It took 14 weeks of the 1991 season for West Coast to fall to their first defeat, but only two hours into 1992, coach Michael Malthouse’s pre-match warnings had rung true with a shock three point loss to lowly Sydney.
The Grand Finalists of 1991 were expected to start their season with a straight-forward win against one of the predicted strugglers of 1992, but the Swans showed far greater commitment for the contest and thoroughly deserved their victory.
The game, played on a sodden SCG ground that had been inundated with rain, saw multiple lead changes throughout the second half, but late in the final term West Coast held a 10 point lead which looked enough to earn victory.
However, Warren McKenzie and David Strooper both goaled to get the home side across the line, in Gary Buckenara’s first game as coach of the Swans.
The loss capped off an indifferent summer for West Coast, who had entered the season as premiership favourites, but endured a number of setbacks to key players in the lead up to their opening game.
With the Cricket World Cup dominating many of the football grounds around Australia, only four games were held in the opening round, meaning most teams started the year with a bye. This included West Coast and Sydney who kicked off their season in Round 2.
Despite the extra week, nearly half of the Eagles’ 1991 Grand Final side was missing through a combination of injury, suspension and poor form. Peter Sumich copped the wrath from the tribunal after he was cited by video for striking Mark Neeld in the Eagles second round Fosters Cup defeat to Geelong. He would be ruled out of the team’s opening two weeks along with Ashley McIntosh and Michael Brennan who were both sidelined with injury.
It had been an epidemic at the club for most of the summer. Peter Matera (ankle), Craig Turley (ankle) and John Worsfold (groin) were selected for the Sydney clash, but all had missed a large portion of the pre-season.
Despite the injury concerns, Malthouse still made a statement at the selection table, omitting several high-profile players who had underperformed in the pre-season. Karl Langdon, David Hart, Dwayne Lamb and Peter Wilson all paid the price and were sent back to the WAFL to earn their spots with the senior side.
As a result of so many players missing, a fresh bevy of young players were included. Jason Ball made his AFL debut, and Trent Nichols played his first game after crossing over from Richmond. Youngsters Mitchell White and Ryan Turnbull were also included, playing in just their 3rd and 10th game respectively. Dean Laidley was basically a new face as he made his return to AFL football after almost two years out following a knee reconstruction in 1990.
Despite taking a depleted side across to Sydney, West Coast were still expected to take care of the Swans who had battled their own turbulent off-season. Coach Col Kinnear had been given the boot after three uninspiring seasons, but the Swans would remain without a coach for the majority of the pre-season. Eventually, Gary Buckenara was handed the reins… mostly because there was no one else willing to take on the most unenviable task in football.
Then, marquee midfielder Greg Williams demanded a trade from the Swans, which ultimately saw him land at Carlton. Following his departure, an AFL investigation uncovered that the Swans had breached the salary cap with undisclosed payments made to Williams by one of their sponsors. Williams would be suspended for the first six games of his new club’s season, while the Swans were slapped with a $50,000 fine.
Further controversy surrounded the trade itself that was eventually a three-way deal between Sydney, Carlton and Fitzroy. The Blues agreed to sending Simon Minton-Connell to the Swans as part of the trade, but Minton-Connell wasn’t initially too keen. Eventually he relented and accepted his move to Sydney, as did former Fitzroy forward Darren Kappler.
Both players made their club debuts against the Eagles with vastly different outcomes. Minton-Connell lasted barely 10 minutes before going down with a knee injury, while Kappler would finish as one of Sydney’s best players.
A tight first quarter had Sydney with a slight edge before a six goal term to West Coast gave them the lead at the main change. The Eagles’ best quarter of the day was ignited by Matera’s inclusion into the midfield. Initially starting on the bench, an injury to Troy Ugle forced a reshuffle with Dean Kemp moved to a back pocket and Matera onto the ground.
The Swans were able to close the game down after half time and turn the contest into a dour affair, negating the Eagles runners on the small confines of the SCG.
While the Swans were the better side for most of the day, the Eagles could still consider themselves unlucky that they didn’t claim the four points. Brett Heady, by far the Eagles most productive forward on the afternoon, hit the post on three separate occasions during the second half, while a bizarre umpiring decision in the opening term also had ramifications on the final result.
Troy Ugle was pushed as he cleared the ball out of defence, and as the umpire blew the whistle, Eagles players were expecting to receive a free kick where the play had been. Instead, Guy McKenna was penalised and found himself on report for striking first-gamer David Strooper, who duly kicked the goal from the unusual situation. The error was realised once the game was completed and the charge against McKenna was withdrawn before it reached the tribunal.
But it did nothing to change the result, which left an incredulous Malthouse fuming.
Malthouse had warned his charges of over-confidence leading into the regular season, following two comfortable wins in practice matches played in Perth. The Eagles had defeated Footscray by 87 points and followed that up with a 137 point romp against Sydney, with neither side bringing across strong opposition. Rookie Daniel Metropolis had been the star in the Swans thrashing booting nine goals.
There were also questions over some decisions by the match committee with the non-selection of new recruit Paul Harding the most puzzling.
Stephen Lawrence had dominated the Eagles in the 1991 Grand Final, highlighting a lack of ruck talent on the Eagles list. The acquisition of a ready-made ruckman was high on the off-season priority list, with the Eagles trading in West Australian Paul Harding from St.Kilda.
However, with the Eagles opting for Dean Irving and debutant Jason Ball ahead of Harding, the same problems were shown up against the Swans. Mature age ruckman Brad Tunbridge dominated the stoppages in a best on ground display and provided the Swan midfielders with first use of the ball. Barry Mitchell, David Murphy and debutant Andrew McGovern all benefitted combining for 77 possessions, with McGovern also chipping in with two goals.
Dean Kemp was the leading ball-winner for West Coast with 28, while Matera and Chris Waterman – in his 50th game – collected 26. For West Coast, there were too few winners on the day, and too many players underdone which left Malthouse promising changes for the Eagles first home game against the Saints the next week.
| 1992 Round 2 |
Sunday March 29, 1992 |
|||||
| Sydney |
4.3 |
7.6 | 11.10 |
14.14 (98) |
||
| West Coast |
3.3 |
9.5 | 11.8 |
14.11 (95) |
||
Sydney Cricket Ground |
Attendance 9,325 |
|||||
| BEST | SYD | B Tunbridge, B Mitchell, L Higgins, D Lewis, A McGovern, M Bayes, B Doolan | ||||
| WCE | B Heady, P Matera, C Waterman, D Kemp, D Hynes | |||||
| GOALS | SYD | D Strooper 4, C Nettlebeck 3, A McGovern 2, B Mitchell, J Love, S Minton-Connell, J Lawson, W McKenzie | ||||
| WCE | B Heady, D Hynes 3, C Mainwaring, C Turley 2, T Nichols, P Matera, D Pyke, R Turnbull | |||||
| BROWNLOW | 3. | B Tunbridge (SYD) | ||||
| 2. | L Higgins (SYD) | |||||
| 1. | P Matera (WCE) | |||||
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