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.
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.
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