Tag: Bulldogs

Cox: From Unlucky Villain to Dependable Hero

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Eagles Outlast Another Comeback Attempt

A week after claiming a derby win over Fremantle by the barest of one-point margins, the Eagles again snuck past the line when they recovered from a remarkable Bulldogs comeback to record an eight point victory at Docklands.

The Eagles led by 43 points at half-time and extended their lead to 50 by the ten minute mark of the third quarter, before the Bulldogs piled on 11 of the next 13 goals to take the lead heading into time-on in the final quarter.

Facing a potentially humiliating defeat, West Coast were able to settle and kick the final two goals of the match, with Dean Cox booting the sealer with just a minute to play.

Cox shortened his Brownlow odds with a comprehensive best on ground display that saw the Eagles ruckman control the ruck to set up the Eagles lead in the early part of the game, before taking important marks at either end of the ground with the result on the line.

His performance would have gone some way to easing the burden of guilt he would have felt going into the game after playing the villain in a bizarre accident during the week.

The Eagles’ selection plans were thrown asunder after full-forward Josh Kennedy was forced to withdraw from the game due to an eye injury courtesy of a stray tennis ball. Kennedy suffered bleeding behind the eye which was set to rule him out for a fortnight, with Cox later acknowledging he had been responsible for the incident.

Kennedy had booted a personal best ten goals in the previous meeting between the two sides earlier in the year when West Coast made their biggest statement of the season with a 123 point thrashing of the Bulldogs.

Kennedy’s unavailability was compounded with the omission of Nic Naitanui who was rested. Naitanui had carried a shoulder injury for much of the year, with the Eagles believing the week off would be beneficial ahead of a finals campaign.

That opened the door for the Eagles’ third selection of the 2010 draft, Scott Lycett, to make his debut. The young ruckman was selected with the 29th pick of the National draft and completed the highly touted triumvirate of players that were seen to be the future of the Eagles. Tom Swift joined Lycett as the other inclusion for West Coast.

The Bulldogs, on the other hand, moved nearly a third of their side as they looked for the combination that could keep their season alive. After reaching the preliminary final of the previous three years, the Bulldogs had fallen off the pace in 2011, sitting a game and a half outside the top eight with five matches to play.

Dylan Addison, Lukas Markovic, Jarrod Grant and Lindsay Gilbee were all dropped after the defeat to Sydney, while the Bulldogs also lost Adam Cooney, Shaun Higgins and Nathan Djerrkura to injury.

Robert Murphy returned from injury and Justin Sherman was recalled after serving a four game suspension for racially abusing young Gold Coast player Joel Wilkinson. Ed Barlow, Jordan Roughead, Brennan Stack, James Mulligan and Ryan Hargrave were the other players brought in before Jayden Schofield became inclusion number eight when Dale Morris was forced to withdraw before the opening bounce with a groin strain.

Lycett started in the goal square for the Eagles and he couldn’t have asked for a better start to his AFL career, kicking a goal with his first kick after just 47 seconds.

Twenty minutes later, the Eagles had six goals on the board and had opened up a 33 point lead. A late Daniel Giansiracusa major cut the Eagles lead to 27 at the first break, which was short of what West Coast deserved. Such was the dominance around the ground in the opening stanza, the Eagles finished the quarter with 52 more disposals, 12 more contested possessions, eight more marks, 27 more handball receives and six more inside 50s.

Five of the Eagles’ six goals for the term came from direct from the stoppage as Cox was superior.

West Coast continued on with their momentum after quarter time with Scott Lycett bagging a second goal in his debut. Andrew Gaff, Dean Cox and Matt Rosa all had 16 disposals in the first half, while Matthew Boyd and Daniel Cross were doing the best they could for the Bulldogs with 14 and 10 disposals, respectively, in the second term.

Andrew Gaff led the Eagles through the game with 31 disposals and two goals

Luke Shuey opened the scoring in the third term with the Eagles’ 11th goal and at 50 points up, the game appeared to be in the Eagles control.

But with their season clinging to life support, the Bulldogs found something through their experienced leaders as Barry Hall asserted himself up forward. Hall booted the first two goals of an amazing run that saw the game completely flip on its head.

For the first two and a half quarters, the Bulldogs had tried to match the Eagles forward press with counter attack that repeatedly came unstuck. Midway through the third term, Eade instructed his men to go man-on-man, and the bigger bodies of the Bulldogs started to bully the younger Eagles.

Matthew Boyd, Daniel Cross, Callan Ward and Daniel Giansiracusa all got busy at the stoppages as the Bulldogs had all of the forward play and conjured up goal after goal. The Bulldogs restricted the Eagle lead to 19 points before Mark LeCras bobbed up on the brink of three-quarter time to give the Eagles some space.

It would prove only a moment of respite as the Bulldogs continued on their way at the start of the final term. Barry Hall added two more goals, either side of a Callan Ward major to have the Bulldogs within a kick. Giansiracusa then booted his third goal of the game to bring the Bulldogs level and then after eight tense minutes, his fourth put the Bulldogs in front for the first time in the game.

For all their efforts in the game, the Eagles looked done but they mustered up some final heroic moments, led by their star ruckman.

Cox took back control in the ruck and with the Bulldogs continuing to press, he placed himself behind the ball to stall the Bulldogs momentum. Jack Darling belied his 17 games of experience to deliver a clutch goal and bring West Coast back to parity, with behinds to Andrew Embley and Mark LeCras inching the Eagles back ahead.

With the game now on the line, Cox had the final say in the game taking a strong pack mark at the top of the Eagles goal square to ice the game.

The Eagles ruckman finished with 27 disposals, 13 marks, 37 hit-outs, 11 contested possessions, four clearances and the sealing goal in a clear best on ground performance. Six of Cox’ 13 marks were contested – just one less than the Bulldogs managed as an entire team.

Dean Cox takes a towering mark in the goal square to seal the game for West Coast

Andrew Gaff and Matt Priddis were the leading ball winners for the Eagles with 31 each, with Gaff adding nine inside 50s and two goals, while Priddis produced nine clearances to go with 14 tackles. Matt Rosa continued his strong first half to end with 30 possessions, while Mark LeCras was the best forward up front with three majors.

Matthew Boyd was a presence all day for the Bulldogs to pick up 40 disposals, with 11 clearances. Robert Murphy was the next best with 26 disposals and then Giansiracusa with 22 and four goals. Barry Hall kicked five goals as he got a handle of Glass and Mackenzie up forward.

Eagles coach John Worsfold was obviously relieved to come away with the win after the Eagles gave up a large margin. “Well, we were pretty pleased to win, we came here to try and win the game. So that was our number one focus.”

Worsfold acknowledged that his side struggled to adapt with the change in style from the Bulldogs, who he said ‘tackled harder and were prepared to get in and win the loose ball’. But Worsfold also praised his team for being able to respond when they fell behind.

“That’s another part of showing where they’re at and even getting behind and making sure they just kept grinding away and doing enough to grab the win.”

The defeat all but ended the Bulldogs’ finals hopes as they fell two games and percentage behind the Dockers who were occupying eighth spot. While the Bulldogs were no longer considered contenders, the race for the top eight was still very much on after Fremantle were thrashed by Hawthorn at home. The Dockers gave up the first eight goals in the game and were never likely from that point on.

The Hawks maintained their hold of third sport, ahead of Carlton who had to do things the hard way in their come-from-behind win over North Melbourne. The Eagles win kept them in the hunt in the top four, but ultimately confirmed the race for the double chance would be a race in five as they skipped two and a half games clear of Sydney in sixth place, who had the bye.

St Kilda’s late season resurgence continued with a 20 point win over an inaccurate Gold Coast as the teams vying for finals all stumbled.

As well as North Melbourne and the Bulldogs, Essendon were thrashed by Collingwood in a rollercoaster match. After the two teams traded the first eight goals, the Bombers booted the next five either side of quarter time to lead by 30 points early in the second term.

However, Collingwood then orchestrated a remarkable 104-point turnaround with 21 of the final 26 goals in the game to run out 74 point winners. But even that performance wasn’t the most outstanding of the weekend.

Geelong fell just four points short of the greatest winning margin in VFL/AFL history as they destroyed Melbourne by 186 points at Kardinia Park. The Cats had established a 114 point lead by half time, “easing off” in the second half as they sauntered their way to the heavy win.

Steve Johnson booted seven goals from 34 disposals, Tom Hawkins kicked five, Joel Selwood tallied 43 disposals and 15 Geelong players picked up 20 touches or more as the Cats racked up 510 for the match – 230 more than the Demons.

The fallout from the game would continue in the days to follow with Melbourne coach Dean Bailey becoming the second senior coach this season to be given the axe.

Eagles Get The Cream

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West Coast Withstand Cats Comeback

Thirty scintillating minutes either side of quarter time and some desperate final quarter defence saw West Coast get home by eight points over ladder-leaders Geelong in one of the games of the 2011 season.

Over 40,000 people packed Subiaco Oval on the Friday night to see the Eagles score their second straight win over a top-four side and continue their push to break into the double chance position.

The Eagles remained fifth following the win, but after serving their second bye the week before, now sat within four points of the Blues and Hawks, with an extra game up their sleeve.

Geelong arrived in Perth as the competition’s benchmark after first-year coach Chris Scott had guided his side to 13 wins from his first 13 games in charge – a VFL/AFL record – but had had their unbeaten streak ended the week before with a surprise four point loss to Essendon.

Scott talked up the Eagles in the lead up, declaring the trip to WA as the biggest challenge in the competition and the Cats could have been accused of having an eye on the Eagles ahead of their match with Essendon.

The Cats made the left-field decision to send several players to WA the week before, with Travis Varcoe and Joel Corey – who were both rested against Essendon – along with suspended midfielder Joel Selwood spending the week training with South Fremantle.

West Coast had their own tribunal issues ahead of the match with Quinten Lynch copping two one week suspensions for separate incidents involving Marc Murphy in the Eagles win over Carlton a fortnight earlier.

While Lynch would plead guilty to a striking charge, confirming his ineligibility for the Geelong match, the Eagles successfully challenged the grading of a rough conduct, reducing the level from high to medium which meant Lynch would serve just the one match suspension.

Lynch was joined by Sam Butler on the sidelines after the defender strained a quad in the final training session of the week. Patrick McGinnity and Koby Stevens were the two inclusions for West Coast, with Stevens making his first appearance of the season.

Geelong made three changes, with Varcoe and Corey returning, along with Taylor Hunt. The Cats were clear in their match selection as they chose a number of mid-sized runners to come into the side in place of tall forwards Mitch Brown and Tom Gillies. Andrew Mackie was the third exclusion for Geelong due to soreness.

Dean Cox started in the ruck for West Coast, but had partner Nic Naitanui beside him at the opening bounce with John Worsfold throwing the Fijian into the centre square alongside Daniel Kerr and Matt Priddis.

The Eagles brought the early intensity with a number of forward entries that had the Geelong defence scrambling. However, for all of the home side’s endeavour, the class of the Cats stood out as they capitalised on the rebound.

Geelong booted four of the first five goals in the game – including their first three from just four forward 50 entries – with James Podsiadly bobbing up for two of them.

West Coast on the other hand were blowing their chances, with Mark Nicoski (twice) and Naitanui both missing simple shots in front of goal.

With five minutes left in the quarter Geelong led 4.1 to 1.3 but West Coast finished the quarter with a flurry of majors to get reward for their dominance. And it was the two players who had been guilty in front of goal earlier in the term who sparked what would be an unanswered nine goal run.

Naitanui would be the fortunate recipient of an overturned free kick in the forward pocket after Jack Darling had sprayed a set shot out on the full. With Geelong set to take possession, Steve Johnson took unkindly to the attention he was receiving from Adam Selwood off the ball, gifting the ball back to the Eagles, where Naitanui snapped truly from the behind post.

Josh Kennedy eked through the Eagles’ third goal after a scramble near the goal square before Mark Nicoski produced a moment of magic.

Collecting the ball on the bounce near the boundary line and cornered by two Geelong defenders, Nicoski fashioned a checkside effort as he was falling backwards that purely defied his two earlier misses from dead in front. That put West Coast in front with Mark LeCras extending the Eagles lead to ten points at the first change in the dying seconds.

The final major told the tale of the first term.

The longer the quarter went, the less sure and composed the Cats defence appeared in the face of the Eagles forward pressure. With the seconds ticking down, Travis Varcoe had possession and looked to exit the ball from the defensive arc. Varcoe overshot his handpass which went directly to Mark LeCras, who then cut a swathe through two defenders and caressed the ball home for the Eagles’ fifth goal from the 50m line.

West Coast had enjoyed 77% of the play in their forward half and led the inside 50 count 18-8 with many of their early matchups were working in their advantage.

Adam Selwood was minding the enigmatic Steve Johnson, brother Scott was doing a similar job on Bartel and Darren Glass had kept the dangerous Daniel Menzel to just two disposals. Brad Ebert had been deployed as a defensive forward on Matthew Scarlett, with the intent of dragging the Cats full back out of the play.

If West Coast had been guilty of not maximising the glut of forward entries in the first quarter, there was no such issue in the second term as the Eagles piled on five goals in 17 minutes to stun the Cats. From sixteen points down entering time-on of the first term, West Coast had advanced to a 40 point lead entering time-on of the second.

Mark Nicoski was dynamic for West Coast up forward with three goals

Bartel eventually ended the Eagles run, but when Brad Ebert rolled home his first major just before half time after another poor turnover in defence by Geelong, this time by Taylor Hunt, West Coast had secured a 35 point lead at the main break.

The Eagles midfield were in complete control from the first half, with Andrew Embley (20 disposals, three clearances), Daniel Kerr (15 disposals, four clearances) and Matt Priddis (14 disposals, four clearances) all prominent.

For Geelong, only Cameron Ling with 18 disposals for the half showed resistance.

The Cats though weren’t the top side in the competition by accident and they proved as such in the early stages of the third quarter when they slammed on four goals in nine minutes to cut the Eagles lead back to 10 points.

Dean Cox provided a steadier but David Wocjinski reduced the margin once again heading into three-quarter time as the match started to take on a different look than earlier in the piece.

Where West Coast had virtually monopolised forward half possession and hunted the Cats when they attempted to control the ball, it was now Geelong that was generating multiple forward 50 entries with the Eagles trying to hold off their momentum.

The first goal of the final term was crucial to both sides, and it would be West Coast who would get the vital strike. With a ball up in their goal square, James Kelly took possession and looked to switch the ball towards the Chris Mainwaring wing. But the ball had barely travelled a metre off his boot before being intercepted by Mark Nicoski, who cleanly took the ball and drilled his third goal of the night.

Geelong continued to press but the first quarter efficiency had all but disappeared as they butchered a spate of chances in front of goal. Paul Chapman, Wocjinski, Steve Johnson and Steven Motlop all missed gettable shots and they were made to pay when Andrew Embley sealed the match on a breakaway move.

Having endured repeat forward entries, Darren Glass was able to mark a Podsiadly entry into the forward line and switch the play as West Coast found a way around the Geelong defence. Josh Kennedy was able to mark at half forward and spotted Embley alone in the forward pocket.

Having taken the mark, Embley inadvertently took a step forward – enough for the umpire to wave play on as Scarlett and Taylor came bearing down on the Eagles wingman. Corralled towards the boundary line and on the wrong side for a right footer, Embley ducked and baulked the pair before swinging home the sealer.

The Cats finished with the final two majors to keep fans on edge, but West Coast had done enough to keep Geelong at bay and record their 10th win of the season.

A pleased John Worsfold commended the maturity of his side as Geelong mounted their comeback. “I think holding on to win with Geelong throwing everything at us in the second half to get back into the game… and the composure the boys showed through the last quarter. I thought that was great…”

“Beating Carlton was fairly important for us because we had some pretty closes losses against some of the other teams that… were going pretty well. It was reward for effort, I think, because we had pushed those teams and lost close games.”

“In the last two weeks we have pushed good teams and won.”

Chris Scott lamented his side’s poor second quarter, which ultimately cost them the game despite the strong second half performance. The Cats recorded 34 inside 50s after half-time, to just 13 for the Eagles and ended up winning the count 52-43 for the match, but had left themselves too much to do.

“Our first half was really bad, theirs was really good. We just didn’t do enough to stop the momentum. They kicked nine straight at one stage.”

“We left ourselves with too much to do, but our gusy are pretty tough and have great character. Even our young players are showing that they play the Geelong way when the chips are down and the disappointing thing is we just didn’t do enough.”

Joel Corey, Corey Enright and Paul Chapman all lifted their rate in the second half with rookie ruckman Nathan Vardy getting a handle of the stoppages. Cameron Ling finished as the leading ball winner with 30 disposals, while Chapman collected 13 touches in the final term to finish the match with 29. Joel Corey tallied 28 possessions and Harry Taylor had 23 disposals and nine marks opposed to Darling in defence.

Andrew Embley was outstanding for West Coast for four quarters, picking up 32 touches on top of kicking the sealing goal. Matt Priddis did much of the grunt work in the middle, while Shannon Hurn and Daniel Kerr each picked up 24 touches. Brad Ebert quelled the influence of Matthew Scarlett and chimed in for 20 disposals and a goal and Matt Rosa was important in the last quarter.

The Cats lost more than the four points on the evening, as they were usurped from top position following a second successive defeat. Collingwood overtook the Cats with a superior percentage after they demolished North Melbourne by 117 points.

Carlton’s surprise 27 point defeat to the Bulldogs, which had the Bulldogs on the edge of the top eight, now had the Blues prime for the picking in fourth spot. West Coast had the prize of the double chance firmly in their grasp but the ever-straight Worsfold continued to preach the evolution of his squad.

“Our goals have always been about continual improvement.”

“It has come pretty quickly in terms of this year, but we are still a long way short of where we want to be”, Worsfold said.

“But we are prepared to do the hard work it is going to take.”

JK’s Big Day Out

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Kennedy Bags 10 as Eagles Deliver Bulldog Belting

When Chris Judd declared that he would head home to Victoria at the end of the 2007 season, the premiership captain was adamant West Coast would be fairly compensated for his departure.

Following a tender process involving four clubs, the Blues ultimately came up with the package that earned the services of Judd, exchanging the number 3 and 20 draft selections, as well as emerging West Australian forward Josh Kennedy.

Kennedy had booted 11 goals in 22 games across two seasons at the Blues, and while Carlton were reluctant to let the key forward go, the opportunity to bring Judd to the club was too great to refuse.

Judd was instantly instilled as captain, guided the Blues to finals appearances in 2009 and 2010 and claimed the club champion award in his first three years at the club as well as winning the 2010 Brownlow.

For West Coast, Josh Kennedy was always going to be a longer-term project.

And in his 53rd game with the club, the Eagles saw exactly what Kennedy could produce when he booted a career best 10 goals in a 123 point thumping of the Western Bulldogs.

Kennedy got the better of four opponents on the day, kicking 10.3 from 21 disposals and 15 marks as the Eagles orchestrated a remarkable 183 point turnaround from their last meeting with the Bulldogs. That game, in Round 13 of 2010, saw ‘Dogs come to Perth and claim an easy 60 point win.

However, the side that had reached the penultimate weekend of the season in each of the previous three seasons appeared a shell on this trip to Perth, outplayed from the opening bounce.

The Bulldogs were without several important players, including Brian Lake and Barry Hall (who was named an emergency as he returned from injury), while Adam Cooney was forced out with a knee injury and Dylan Addison injured an ankle at training. However, Shaun Higgins, Easton Wood and Tom Williams could all be recalled.

West Coast made just the two changes, bringing in Andrew Embley and Daniel Kerr who had been late withdrawals the week before. Their two replacements for the Derby in Brad Sheppard and Andrew Gaff made way.

Kennedy’s big day started in the opening minute when Matt Rosa and Scott Selwood combined to win the first stoppage, before sliding the ball to Luke Shuey who found Kennedy. Kennedy would have a further three goals by quarter time and added a fifth, 56 seconds into the second term.

By this point the Eagles had opened up a five goal lead, although the visitors were able to manage the halt the damage to half time. Remarkably, when Jarrad Grant and Daniel Giansiracusa goaled midway through the third term, the margin was just 22 points between the sides, but the Eagles rammed home their clear advantage in the game with the next seven goals.

Eagles teammates celebrate with Kennedy after he kicks his tenth goal

The game was as good as done by three-quarter time with West Coast leading by 59 points, before the Eagles went another level.

West Coast stepped into savage mode.

The last term became a procession as the Eagles slammed on 10.4 to nothing to come away with a 20 goal victory, having kicked 17 of the last 18 goals in the match. After four goals in the first quarter, Kennedy added two in each of the 2nd, 3rd and 4th terms, with teammates mobbing the key forward when he became just the fourth Eagle in club history to reach double digits.

Kennedy would be the standout from the result, but there wasn’t a poor Eagle in the house.

Scott Selwood and Daniel Kerr provided the grunt in the middle, Andrew Embley and Matt Rosa gave the outside run and Luke Shuey provided the cream through the centre and the perfect foil up forward, booting five goals from 27 disposals.

With the Eagle talls dominating, Mark LeCras spent more time through the middle, gathering 29 disposals and booting three goals. Darren Glass held the defence, blanketing Jarrad Grant with Ashley Smith and Shannon Hurn proficient in exiting the ball out of the Bulldogs forward 50 on the few times they got that far up the ground.

Nic Naitanui and Dean Cox were superior over Ben Hudson and Will Minson, Quinten Lynch and Jack Darling roamed up and down the ground to send the ball inside 50 on ten occasions and Adam Selwood kept the reins on Daniel Cross.

All aspects of the game pointed to a shellacking.

West Coast finished the game with 121 more disposals, 35 more marks, won the clearances 48-37, recorded 34 more inside-50s and had a staggering 33 more scoring shots (45-12). The Eagles also took 27 marks inside their forward 50, with the combination of Kennedy, Darling, Lynch and Cox proving too much for the undersized Bulldog defence.

The 123 point margin was the third largest win in the clubs history and was also their highest score since 2006.

While teammates and fans were celebrating the massive win, coach John Worsfold was quick to stifle expectations declaring the upcoming round 10 match against Collingwood ‘the real measuring kick’.

“I told them after the game you get four points for the win. You get a lot of pats on the backs – well above what four points deserves.”

“They deserve the accolades that come but it doesn’t give you anything other than one win. I wanted to see them maintain the effort they put in last week and they did that.”

Worsfold was also full of praise for Kennedy following his career-best day. “It reinforces the faith in the ability that we all know he (Kennedy) does have. It is good reward because he works as hard as anyone.”

“It wasn’t ideal losing Chris Judd but… we were more than pleased with the outcome of that trade.”

While Worsfold was playing down the expectations of his side, Bulldogs coach Rodney Eade declared West Coast were premiership contenders, following what he described as the ‘worst loss his career’. The magnitude of the defeat – the fourth worst in the history of the Bulldogs, and their largest defeat since 1996 – followed in the coming days, with president David Smorgon issuing an open letter to members apologising for the performance.

Smorgon was also forced to deny Eade’s tenure as coach was under threat, despite the veteran coach being out of contract at the end of the season. “With 14 rounds to play, I want to reiterate that we will continue to support and encourage Rodney Eade and the match committee to make whatever changes they feel necessary to ensure we again start playing consistent footy every week and every quarter.”

Any other day LeCras’ 29 disposal, three goal game would have been best on ground honours

The big victory saw the Eagles move up one place to sixth on the ladder, with the biggest gain in the percentage column, rising from 112.6 to 131. The Eagles moved past the Swans who were thrashed at home by Hawthorn to the tune of 46 points. That saw the Hawks climb up to third after Essendon and Carlton both suffered defeats in the round.

The Bombers were 16 point losers to the Tigers, with Richmond joining the Swans on four and a half wins on the outskirts of the top eight. Carlton went down to the top of the table Cats by just two points in one of the games of the season.

The Blues jumped out of the blocks early, twice leading by 20 points during the first half, before a late rally before half-time saw the top four aspirants level at the major break. Geelong edged away during the third term, before Carlton strung four of five goals either side of three-quarter time to take back the lead.

The Cats then settled through Steve Johnson and James Podsiadly, but the Blues had chances late in the game to steal the win, with Jarrad Waite and Robert Warnock missing shots on goal. The Bombers and Blues were now just half a game in front of the Eagles.

The Dockers joined the Eagles on five wins when they easily accounted for Port Adelaide, who slumped to the bottom of the ladder after Brisbane broke through for their first win of the season over North Melbourne. The Demons hopes of making finals took a hit when they fell to a 20 point defeat against the Saints, who had started the season horribly after playing in the previous two grand finals. St Kilda had recorded just two wins and a draw in their first eight games.

Next up for West Coast was arguably their biggest challenge of the year – a trip to the MCG to tackle the all-conquering Magpies.

1990 Rewind: Sumich Injury Mars Bulldogs Win

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Mainwaring & Malaxos Lead Midfield Battle

West Coast continued their winning ways in Perth, but it came at a cost with full-forward Peter Sumich suffering a concerning hamstring injury.

The Eagles recorded their 14th straight win at home, jumping out to a five goal lead at the first change before holding the Bulldogs at bay for the rest of the evening to run out 43 point winners.

Peter Sumich was the key difference in the first half, booting six of the Eagles’ seven goals for the half, but his night quickly soured when he was helped off by trainers early in the third term. While Sumich remained upbeat after the match that the injury wasn’t too serious, coach Mick Malthouse was more downcast.

“Peter (Sumich) says he’ll be right for next week, but that would mean a miracle cure,” Malthouse said.

“Injuries like that are generally two to four weeks, so we’ll have to get by without our major goal-scoring avenue.”

The Eagles made two changes to the side to tackle Footscray with Brad Gwilliam and Dean Turner coming into the line-up. Turner replaced Dean Kemp, who had originally been named as a replacement for Brett Heady but was forced to withdraw ahead of the opening bounce. Stevan Jackson was the other omission, serving a one week ban for striking Russell Jeffrey.

Footscray arrived in Perth on a three game winning streak, having broken into the top five the week before after their win over Sydney. The Bulldogs made just the one change with captain Doug Hawkins returning to the side, replacing Mark Williams.

After conceding nine goals in the opening quarter against the Saints a week earlier, it was a vastly different start for West Coast.

The Eagles held the Bulldogs goalless in the opening term, kicking five goals with the breeze to take an early advantage. Peter Sumich kicked the first four goals in the match, proving a handful for Footscray defender Adrian Campbell with Peter Wilson swooping on a loose ball to add a fifth late in the term.

Footscray got on the board with two majors early in the second term, but Sumich added his fifth and sixth goals for the game to keep West Coast four goals to the good at half-time. Bulldogs coach Terry Wheeler was forced to shuffle his defence in a bid to stop Sumich, but in the end it was Sumich’s left hamstring that halted the full-forward’s influence.

Not that Wheeler didn’t have other matters on his mind.

Malthouse was winning the tactical battle between the two coaches as West Coast smashed the Bulldogs through the midfield.

David Hart and Dwayne Lamb were both assigned negative roles restricting the influence of Tony McGuinness and Tony Liberatore. Stephen Malaxos was matched against former Hawthorn teammate Terry Wallace in the centre and he claimed the honours with Wallace dragged during the third term, remaining on the bench until the final siren.  

Malaxos finished the game as one of the Eagles’ best with 35 disposals and a goal, but he was bettered for best afield honours by wingman Chris Mainwaring.

Mainwaring managed a personal best 45 disposals (20 kicks and 25 handpasses), falling just three possessions short of Malaxox’ club record 48 touches against the Saints in the final round of 1987.

The blonde Eagle provided the link between the Eagles defence and forward half, as West Coast regularly hurt the Bulldogs on the rebound. Without Sumich through the second half, the Eagles went small, with the goals shared amongst the midfield and half forwards.

Peter Sumich is helped off by trainers after damaging a hamstring

As well as Malaxos and Mainwaring, Chris Lewis (23 diposals) and Craig Turley (22) were both proficient through the middle and Guy McKenna provided the rebound with 20 touches. David Hart was able to get the better of McGuinness with 19 disposals and two second half goals.

Despite the attention of Dwayne Lamb, Tony Liberatore still managed to lead the Bulldogs’ ball winners with 29 touches. Brian Royal was arguably Footscray’s best with 23 touches and a goal, while Glenn Coleman had the better of Dean Irving around the ground to collect 27 disposals and eight marks.

Up forward, Chris Grant was providing a strong focal point for the Bulldogs. The 17 year old was too nimble for Michael Brennan but he wasted his chances on goal finishing with an inaccurate 2.5. Grant’s tally was symbolic of the Bulldogs night, with Terry Wheeler remaining positive about his sides’ finals hopes post-match.

“We blew a chance to consolidate our place in the top five, but I couldn’t question the endeavour of the players or the way they fought the game out.”

“With a bit more goal-shooting luck, we could have been five points behind at quarter-time, not five goals and that would have made a big difference.”

The defeat saw Footscray fall back out of the five as the rest of Round 16 played out. Hawthorn moved back into fifth position with a percentage boosting win over Richmond, courtesy of an 11 goal performance from Dermott Brereton.

Brereton himself outscored the Tigers by four points as Hawthorn controlled the contest from the outset to run out 91 point winners. The Hawks had yet to show their premiership winning form of 1989 on a consistent basis, but were doing enough to keep themselves in the finals hunt.

Carlton also moved past the Bulldogs when they beat an inaccurate St Kilda at Princes Park. The Saints had five more scoring shots, but still went down by 15 points to the frustration of coach Ken Sheldon. Nicky Winmar (4.5) and Ricky Nixon (0.4) were the main culprits on the scoreboard, with the defeat all but ending St Kilda’s finals hopes for 1990.

1989 Grand Finalists Geelong also appeared done for 1990 when they slumped to a 27 point loss to Fitzroy. The Cats led by five points at half-time, but ten goals to five after the major break saw the Lions home at Waverley Park. Paul Roos (six goals) and Richard Osborne (four) were the difference between the two sides.

The race for the final spot in the top five was effectively down to four clubs, with the Hawks, Blues and Bulldogs all sitting on nine wins and the Kangaroos still in the hunt, one win back, after they came from four goals down at quarter time to defeat the Brisbane Bears by 36 points.

At the head of the ladder, the Magpies moved one game clear after Melbourne produced a stunning resurgence against the Bombers. The Demons were staring down the barrel of a fourth straight defeat early in the final quarter at Windy Hill when Greg Anderson’s goal from the boundary stretched the Bombers lead out to 34 points.

Melbourne then produced a stunning flurry, booting seven goals in 17 minutes to secure a narrow win, and right their ailing season. Collingwood moved to the top of the ladder with a 24 point win over the Swans in an entertaining clash. The two sides combined for 40 goals in the match with Sydney defying their second-last position to take it right up to the Magpies.

Collingwood led by five goals at three quarter time, but on three occasions in the final term the Swans closed within five points. However the Magpies were able to settle and bank the four points.

The Eagles sat comfortably third on the ladder following the win over Footscray and with games to come against Carlton, Sydney and Richmond, hopes of a double-chance finish were well within their sights.

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.

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.

1994 Rewind: Eagles Firm As Premiership Favourites

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West Coast moved to outright premiership favouritism when they negotiated tricky conditions at the Western Oval to defeat Footscray by 31 points.

After a quiet month, Peter Matera returned to his best form with four goals from 19 disposals in a best on ground display. The dashing wingman was the standout in an even team performance, where forwards were efficient with their chances and the defence were as imperious as they had been all season.

The Eagles were moved to $2.50 favourites, ahead of Geelong ($4.50), North Melbourne and Essendon ($6), Adelaide and early season bolter Melbourne ($10), following their sixth win of the season at a ground that had been their undoing in the previous two seasons.

The Eagles had suffered demoralising defeats in their previous two visits to the ground, managing just three goals in their premiership year of 1992 and then falling to a 42 point defeat in the penultimate round of 1993 which ultimately cost West Coast a top two finish.

Ironically, the Bulldogs had done West Coast a favour the week before when they scraped home by three points against the Demons, allowing the Eagles to leapfrog Melbourne into top spot on the ladder, despite having the bye.

The win over Melbourne was the Bulldogs’ third in succession after earlier victories over Brisbane and Adelaide at Football Park, to have them knocking on the top eight. It had been a vast improvement in form after a tumultuous start to the season.

Terry Wheeler had been sacked just two weeks into the season with a narrow round 1 win over perennial strugglers Richmond and then an 88-point shellacking at the hands of Geelong enough for Footscray powerbrokers to orchestrate a change. Hawthorn premiership coach Alan Joyce was swiftly appointed to the role and after two further losses, the Bulldogs had found their rhythm.

They would have been confident going into the game against West Coast, particularly when persistent rain during the week turned the Western Oval into a quagmire. The rain dissipated by bouncedown, but both teams had to handle a howling gale favouring the Princes Highway end.

The conditions were enough to put off the Eagles who played it cautiously with a couple of their stars. Peter Sumich had initially been named after going down with a hamstring injury three weeks earlier, but he was a late withdrawal, replaced by Jason Ball who had been dropped for the full-forward. Dean Kemp was the other change, sidelined with a knee injury picked up late in the win over Carlton. Tony Godden was his replacement.

The Bulldogs made just the one change, with former Eagle Robbie West dropped in favour of rookie Craig Ellis.

Ultimately, the key moment of the game came before a ball had been bounced. Eagles captain John Worsfold called correctly at the toss and had no hesitation in pointing his team the same direction as the wind.

Michael Brennan and Ashley McIntosh both started forward as West Coast looked to maximise their advantage with long kicks to marking targets. Midway through the quarter the Bulldogs were holding their ground but a four goal burst – the last of which was a bomb from Matera on the wing that carried nearly 80m on the wind – saw the Eagles take a six goal lead into the first break.

Despite the deficit, Bulldogs coach Alan Joyce remained positive his side was still in the game ahead of their first use of the wind. That had all changed at the half, following a defensive masterclass from West Coast.

Brennan and McIntosh were switched from the forward line to defence – a pattern they would continue through the third and fourth quarters – with the Eagles turning the game into a rolling maul of stoppages to eat away the time Footscray had with the wind.

The Bulldogs could manage just two goals with the wind, while Matera bagged his second of the match to keep West Coast in front by 26 at the main break. The Bulldogs closed within 22 but goals to Brett Heady and McIntosh late in the third quarter and then a brace to Matera straight after three-quarter time stretched the Eagles lead to an unassailable 47 points and the game was run and done.

The first term proved the difference by the end of the game, but Malthouse praised his side’s ability to adapt to the conditions and a tough opponent.

 “It’s one of the remaining grounds where you do really get affected by the conditions and you have to adjust very quickly.”

Both sides adopted defensive tactics working against the wind, with Doug Hawkins used as a spare player behind the ball when the Eagles looked to attack. With Chris Mainwaring working the defensive wing on the ground, that freed up space for Matera to run and carry, with neither Mark Hunter or Steven Kretiuk able to dull his influence.

Peter Matera was best on ground in tough conditions

As hard as the Bulldogs worked against the wind, they failed to captialise when they had the advantage, with the Eagles defence again strong against their opponent. Glen Jakovich completely shut out Chris Grant, while Richard Osborne, Ben Sexton and Ilija Grgic all lacked impact in the tough conditions. Alan Thorpe was their only multiple goal scorer, with West Coast able to shut down many of their forays forward.

“We were able to play on their home ground in their conditions and hold them out, which is a very good sign.”

 “We talked about not panicking and that’s what happened during the third quarter. There were times when we looked at the scoreboard and thought we haven’t scored… but we stuck to it and it fell our way in the end.”

The win kept the Eagles atop the ladder, equal on points with North Melbourne who scored a 33 point win over Collingwood, despite being without Wayne Carey. The Demons slipped to a third straight loss when they coughed up a 23 point three-quarter time lead against the bottom-placed Swans at the MCG, to sit one game behind, as did Hawthorn and Geelong who recorded thumping victories over Adelaide and Richmond, respectively.

Footscray were left in a bottleneck of teams scrambling for spots in the lower half of the top eight, with four wins and four losses from their opening eight games.

Alan Joyce, though, was in no doubt as to who the frontrunners of the competition were. “The boys have now seen what the benchmark is in the competition and the level they have to attain.”