West Coast will attempt to progress through to just its second NAB Cup Grand Final next Saturday night after edging out a young and plucky Gold Coast SUNS outfit by 37 points at Patersons Stadium on Sunday.

The Eagles will host reigning premier Collingwood at Patersons Stadium in the second NAB Cup semi-final after accounting for the GC SUNS 0.12.15 (87) to 1.5.11 (50) in the stifling Perth heat.

The GC SUNS may have lost but they were far from disgraced and will take great confidence from their form on the road. A near full-strength West Coast found the visitors hard to shake and only 11 points separated the teams early in the final term.

However, the Eagles - who rested captain Darren Glass and veteran Andrew Embley - kicked the last four goals of the contest to ensure a comfortable passage through to the semi-final.

Midfielders Scott Selwood (20 possessions) and Bradd Dalziell (23) were impressive throughout, while highly-rated on-baller Luke Shuey won 14 useful possessions before being substituted at half time in his first pre-season match.

Ruckman Dean Cox continued his stellar pre-season - often lining up in the centre-square alongside Nic Naitanui - and Mitch Brown was excellent down back.

Coach John Worsfold said he was extremely pleased with how his side worked through the GC SUNS "flooding, fast-break game".

"Gold Coast SUNS obviously pushed a lot of numbers back hard … so dealing with that reasonably well [was pleasing]," he said.

"We've still got to get better at it, but the players adapted to it fairly well.

"It was a good win, really pleased to win, (but) it just shows there's still a lot of areas to work on.

"[There's] a lot of hard work ahead of us throughout the course of this year, but we learnt a little bit out of that game tonight."

For Gold Coast SUNS, young South Australian defender Seb Tape stood out with 20 possessions, while Michael Rischitelli captained the side and finished with 19 possessions and six inside 50s.

Young back-up ruckman Daniel Gorringe competed admirably against the Eagles' strong ruck combination, and ball-magnets Dion Prestia and David Swallow worked their way into the game.

Coach Guy McKenna said he was proud of his players' attack on the ball - with Gold Coast SUNS narrowly losing the contested-possession count 118-121 - and being more composed with the ball was his side's next challenge.

"The boys [were] sticking their head over the pill, which for young players is always the unknown when they come up against serious senior sides," he said.

"We were proud of them. We've said all along that we can make them look like men, but when they get the ball it's about the composure.

"To be six goals off a side like that, I'm fairly comfortable and happy with where they are at."

The Eagles, with early goals to spearheads Josh Kennedy and Mark LeCras, made an authoritative start and looked like steamrolling the GC SUNS, who were missing the majority of their senior players.

But the visitors slowed the tempo in the 34 degree heat, started winning their share of the ball through Rischitelli and Prestia, and even took the lead briefly in the second quarter.

The Eagles made their move halfway through the second term, with Cox pushing forward to kick his second goal, a lively Ashton Hams creating plenty of opportunities and Brad Ebert sending the home side into the main break with a 16-point lead.

Despite winning plenty of the ball in the second half, the GC SUNS lacked a forward target and managed just two second-half goals to West Coast's eight.

With senior players Gary Ablett, Nathan Bock, Jared Brennan, Campbell Brown, Josh Fraser and Daniel Harris all missing, there is plenty of up side for the GC SUNS as they head into the NAB Challenge to face the Sydney Swans.

West Coast last appeared in a NAB Cup Grand Final in 2005 where it was defeated by Carlton.

West Coast 0.3.6 0.6.9 0.8.12 0.12.15 (87)
Gold Coast SUNS 1.1.1 1.3.2 1.4.7 1.5.11 (50) 

GOALS
 

West Coast:
 

Nine-point goals (Nil):
 

Goals: Cox 2, Ebert 2, Kennedy 2, Gaff, Hams, LeCras, Naitanui, Rosa, Wilson

Gold Coast:
 

Nine-point goals (1): Thompson

Goals: Bennell 2, Magin 2, Matera

BEST

West Coast: Scott Selwood, Cox, Brown, Hams, Shuey, Dalziell

Gold Coast SUNS: Rischitelli, Tape, Prestia, Swallow, Matera, Coad

INJURIES
 

West Coast: Eric Mackenzie replaced in selected side by Brett Jones

Gold Coast: Nil

Reports: Nil

Umpires: Margetts, Keating, Dalgleish

Official crowd: 12,625 at Patersons Stadium 

The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL