West Coast denied Brisbane veteran Luke Power a winning finish to his glowing AFL career when they overran the plucky Lions by eight points in front of the lowest Gabba AFL crowd on Saturday night.

The Eagles came from 29 points down midway through the third term to snatch a 13.11 (89) to 11.15 (81) win and cement fourth spot on the ladder.

The win takes the heat out of the Eagles' last round clash with a resurgent Adelaide in Perth next Saturday night and their focus will be on the following week when they meet Collingwood in a qualifying final in Melbourne.

Power, 31, told his teammates before the game that his 282nd game would also be his last and they responded with a gutsy opening half and they also kept the Eagle goalless for 50 minutes.

Their valiant effort to give the triple premiership midfielder a deserved send-off fell agonisingly short.

But what was less befitting of the occasion was the decorated Lion announced his retirement after the match to a paltry crowd of 13,500.

The previous low was 14,738 against Hawthorn in 1998.

"The friendships you make (in football) are the most important thing," Power said at the post-match interview.

West Coast got back into the match when their forwards flexed muscle late in the third term to rattle off four straight goals and be only two points down at the last change.

The Eagles had their own anxious moments after forward Josh Kennedy was booked for striking in the last term.

Brisbane defender Brett Staker sustained a knee injury midway through the first term and may require a second knee reconstruction.

Staker was playing only his fourth game back from reconstruction with LARS surgery to reduce his recovery from 12 months to three.

The key defender was forced from the field after being involved in a tussle with West Coast big man Nic Naitanui.

Scans on either Sunday or Monday will determine the extent of the injury.

Power said he was keen to play on but made the decision to immediately retire, rather than play the last game against Sydney next weekend, after coach Michael Voss told him there was no place for him on the roster in 2012.

Power said that after a restless night's sleep he arrived at the ground and told Voss, a former premiership team-mate, this was his last game.

"I was actually keen to play on because I was excited about where the group was going," Power said.

"The last five weeks I have seen so much improvement in the group and the direction they are going.

"A large part of me didn't want to miss out on that.

"But after talking to Vossy, and I realised the club's priorities and my priorities weren't along the same lines but at the end of the day it's a mutual decision.

"But I am not leaving with anything but praise for this bloke and the football club."

West Coast coach John Worsfold said the Eagles could tick off one achievement for the season after finishing fourth and gaining a double chance.

He said even though the result against the Crows would have no consequence on their ladder position, he was reluctant to rest players one week out from the finals.

"We would have made decisions (about selection) on next week being a big game for us," Worsfold told reporters.

"I don't think it's logical (resting players), but other people may have a different view, but we know what we are going to do and what is going to keep our team in best form for the remainder of the year."

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