Much of the discussion in the lead-up to Saturday night’s Grand Final rematch between Collingwood and West Coast focused on the Pies, which is what tends to happen.

How the losing team coped with the trauma is always the talking point ahead of when the Grand Final combatants go at it once again. Words like ‘trauma’, ‘redemption’ and ‘circle the date’ get a good working over.

But at the MCG on Saturday night it was West Coast that wanted to make a statement.

It was the Eagles saying to the rest of the competition and in particular, its Victorian powerbase, “we’re nearly impossible to beat at our stadium and at yours as well.”

That’s three wins over Collingwood at the MCG in less than half a season. Whereas the Eagles used to struggle to with the wide expanses of the MCG when their old home ground at Subiaco was long and skinny, their move to the wider Optus Stadium at the start of last season hasn’t just been a commercial windfall for them, it means they now play the MCG with aplomb as well.

And with Hawthorn there in the middle of the season and then Richmond a fortnight out from the finals they get two more opportunities against good teams to tweak their gameplan on the most important ground in the competition.

In addition to chalking up another MCG win and inflicting further psychological damage on a fellow flag contender, everything the Eagles hoped for on Saturday night came to fruition.

Andrew Gaff had 35 possesions and five clearances in his first game back in the side. Jamie Cripps kicked four goals in his first game back. Youngsters Oscar Allen and Jack Petruccelle thrived on the big stage. Liam Ryan demonstrated that not only is he a freakishly good footballer, but smart as well.

And all this with Nic Naitanui and Willie Rioli on the sidelines. And the Eagles brought them to Melbourne and made sure the TV cameras caught a glimpse of them to emphasize the point that there are still significant reinforcements to come.

West Coast flexed its muscle on Saturday night and for now, is the premiership favourite. There’s not much else that can be said so far about a season in which both the ladder and the way the game is played, is still in a state of flux.

WHAT ELSE I'M THINKING

1 - Saturday afternoon footy is back. We have footy coming at us just about every day of the week and we’re just days away from footy heaven – 10 days out of 11 with games to watch – but for this weekend, we can savor two big games in our favourite timeslots and while Geelong v Greater Western Sydney and Essendon v Brisbane aren’t the traditional Saturday arvo match-ups your grandfather used to watch, they’re big early season match-ups. Check the remote control batteries and have the popcorn ready.

2 - This column’s new favourite word is ‘egregious’ and what better word is there to describe some of the ‘sliding rule’ decisions paid on the weekend. The free kicks against Collingwood’s Tom Phillips and St Kilda’s Jade Gresham were simply outrageous. League footy boss Steve Hocking has moved swiftly and firmly to fix areas of the game that need work. Surely this rule is next. It shouldn’t be so hard; reward the player who is first in for the ball – the basic tenet of the game – and not the player who lopes in afterwards and then tumbles to the ground. We are miles off the original spirit and intent of the rule.

3 - The Jeremy Cameron who booted 7.5 (and while carrying a bung shoulder) on Saturday was the same player who threatened to take the competition by storm when he made the All-Australian team in 2013 before his 21st birthday. He feasted on a Tiger defence missing three first choice starters on Saturday – Alex Rance, Dylan Grimes and Bachar Houli – in an imperious performance. More please, Jeremy.

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4 - We saw a couple of coaches feeling the pinch over the weekend. The 1-2 Tigers are in the doldrums for the first time in a while and it led to an unusual outburst from Tiger coach Damien Hardwick over the treatment afforded his superstar midfielder Dustin Martin. For the first time in years, Martin’s opponents are finding ways to curb his influence and the player and his coach are having to terms with that. We’re not sure why. Surely it is Martin who again needs to re-educate himself how to deal with a heavy tag. Brad Scott’s petulant response to a journalist simply asking the same sorts of questions North Melbourne fans have been posing for weeks was unusual. Scott is a dab hand with the media and usually handles the ‘fifth quarter’ with class and a dash of humour, but now in his 10th season with the Kangaroos the pressure is starting to mount and murmurings of an amicable divorce between coach and club come the end of the season are starting to be heard. If the losses continue, these murmurings will become a roar.

5 - Three classy goals from 10 touches marked Chad Wingard’s Hawthorn debut. He revealed afterwards that not only didn't he play any practice matches, he barely took part in any 18-on-18 match simulation work this summer. Imagine the returns when he’s match-fit.

Chad Wingard showed plenty of class in his Hawks debut

6 - The season is a marathon, not a sprint, but the early leader for ‘coach of the year’ would have to be Stuart Dew. Two wins so far is two more than some had them pegged for in 2019 and “three pillars” which are the foundations for the club this year - competitiveness, fight and heart – is taking them a long way. The next step is to handle some prosperity. They’re now favourites to beat Carlton at home, but they were last year as well when they came a cropper after that famous upset of the Swans at the SCG the week before.

7 - There’s going to be 44 nervous footballers at the SCG on Thursday night. Forecast thunderstorms on Tuesday and showers on Thursday will only heighten the anxiety. Let’s hope the ground surface comes through OK and not just for the Swans and the Demons, but players of all codes playing there for the rest of the winter.

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