Paul Williams starred as Sydney stopped the West Coast roll, eliminating the Eagles from the AFL finals with a 41-point victory at Telstra Stadium.

In consigning the form team of the competition to its third consecutive elimination final defeat, Sydney made a date with the rattled St Kilda in a cut-throat semi-final in Melbourne on Friday night.

Nursing an injured foot, veteran midfielder Williams dominated the game and his star opponent Chris Judd as the Swans won 11.9 (75) to the Eagles 4.10 (34), in wet conditions before a crowd of 40,282.

The impact of the Eagles' much vaunted midfield failed to materialise as Sydney clearly won almost every match-up, exposing the fitness of West Coast skipper Ben Cousins and Daniel Kerr.

While Barry Hall, two goals, orchestrated Sydney's forward line with aplomb, West Coast's goalkickers Andrew McDougal and Phillip Matera were lost at Telstra Stadium on their and the team's first visit to the ground.

Matthew Nicks restricted Matera to just a few handpasses.

Adam Goodes, Michael O'Loughlin and Craig Bolton, in a surprise cameo, each kicked two goals for Sydney. Bolton took his season total of four majors to six.

West Coast kicked 2.5 (17) to Sydney's 2.2 (14) in the first term for a three-point lead and looked dangerous in a tight, even first quarter in which clean possessions were rare and tackling was fierce.

But Sydney clinched the game in the second term, piling on five goals as an electrical storm passed overhead scaring the scoring out of West Coast who failed to register a point for the term.

The Eagles did only marginally better in the final term adding only two behinds as the Swans kicked two goals.

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