West Coast Eagles coach Andrew McQualter has offered that he will "seek some clarity" following a costly blunder by interchange stewards in his side's loss to the North Melbourne Kangaroos on Saturday.
In the immediate aftermath of a brutal concussion for luckless youngster Hamish Davis, that came as a result of a Paul Curtis tackle that's sure to draw the MRO's ire, North Melbourne scored a goal.
However, that goal came with the Eagles a man short, as interchange stewards refused to allow a frustrated Ryan Maric to take Davis' place until the dazed 20-year-old reached the bench.
In a game decided by a solitary point, every goal is worth its weight in gold, and the man affectionately known as 'Mini' let his feelings be known, post-match.
"I'm going to seek some clarity on this because I'm led to believe if the HIA (head injury assessment) is called, the match-day manager has a responsibility to send the player from the interchange on straight away," McQualter said on Saturday night.
"So maybe a mistake was made in that. I'm going to have to seek that out and find out where that mistake was, because it cost us a goal.
"I think it was fairly clear Hamish was concussed. Fortunately, he's in a good position now, but potentially a mistake was made."
Left a man down for much of the match, following Davis' first-quarter withdrawal, the Eagles appeared long odds to pinch the victory, falling behind by as much as 20 points, early in the final stanza.
In front of an Optus Stadium crowd exhibiting a renewed exuberance this season, though, the Eagles would rally, and would likely have condemned the Roos to another week of intense scrutiny, if not for Jake Waterman's Travis Cloke-esque miss, from directly in front, in the match's dying embers.
Waterman has battled the yips in front of the sticks this season, but still leads the competition in score involvements. It's a sign of real maturity from the emerging spearhead, that he can stay productive when his kicking boots desert him, and one that pleases McQualter.
"I absolutely love that I've got a key forward having the most shots in the competition. What an absolute treat that is to be able to coach someone like that," McQualter said.
"I love how Jake's competing, and he'll be riding the emotion of this (the costly miss); he's such a proud competitor, and we're just going to support him."
McQualter is also well pleased with the example Waterman is setting for young and exciting key position prospects like young Jobe Shanahan, who stood up to play a vital role in the Eagle's resurgence late in the contest.
"He's [Jake] going to continue to work hard, which he always does, and he shows the way for our young key forwards.
"We got an 18-year-old and a 19-year-old next to him in that forward line, and if they're seeing him as the example, they're going to be set up for good long careers.
"If Jobe continues to work hard, like he is, we're going to have a serious player for a long time.
"He's going to have ups and downs, as 19-year-old key forwards do, but we'll just keep working hard and giving him the best chance we can [for him] to jump at the ball and show his strength."
The Eagles will lick their wounds after the narrow defeat, now afforded the mid-season bye, before another trip to Melbourne, where Carlton await.
