Eagles hero ducks debate

WEST Coast match-winner Luke Shuey has deflected debate about his free kick in Saturday night’s epic elimination final win over Port Adelaide as “irrelevant” as the Eagles turn their attention to Saturday night’s semi-final against GWS.

After being awarded a free kick for a high tackle from Jared Polec with 17 seconds left, Shuey goaled after the siren following extra time to give the Eagles a two-point win at Adelaide Oval.

Asked yesterday if he ducked into the tackle, he did not want to buy into the debate, saying the team was focused on their next assignment at Spotless Stadium against the Giants.

“I just wanted to give you blokes something to talk about,’’ he said on Channel 9.

“It’s irrelevant to us, we’re worried about moving on to GWS this week.”

Shuey described the extratime period as intense, but said he was hit by the enormity of the situation when he lined up for his match-winning shot.

“The actual circumstances and the outcome probably did not hit me until after I kicked the goal. It all felt pretty normal up until then,” he said.

“I’ve watched on over the last few years and seen guys kick goals after the siren, or miss goals, and always wondered what it would be like to be in that situation so it was nice to experience it, I guess.’’

After creeping into the finals, and pulling off a great escape against the Power, the Eagles will fight to extend their September run against the Giants, who had a qualifying final loss to Adelaide.

Their survival has raised the question as to whether the Eagles would consider bringing back ruckman Nic Naitaui, who has not played this season after injuring his ACL last year.

“I think the 22 players who played last night will be pushing for it,’’ Shuey said.

“But if he does get up, he’ll be important for us. We’ll have to wait and see.’’

He paid tribute to the roles veterans Drew Petrie, Sam Mitchell and Matt Priddis played in the win.

“Finals footy, you need to keep it pretty simple and I could not think of a better three in our footy club than those three,’’ he said.