Month: April 2020

Eagles Continue Blues Misery

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Eagles Coast To Thumping Win

West Coast made it three wins from four games when they easily defeated the Blues in their round four clash, in front of a record attendance at the WACA.

A crowd of 28,568 were on hand to witness the Eagles 50 point win, bettering the ground’s previous highest attendance at the Australia v Pakistan one-day international the previous summer.

The Eagles extended their lead at every change in the routine win, which was highlighted by the impressive debut of midfielder Brett Heady.

Heady had starred for Subiaco four days earlier in the Lions’ 50 point win over Perth, and despite the short turnaround, gathered 18 disposals and booted two goals in a notable performance first-up effort with West Coast.

The inclusion of Heady was one of three for the Eagles after their thumping win over Footscray. David O’Connell was selected for his first match of the season and Michael Brennan returned from a groin injury picked up in the round two defeat to St Kilda. Paul Peos was ruled out with a knee injury, while Brad Gwilliam and Dean Irving were both dropped.

After losing their first two games, the Blues arrived in Perth off the back of a 14 point win over the Saints. However the win came at a cost with both Mark Naley and Simon Minton-Connell injured and subsequently ruled out against the Eagles. Chris Bond was also dropped, with David Glascott, Ian Herman and Andrew Phillips all included.

With Minton-Connell sidelined and Stephen Kernahan used through the ruck with Justin Madden unavailable for selection, the Blues lacked any forward presence.

Richard Dennis kicked the opening goal after receiving a 50m penalty, but the Eagles had control of the play from early in the game. Only the strong defensive efforts of Stephen Silvagni and David Rhys-Jones prevented West Coast from hitting the front, but when Peter Sumich and Karl Langdon goaled right before quarter time, the Eagles had taken a lead they would not relinquish.

Three goals to one in the second term extended the Eagles’ lead to 20 points at the main break, but the lead could have been so much more if not for inaccurate kicking. Dean Laidley and Guy McKenna created plenty of drive off half back, the pair combining for 20 disposals in the second quarter alone.

Laidley had picked up 19 disposals by half time, while debutant Heady tallied eight touches in the second quarter, as did Stephen Malaxos and Dwayne Lamb. As West Coast flexed their superiority in the game, things got worse for the Blues when they lost Silvagni to injured ribs after a heavy collision, denying the Blues another of their key talls.

With his side needing a spark, Alex Jesaulenko swung Rhys-Jones to full forward and got an immediate response as Rhys-Jones booted three goals in six minutes to bring the Blues back within touching distance.

However, West Coast settled with the final five goals of the quarter to take their lead out to 38 points, before a six-goal final term ensured a comfortable win.

Sumich led the Eagles goal kicking with four majors, while Peter Wilson and Craig Turley each booted three.

Laidley finished with 30 disposals after his barnstorming first half and Stephen Malaxos was industrious through the middle with 29 touches. As well as hitting the scoreboard, Wilson and Turley were both productive with the ball, collecting 25 and 22 dipsosals respectively.

Dwayne Lamb shut down Craig Bradley on the wing, while the Eagles defence, led by Laidley, Guy McKenna and Murray Rance were again steadfast. After four rounds, the Eagles had conceded the least amount of points – 310 – in the league; 118 of which came in the loss to St Kilda.

“Our backline is functioning very well”, a delighted Malthouse declared after the game. “It’s early days, but its slowly and surely coming about.”

The win lifted the Eagles back into the top five at the expense of North Melbourne, who dropped out after a five goal defeat to Geelong. West Coast sat in fifth, percentage behind the Saints, Hawks and Bombers, with Melbourne still undefeated when they overturned a half time deficit to defeat Fitzroy.

With winnable games to come against lowly Sydney and Richmond, the Eagles were primed to consolidate their position in the finals placings, despite starting to build a concerning injury list.

Chris Mainwaring had missed a fortnight with a back fracture, while Chris Lewis and Chris Waterman both remained sidelined from injuries picked up in the pre-season. John Annear and Don Pyke were both injured the previous week playing for their respective WAFL sides after falling out of the Eagles line-up following the Saints defeat, while Tony Begovich and Andrew MacNish were also injured the previous week in the WAFL.

Geoff Miles hadn’t made an appearance at any level as he battled a hamstring injury and Paul Peos was expected to miss the majority of the season with a knee complaint.

1990 Rewind: Mick’s Happy Returns

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Malthouse Gets Last Laugh on Former Club

West Coast players declared they would play for their coach, and did so accordingly when they recorded a comfortable 63 point win over the Bulldogs in their round three clash at the Western Oval.

Six months after parting ways with the Bulldogs as they sat on the verge of extinction, Malthouse returned to his former home of six years to claim the four points.

Malthouse’s desertion had not been forgotten by his former players or fans in a hostile build up to the match. Several Bulldogs players were critical of Malthouse after a radio interview Malthouse gave during the week, believing Malthouse had been derogatory towards them and the club.

Fans also voiced their displeasure towards their old coach before the match and at each interval, although Malthouse later played down the hostile reception post-match.

“There were so may well-wishers before the game. It made me humble I suppose that there are people here – even though they’re Footscray people – who felt like that.”

“The disappointing thing is that I’ve listened to a couple of interviews by former players who tended to put the boots in, when I believe I gave them the opportunity to play League footy”, Malthouse continued.

“You have to look at human beings for what they are. Some put dirt on you. Some are great friends.”

And while the new Eagles coach suggested that he was greatly unaffected by the comments coming out of his old club leading up to the game, he did little to hide his emotion at the final siren, embracing many of the Eagle players on the ground.

The West Coast players, for their part, declared they would ‘play for their coach’ in response to the negative comments arising out of Footscray and did so with a defensive masterclass, restricting the home side to a measly 1.8 at half time.

The Eagles themselves booted nine goals for the half to take a commanding 50 point lead into the main break, and were never in danger of giving up the four points in the second half.

The win was a strong response to the humbling 58 point loss to the Saints the week before.

The Eagles made five changes, three of which were forced through injury. Wingman Chris Mainwaring was found to have a small fracture in his back, which was set to sideline him for two weeks, defender Michael Brennan had a groin strain and Don Pyke couldn’t be considered due to soreness.

John Annear and Andrew Lockyer were the casualties as Malthouse injected more speed into the side. Steve Malaxos was named for his first game as captain, while Stevan Jackson was named across half forward. Craig Turley, Scott Watters and David Hart were the other inclusions, all of who were named for their first games of 1990.

The Bulldogs named an unchanged line up to the one that easily accounted for the Swans in Sydney. However they were dealt a couple of blows before the opening bounce with John Georgiades (hamstring) and Steven Kolyniuk (ankle) both forced out. Danny Del Re came in for his debut game, with Matt Hannebery the other inclusion.

West Coast also made a late change with Chris Lewis replaced by Todd Breman. Lewis had been a surprise inclusion during the week after failing to last a quarter against the Saints with an ankle injury and was duly ruled out.

The Bulldogs started the brighter of the two sides, but the Eagles soon gained the ascendancy in the match.

The Eagles squad had been heavily criticised about their lack of commitment to the contest against the Saints, and put on an improved attack on the ball. Peter Wilson and Steve Malaxos led the way as West Coast bullocked their way to a three goal to one lead at the first change, before the Eagle runners took hold of the game in the second quarter.

Troy Ugle, Dwayne Lamb, Craig Turley and David Hart were all prolific as West Coast booted six unanswered goals, to all but end the contest. The Eagles were particularly devastating coming out of defence with handball, the quick transition catching the Footscray defence out of position.

The three-pronged attack of Peter Sumich, Karl Langdon and Stevan Jackson benefited most from the Eagles impressive ball movement. Sumich could have had a day out, finishing with a wasteful 3.4 from 14 kicks and 11 marks, while Langdon also booted three goals. Jackson had a presence further up the ground with nine disposals, five marks and a goal.

The performance of Langdon would have been pleasing for Malthouse, after several players had rotated through centre half forward in the first fortnight of the season. Dean Irving, Andrew Lockyer and Phil Scott had all been tried in the opening two weeks, but Langdon made the most of the opportunity against the Bulldogs, getting the better of three opponents.

Karl Langdon impressed at half-forward getting the better of Stuart Wigney, Greg Eppelstun and Peter Foster

In contrast, the Bulldogs forward line failed to function against the miserly Eagles defence. Murray Rance kept Barry Standfield to just seven disposals and without viable targets, the Bulldogs were forced to take long range shots on goal, with little success.

Bulldogs coach Terry Wheeler threw his side around to start the second half, pushing Chris Grant to full forward, Stuart Wigney from defence to the forward line and Leon Cameron to the wing. The moves paid some dividends with Grant (twice) and Cameron kicking majors in the third term as both sides booted four goals.

The Eagles then finished with a five goal to two last quarter to record their highest ever score in Victoria. Along with Sumich and Langdon, Craig Turley and David Hart also finished with three goals, while Troy Ugle chimed in with two.

Peter Wilson led the disposals for West Coast with 30, with Dean Laidley (24) and Turley (23) the next best.

The Bulldogs were best served by Terry Wallace who finished with 32 disposals and a goal and Stephen Wallis who tallied 25 touches. Grant booted another goal in the final quarter to finish with a match haul of three, while Wigney also gave the Bulldogs life in the forward line, managing six shots on goal in the second half but only booting 1.5 opposed to Brad Gwilliam.

Bulldogs coach Terry Wheeler was scathing in his review of the game, saying that the senior Bulldogs players weren’t up for the match against West Coast. At three-quarter time, Wheeler took many of his younger charges aside and spoke with them away from the rest of the squad for several minutes.

“They’re earmarked to be the future of the Footscray Football Club and if what I was seeing from some of our senior players is the attitude they have toward football at the moment, I certainly don’t want our younger players to… take that attitude.”

“… those senior players today, for one reason or another, didn’t show us that they can play”, Wheeler bemoaned.

The win lifted the Eagles back to the edge of the top five, as one of six teams that had two wins from their opening three games. Only the Demons remained undefeated at the close of Round 3, following their 27 point win over Essendon.

As well as booting their highest ever score in Victoria, the Eagles 63 point win was also their largest, bettering the 37 point win over Footscray at the same ground the year before. The victory also made it three in a row for the Eagles at the Western Oval, defying their overall poor record away from home.

The only sour note for the Eagles was the knee injury to Paul Peos during the second quarter, which was set to sideline the wingman for much of the season.

The Injury compounded a poor week for Peos who had been fined by the club during the week for breaking team rules, and then being on the end of some ‘friendly advice’ by the ground announcer when he was involved in a skirmish with Leon Cameron on the members wing before the opening bounce.

1990 Rewind: Pluggered

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Lockett Burst Brings Eagles Back to Earth

A week on from their impressive dismantling of the Magpies, the Eagles were given a fierce reality check in a 68 point defeat to St Kilda, led by spearhead Tony Lockett.

Lockett finished with nine goals – six of which came in a devastating burst in the second term when the Saints were kicking into a howling wind, all but sealing the contest.

West Coast made just the one change to the team that accounted for Collingwood in Round 1, with Chris Lewis returning to the line up from injury. Lewis hadn’t played since aggravating his hamstring against North Melbourne in the Eagles second Fosters Cup match.

Lewis replaced Peter Matera, who managed just nine disposals in a quiet debut the week before. Stand-in captain John Worsfold held his spot despite sporting strapping around his thigh at training during the week and again led the team in the absence of Steve Malaxos.

The Saints also made the one change to the team that defeated Footscray in the opening round. Captain Danny Frawley returned after being a late withdrawal the week before, with Ian Muller making way.

Heading into the game, Malthouse made no secret of the danger Lockett posed, with the burly full forward the difference in the previous meeting between the two sides. In the only meeting between the two sides in 1989, Lockett booted 12 of the Saints 18 goals in a 35 point win.  

The Saints scored first use of the wind, but the Eagles did well to stay within reaching distance at quarter time. Karl Langdon opened the scoring, before the Saints finished with the last 10 scoring shots in the quarter, for an inaccurate 4.6.

24 points down at the first break was an acceptable margin given the wind advantage and Lockett had managed just one major for the term as the Eagles employed a loose man in defence to block his space. Michael Brennan was given the role on Lockett, teaming with Murray Rance to regularly double-team Lockett.

West Coast abandoned the tactic at the start of the second term kicking with the wind, leaving Lockett one-out with Brennan. Peter Sumich booted the opening goal when he was left alone in the goal square to reduce the Saints lead to 18 points.

Andrew Lockyer fell short in his attempt on goal moments later, before Chris Mainwaring blew a golden opportunity when he overran the ball in front of goal. The Eagles had much of the play early in the quarter as they worked their way into the contest.

Then ‘Plugger’ ripped the game apart.

With the Saints getting on top through the midfield, Lockett kicked five of the next six goals in the game, with only a long range effort from Murray Rance, breaking the run.

Lockett powered through the Eagles defence, often marking against multiple defenders in the air and in one instance, brushing aside two Eagles as he soccered the ball through at the top of the goal square.

Ruckman Damien Kitschke added a sixth goal for the term for the Saints when he was found unmarked in front of goal by Dean Rice, before Lockett booted his seventh goal for the match – and sixth goal in the quarter – when he was paid a juggled contested mark.

The Saints had booted seven goals to two against the wind to take a commanding 58 point lead into the main break. Their lead increased to 78 at the final change, before the Eagles limited some of the damage with a five goal final quarter.

Murray Rance took over from Brennan on Lockett in the second half, holding the full forward to just two second half majors. Still, Lockett finished with an impressive match haul of 9.4 from 18 disposals and 12 marks, making it 19 goals in two weeks after opening the season with a bag of 10 against the Bulldogs.

“Let’s face it, the man is awesome. Once he gets his hands on the ball, it’s good night Irene”, Malthouse exclaimed.

While Lockett was terrorising the Eagles defence up one end, the same couldn’t be said at the other, where Frawley and regular forward Stewart Loewe were impenetrable. Frawley held Eagles forward Peter Sumich to just one goal, while Loewe vied with Lockett for best afield honours as he continually intercepted many of the Eagles’ forward thrusts.

Loewe finished with 31 disposals and 15 marks in a dominant performance at centre half back. The Eagles could not find a way through their half forward line, with Murray Rance, Andrew Lockyer, Karl Langdon and Phil Scott all tried with little success.

The Saints were also well served by a number of recruits. Damien Kitschke – in just his second AFL game – was too strong in his duel with fellow second gamer Dean Irving, often providing the Saints midfield with first use at the stoppages.

Kitschke finished with 25 disposals, seven marks, 14 hit-outs and a goal, many of his possessions coming as he sat behind the play when West Coast kicked with the wind. Tim Pekin gathered a career best 38 disposals in just his second game at Moorabbin, after switching across from Fitzroy ahead of the 1990 season.

Pekin was particularly damaging early as St Kilda built their lead, with John Annear brought onto the ground in a bid to quell his influence. Grant Lawrie and Jim Krakouer were others to impress in their second games with the Saints, after crossing from Fitzroy and North Melbourne respectively, collecting 22 and 21 possessions.

Krakouer had shone in his club debut the week before with 36 disposals, earning the tag of Dwayne Lamb, but still having moments of magic. Peter Russo (32 disposals and a goal) and Nathan Burke (31 disposals) were other major ball-winners through the midfield.

And with Lockett garnering much of the attention of the West Coast defence, Rod Owen was allowed to slip under the radar across half forward, booting 4.4 from 21 disposals.

Ken Sheldon – who had made it two wins from two games in charge at the Saints – lauded his side’s second quarter into the wind. “It was a tremendous effort by the players.”

“The second quarter was one of the best quarters of football you would see anywhere. Our players have proved to themselves that they can match it with anybody.”

For West Coast, there were too few players who contributed.

Dean Laidley was arguably the Eagles best player in his negating role on Nicky Winmar at half back. Winmar still tallied 23 disposals, but didn’t have the impact he was renowned for, while Laidley finished as the Eagles leading disposal getter with 27.

Don Pyke booted three second half goals as the Eagles major goal kicker, while Guy McKenna was dependable at half back. Peter Wilson put on a second strong showing at his new club as one of the few Eagles to bring physicality to the game.

Peter Wilson was one of the few performers for West Coast on a poor day

“I’m totally at a loss”, Malthouse said. “I’ll talk to the players as individuals. But there is no magic formula.”

“There was a complete lack of pressure on their runners.”

The turnaround in performance wasn’t the only concern for West Coast out of the match. Chris Lewis, in his return from injury, failed to last a quarter when he succumbed to an ankle complaint. Michael Brennan suffered a groin injury and Laidley played out the game with a corked calf.

Karl Langdon was placed on report for striking Tim Pekin with a forearm to the head.

The result also continued the Eagles’ poor record in Melbourne. The Eagles had now won just five games from 28 matches in Victoria, with Malthouse declaring changes would be made to arrest the horror record away from home.

1990 Rewind: Malthouse Begins

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Off-Season of Change Brings Winning Start

The 1990 season promised a new beginning.

The AFL was officially born with league headquarters re-branding from the VFL to recognise that the competition was now national, with clubs located in Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia.

The West Coast Eagles had also undergone significant changes since a disappointing 1989 campaign.

John Todd was replaced as coach after two seasons, with Victorian Michael Malthouse taking over the reins following six seasons at Footscray. The Bulldogs had only made the finals once during Malthouse’s tenure as coach, falling agonisingly short of a Grand Final appearance in 1985 in Malthouse’s second year.

The Bulldogs had remained competitive since, hovering just outside the final five, before crashing to second-last in Malthouse’s final year in charge, as the club battled football extinction. The Bulldogs would exist in their own right for season 1990 – saved from merging with Fitzroy – but Malthouse sought a new challenge across the Nullabor.

The transition between Todd and Malthouse hadn’t been a smooth one; news of Malthouse’s appointment had been leaked before Todd was formally told he would not be offered a new contract, with the Eagles hierarchy scrambling together a press conference on the afternoon of October 3, 1989 to present Malthouse as the clubs third coach.

Malthouse would not be the only key change for the Eagles heading into 1990.

Brian Cook was appointed CEO, after two years with the WAFC, and Trevor Nisbett was appointed football manager. On-field, Stephen Malaxos was named captain with John Worsfold vice-captain and the club was able to establish Subiaco Oval as its permanent training base, having operated out of a number of different locations across their first three seasons.

Leading up to the clubs opening game against Collingwood, the signs were positive the Eagles could return to finals action.

The Eagles lost narrowly to Essendon in their Fosters cup opening game, but were given a reprieve in the competition after Brisbane failed to travel down for the pre-season competition. West Coast played the Bears’ opponent in North Melbourne, and narrowly lost again. The Eagles lost both games by three points, with poor kicking for goal to blame in both defeats.

West Coast then hosted the previous seasons Grand Finalists in practice matches to round out the pre-season. Both were resounding victories. The Eagles thrashed the Cats by 89 points and then followed up that performance with a 12 goal win over the Hawks.

West Coast named a fresh squad to tackle the Magpies, who were one of the premiership favourites heading into the season. Collingwood had made the finals the previous two seasons under Leigh Matthews, but had been bundled straight out in both years. With a number of key recruits over the off-season, many believed the Magpies were ready to take the next step.

The Eagles named four players for their AFL debut. Peter Matera – the Eagles first selection at the 1989 draft – Dean Kemp, Dean Irving and Brad Gwilliam were all selected for their first matches, while Peter Wilson was also picked for his first game with the club, having switched across from Richmond.

John Worsfold was left to lead the club, after new captain Steve Malaxos was forced to miss the game with a broken foot. Malaxos had suffered the injury, stepping on a picket at his home, missing the start of the season.

The Magpies named new recruits Tony Francis and Scott Russell, who had both joined the club from the SANFL, but prized addition Paul Hawke and defender Michael Christian were both unavailable due to hamstring injuries.

The two sides had met in the final round of the 1989 season, with Collingwood easy 49 point winners.

But in a clear sign of how much the Eagles had progressed in one summer, West Coast extended their lead in every quarter to run away with a 46 point win.

In a bruising encounter that had plenty of moments of spite between the two sides, it was an all-in brawl midway through the third quarter that set the course of the final outcome. Collingwood first-gamer Tony Francis lashed out at Eagles defender Murray Rance as the two tumbled over the boundary line, sparking an altercation that involved most players from both sides.

Play was held up for several minutes as the umpires tried to separate the players and when the two teams did get back to playing football, it was the Eagles who settled quicker. The Eagles booted the next three goals to stretch their lead out to 34 points, and while Collingwood responded with the last two goals in the term, a five goal to two last quarter sealed an impressive win for the home side.

Peter Sumich starred up forward with six goals, but it was the improved defensive attitude that pleased new coach Mick Malthouse most. Collingwood could manage just eight goals for the afternoon, with Michael Brennan shutting out full forward Brian Taylor and Murray Rance the better of Craig Starcevich.

Sumich led the way up forward with six goals

Dean Laidley had the better of Jamie Turner, while John Annear found a new role in defence, marked with the task of minding Gavin Brown.

The Magpies struggled throughout the day with the man-on-man structure that Malthouse implemented, as well as the intense pressure around the ball.

“They (the players) didn’t talk about how much they’d won by or who kicked the goals. The first thing they said when they came in was the tackling was terrific”, an excited Malthouse proclaimed after the match.

“They acknowledged each other and it’s important that they think that’s one criterion of success, either at Subiaco Oval or Melbourne.”

Troy Ugle was stationed in the back pocket for the Eagles and provided plenty of dash through the first half, before being forced off the ground when he was caught under the pack of the melee, injuring an arm in the process. However, he returned to the field in the forward line for the final quarter, booting a goal and setting up two others in a best-afield display.

First-gamer Dean Irving combined well with Phil Scott in the ruck with the duo proving too strong for Collingwood pair Damien Monkhorst and James Manson at the stoppages. The Eagles midfield benefitted from this advantage with Paul Peos the leading ball-winner with 25 disposals and Chris Mainwaring next-best with 22.

Dean Kemp had 20 touches on the wing to get the better of Graeme Wright and Dwayne Lamb restricted Peter Daicos to just six kicks and a goal.

After having his colours lowered by Paul Tuddenham in the first quarter, acting captain John Worsfold was released into the middle, where he finished with 19 disposals and gave plenty of drive along with Karl Langdon, who collected 21 touches and booted two goals roaming between half forward and the centre.

For Collingwood, only captain Tony Shaw (24 disposals), newcomer Scott Russell (22) and Darren Millane (21) showed they were capable of matching the fierceness that West Coast brought to the contest.

It only got worse for the Magpies, with Francis later suspended for six games for kicking Rance. In his tribunal hearing, Francis remarked that he had been provoked when he felt Rance brush his groin area, and while he admitted responding with a kicking action, believed that he had missed Rance. The Eagles defender supported the claim by Francis that he didn’t make any contact, but that didn’t stop tribunal chairman Neil Busse rubbing the Collingwood midfielder out until round 8.

The Eagles themselves weren’t immune from the tribunal, with runner Rob Wiley charged for his involvement in the melee. Wiley was sanctioned and fined $1000.

While the result proved an awakening to the rest of the competition, Malthouse remained calm, saying there was plenty for his side to work on.

“If you come away from round one with a win, and plenty of work to do, that’s good.”