Daniel Kerr suffered what appeared to be a serious hamstring injury as West Coast opened their 2010 account with a scrappy 23-point AFL victory over Essendon at Subiaco Oval on Friday night.

The Bombers led by four points when Michael Hurley kicked truly late in the opening term before the Eagles piled on the next nine to cruise home 15.11 (101) to 11.12 (78).

For the second time this year Nic Naitanui tore Essendon to shreds but Kerr stole the headlines.

Kerr hit the turf and immediately grabbed the top of his right hamstring after kicking the ball out on the full while being tackled by Courtenay Dempsey late in the second quarter.

The 2007 All-Australian, who played just 11 games last season due to a serious groin injury, was in obvious pain while being carried part way to the bench by two trainers before a stretcher took him the rest of the way.

The 26-year-old had endured a slow start to the season and tallied just 10 possessions in this match before going down.

Kerr's injury overshadowed a magnificent performance from ruckman Naitanui, who was a pivotal figure in the ruck and at ground level in the Eagles' six-goals-to-nil second quarter blitz.

The 19-year-old finished with 13 possessions, 17 hit-outs, seven inside 50s, five tackles and a goal.

Matt Priddis, Mark LeCras (four goals), Josh Kennedy (three goals) and Andrew Embley were also crucial in the win, while Dean Cox put in his best performance of the year.

Hurley (two goals) was kept quiet in his first match back from a club-imposed suspension, while Andrew Welsh, Jobe Watson, Nathan Lovett-Murray and David Hille tried hard.

The Bombers were dealt a late blow when Kyle Reimers injured his ankle in the final quarter.

Naitanui ensured the game started in stunning fashion, taking the ball out of the ruck, handballing to himself to beat Essendon youngster Jake Melksham before pumping the ball inside 50m, where LeCras did the rest with a fine snap.

But the Eagles proved to be their own worst enemy as their disposal woes continued.

Several unforced errors proved costly in the opening term as Essendon registered five goals - including two to Paddy Ryder - from just 10 inside 50s to trail by four points at quarter time.

But the Bombers had no answer for Naitanui in the second term as the Eagles piled on six goals to nil to take a commanding 39-point break into half-time.

That swelled to 52 points early in the third term but the Bombers finished the match the stronger, kicking four of the final five goals of the match to add respectability to the scoreboard.

West Coast coach John Worsfold believed Kerr's injury wasn't as bad as those suffered by Nick Riewoldt and Josh Gibson last week.

"The only word I've heard is they're confident it's not as bad as a couple of the others we've seen over the past fortnight," Worsfold said.

"Looking at it you'd think it's not a one-week hamstring but hopefully it's not too bad."

Essendon coach Matthew Knights said Reimers' ankle injury was only very minor.

Knights said his team's performance was unacceptable.

"Some of the football we played was appalling," Knights said.

"The Eagles were a lot cleaner than we were, we fumbled a lot. Our disposal by foot was atrocious.

"I think we were running about 35 per cent (disposal efficiency) at some stages.

"If you're not taking the ball cleanly and also turning the ball over once you get it it's a recipe for disaster.

"To be blunt with you I wasn't even that impressed that we scored goals late.

"You've got to perform at your best when the game's there to be won early and we didn't do that."

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