West Coast’s winless start to the AFLW season has continued, proving no match for premiership contenders Melbourne in a 37-point defeat at Mineral Resources Park.

The Eagles — who have adopted the name Waalitj Marawar as part of the AFL’s Indigenous Round — made the faster start of the sides, kicking three of the game’s first four goals.

But a more mature Demons outfit made all the running from there, showing their class in responding with the next seven and keeping their own unbeaten start to the season alive in a 12.9 (81) to 6.8 (44) result.

With a third of the home and away season now completed, Daisy Pearce’s side’s hopes of backing up last year’s breakthrough finals appearance with another top-eight finish have lengthened.

And their fixture will not get any easier next week on the back of their biggest defeat of the year, with a visit from last year’s beaten grand finalists Brisbane set for Saturday.

West Coast star Ella Roberts was spared from the level of close checking she endured across from the first three weeks of their campaign, and responded with a 26-disposal, 12-tackle, nine-clearance effort.

Disaster appeared to have struck when the two-time All Australian came up limping in a contest only seconds into the final term, and while she appeared proppy at times, she was able to complete the remainder of the game.

Elsewhere for the Eagles, Lucia Painter (18 disposals, one goal) provided a likely target when stationed in attack and co-captains Bella Lewis and Charlie Thomas worked hard.

But they could not match the depth of contributors enjoyed by the classy Demons, who still feature plenty of stars from the 2022 premiership-winning side Pearce captained.

The Eagles were gifted the perfect start to the game through a moment of ill-discipline from Melbourne’s Sinead Goldrick, which was punished with a 50-metre penalty Thomas capitalised on to kick her fourth career goal.

West Coast burst out of the blocks on the back of applying plenty of physical pressure, taking a surprise lead into the opening break thanks to Zoe Wakfer slotting another after a holding free kick and Abby Bushby following up with a classy finish on the run.

Managing two majors from only three inside-50 entries at least kept the slow-starting Demons in touch, and they turned their deficit into a 26-point half-time advantage by using a considerable breeze in their backs to produce a five-goal to none second term.

The tone for their turnaround was set when Tayla Harris easily got rid of Thomas in a one-on-one contest to slam home their first major of the quarter, and Eliza McNamara (32 disposals, two goals) tore them apart as both an avenue to goal and provider for others.

Back with the wind behind them in the third quarter, the Eagles rediscovered their verve, but inaccuracy in front of goal meant they were only able to chip away at the margin with behinds.

And the gap in efficiency between the sides was brought into sharp contrast by Melbourne’s Maggie Mahony walking through multiple attempted tackles and nailing a checkside with what was one of their first attacking forays of the term.

West Coast’s goalless rut spanning the better part of a half of football was eventually snapped by Keeley Skepper capitalising on an errant kick-in to snap one, which Lucia Painter followed up on with a finish from deep in the pocket.

The Eagles attacked the fourth term with the same intensity but again lacked scoreboard reward, with their defeat all but made a certainty through Harris managing her first goal.

SCOREBOARD

MELBOURNE 2.1, 7.3, 9.5, 12.9 (81)

WEST COAST 3.1, 3.1, 5.5, 6.8 (44)

Goals - MELBOURNE: E McNamara 2 M Mahony 2 T Harris 2 A Pisano 2 T Hanks G Gall M Fitzsimon K Hore. WEST COAST: L Wakfer 2 C Thomas K Skepper L Painter A Bushby.

Best - MELBOURNE: E McNamara T Hanks O Purcell K Hore T Harris M Mahony. WEST COAST: E Roberts L Painter A Bushby B Lewis.

INJURIES - MELBOURNE: S Goldrick (knee). WEST COAST: J Britton (ankle).

Umpires: G Simmonds J Kondhalkar M Willcox. Crowd: 1497 at Mineral Resources Park.