Nic Naitanui stakes his claim for the AFL’s most exciting player

 Robert White
A trademark highflying Nic Naitanui mark in the dying seconds and a goal after the siren lifted the West Coast Eagles over the North Melbourne Kangaroos in a thriller in Perth on Friday night.  
Inaccurate kicking plagued the Eagles throughout the night, forcing the team to fight from behind for much of the game before they eventually escaped 12.18.(90)-13.10.(88) winners.
Josh Hill led the Eagles with three goals while Luke Shuey and Josh Kennedy bagged two apiece.
After holding off West Coast for much of the second and third terms, North finally managed to build some momentum by kicking three of the first four goals to begin the fourth quarter. Some run gifted Jack Ziebell and Andrew Swallow goals on the run before Drew Petrie setup Brent Harvey for a short distance set shot.
Down by 15 points with under 10 minutes remaining, West Coast managed to stay alive thanks to some evasive running and a goal from Hill before Shuey was able to shake off what looked to be a badly turned ankle to go back and kick his second with under three minutes remaining.
A well-spotted high tackle on the wing in the final moments rewarded the Eagles with a free kick. A last ditch high ball thumped inside 50 fell into the hands of a soaring Naitanui, who claimed the spectacular mark. He went back after the siren had sounded to seal the two-point victory in front of an ecstatic home crowd.
With some exciting footy being played by both teams early on, West Coast looked the better side for the first part of the opening term as Jack Darling and Kennedy were able to establish themselves as solid forward marking targets. North responded by kicking four straight to finish of the quarter, running out with a 17-point quarter time lead.
West Coast had plenty of opportunities to take the game in the second and third quarter, but 12 combined misses during the stretch meant what should have been a healthy lead was instead a four-point deficit heading into the thrilling final quarter.
Harvey led the Kangaroos with 24 disposals and two goals while Daniel Wells contributed 23.  Aaron Black kicked three goals in the losing effort.