The Eagles failed to heed the pre-match warnings of their coach when they crashed to an embarrassing 71 point loss at home to the bottom-of-the-ladder Hawks.
West Coast recorded their lowest ever score at Subiaco Oval, while also suffering the worst ever loss at home as Hawthorn ran riot after quarter time. The Hawks booted 16 goals to four as West Coast failed to put up a fight against a physical Hawthorn outfit.
The Hawks were noticeably physical towards the Eagles players and the disputed contest, with Peter Matera an early casualty. Matera was collected by Hawks ruckman Paul Dear following the opening bounce and played no further part in the game as he dealt with concussion.
The Eagles appeared unwilling to match the Hawk’s desire leaving Malthouse to question his side’s attitude leading into the game. Hawthorn had been given virtually no chance of upsetting West Coast at home, following a string of horror losses.
A round two defeat to Melbourne by 54 points had been followed by thumpings from North Melbourne (127 points) and Carlton (87 points), had left the 1980’s powerhouse mired to the bottom of the table and coach Peter Knights under extreme scrutiny.
However, the depleted Hawks were buoyed by the return from injury of spearhead Jason Dunstall and full-back Chris Langford to make their ‘spine’ far stronger. Dunstall and Langford were two of four changes with Jason Taylor brought into the team to shore up the Hawks defence, while Tim Hargreaves came in for his AFL debut. Nick Holland, Mark Bunn, Glenn Nugent and Darren Baxter all made way.
The Eagles made just one change to the team that was on a three-game winning streak, with Michael Brennan returning after being a late withdrawal the week before against Fitzroy. His replacement against the Lions, Jarrad Schofield, held his spot, with Matt Clape the player to go out of the side.
Despite being overwhelming favourites going into the clash, Eagles coach Mick Malthouse cautioned his players over complacency in taking on the Hawks. Malthouse even went as far as making his players sit down and watch the replay of the Perth Wildcats game from a few days earlier, when they were humbled at home by the last-placed North Melbourne Giants.
And early on it seemed as though Malthouse’s warnings had gotten through to his players when the Eagles opened with the first three goals against Hawthorn. Despite losing Peter Matera at the opening bounce when Hawthorn ruckman Paul Dear crashed into him, the Eagles were completely dominant as Peter Sumich gave Langford a torrid return start.
Sumich had all of the Eagles’ first three goals but the game soon shifted as Hawthorn’s midfield got on top. Tim Hargreaves kicked the Hawk’s first with his first kick in AFL football with the Hawks booting the next three to take the lead heading into quarter time. Sumich restored the Eagles’ advantage with his fourth for the term, as West Coast headed into the first break with a three point advantage.
But Hawthorn’s midfield continued on their dominance, as they repeatedly won the ball from stoppages. Ben Allen and John Platten had the ball on the string in the centre, while Andrew Gowers provided plenty of run on the wing opposed to Chris Mainwaring, who was sporting a large padding on his thigh from the outset.
The Hawks booted the first six goals for the term, with Dunstall and Gowers each kicking two, before Brett Spinks responded late in the term for West Coast, reducing the deficit to 28 points at half-time. Any thoughts of a second half comeback though were quickly snuffed out at the start of the third term.
Jason Dunstall marked a scrambled kick forward from John Platten out of the first centre bounce to kick his third goal for the game, and then Ben Allen goaled moments later to stretch the Hawks lead out to 40 points after just a minute and a half of play.
Hawthorn would boot another six goals for the term to push the difference beyond 10 goals, before Chris Lewis broke the run with his first major and then Peter Sumich kicked his fifth after the three quarter time siren. A four goal to one term in favour of the visitors completed the rout.
Remarkably, Sumich would also goal after the final siren, bringing his tally for the game to six, with three of his goals kicked after the close of quarters. Sumich kicked goals after the siren for the first, third and fourth quarters in one of the more bizarre outings for a forward.
Following the defeat, Malthouse was in no doubt about what triggered the shock result. “I reckon our attitude before the game was that it was going to be a stroll in the park. We paid dearly for thinking that it would just happen because we are playing at Subiaco Oval.”
“I’ve said for the last five or six years that you can’t play around with form. You can’t drop your workload. You can’t drop your attitude.”
Sumich was one of the few winners for West Coast, kicking six of the team’s eight goals. The rest of the forward line was non-existent as many of the Eagles lowered their colours against their Hawthorn opponents.
Ray Jencke shut out Brett Heady, 2nd gamer Mark Graham had the better of Spinks, while young defender Paul Cooper contained Chris Lewis. Shane Bond was virtually non-existent as he was outpointed by Andrew Collins. The Eagles midfield were obliterated by their hungrier Hawks opponents, with Dear getting on top of both Turnbull and Harding in the ruck, before Harding was stretchered off in the final term with a knee injury.
Glen Jakovich and Guy McKenna stood strong in the face of a Hawthorn avalanche, but the visitors had too many winners on the ground. Jason Dunstall finished with five majors, while Hargreaves kicked four in his first game.
Anthony Condon had 30 disposals and a goal to lead the Hawks ball-winners, while Darren Jarman was next best with 25 touches and two goals. Jakovich was the leading possession getter for West Coast (with 25) in a clear indication of where the ball spent most of the afternoon. Guy McKenna had 20 and Chris Mainwaring 19, although he was soundly beaten by Gowers.
For Peter Knights, the win was huge weight off the shoulders after three weeks under the microscope. “We had to stand up and be counted and I think the guys deserve the credit because they did just that.”
Despite the loss, the Eagles remained in fourth place as a number of contenders around them also suffered defeats in a round of upsets. The Kangaroos (first), the Magpies (third) and the Crows (fifth) all lost with Melbourne moving to the top of the ladder as the last undefeated side.
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