At the completion of Round 23, the Eagles found themselves not atop the AFL ladder, a position they had held since Round 7.

With the bye in the penultimate round of the 1994 season, the Eagles watched Carlton obliterate the Tigers and take top spot. For much of the year, West Coast had had the advantage of an extra game on the rest of their finals rivals, but the top eight finally found parity with all teams now having played the same number of games.

The Blues usurped the Eagles in top spot, courtesy of a better percentage that had jumped in the past fortnight on the back of two thumping victories. After defeating the Eagles the week before by 10 goals, Carlton established themselves as the premiership favourites with a 113 point hiding of the Tigers. Fraser Brown was the surprise packet up forward with seven goals in a result that left Richmond desperately clinging onto their position in the top eight.

Just three weeks after they sat in the top four and seemed all but certain to end their 12 year finals drought, their poor percentage – which had taken a six percent hit in the Carlton loss – had them trailing a host of sides on 12 wins and just one game ahead of Melbourne in ninth position.

With a round to play, only three teams were assured of finals action in 1994. Carlton and West Coast had been the clear two teams for much of the season, with Footscray emerging late as a contender when they easily accounted for the Demons by 40 points. The win saw the Bulldogs jump up to third on the ladder, ahead of an enticing trip to battle West Coast in the final round.

Behind the Bulldogs, North Melbourne, Geelong, Hawthorn and Collingwood all sat one game behind on 12 wins (along with Richmond) following a varying degree of results. The Kangaroos easily defeated Fitzroy by 86 points in the opening game in the round, while the Cats and Hawks were forced to scrape out wins against lowly opposition.

The Cats trailed Sydney by 21 points at half-time in their game at Kardinia Park, before an eight goal third term had Geelong in front and seemingly in cruise control. However, the Swans wouldn’t give up the game, pushing the home side all of the way, with the Cats eventually eking out a 12 point win. The Hawks were also made to work in an 11 point win over Brisbane at the GABBA, three late goals enough to secure the win after Brisbane hit the front during the final quarter.

Collingwood missed a chance to cement a top four spot when they suffered a shock two point defeat to St Kilda. Tony Lockett booted eight of the Saints 14 goals in the game, to inspire the win, with the Magpies late rally to steal victory falling short.

The Magpies were due to face North Melbourne in the final round, with Geelong and Richmond also fixtured to meet, meaning the two losers were at the mercy of the ninth-placed Demons. Melbourne held a better percentage than all of the teams on 12 wins, bar the Kangaroos, and with a final round clash against wooden spooners Sydney, the Demons were heavy favourites to work their way back into the top eight.

For West Coast, the week off was used to address a number of questions.

Firstly, the long-running query over where West Coast would host their first final was answered, with the AFL confirming the WACA would be used for finals. After meeting with the WAFC and the WACA Board, and with an expectation that the ground’s capacity would be increased to 36,000 to accommodate fans, the AFL ticked off the venue. Despite the success of the first ever night final the year before, where Essendon and Carlton played off a thriller in the qualifying final, the Eagles match would not be a night game, instead scheduled for the unusual mid-afternoon time of 3.30 on the Sunday of the opening weekend of the finals.

On field, match committee eyes were focused on the WAFL as a number of key Eagles used the weekend to build match fitness. Brett Heady, Mitchell White, Tony Evans and Shane Bond had all endured interrupted second halves to the 1994 season and used the chance to get game time into their bodies.

Heady and White were two of 11 Eagles that took part in the WAFL match between Subiaco and South Fremantle, with the vast majority playing for the Lions. As a result, Subiaco went on to win by a record margin of 121 points over the Bulldogs, with many fringe Eagles also doing what they could to garner the attention of selectors.

Karl Langdon returned from a two week suspension to boot three goals, while the Subiaco midfield which consisted of Dwayne Lamb, Tony Godden, Matt Connell and Damien Hampson all found plenty of the ball. Jason Heatley – in his second game from a long term injury – cashed in on the Lions dominance to boot 10 goals, as the Lions racked up a total of 30.23 (203).

Godden in particular was the standout and his showing rocketed him into senior contention for the final game of the season. At the other end, David Hynes and Brett Spinks had little impact in the South Fremantle forward line, but there was little they could do in the thrashing.

Peter Sumich didn’t partake in that match for the Bulldogs, as one of a number of key Eagles who had injury concerns. Glen Jakovich, Don Pyke, Ryan Turnbull and Dean Kemp were all injured in the loss to Carlton, with Jakovich the major worry with a knee complaint.

John Worsfold was still to recover from a groin complaint, while Ashley McIntosh was battling an ongoing knee injury that was the biggest issue within the squad. The defender-turned-forward had been plagued for much of the year, and despite repeated assurances from the club that his lack of recent training had been purely precautionary, it was hard to dismiss the large knee brace McIntosh had been wearing.

For another Eagle, the break brought a close to a career, with Dwayne Lamb announcing his retirement the day before stepping out in the WAFL. An inaugural squad member, Lamb had had the distinction of being the first player to reach 50, 100 and 150 games with the club but had only managed five games with West Coast this season.