Malthouse Lauds His Players Fighting Finish

Mick Malthouse declared in the lead up that it would be the Eagles’ greatest test of character.

The Eagles, coming off two disappointing losses to North Melbourne and Essendon and with their hold of a top five place under threat from the swarm of sides clambering to break their way into finals contention, needing to win against the twice-defending premiers.

West Coast’s poor record in Victoria had once again become the conversation as many questioned the Eagles legitimacy in the premiership race. Poor form had also seen a number of changes in recent weeks, unsettling the Eagles line-up.

To further frustrate Malthouse, incessant rain during the week prevented the Eagles from running their main training session on the WACA, which was sitting under a deluge of water. Players and staff arrived at the ground only to find a square tarp across the middle of the cricket wicket, forcing a mad dash back to Subiaco Oval.

However, by the time players had battled peak hour traffic to reach the other side of the city, the session was lost.

“We feel like lepers,” Malthouse said.

“That’s the sort of treatment we expect when we go to Melbourne and what Melbourne teams should cop when they come here.”

“It’s the same argument we had with them last time… Our whole preparation has been messed up.”

Like West Coast, Hawthorn had hit a mid-season stumble. After winning four of their first five games, including an emphatic 115 point demolition of Geelong in the opening round grand final rematch, injuries and suspensions had the Hawks similarly fighting for their top five spot.

Spearhead Jason Dunstall was sidelined with a fractured skull and Dermott Brereton was serving a four game suspension for striking Garry Lyon. The Hawks would also lose captain Michael Tuck ahead of the opening bounce after he failed a fitness test. Veteran Peter Schwab would take his place in the midfield, joining ruckman Stephen Lawrence who was named as an inclusion when teams were first announced.

The Eagles made just one change to the team that lost to Essendon, with Stevan Jackson dumped in favour of rookie midfielder Dean Kemp. Craig McGrath was shifted to centre half-forward, joining Sumich and Langdon in a three-pronged attack.

Hawthorn opted to change with routine, flying into Perth on the morning of the game.

At half-time, they may as well have still been on the plane.

The Eagles got the fast start on the visitors, kicking seven first quarter goals – four of which were booted by full forward Peter Sumich – to open up a 31 point lead at the first change.

The runners of West Coast were running rings around a sluggish Hawthorn, with rookie Brett Heady leading the way through the middle. Heady, along with Chris Lewis and Steve Malaxos were winning plenty of ball around the contest, with Chris Mainwaring giving the drive along the wing.

The Hawks closed the game up in the second quarter, managing to hold the Eagles to just one goal, kicked via Chris Lewis, but were unable to hit the scoreboard themselves going goalless. Making matters worse for the Hawks, Gary Buckenara and Peter Curran had both left the ground with knee injuries, meaning they were without a bench for the remainder of the game.

When Malaxos goaled early in the third quarter, the Eagles lead was out to 40 and the game looked done.

But Hawthorn then raised a gear, storming back into the contest with eight of the next nine goals. When John Platten – who was well held by David Hart all night – kicked truly just before three-quarter time, the Hawks had taken the lead, unthinkable just half an hour earlier.

Greg Dear was the architect of the Hawks’ comeback as he gained the upper hand in his intriguing battle with Eagles ruckman Dean Irving. Dear finished the match with 41 hit-outs, to go with 22 disposals and eight marks. In particular during the third term, Dear provided first use to the Hawk’s midfield brigade, with Dean Anderson, Anthony Condon and Peter Schwab all enjoying plenty of the ball.

The Eagles grabbed back the lead before the final change, before Platten booted his second goal early in the final term to put the Hawks back in front.

That would be the last salvo from the Hawks, as West Coast met the visitors’ challenge to boot five of the last six goals in the game. The Eagles rediscovered their run against a tiring Hawthorn outfit, with defenders Guy McKenna and Michael Brennan both running down the ground to kick goals.

Sumich added a fifth in the final term to take his season tally to the half-century mark and third on the goal kickers list behind Tony Lockett (52) and Darren Bennett (51).

Heady finished with 28 disposals and seven marks, while Chris Lewis and ruckman Dean Irving were the next best with 26 disposals. Guy McKenna had 21 coming out of defence, while Michael Brennan shut out Alex McDonald who came onto the ground as Buckenara’s replacement.

Malthouse was understandably pleased with the result.

“You’ve got to be happy when you beat Hawthorn.”

“Some might say that you throw (Dermott) Brereton and (Jason) Dunstall into the Hawthorn team and we lose that game, but who knows.”

Malthouse admitted that the Hawks got the better of his players through the middle stages, as they clamped the Eagles run.

But Allan Jeans said his side didn’t do enough to contain West Coast’s midfield, with their influence at the start and end of the match decisive in the defeat.

“Their running players got on top and created opportunities for their forwards and then we played catch-up footy for most of the night.”

Anthony Condon was the leading ball winner on the night with 30 disposals, and was well supported by Dean Anderson (29) and Peter Schwab (28), but not enough players were able to contribute across the night.

Without the key pillars of Brereton and Dunstall, the Hawks couldn’t gain an ascendancy forward of centre, bar the third quarter. Paul Dear kicked three goals and Stephen Lawrence and John Platten each chimed in with two.

Malthouse lauded his players for their continued fight in the last quarter.

“We sent 20 players down the race and they sent 20 and it was a terrifically courageous last quarter. We had some of our guys running up and down on the spot and they still came from behind to win.”

The result saw the two sides switch positions on the ladder, with West Coast moving up to fourth and the Hawks dropping to fifth. The Eagles remained one game behind Essendon, Melbourne and Collingwood, who all recorded victories.

The Bombers defeated the Kangaroos, while Melbourne and Collingwood beat finals aspirants Footscray and Geelong. They remained a game behind the Hawks outside the top five, along with St Kilda and Carlton.

The Blues easily defeated Brisbane at Princes Park to lift themselves into seventh, but it was the Saints who were kicking themselves the most after the suffered a shock defeat to the Tigers. St Kilda booted eight goals in the opening term, but were slowly reeled in the Tigers over the next three quarters, with a five goal final term giving Richmond a 20 point win. The defeat cost the Saints a chance to move back into the top five.

The string of results across the round meant the Eagles sat two games inside the top five and maintained their hopes of securing a double chance. But while there were plenty of positives to take from the win, the sour point of the evening was a two game suspension handed out to Craig McGrath, who was cited for striking Ray Jencke in the final minutes of the match.

With the upcoming state-of-origin clash between WA and Victoria at the WACA the following Tuesday week, those Eagles not selected had a fortnight to recover before the Eagles’ next game against Fitzroy in the second weekend of the split Round 13.