Eagles face crunch math quiz against Crows

West Coast's AFL finals hopes hang in the balance ahead of their final-round clash with Adelaide at Domain Stadium.

West Coast coach Adam Simpson isn't fretting about his upcoming maths quiz as his side attempts to snare an unlikely AFL finals berth.

The Eagles take on ladder-leading Adelaide in Perth on Sunday but their fate largely hinges on other results.

If Fremantle upset Essendon at Etihad Stadium on Sunday, then the Eagles will secure a finals berth with victory over the Crows.

But if the eighth-placed Bombers win, West Coast will need to beat the Crows by a big enough margin to ensure they overtake Essendon on percentage.

The Bombers currently sit 1.8 percentage points above the Eagles.

Another way West Coast can sneak into the top eight is if Collingwood upsets seventh-placed Melbourne on Saturday.

Once again, West Coast would need to beat Adelaide by a big enough margin to overtake the Demons on percentage.

West Coast's match is the final game of the round, meaning they will know exactly what they need to do come the first bounce.

Simpson said says it's important his side doesn't get bogged down in thinking about margins, given they face an almighty battle just to beat the Crows.

"It's a unique situation," Simpson said on Friday.

"We had a bit of this in 2014. We needed Sydney to beat Richmond at home, and they didn't. So we played the next day in a bit of a dead rubber.

"I'm not thinking too hard about it. It's really difficult to say 'guys, let's win by five goals this week'.

"We might need to win by 90 points - who knows?

"All I know is we have to win no matter what."

Simpson quipped he would play eight forwards if his team needed to win by a massive margin.

West Coast's victory hopes received a huge double boost on Friday when star Adelaide duo Taylor Walker (toe) and Daniel Talia (ankle) were ruled out.

The Eagles welcome back forward Mark LeCras from a hamstring injury.

Sunday's match will be the final AFL game at Subiaco Oval, while it will also be the final AFL game for Eagles duo Matt Priddis and Sam Mitchell if West Coast don't qualify for finals.


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Source: AAP



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