Month: September 2019

West Coast Demolish Cats For 1994 Flag

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Two Out Of Three Ain’t Bad For Eagles

West Coast reinstated themselves as the kings of the competition when they crushed Geelong by 80 points to win the 1994 Grand Final.

Two years after an historic first flag, the Eagles steamrolled the Cats to their second premiership, erasing the disappointment of a failed 1993 season.

Dean Kemp claimed the Norm Smith medal for best afield and Tony Evans repeated his 1992 haul of three goals as West Coast booted their highest score in over two years.

Traditionally recognised as a defence-oriented side, the Eagles racked up 43 shots on goal in the Grand Final, a week after they posted 37 scoring shots against Melbourne. Ten Eagles in total hit the scoreboard as West Coast recorded the fourth largest winning margin in Grand Final history.

For the Cats, the defeat was their third loss in the season decider in six seasons, having gone down to the Eagles by 28 points in 1992 and the Hawks by six in 1989.

A shattered Malcolm Blight could offer no explanation after the match, saying there was ultimately nothing his side could do. “I could say a million things about what we might have done or could have done. But at the end of the day they were 80 points better than us, which is pretty hard to cop really.”

Eagles coach Mick Malthouse admitted he sympathised with the Cats, but was equally ecstatic with his side’s performance.

“I just love seeing the day for the club and all the players… I get a bigger kick out of seeing the players enjoy themselves.”

West Coast made just one change from the preliminary final, with Ashley McIntosh coming back into the team after missing with a knee injury. Mitchell White was the player to make way, after coming into the side as McIntosh’s replacement, but remained an outside chance on the morning of the game as West Coast debated whether to remove one of their ruckman.

However, the pair of David Hynes and Ryan Turnbull was retained to tackle John Barnes who was openly struggling with a lower leg injury. Geelong remained unchanged from their last-gasp six point win over North Melbourne, with Grant Tanner ruled out earlier in the week in his bid to recover from an ankle injury.

McIntosh started in defence on Bill Brownless, with Michael Brennan tasked with minding Gary Ablett. The Cats tried to throw the Eagles defence early, starting Ablett on the wing but he quickly moved to the goal square after failing to have an impact.

In a reverse to the 1992 meeting, it was West Coast who had the fast start, booting the first three goals in the game. Tony Evans, Chris Lewis and Shane Bond all kicked majors as the Eagles jumped to a 20 point lead.

West Coast had had all of the play out of the middle of the ground but the momentum of the game soon changed when Geelong piled on four goals in eight minutes. Tim McGrath and Michael Mansfield provided the dash off half back for the Cats with Paul Couch opening the Cats account.

Three more goals followed in quick time to give Geelong a seven point lead, before Brett Heady settled the Eagles just before quarter time to reduce the Cats lead to one point at the first change.

It would prove to be the only period of ascendency Geelong would have in the game.

West Coast resumed control at the start of the second term and only poor kicking on goal prevented the Eagles from having the game won by half time. Peter Wilson kicked consecutive goals to start the quarter as West Coast camped the ball in their forward half.

The Eagles created confusion at the Geelong kick-ins when they changed tack from their usual one-on-one set up to a zone defence. The usually precise Mansfield and Ken Hinkley were undecided with their re-entries preventing clean getaways from their back half, which had been a trademark through their finals campaign.

Twice in the second quarter West Coast picked off their kick-ins. Tony Evans intercepted a Ken Hinkley pass to mark and goal, before then having an intercepting hand that rebounded to Peter Sumich allowing the Eagles full forward to send the ball back over his opponent in Stephen O’Reilly.

The Eagles continued their dominance of general play but, remarkably, when Bill Brownless booted his third goal midway through the third term, the Cats were still within touching distance trailing by just 18 points.

However, three majors to Dean Kemp, Brett Heady and Peter Sumich extended their lead to six goals by three-quarter time and Geelong’s slimmer of Hope was all but gone.

The last quarter was a celebration for West Coast, as they slammed on eight goals to one to demoralise the opposition and the majority of the pro-Geelong crowd.

Symbolic of the day for West Coast and for their Norm Smith medallist Dean Kemp, their 17th goal came about purely by accident. Kemp’s kick inside 50 was intended for Chris Lewis who was crunched out of marking the ball by Tim McGrath, only for the ball to carry on its path and bounce harmlessly through for another goal.

Kemp was sublime for the Eagles on a day when they had a healthy number of contributors. The Eagles centreman had 23 disposals and booted two goals to outpoint Geelong captain Mark Bairstow, who had a dirty day. It also meant that Bairstow finished with the inglorious honour of once again playing on the Norm Smith medal, after lining up on Peter Matera’s wing in his five goal performance of 1992.

Dean Kemp was best afield for West Coast

Don Pyke collected 26 possessions through the middle and just had the edge over Geelong’s Paul Couch. One of Geelong’s prime movers was relegated into a defensive role as he tried to curb the influence of the Eagles centreline.

The Eagles defence was as impregnable as ever, led by Glen Jakovich (20 possessions) and Guy McKenna (23) across half back. Jakovich played his own game standing in the way of Geelong’s forward entries and proving too strong for both Steven Handley and David Mensch. McKenna provided the run from the backline as he outclassed Adrian Hickmott.

Michael Brennan blanketed Gary Ablett, with the Geelong superstar managing just one goal from five disposals and David Hart had the better of Leigh Tudor in the back pocket. Geelong’s only winner in their forward half was Billy Brownless, who exorcised some of his demons from the 1992 Grand Final when he was humbled by Ashley McIntosh.

Brownless kicked four goals for the Cats – he was the only Geelong player to kick a goal after quarter time – and took one of the great Grand Final marks when he soared over McIntosh and managed to hold onto the ball from a second attempt.

Michael Mansfield was arguably the Cats best player with 21 disposals out of defence and having the better of Shane Bond, while Tim McGrath also did his best to withstand the avalanche. Garry Hocking finished with 20 possessions after being forced off during the first term with a heavy cork and returning to the ground in the second half with heavy padding around his upper leg.

But it was a day that belonged to West Coast.

15 members of the 1992 triumph were now dual premiership players, while there was redemption for David Hynes and David Hart, who were the unlucky stories from two years earlier.

And even with two of the heroes from 1992, in Peter Sumich and Peter Matera, having subdued outings, there were plenty of others who stepped up. Sumich and Matera combined for 11 goals in the clubs first flag as West Coast had just four goal kickers for the day. This time around, nearly half of the team kicked goals, as the likes of Chris Lewis, Brett Heady and Jason Ball provided strong targets up forward.

Chris Waterman came onto the ground early in the second term after Chris Mainwaring was forced off with a corked hip and put in one of his finest performances with 18 disposals and two final quarter goals (to go with four behinds). Mainwaring himself was able to return to the field and pick up 18 disposals.

Mick Malthouse even broke with his own tradition in heading down to the bench with three minutes remaining. Malthouse had been reluctant to leave the box two years earlier, despite the urging of his coaching team, but with the game well in his side’s keeping, the Eagles coach revelled in the celebrations boundary side.

Malthouse admitted that he knew his side were home during the third quarter.

“We expected at some stage Geelong to give us a big quarter like they had over the last three or four weeks, so we were ready for it. We stuck to our basics, not to allow them to get that one quarter of football in.”

“At half-time I thought if we maintained our pressure, and we could hold them, we could do the job,” Malthouse said.

“So I guess three quarters of the way through the third quarter I thought we had them.”

Since taking over as senior coach at the end of 1989, Malthouse had steered the Eagles to no lower than fourth in five seasons, which now included two premierships from three Grand Final appearances.

The Eagles had massacred the Cats in one of the most emphatic premierships of the modern era and with that staked their claim as the pre-eminent club of the AFL.

1994 Rewind: West Coast Storm Into Decider

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West Coast made it to their third grand final in four seasons when they convincingly defeated the Demons by 65 points in the preliminary final.

The Eagles ended Melbourne’s fairytale finals run, who had knocked off Carlton and then Footscray after finishing seventh at the end of the home and away season. Garry Lyon had booted a record 10 goals in the 79 point massacre of the Bulldogs, but the Demons ran out of steam against a refreshed Eagles outfit.

Despite having a fortnight to recover, Ashley McIntosh was ruled out of the preliminary final, allowing Mitchell White to come in for just his sixth game of the season as cover in the Eagles defence.

The Demons also made just one change to the team that thrashed Footscray the week before with sharpshooter Sean Charles adding to an already potent forward line, replacing the omitted Glenn Molloy.

Ahead of the game, tensions were raised between the two sides when two Melbourne officials were spotted watching the Eagles train in what was supposed to be a closed training session. While the Melbourne ‘spies’ – football manager Richard Griffiths and match committee chairman Greg Wells – had no issue with being asked to leave, the response from West Coast drew some mirth from Demons coach Neil Balme.

Balme proudly declared after the teams were submitted on Thursday night that Melbourne would go in as named. The Eagles, however, remained guarded over their final line up, with Mick Malthouse calling the antics from Melbourne as ‘childish games’.

The final 21 for West Coast wasn’t confirmed until just before bouncedown with West Coast swinging two late changes. Drew Banfield returned to the team after being dropped for the clash with Collingwood while Ryan Turnbull was brought into the team having recovered from a knee injury suffered against the Blues in Round 22. Craig Turley remained as the Eagles’ third emergency, unable to reclaim his spot in the side after serving a two games suspension for striking Greg Williams.

Turnbull’s inclusion to join David Hynes in the ruck was designed to counter the Demons’ strong ruck combination of Jim Stynes and Dean Irving. Tony Godden made way for Banfield, with Turnbull replacing Brett Spinks who was battling a knee concern picked up in the qualifying final.

The Demons stayed true to Balme’s claim that there would be no changes to the squad, but he still did his best to catch the Eagles off guard with a number of positional moves.

Stephen Tingay had previously matched against Chris Mainwaring on the wing, but he swapped sides with Matthew Febey to go head to head with Peter Matera. Febey was stationed against Mainwaring in a more defensive role, as the Demons looked to slow down the Eagles ball movement.

Dean Irving started in the ruck, leaving Jim Stynes to operate off the bench, while Andy Lovell shifted to half-back, initially matching up on Brett Heady.

However, only the Tingay move had any real effect as West Coast dominated the quarter, kicking with the wind. Matera had been under a cloud since injuring a back during the last quarter against Collingwood and was unable to work defensively on Tingay who collected 11 possessions in the first term. Malthouse moved Banfield to the wing to quell Tingay’s influence at the start of the second quarter, pushing Matera to a half forward flank.

Everywhere else on the ground was owned by the home team.

Tony Evans and Dean Kemp were both prominent early, with nine first-quarter possessions while Chris Lewis had eight across half-forward. All of the Eagles forwards got into the game early with the weight of possession in their forward half.

Mainwaring was dynamic on his wing opposed to Matthew Febey and Brett Heady was both too tall and too elusive for Lovell across half forward. The Eagles took control around the ball, with Irving lacking influence in the ruck against David Hynes.

The Eagles racked up 11 shots on goal for the term, but wasted a host of chances. West Coast were 1.7 at one stage, before three late majors to Jason Ball, Tony Evans and Peter Sumich created a deserved advantage.

The Demons, on the other hand, could manage just one shot on goal with Glenn Lovett responding to Brett Heady’s opener into the wind.

The second quarter became an arm wrestle as West Coast held the Demons at bay in defence but continually struggled to take chances up forward. Brett Heady missed a simple shot at the top of the goal square, before Garry Lyon broke the drought when he broke free of Michael Brennan.

That goal came with a tinge of controversy after Sumich was unlucky to be penalised at the other end. Sumich had a free kick paid against him after he pushed Sean Wight in the chest before going on a lead, with the Eagles full-forward then giving away 50 metres for remonstrating with the umpire.

The Lyon goal only served to open the game up.

Brett Heady found Chris Lewis for the instant reply, before kicking two himself as West Coast opened up a 32 point lead closing in on half time.

The Demons then showed the form that had propelled them through the first two weeks of the finals with three goals in as many minutes to close out the half.

Sean Charles swooped on a Michael Brennan fumble to snap truly, with the Demons kicking a second goal less than 20 seconds later when Andrew Obst won the clearance and found Brett Lovett who was able to kick on the breeze from the edge of the centre square.

Charles then had his second goal for the match after Melbourne were able to string a chain of handballs from half-back, with Viney releasing Charles into an open goal after reading the ball of a marking contest in the Demons forward 50. Melbourne had closed within 13 points in a blink of an eye and had one final chance on the half-time siren.

Andy Lovell had been moved to half-forward after losing the reins on Brett Heady and found himself on the end of a Dean Irving miskick to mark 40 metres out directly in front. Lovell could have brough the Demons to within a kick, but he skewed his shot on goal to allow West Coast to hold onto a 12 point lead.

The Eagles had smashed the Demons 13-3 in the centre clearances and had nearly 40 more possessions around the ground, but their inefficiency in front of goal prevented them from having one foot already in the Grand Final.

West Coast’s shooting on goal only got worse in the third quarter, but by the final changeit no longer mattered.

The Eagles had piled on 6.7 to a solitary behind with their second use of the wind to establish a nine goal lead that they were never going to give up.

The warning signs for Melbourne showed early in the term, with West Coast posting a further four points onto their half-time score, including what could almost have been a late goal of the year contender.

Glen Jakovich had completely shut out David Schwarz across half-back, and after picking up a loose ball in the back pocket, the burly centre half-back bounced his way through the middle of the WACA to the rousing roar of the home crowd. Jakovich launched from the top of the Eagles 50 metre arc only to see his shot on goal hit the base of the post, resulting in one of the more memorable points in club history.

Brett Heady ultimately got the first goal for the Eagles in the term, booting three in the quarter to take his match haul to six. His fifth goal came from another turnover from Andy Lovell in defence as Melbourne’s day started to capitulate.

Stephen Tingay – who had been the Demons best player in the first half – limped off with a knee injury, while David Neitz was forced to the bench after being crunched by Sumich in a marking contest.

The Eagles added three goals to two in the final quarter to run away with their largest ever win in a final.

Eagle players celebrate another grand final

Malthouse was ecstatic post-match with the ‘almost faultless’ performance but was quick to point out that the job was still not done.

“Every club aims to make the Grand Final at the start of the season,” Malthouse said.

“Making the Grand Final is not good enough. Winning has got to be the aim.”

It was a deflating end for the Demons, who dared to dream after stunning finals wins over Carlton and Footscray left them one game shy of the big dance. Neil Balme admitted his team just couldn’t handle the occasion.

“I think our blokes just lost it. They lost all confidence in their ability to play footy.”

“They were shell-shocked.”

Melbourne struggled to have a winner on the ground, with West Coast’s defence supreme. Schwarz was virtually a spectator, with Mitchell White keeping Paul Prymke quiet. David Hart had the better of Sean Charles while John Worsfold and Guy McKenna provided their customary dash from half back.

Chris Mainwaring – who sported jumper number 43 after half-time due to blood rule stipulations – was the leading ball winner for the Eagles with 29, while Dean Kemp had the better of Jason Norrish, Andrew Obst and Andy Lovell with 25 disposals through the middle.

Brett Heady didn’t add to his six goal tally as he sat the final quarter on the bench. Peter Sumich finished with 3.3 despite a mixed performance, but Chris Lewis was electric with 20 disposals and a goal across half forward.

The Eagles Grand Final opponent had been decided earlier in the afternoon when Geelong defeated the Kangaroos in a classic encounter.

North Melbourne started the stronger of the two sides to lead by three goals at quarter time, but could have led by far more with straighter kicking on goal. The Cats then took charge with a seven goal to nil second term to lead by 24 points at the main break.

Geelong still led by 18 at the final change, but North Melbourne, with the benefit of a weeks rest, stormed home. The Cats drew level once again, before Leigh Tudor sent a wobbly kick to the top of the Geelong goal square in the dying seconds of the game. His kick landed in the arms of Gary Ablett, who sent the Cats into the Grand Final with a goal after the siren.

It was the second final in three weeks Geelong had won after the siren, with the Eagles and Cats set to square off two years after they clashed in the 1992 decider.

1994 Rewind: Eagles Remain On Course Despite Magpie Scare

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The Eagles survived a Gavin Brown inspired comeback to defeat the Magpies by two points and progress to a home preliminary final.

West Coast weren’t expected to be troubled by the eighth placed Magpies, but scraped over the line when Mick McGuane dropped a chest mark within scoring distance, seconds before the final siren. Trailing by 24 points at the final break, Collingwood surged home with the aid of the Fremantle Doctor, narrowly falling short of a famous finals victory.

The Magpies only booted six goals in the first three quarters, but doubled their tally in the final term with Brown booting three, on his way to a match haul of five.

In a match filled with controversy, umpires twice failed to hear the siren at the ground, allowing play to continue well beyond the signal for the end of the quarter. On both occasions West Coast posted scores with a Don Pyke behind at the end of the second quarter allowed to stand despite the siren blaring for nearly 10 seconds before umpires heard it. Play was also allowed to continue beyond the three-quarter time siren, with Chris Lewis slotting a goal, only for umpires to then correctly annul the score ahead of the fourth quarter.

The errors around the siren almost proved catastrophic in the two point margin.

Despite arriving in Perth off consecutive losses to St Kilda and North Melbourne in the final two rounds of the regular season, the Magpies were confident they could replicate their 37 point victory from when the two sides met earlier in the season.

Surprisingly, the hero of their Round 13 victory, Andrew Tranquilli, was not initially named in the Magpies line-up, with Gary Pert returning to the side after missing the final game with a groin strain. Pert passed a vigorous fitness test to take his place, while Tony Shaw was also included despite concerns over a hamstring strain.

Mark Fraser was included along with Pert, replacing Paul Sharkey and Brett James. However, Tranquilli made his way into the final 21 as one of two late inclusions, with Sharkey reinstated after being dropped. The duo came in on the morning of the game, replacing Tony Woods and Kent Butcher.

The Eagles made two changes to their side named on Thursday night, with Dean Kemp and John Worsfold returning in place of dropped duo Paul Symmons and Drew Banfield. Banfield could consider himself unlucky to lose his spot having played all 22 home and away games, with Mick Malthouse saying team balance was the reason behind his omission.

After releasing their squad, the Eagles were still on tenterhooks until the following afternoon, with five players fronting the tribunal for their roles in the spiteful clash against Footscray the previous weekend. West Coast were able to breathe a sigh of relief when Glen Jakovich, Peter Sumich, Chris Lewis, Tony Evans and Jason Ball were all cleared to play.

Gavin Brown won the toss but gave West Coast first use of the strong afternoon breeze that favoured the end where the WACA’s famous cricket scoreboard sat. The move initially worked with West Coast failing to capitalise early under the pressure of Collingwood’s physical intent.

Even before the opening bounce, the emergency umpire was required on the field to disperse players and Don Pyke sought treatment from the Eagles medical staff after a crunching hit. When the Eagles’ first goal did come, it was via a relayed free kick after Mick McGuane bowled over Chris Mainwaring.

McGuane was doing his best to distract Mainwaring, as one of a number of enterprising moves from Leigh Matthews to stifle the Eagles’ prime movers. Usually playing through the centre, McGuane started on a wing in a defensive role on Mainwaring, while the hard-running Fraser went to the other wing on Matera in an attacking move.

First year forward Trent Hotton was preferred to spearhead Sav Rocca at full-forward, with Jason McCartney lining up at centre half forward on Jakovich. McCartney’s role was purely as a decoy, dragging Jakovich into the deep pockets of the WACA. Nathan Buckley lined up on a half forward flank opposed to McKenna but became the pseudo centre half forward with McCartney pushing wide.

When Tony Francis was released into the Magpies forward 50 to goal on the run, the Magpies had drawn level with West Coast and Brown’s decision at the coin toss was looking a masterstroke. However, the Eagles were able to finish the term with a flurry of goals to take a 12 point lead into quarter time.

Shane Bond ran into an open goal, Peter Sumich kicked his second for the term and after Nathan Buckley launched a long bomb into the wind, Chris Lewis out-bodied Gavin Crosisca to mark and goal to close out the term.

The quarter time break brought further changes for the Magpies. Tony Shaw had lasted less than a minute before the hamstring went, with the former captain resigned to the bench for the rest of the afternoon. Shane Kerrison came onto the ground in his place and was given the task of minding Dean Kemp, while Jon Hassall was sent to Tony Evans, with the Eagles duo running riot in the opening quarter.

The Eagles maintained the status quo for the second term extending their lead by two despite defending against the wind. Jason Ball kicked the opening term after marking a Sumich set shot on the goal line, before Trent Hotton roved a marking contest to keep the Magpies in the game. Brett Heady got out the back to kick the Eagles second for the quarter but the Magpies were able to respond again through Gavin Brown with just 44 seconds remaining in the term.

The first missed siren of the afternoon came at the half-time break, with play allowed to continue deep in the Eagles forward line as the siren wailed in the background. No umpire on the ground heard the siren, with play only coming to a stop when Don Pyke scrounged home a behind. The score stood.

West Coast took complete control in the third term, but it took two magical moments from Peter Matera to get some separation from the Magpies. The Eagles were inaccurate early, kicking four straight behinds with Peter Wilson also sending a shot out on the full. Brett Heady finally found the major opening before Matera put his first stamp on the game.

The Eagles wingman had worked into the game after a slow start opposed to Mark Fraser, picking up nine disposals in the second quarter. After Chris Lewis missed yet another shot on goal, the Magpies clearance from the kick-in only went as far as Jason Ball on the wing. His quick handpass released Matera who sent a long shot on goal from inside the centre square which sailed post high on the wind and lifted the mood of an anxious home crowd.

Tony Francis got an immediate response after receiving a free kick at the next centre bounce and then a 50m penalty paid against Jakovich. Unable to get into the game in the first half, Jakovich was swung forward during the third term but he was forced back to the backline just minutes later when Ashley McIntosh went down with a hamstring injury.

Collingwood grimly hung on in defence for the rest of the term, with Damien Monkhorst providing extra support sitting in the Eagles forward 50. In the final minute, Matera provided his second highlight of the term.

Gathering a loose ball on the wing, Matera went on a jinking run, weaving his way past several Collingwood opponents before finishing from 40m on the run. Umpires again failed to hear the siren when it called for three quarter time, with Chris Lewis kicking truly from the pocket. Originally given a goal, the decision was overturned by the non-officiating umpire in the middle of the ground who had heard the siren ring before Lewis got boot to ball.

Peter Matera was electric in the third term

West Coast managed 3.7 for the quarter and for all of their dominance, the 24 point three quarter left Collingwood in the game, with the advantage of the Fremantle Doctor in the final term.

And the Magpies wasted no time to get themselves back into the game with three quick goals to start the final quarter. The Collingwood skipper had moved to the goal square, with McKenna as his new opponent, kick-starting his side with the opening goal. Tony Francis booted his third for the game after Mainwaring is captured in the Magpies forward line, with Brown then kicking his second for the term after a relayed free kick was paid against Peter Matera.

After being caught holding the ball in the middle of the ground by Mark Fraser, Matera – incensed by the umpires decision – flatted Tony Francis well after he disposed of the ball, injuring his back in the process. Brown reduced the margin to just seven points, while Matera hobbled off the ground, joining McIntosh in taking no further part in the game.

Chris Lewis provided a settler to take the Eagles lead back out to 13 points, but two errors in as many minutes from the normally unflappable McKenna had Collingwood within a point of the lead. Failing to get the ball over the boundary line on the half back line, McKenna gave up possession of the ball to Brown with a chain of handballs ending with Tranquilli who slotted home on the run from the pocket.

From the Magpies’ next forward entry, McKenna again had the ball and looking to rush through a behind, sent the ball out of bounds alongside the behind post. The defender was pinned for deliberate out of bounds and Brown was able to snap home his fifth goal of the match from the resultant free kick.

The Magpies had cut the Eagles lead to just one point with still eight minutes to play, but the Eagles defence held strong against the wind. David Hynes was standing tall in his battle with Damien Monkhorst and with the clock continuing to count down, released the Eagles with a 30m spike from a ball up on the wing.

Chris Lewis pounced on the loose ball across half forward and after an exchange with Peter Wilson, sent a scrubby ball towards the top of the goal square. Collingwood defender Craig Kelly couldn’t hold onto the mark, allowing Brett Heady to swoop and run into an open goal. With under two minutes remaining, the Eagles lead was eight points, but there was still plenty to play out.

Jason McCartney had the Magpies back within two after being set free through the middle of the ground and with only seconds on the clock, Collingwood had one final thrust forward.

Jon Hassall won a free kick on the wing and released Gary Pert with a handball, with the defenders long kick floating towards half-forward. Mick McGuane found himself best placed, but spilled the mark allowing West Coast to hold on.

After the match, Malthouse praised the spirit of his players in fighting the game to the end. “It was a great win for us. But we knew Collingwood were always going to tough it out. You don’t expect any different from Collingwood.”

Malthouse refused to accept that the distraction of the tribunal in the lead up to the game had had any impact, instead expressing disappointment over a number of ‘easy’ goals that kept Collingwood in the game.

Magpies coach Leigh Matthews was equally full of praise for his side, declaring that the brace of goals from Matera in the third term was the difference in the game. “I would go as far to say that is what beat us.”

“A couple of goals that come from just a pure, sensational one-off. A bloke grabs the ball from midfield and says ‘don’t worry about anyone else, I’m going to finish’, Matthews exclaimed.

“We got beaten by maybe just those two fantastic individual efforts by him at that point… I thought for the rest of it, we hung in there fairly well.”

The thrilling finish capped off an incredible weekend of results in the AFL’s first instalment of the top eight system. The Cats made it through their qualifying final against the Dogs courtesy of a Billy Brownless goal after the siren. Geelong got the blistering start with an eight goal opening quarter, but the Dogs clawed their way back into the game to trail by just two points at the final change.

In a see-sawing last term, Footscray appeared to be home when Simon Atkins put them in front with just 24 seconds remaining, but a Geelong clearance from the next centre bounce landed in the lap of Brownless. Brownless coolly finished to get the Cats over the line.

Earlier that day, North Melbourne and Hawthorn played the first ever final that required extra time, when the two sides were locked at 91 points apiece. The Kangaroos dominated the extra time period, kicking 3.5 to 0.0 in the additional playing time, with Wayne Carey guiding his team to victory.

The narrow defeat was exacerbated 24 hours later for the Hawks when seventh placed Melbourne upset the second placed Blues. After an even first half, the Demons exposed Carlton’s lack of pace to run away with a 27 point win and keep their finals hopes alive, when defeat would have ended their season.

That meant the sixth placed Hawks joined Collingwood on the scrapheap for 1994 and also saw North Melbourne join the Eagles with direct entry to the preliminary final.

Malthouse admitted the week off would be beneficial for the Eagles, with injury concerns over Ashley McIntosh and Peter Matera. West Coast would wait on the winner of the Melbourne/Footscray clash, but doubt remained over where the game would be held, with many Victorian based identities adamant that the MCG should host both preliminary finals to satisfy the AFL’s agreement with the MCC.

1994 Rewind: Eagles, Bulldogs Thrown Into Tribunal Chaos

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West Coast claimed their second minor premiership with a 71 point thumping of Footscray in the final round, but the win was marred by a half-time brawl that ultimately dragged the club through a farcical AFL investigation.

The Bulldogs arrived in Perth in third position on the ladder on the back of six wins in seven games, but were no match for a West Coast side that had been given a boost by reigning premiers Essendon 24 hours earlier.

The Bombers had already been ruled out of finals action for 1994, but they doubled down on the misery of Carlton’s 1993 Grand Final defeat, with an upset 18 point win over the Blues that opened the door for West Coast to reclaim top spot.  

The bye in round 23 had allowed several Eagles to recover from minor niggles but the break wasn’t enough for John Worsfold who missed with a groin strain. Craig Turley was also out, serving the first game of a two week suspension, allowing Chris Waterman to return after several weeks in the WAFL. Brett Spinks was the other inclusion when teams were first named.

Before the bounce, the Eagles made two further changes. Ashley McIntosh, Chris Mainwaring and Glen Jakovich had all been reported as struggling heading into the game, but it was Ryan Turnbull and Dean Kemp who were given an extra week of recovery. David Hynes and Tony Godden were brought in, with Hynes grasping the late opportunity with both hands.

Hynes put in a best on ground performance, controlling the ruck against Bulldogs counterparts Ilija Grgic and Barry Standfield. Hynes had 24 hit-outs (to the Bulldogs pair of 17), to go with 23 disposals and a goal. Don Pyke proved to be the greatest beneficiary from Hynes’ dominance, picking up 24 touches and capping off a fine game with three second half goals.

Pyke was too good for Simon Atkins early, gathering eight first quarter possessions, before Bulldogs coach Alan Joyce swung seven-gamer Brad Johnson onto the Eagle ruck rover. Chris Mainwaring and David Hart topped the ball-getters for West Coast with 25 each, while there was a strong spread of goal kickers with Pyke, Jason Ball and Chris Lewis leading the way with three each.

Lewis was magical across the half forward line having a hand in several goals from his 17 disposals and eight marks, while the Eagles defence again stood strong, conceding just six goals to the Bulldogs.

The Bulldogs had few winners on the day but Scott West and Tony Liberatore each finished with 18 touches through the middle, while Chris Grant had 11 disposals and seven marks roaming up the ground and also booted two goals.

West Coast jumped to a 20 point lead at quarter time, building their lead to 37 at the main break with only inaccurate kicking preventing the margin from being greater. The Eagles then booted four goals in each of the next two quarters, while the Bulldogs were held goalless in the last term. With the game in their keeping, West Coast turned their attention to the first final, resting a host of players in the final term, which saw them even finish with just 16 players on the ground.

The routine win was soon overshadowed when the focus turned onto the half-time brawl that involved most players on the ground.

The incident first began following a shirtfront on Brett Heady from Steve Wallis along the boundary line moments before the half time siren.

That caused remonstration between players, which quickly escalated as players rushed from all over the ground and even those that were on the bench.

With players tangled up, the brawl took a disturbing turn when Eagles spearhead Peter Sumich was taken into a headlock from rookie Bulldogs defender Danny Southern. Sumich blacked out on the ground and with the teams eventually dispersing and heading into the changerooms, the West Coast medical staff remained on the ground to tend to their full forward.

Eagles coach Mick Malthouse also remained on the field, opting to watch over Sumich until he was stretchered into the changerooms. Sumich would play no further part in the game, with the Eagles doctors eventually reviving the Eagles full-forward following several minutes on an oxygen tank.

Tensions remained high between the two sides through the second half, despite the one-sided scoreline. Southern – who had spent time with West Coast a couple of seasons earlier as he rehabilitated from a knee injury suffered while playing at Claremont – became the target of verbal abuse at the final siren from both Glen Jakovich and Jason Ball.

Peter Sumich is attended too after being choked into unconsciousness by Danny Southern

After the game, Malthouse described the brawl as a ‘blight’ on the game. “We come here to play football.”

“We can accept solid bumps and we can accept that footy is a physical game. But there were certain elements of today’s game that have surprised and disappointed us.”

No match-day reports were laid by umpires, with the clubs then the centre of an AFL investigation, led by Max Crawford. After Crawford spoke individually with both clubs, he found that no players should be charged, with AFL general manager Ian Collins supporting the findings and declaring both clubs would be fined $20,000.

However, Eagles officials were left stunned 24 hours later when the AFL overruled both Crawford and Collins to charge five West Coast players for their part in the melee. Glen Jakovich, Jason Ball, Tony Evans, Chris Lewis and Peter Sumich were all summoned to face the AFL judiciary five days after the game took place.

Jakovich copped two charges for striking Richard Osborne and Danny Southern, as did Ball who had two striking charges on Ilija Grgic and Chris Grant. Sumich was also charged for striking Grgic, while Chris Lewis and Tony Evans each received one charge for striking Doug Hawkins, who suffered a torn abdominal muscle during the fracas.

The Bulldogs weren’t spared with three players also called up to face the tribunal. Chris Grant was cited for striking Jakovich and Darcy  MacPherson was cited for striking Lewis, while Danny Southern faced the more serious charge of conduct unbecoming for his headlock on Sumich.

West Coast general manager Brian Cook expressed the thoughts of both clubs, whose finals preparations were now under serious threat. “We are extremely disappointed and somewhat shocked. This has thrown our finals preparations into turmoil.”

The Bulldogs dropped to fifth at the completion of the home and away season, falling behind North Melbourne and Geelong who both recorded large wins in round 24. North Melbourne moved back to third when they comfortably accounted for the Magpies in the opening game of the round. The Kangaroos controlled the game from the outset, with eight goals to John Longmire delivering a 64 point win.

That left the Magpies nervously waiting on other results to stay in the finals hunt, but their place in the top eight was confirmed the following day when Richmond were trounced by Geelong. Despite being without Gary Ablett, the Cats were never troubled, running out 76 point winners as Bill Brownless replicated Longmire’s haul of eight goals.

Having suffered horrid defeats of 113 points to the Blues and 76 points to the Cats in the final two rounds of the season, it would be Richmond who were relegated to ninth position after Melbourne won a high scoring clash against the Swans to move back into the top eight.

The Tigers finished on 12 wins – the same as Melbourne and Collingwood – but had lost nearly 10 percentage points in the previous fortnight to finish well behind the Demons and Magpies. Geelong, on the other hand, found themselves inside the top four for the first time since Round 10 on the back of a late season revival after coach Malcolm Blight was at risk of losing his job midway through the year.

With Melbourne and West Coast recording wins on the Sunday, the first week finals schedule had been set. The Demons rose to seventh to book a first week final against Carlton, with North Melbourne to host Hawthorn and the Cats and the Dogs to square off.

That left eighth-placed Collingwood with the unenviable task of travelling to Perth to tackle the Eagles in a virtual elimination final, although who West Coast would have available for the game still remained up in the air.

With Footscray due to play their qualifying final on the Saturday night, the Bulldogs immediately sought an injunction with the Victorian Supreme Court to delay the tribunal hearings for Grant, MacPherson and Southern until the following Monday.

With the Bulldogs successful, West Coast considered a similar tack.

Ultimately, the Eagles decided to push ahead with the hearings with the five players to face the AFL tribunal less than 48 hours before they were due to play Collingwood.

Eagles Chairman Dwane Buckland denied that West Coast had missed the boat in joining the Bulldogs in submitting a joint injunction, as a war of words broke out between the two clubs.

The Bulldogs had responded in the wake of Malthouse’s post-match comments, calling their former coach’s words as ‘untrue, outrageous and defamatory’.

Footscray coach Alan Joyce was particularly pointed towards his counterpart. “I have been coaching in the AFL for several years now and I just wish other coaches, particularly Malthouse in Perth, would have the same degree of professionalism.”

General manager Dennis Galimberti went even further, defending the actions of Danny Southern  and declaring it was the West Coast players who instigated the whole melee.

“The incident between Steve Wallis and Brett Heady was totally fair and within the rules of the game,” Galimberti said.

“As a result of the collision, several West Coast Eagles players ran a considerable distance to remonstrate with Wallis. That was the single thing that incited the events that followed.”

The Bulldogs were particularly critical of Malthouse speaking about the incident between Southern and Sumich, saying that it was inappropriate for comments to be made before the case was put to the tribunal.

Malthouse had stated that Sumich ‘was grabbed from behind by a bloke who came from their bench and was virtually strangled’

Malthouse retorted, saying he had never named Southern.

“You would have to be blind not to see the Channel 7 replay and determine the player responsible for Sumich’s condition,” Malthouse said. The Eagles coach also rejected suggestions he had confronted Southern at three quarter time. “I did not utter one word to Danny Southern. I can honestly say I did not utter one word to any Footscray player and I would never do that, never.”

Ultimately, West Coast decided to send their players to the tribunal, with the hearing taking place less than 48 hours before their finals match against Collingwood and the night after they had announced their squad for the game.

Buckland said that it was the view of the Board to have the matter dealt with before the clubs first final, to ensure that any potential penalties handed down could be served earlier in the finals campaign.

“If you are going to have a few players out, we’d prefer to have them out in a game we can afford to lose, rather than a game we can’t afford to lose.”

In the end, Buckland and the Eagles had nothing to worry about.

After a marathon four hour hearing, via video link up from Perth, all five West Coast players were cleared of any wrongdoing. The Eagles even called up Crawford as one of their own witnesses, to reiterate his view that no players should be charged over the melee.

Eagles players leave the tribunal after having their charges thrown out.

The Bulldogs would subsequently front the tribunal after the weekend with Grant and MacPherson equally cleared of any wrongdoing, while Southern was hit with a $10,000 fine.

After a week of disruption, West Coast were happy to move on from the whole situation and turn their attention into their match with Collingwood.

“Where it went off the rails I don’t know. And we are not going to pursue it,” a relieved Buckland declared.