SYMPATHY for lowly West Coast has come from an unlikely source — its AFL rival the Brisbane Lions. While Lions coach Leigh Matthews rued the fact his side did not put away the depleted Eagles at the Gabba last night to boost their points percentage, he could still feel for the once dominant West Coast.

The Eagles' 46-point loss to Brisbane was their seventh straight — one short of their club record. They are now 2-14 and equal last on the ladder.

It's a mighty fall for a team that tasted premiership success only two years ago. But if anyone can show empathy, it is Matthews.

The Lions are finally turning around a stunning freefall that followed a run of four successive grand finals.

Last night's win kept them in the hunt for their first finals campaign in four years.

"West Coast remind me a bit of us at the end of 2005," Matthews said. "There is a very real physical and mental thing, where you are used to playing for premierships and top-four positions and then within a very short period of time, less than 12 months, you are just struggling to win a game.

"The season is different and players who played the previous years often have trouble playing with the same energy. I saw that in our team. We still had 12 or 13 premiership players but by the end of 2005, we were the worst team in the competition."

West Coast coach John Worsfold was as pleased as anyone could be after being beaten by almost 50 points.

If not for a second-quarter lapse in which the Lions piled on five straight goals, the Eagles may have even threatened to extend their incredible run at the Gabba.

Worsfold said he saw a fair bit of improvement describing the effort as "acceptable" although there were a lot of areas for improvement.

AAP