry day the rain mostly stayed away, but the Eagles still only attracted their lowest crowd at their new home, with the 46,854-strong crowd breaking a record streak of nine consecutive games with at least 50,000 fans.

MEDICAL ROOM
West Coast: Shannon Hurn came off midway through the second term bleeding from the left eye but was soon back in the action. 

Western Bulldogs: Luke Dahlhaus immediately signalled to trainers after being caught in an Elliot Yeo tackle during the second quarter and appearing to twist his left ankle. He was able to jog off the ground and went to the rooms before returning midway through the term, but might have a syndesmosis injury and is doubtful to face Port Adelaide. He was icing his ankle in the last quarter. Tall defender Marcus Adams copped a knee to the back during the third quarter but stayed on the field after gathering himself for a moment. Dogs coach Luke Beveridge was hopeful Honeychurch would be OK but couldn’t be certain until he has scans on his neck. He will remain in Perth on Sunday night.

NEXT UP
The Eagles head to Blundstone Arena in Hobart for the third time after playing in a couple of thrillers against North Melbourne in 2012 and '15, while the Bulldogs are off to Mars Stadium for their third home game in Ballarat against Port Adelaide.

WEST COAST               6.4   8.9   9.15  14.16 (100)
WESTERN BULLDOGS  2.2   3.5    4.8   6.10 (46)

GOALS
West Coast: Cripps 3, Darling 3, Kennedy 2, LeCras 2, Rioli, Vardy, Venables, Yeo
Western Bulldogs: Wallis, Dahlhaus, Schache, Roughead, Macrae, Johannisen 

BEST 
West Coast: Yeo, Gaff, McGovern, Cripps, Jetta, Masten
Western Bulldogs: Dunkley, McLean, Crozier, Hunter, Wallis 

INJURIES 
West Coast: Nil
Western Bulldogs: Mitch Honeychurch (concussion), Luke Dahlhaus (ankle) 

Reports: Nil

Umpires: Donlon, Harris, Fleer

Official crowd:46,854 at Optus Stadium