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Why Sydney will win running away in 2005! Sydney 20 - 39.

West Coast denies MCG fears
By James Dampney
September 19, 2005

WEST Coast ruckman Dean Cox insists the MCG holds no fears for his side heading into the AFL grand final against Sydney on Saturday.

Critics throughout the year have questioned whether the Eagles can replicate the outstanding form they show at Subiaco Oval at the home of football.

The eagles had mixed fortunes at the ground during the home-and-away season.

Their first trip east in round nine resulted in a 23-point loss to Collingwood, snapping West Coast's unbeaten start to the year.

That result, against a struggling Magpies outfit, began the murmurs of doubt over West Coast's ability to produce its best on the ground.

The doubts grew two weeks late when the Eagles scraped home by two points over a gallant Richmond side playing its first game after Nathan Brown broke a leg in horrific fashion.

West Coast recorded its most impressive result at the MCG in round 13, a 15-point triumph over a Melbourne side then pushing the Eagles for top spot.

The ledger for 2005 was then left at 2-2 following a 43-point loss to a rampant Western Bulldogs in round 19.

It hardly makes reassuring reading for a side that lost just five games all season, but Cox insisted today there were no demons to overcome in Melbourne.

"We are confident (at the MCG)," he said.
"We knew throughout the year if we wanted to play on the last day in September it was always going to be at the MCG.

"We've played there four times this year and won two of them. We beat Melbourne when we were first and they were sitting second in a big blockbuster.

"So the boys have shown that when they're switched on and ready to play, we can win at any ground."

While Cox has no concerns over playing at the MCG, he has had plenty of calls from so-called friends asking him to help them get there.

The All-Australian ruckman's phone has been running hot.

"It has been," he said.

"Especially people you haven't spoken to in years, they ring up and ask if you've got any tickets.

"But as much as anything they're very rare to get hold of, but hopefully as many people as possible can get over from Perth."