GO FORWARD and “just impact the game,” Waalitj Marawar (West Coast) coach Daisy Pearce said to star talent Ella Roberts before she went and ripped the game away from Euro-Yroke (St Kilda) as part of a 31-point fourth quarter turnaround at RSEA Park on Saturday.

Down by 17 points with a quarter to play, Pearce moved the magnets around to try and get some offensive flow with her side having booted just 1.4 (10) for the first three quarters. Staring down the barrel of a second consecutive loss after the Eagles’ tight defeat to Essendon in Round 2, Pearce said a change in structure as well as personnel swapping enabled the big turnaround.

“I think the main thing was just to simplify the way we were trying to move the ball,” she said of what spearheaded the comeback. “I think we were a little bit unpredictable to each other throughout the day, maybe overusing the handball at times, but really just encouraged them to be clean over the ball, turn up for that first handball and then take the ball forward. So knowing we had the wind we thought we could play a little bit straighter and just be a bit more predictable.

“We also made some changes which is great. As the team starts to mature and develop, we’ve got a bit more versatility in our side to make little changes when the game demands it. To be able to send Jess Rentsch back to give us a bit of drive, Courtney Rowley came into the midfield, and I thought she was one of those ones who were really clean and just hunted the ball really well. Then to be able to send Ella Roberts forward and tell her just to impact the game. It’s not a very fancy coaching move but it usually works.”

The first-year players also played a key role with Kayla Dalgleish booting two fourth term goals including the sealer late in the match, while Lu Painter starred through the middle, and Charlotte Riggs and Courtney Lindgren provided targets up forward.

“Courtney Lindgren had some really good moments as a forward, presented well for us and was a bit of a shining light in that first quarter,” Pearce said. “Charlotte Riggs to come in and play on some really tough opponents as a forward and then be the wildcard we turn to when we change things, and for her to be able to make an impact there, to go with some of our other debutants across the season and some the players we’ve introduced, it’s really positive.

“I think Lu Painter today showed her versatility, she was one of the real focal points in Round 1 as a forward and then today I thought she was one of our best midfielders, so they’re all making an impact and it’s great to see the team grow in that way.”

St Kilda coach Nick Dal Santo said while much focus will be put on the fourth term fadeaway, he had noticed the Saints were well below par prior to that despite the lead.

“I don’t think we actually played that well in the first three quarters to be completely honest,” he said. “There was a breeze … West Coast had it in the second and the last quarter. I don’t feel like we we used the ball very well in the first and the third even when we had some dominance, and a bit of assistance with the breeze.

“I don’t feel like we played a great brand of footy even for the first three quarters and then clearly for the last, you concede five goals two, after keeping West Coast to one goal previous to that, it was really disappointing.”

He denied any messaging about ‘parking the bus’ to just get the four points, with the Saints adjusting based on the score and time remaining.

“We didn’t go into a full down defensive mode,” he said. “We moved some pieces, we still felt we had control of the game with the scoreboard and time remaining, and then when West Coast kicked a couple of goals it instantly flips to ‘no we actually need to kick a few more here’ so we tried to make some stuff work and change, but we just didn’t get it done.”