In the 25th anniversary of West Coast’s first premiership, recount the round-by-round story of the Eagles historic 1992 season.
The Cats came to Perth and made away with the four points for the first time on the back of an Ablett-inspired performance.
Already revered in the competition as one of the superstars in the game, the Eagles crowd were treated to one of the finest individual displays in recent times.
Playing his 150th game, Ablett tallied 36 disposals, eight marks and booted five goals as Geelong recorded a 24 point victory. Ablett was purely unstoppable as the Eagles match committee spent the majority of the game trying to find a match-up to quell his influence.
Guy McKenna had had the wood in recent times, but came into the game under an injury cloud and struggled to contain the star Cat. Ablett rotated between the midfield and half-forward and spent time opposed to a range of players. Chris Mainwaring, Craig Turley, Dean Laidley and John Worsfold all tried in vain to halt Ablett but to no avail.
While Ablett was the clear standout in the match, he had good support from fellow midfielders Paul Couch (26 disposals) and Mark Bairstow (22). Dean Kemp was once again the best for West Coast with 24 possessions, while Craig Turley and Chris Lewis both collected 23 with Lewis also about to boot two goals.
West Coast finished the game ahead in most of the key statistics, even finishing with more scoring shots, but an 11-goal quarter from the Cats proved to be the difference. In a fast start, the Eagles led by 7 points at the first change with five goals to four, before the visitors went rampant in the second term. The Cats had nearly 100 points on the board by half time, and stormed to a 38 point lead on the back of Ablett’s brilliance.
Cats coach Malcolm Blight was full of praise for Ablett as Geelong were able to level the ledger. “Gary, along with a lot of other good players, obviously was terrific. He’s enjoying his footy – I think that’s the key to him and most players.
“That terrific second quarter obviously set the game up for us.”
With temperatures soaring beyond 30 degrees on the sunny April afternoon, the Eagles were always going to struggle to overcome the deficit, and whilst they had the better of the game in the second half, the final margin of 24 points was as close as they could get.
The Eagles stuck with the same side that defeated the Saints a week earlier, with Peter Sumich and Brett Heady still unavailable through injury. Sumich had served his two week suspension to start the season and was set to return but an ankle injury suffered during the week at training left the full-forward on the sidelines. Heady was touch-and-go for the Geelong game, but ultimately was given one more week to recover from his hamstring injury a fortnight earlier against the Swans.
The Cats had opened their season with losses to the Hawthorn and Melbourne, but registered their first win of the season the previous week with a 126 point thumping of the hapless Tigers. Geelong still made two changes with Andrew Wills coming into the side, along with first-gamer Peter Riccardi. The Cats prime mover, Garry Hocking, was initially brought into the line-up after missing the Richmond win due to a hip complaint, but was a late withdrawal following a freak accident where a bin broke his ankle. His misfortune paved the way for Riccardi to make his AFL debut.
Bill Brownless and Damian Bourke were also left out of the Cats side, despite Bourke being best on ground for the VFL side the week before. Geelong coach Malcolm Blight opted for the mobile duo of Steven Handley and Barry Stoneham in the ruck, and the move paid dividends.
The Geelong combination proved too strong for Paul Harding and when the floodgates opened in the second term, the Eagles defence were helpless. Barry Stoneham in particular proved too strong both up forward and provided the strong target that West Coast were missing at the other end.
The Eagles forward line was barely functional, although their cause wasn’t helped by an underperforming midfield who crumbled under the Cats pressure. Chris Mainwaring and Peter Matera were both below their best on the wings while Dwayne Lamb also lacked impact through the middle of the ground.
David Hynes moved to full-forward after half-time and booted four second half goals, but Daniel Metropolis and Paul Peos both struggled to have an influence after being match-winners in Round 3. For Metropolis it was a giant fall from grace – after booting four goals in the opening quarter in his debut, Cats defender Steven Hocking clamped down on the rookie restricting him to just three kicks for the game.
While disappointed with his side’s performance Malthouse opted to look forward, with the Eagles set for a crucial month in their premiership aspirations. The Eagles were due to travel for their next three games, to the Gold Coast, Melbourne and Tasmania, and while the opposition were sides they would normally expect to beat, Brisbane, Richmond and Fitzroy had all shown good form in the early weeks of the season.
The Eagles were then to host the Bulldogs, who had started the season in fine form winning three of their first four games. “That month of football will probably determine where we finish – it’s as simple as that.”
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