Eagles hammer Swans in AFL clash

First Sydney lost Lance Franklin, then they lost what little mojo they had left.

The Swans’ premiership hopes took a further dive on Sunday when they crashed to a 52-point loss to West Coast at Domain Stadium.

And Sydney speedster Lewis Jetta angered a small section of the crowd when he performed a war dance in their direction after kicking a goal early in the final quarter.

As part of the war cry, Jetta threw a make-believe spear in the direction of Eagles fans.

The move could have been in retaliation for the crowd’s relentless booing of Swans veteran Adam Goodes throughout the match.

Goodes courted controversy himself in May when he directed an indigenous war dance towards a section of Carlton supporters after kicking a goal.

Jetta, a good friend of Goodes, was one of Sydney’s best players on Sunday, but his team were little match for a white-hot Eagles outfit.

Already missing injured spearhead Kurt Tippett, Sydney were dealt another blow before the match when Franklin pulled out because of back tightness.

It left the Swans without their two main forward targets, but in the end it was their midfield that copped the biggest walloping in the 15.13 (103) to 7.9 (51) defeat.

The heavy loss comes just a week after Sydney copped an 89-point hiding at the hands of Hawthorn.

With three losses in their past five games, Sydney are on the slide.

In contrast, West Coast edged a step closer towards securing a top-two berth.

The Eagles’ midfield was once dubbed too slow and one-dimensional.

Not anymore.

Brownlow medallist Matt Priddis put in another best-on-field performance, while Andrew Gaff, Elliot Yeo, Chris Masten, Dom Sheed, and Luke Shuey were also influential.

Ruckman Nic Naitanui caused all sorts of havoc in the air and at ground level, with forwards Jack Darling and Josh Kennedy kicking three goals apiece.

West Coast kicked a wayward 11.21 in last week’s win over Collingwood.

But they had no such troubles against the Swans early on, registering 6.0 before making their first flaw.

In contrast, Sydney kicked 0.6 before Goodes finally broke their drought with a smart goal midway through the second term.

It would be Sydney’s only joy for the opening half, with their sloppy work and schoolboy errors costing them dearly.

Swingman Sam Reid best summed up their plight by hitting the left goal post and then the right within the space of a minute in the opening term.

The lead ballooned to 64 points midway through the third quarter before the Swans finally added some scoreboard respectability.

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