Despite John Worsfold consistently playing down the importance of the Wizard Cup competition for his fast-emerging West Coast Eagles, his players still seem to be taking it very seriously.

The Eagles' 80-point semi-final victory over the Kangaroos, took West Coast to its first appearance in a pre-season final on Friday night, and was achieved without the presence of Brownlow medallist Chris Judd.

And with the buzz surrounding the 2005 Eagles growing louder by the week it could be about to become more difficult for Worsfold to play down the chances of his talented outfit.

West Coast leader Ben Cousins expected the Eagles to put their strongest team on the field for the Wizard Cup final against the winner of Saturday night's semi-final between Carlton and the Western Bulldogs at Telstra Dome.

"Now we are in it, it would be nice to win it," Cousins conceded with a smile.

Kangaroos coach Dean Laidley was clearly impressed by the Eagles' pre-season form.

"People talk about teams like St Kilda and Geelong, but watch out for this team, they are going places at 100 miles and hour," Laidley said of the Eagles.

This West Coast victory was built on the back of the 101kg frame of Quinten Lynch, whose four first half goals broke the game wide open.

After eight minutes without a goal, Lynch's smart snap to open the major scoring sparked a spate of seven goals in thirteen first quarter minutes.

Daniel Motlop gave a demonstration of his immense natural talent, with a precocious goal from hard on the right hand touchline to keep the gap to one point on the scoreboard.

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