Tag: subiaco

2011 Rewind: Eagles Crack Top Four

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Second Half Surge Lifts Eagles Into Double Chance

West Coast finally cracked their way into the top four and prime position for the double chance come finals after careering away to a 57 point win over the Bombers.

The Eagles trailed by a point at half time, but fourteen goals after half time ensured West Coast would claim their 15th win of the season and replace Carlton in the top four. The Blues lost their place after losing by two goals in an enthralling clash with the Hawks in the round opener.

West Coast welcomed back their captain and vice-captain in Darren Glass and Beau Waters, with defender Mitch Brown unlucky to lose his place and Patrick McGinnity serving a one match ban for breaching the AFL’s respect and responsibility policy.

The McGinnity investigation was the focus for much of the week, but John Worsfold denied it would be a distraction for the club. Worsfold endorsed the vilification code and declared McGinnity had learned from the incident. “Paddy understands very clearly what he did wrong and… he is remorseful.”

The Bombers arrived in Perth having won four of their past six games and looking to consolidate their spot in the top eight, but the make up of their side failed to take shape until late in the week.

Dustin Fletcher was initially left out of the side, but returned when Tayte Pears failed a fitness test. Michael Hurley was ruled out with soreness and Ricky Dyson was dropped, with Nathan Lovett-Murray, David Myers and Tom Bellchambers the three inclusions.

Bellchambers was called into the side, joining Paddy Ryder and David Hille meaning James Hird had three ruckmen at their disposal to counter the influence of Nic Naitanui and Dean Cox.  

Ultimately, Hird’s decision would backfire.

Cox would finish as one of the best for West Coast as the Eagles overran the Bombers through the second half. Jack Darling was a late withdrawal ahead of the game (missing his first game of his debut season), with Chris Masten brought in as his replacement and having the additional runner in the game appeared to work in the Eagles favour.

West Coast held the edge from the start of the game, but some costly mistakes kept the Bombers in the hunt during the first term. Paddy Ryder scored the Bombers’ first two goals, the second coming from an interchange infringement against Dean Cox. After Quinten Lynch kicked the Eagles second goal, Cox entered the field of play ahead of time, gifting the Bombers a free kick and a 50m penalty resulting in a simple goal.

The Eagles registered seven scoring shots to just three, but only held a nine point lead with Essendon making the most of their few opportunities. The Eagles extended their lead to 16 midway through the second term before the Bombers got on a roll that saw them lead at the major break.

Essendon kicked four of the final five goals in the term with Stewart Crameri’s second putting the Bombers in front by a point at half time. The Essendon midfield were able to get a handle of the game late in the term with Brent Stanton, Jobe Watson, David Myers and Jake Melksham all gathering nine disposals for the term.

However any thoughts Essendon had of continuing their momentum at the resumption after half time was quickly extinguished as the West Coast press generated repeat inside 50 entries and shots on goal.

The Eagles recorded the first six scoring shots of the term and while they could only manage a return of 2.4, it was enough to stamp their authority in the game. Jobe Watson and Leroy Jetta bucked the trend to add two majors for the Bombers to draw them back within a point, but it would be the last punch thrown by the visitors – at least on the scoreboard.

The game had several flashpoints during the term after Jobe Watson was collected by Beau Waters. The pair came together across the Essendon half forward line, with the Essendon captain aided to the bench and the Eagle reported. Nathan Lovett-Murray then took it upon himself to throw his weight around but that only worked in West Coast’s favour as they finished with the final four goals in the term.

It only got worse for the Bombers as the Eagles slammed on eight goals in the final quarter to blow out the margin, while the accuracy that kept them in the game in the first half deserted them when they needed it most, finishing the game with six behinds. Along with Watson, Andrew Welsh was forced out of the game early, while Stewart Crameri’s season was in doubt after dislocating a shoulder late in the game.

For West Coast, Daniel Kerr and Luke Shuey were the keys after half time, with Shuey belying his 26 games of experience. Shuey tallied 23 disposals, with 11 clearances, 7 inside 50s and a goal as he went head to head against Essendon midfielder Dyson Heppell.

The pair were the two standouts for the rising star award, with Heppell just as impressive for the Bombers with 26 disposals.

Matt Priddis matched Shuey’s effort around the stoppages with 10 clearances to go with 27 disposals, while Kerr was next best for the Eagles with 25. Scott Selwood had 23 disposals and eight tackles, while up forward Josh Kennedy and Mark LeCras each booted four goals.

Brent Stanton and David Zaharakis led the Bombers with 27 possessions each, while Heath Hocking battled it out with 20 touches and 12 tackles. Paddy Ryder finished with three goals and Crameri two, to be the Bombers only multiple goal scorers in the game.

Despite the loss, Essendon held their spot in the eight as a number of other results went their way. Fremantle’s season continued to unravel when they were on the end of a 98 point thrashing by North Melbourne. The Kangaroos jumped the Dockers into ninth spot, but were six points behind the Bombers with two games to play.

Melbourne were officially out of the running for finals when they fell short against the Tigers by seven points, while the Bulldogs’ finals hopes were quashed despite a ten goal win over Port Adelaide. Barry Hall booted six goals for the Bulldogs, but his former side ensured they wouldn’t reach September action when they overcame horrible accuracy in front of goal and a three-quarter time deficit to defeat the Saints by 15 points.

The Swans did everything they could to throw the game away, trailing by seven points at the final change even though they had had eight more scoring shots. Four goals to one in the final term saw the Swans home, moving past the Bombers into seventh position.

Collingwood moved a game clear of the Cats at the top of the ladder with a three goal win over Brisbane. Geelong had the bye, but the two sides had sewn up the top two, with a final round meeting set to be the intriguing point of the season.

While the Eagles were now in the prime position to finish in the top four, Worsfold refused to buy into the finals discussion, which was expected to see West Coast tackle reigning premiers Collingwood in the opening week.

“It feels like we have two big games to go and fourth in Round 22 doesn’t mean anything. Round 24 is where we want to make sure we are in a good position. Nothing is ever a given. You have got to go out and earn it.”

Worsfold praised his side for handling the heat of the contest and earning a ‘solid win’ against a finals contender. “I thought a really good intense game in that first half, a lot of heat and obviously to come out and run out the game in the second half was very, very pleasing,” Worsfold said.

“We knew that they were a good inside stoppage team. There was some strong bodies in there, so there was a specific challenge for some of the players, especially in the third quarter and they performed really well.”

The Eagles were shaping nicely for a finals tilt and were given a further boost when Waters was cleared of his hit on Watson, with the tribunal deeming the action wasn’t a bump and the contact accidental.

Eagles Taken To The Line

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Centremetres in it as Eagles Survive Late Docker Comeback

West Coast held on for a one point victory in one of the most gripping Western derbies seen between the Eagles and Dockers.

Fremantle goalsneak Hayden Ballantine had the chance to steal the unlikeliest of wins for the Dockers after the siren, with his long range effort from the boundary unable to clear the hoard of players positioned on the Fremantle goal line.

The result had important top eight implications for both teams, with the fine line in finish and margin keeping the Eagles in control of their top four destiny, while leaving the Dockers at the mercy of the chasing teams looking to force their way into September qualifications.

A win to Fremantle would have seen them join level with the Eagles on ten wins, but instead West Coast were able to open up a two game break on their closest rivals and keep the pressure on Carlton and Hawthorn for the double chance.

The frenzied finish belied the match and much of the build up as the two clubs remained cagey over their line ups.

Nic Naitanui and Jack Darling both failed to train during the week suggesting they could miss, while the Dockers were surprisingly touting the prospect of ruckman Aaron Sandilands returning despite a recurrence of a toe injury just three weeks earlier.

Mark Harvey then lit a fuse at the customary joint pre-match press conference between the two coaches when he declared the Dockers wouldn’t be caught out by West Coast as they had in the previous meeting earlier in the season.

Harvey suggested the Eagles had been ‘leaked intelligence’ before the match, which West Coast won by 33 points despite losing Daniel Kerr and Andrew Embley in the hour before the match. Further pressed, Harvey intimated the Eagles had gained information on personnel and planning which had aided them in claiming the win. Harvey was defiant in that the Eagles wouldn’t be able to rely on such assistance this time around.

A bemused John Worsfold added nothing to the accusations, other than to say he wasn’t aware of any leak. “I am not sure where all of that has come from.”

Much of the speculation during the week over line-ups ultimately came to nothing with both Jack Darling and Nic Naitanui picked for West Coast and Aaron Sandilands failing to come up. Daniel Kerr would miss a second straight week officially due to soreness with the Eagles taking precaution over their veteran midfielder.

Patrick McGinnity was the one change from the defeat to St Kilda the week before, replacing Koby Stevens. The Dockers made two changes, with Roger Hayden ruled out after breaking his leg against the Swans the week before, while 2008 rising star winner Rhys Palmer was dropped as doubt swirled around his future at the club.

Palmer had yet to sign a new contract with the Dockers with the expectation he would join the incumbent 18th AFL side, Greater Western Sydney at the end of the season. Nick Suban and Ryan Crowley were the two inclusions for the Dockers.

Although West Coast started the match as strong favourites, the Dockers held sway through the first half.

The Eagles had been expected to hold a considerable advantage in the ruck with Cox and Naitanui over Jon Griffin and Zac Clarke, and while that was the case in the ruck knocks, the Dockers through Matthew Pavlich and Michael Barlow ensured they would match West Coast in the clearances.

The first half was a tight affair that provided little in the way of space or clean skills. Stephen Hill had a rare chance to run and carry when he bounced his way from half back through the middle of Subiaco Oval to kick the game’s opener.

Michael Barlow added a second for Fremantle to give them an early break, with Jack Darling adding the only other goal for the quarter following a crunching tackle by Darren Glass on the wing on Ballantine.

Two goals in four minutes early in the second quarter to Matt Priddis and Josh Kennedy put West Coast in front for the first time, but couldn’t muster much more in their forward half as Fremantle spent the quarter edging closer.

The Dockers managed one goal for the term, with Zac Clarke marched close to goal after Nic Naitanui initially infringed the ruckman in a marking contest and then failed to adequately hand the ball back in time.

The evenness in the game showed on the scoreboard with the Eagles holding a slender one point lead at the main break, but West Coast would exert their mark on the game from the third quarter. The Eagles had 10 scoring shots to just four, but inaccuracy prevented them from wrapping the game up.

West Coast booted 3.7 for the term but handed the Dockers simple goals with a turnover that ended with Adam McPhee and another 50m penalty to Zac Clarke for his second of the match. However, the Dockers were dealt a blow when Jon Griffin limped off with a knee injury, leaving Clarke to hold up the ruck against the Eagles pairing.

Dean Cox took full advantage en route to being awarded the Glendinning medal. Cox would finish with 42 hit-outs for the match, 27 of which came after half time as he fed the likes of Luke Shuey (26 disposals, eight clearances) and Matt Rosa (21 disposals, five clearances).

Zac Clarke was left to lead the ruck for Fremantle after Jon Griffin went down

The Eagles worked their way to a seven point lead at the final change with late goals to Kennedy and LeCras and the game looked as good as done by midway through the final term when Kennedy added a third and Luke Shuey out-pointed Barlow in the goal square to stretch the Eagles advantage to 22 points.

Fremantle appeared out of shots through the last quarter as the Eagles controlled the forward half possession and their lead should have been far greater. Cox and Kennedy both missed sitters in front of goal, LeCras kicked into the man on the mark and Kennedy sent another chance out on the full.

A dour contest seemed set to reach its anticipated conclusion before Fremantle sparked into life in the final minutes through the efforts of second-year midfielder Nat Fyfe.

Fyfe got on the end of an Eagles turnover on the wing to carry the ball to the Dockers forward 50 before launching a shot on goal that drifted wide but landed with teammate Stephen Hill to kick his second of the match.

A minute later, with the Eagles looking to play conservatively and run down the clock, Fyfe won a contested ball to set Chris Mayne into space, with the half forward running the ball all the way to the goal line to draw the Dockers back within nine points.

Fyfe then added a third successive goal when Darren Glass gave away the Eagles’ third 50m penalty for the afternoon. Suddenly, in no time, the Dockers had closed to within a couple of points and had all of the momentum.

West Coast, seeming comfortable for much of the quarter, were now in desperation mode as Fremantle continued to press forward. Mayne was denied a pack mark that had correctly been adjudged to come off multiple hands, before Luke McPharlin was unlucky not to receive a free kick for high contact at the top of the goal square.

The ensuing scramble in the goal square ended with Priddis rushing a behind to reduce the margin to two points and give West Coast possession with a minute to play. Alex Silvagni won the ball back on the wing, but his kick to half forward missed the target, allowing Quinten Lynch to gather and kick for space onto the opposite wing.

Fremantle had one final thrust forward as the clock counted down to zero. A long kick from Tendai Mzungu was unable to be marked by Barlow and as the ball bobbled around a pack of players, Rosa sought refuge towards the boundary line.

However, the umpire called deliberate and the final play of an absorbing contest rested with Hayden Ballantine after the siren.

Taking possession at the apex of the boundary line and the 50m arc, the kick seemed beyond the small forward, but Ballantine flushed the kick as well as he possibly could have. For the mostly Fremantle crowd, and the kicker himself, the ball seemed to have enough but the ecstasy of celebration quickly dropped to agony and despair as the kick faded late to fall into the mass of players and only register a behind – leaving the Eagles one point victors.

The after-the-siren drama saw rare emotion from Worsfold, who ran onto the field after the final score was confirmed to celebrate with his players. But, while happy with the four points, the Eagles coach reflected on poor errors and discipline that could easily have given up the result.

“We got the win but it was real hard work, real hard work.”

Three of Fremantle’s nine goals came directly from 50m penalties, while Worsfold also bemoaned the ease of some of the other scores they conceded. “Heaps to learn from it and to know we have got to get a bit better again.”

Fremantle coach Mark Harvey praised the resilience of his side, for pushing towards the end, although he admitted he held little hope for Ballantine to come through with the winner from beyond 50m.

“My immediate thought was that it was going to be hard to kick a goal from that far out. I was expecting he might try a torpedo. He nearly got there anyway but it doesn’t come down to that kick. It comes down to prior events.”

Harvey admitted his side allowed the Eagles to control possession too much through the second half, with West Coast tallying 110 marks for the game. “We probably allowed them to kick the ball around too much at times, especially down back.”

“It was a credit to our blokes to come off the trip we had last week and kick the last three goals.”

“I would like to think that we never know when the end is near.”

Cox tallied 22 disposals and a number of important marks in the final term as part of his medal-winning performance, although Shuey arguably was the Eagles’ best with his showing in the midfield. With both Matt Priddis and Andrew Embley well held by Crowley and Mzungu, Shuey picked up the slack around the stoppages, along with Scott Selwood, who won his battle with Matthew Pavlich, and Matt Rosa.

Luke Shuey was one of the best for the Eagles with Priddis and Embley subdued

Mark LeCras picked up 22 touches and booted two goals, both of which came in the third term. LeCras was largely contained by Garrick Ibbotson, but broke free in the second half with 14 disposals and a brace of majors. Beau Waters was inspirational with 23 touches and a courageous effort in the third quarter when he backpeddled into oncoming traffic to mark deep in defence as Mayne crashed into the back of him.

Josh Kennedy finished with 3.4 for the match, while in defence Darren Glass and Adam Selwood were resolute. Glass limited the impact of Chris Mayne while Selwood had the job on Ballantine. Matt de Boer was assigned the defensive forward role on half back Shannon Hurn, but Hurn was still able to collect 17 disposals and six rebound 50s as the Eagles defensive group held firm throughout the day.

Michael Barlow and Greg Broughton were the leading ball winners for Fremantle with 26 each with Barlow the Docker’s most consistent performer on the day, just three weeks after returning from a horror broken leg. Luke McPharlin won his duel with Jack Darling to have 20 disposals and seven marks and Fyfe lifted in the final term with eight disposals to finish with 19 touches and five inside-50s.

Importantly for West Coast, their pursuit of the top four remained on track, despite the strong wins of Carlton and Hawthorn over the weekend. The Blues smashed Essendon by 74 points with Eddie Betts booting eight goals and the Hawks had the better of Melbourne to the tune of nine goals.

As good as those wins for Carlton and Hawthorn were, the defeats for Essendon and Melbourne could not have been more demoralising. The Bombers tumbled out of the eight as a result with St Kilda taking their place courtesy of a 103 point thrashing of Adelaide that would see the end of Neil Craig as senior coach of the Crows.

Remarkably, the Saints had started the round 11 percent behind Essendon, but the two results orchestrated a 15 percent turnaround between the two sides that allowed St Kilda to move into eighth spot. Fremantle held seventh, while the Swans remained sixth with a comfortable 39 point win over the Bulldogs.

However, they remained six points behind West Coast, who also had a game in hand, to leave the fight for the double chance down to a race in five. Collingwood and Geelong continued on their merry way at the top of the ladder with the Magpies and Cats recording easy wins over Gold Coast and Richmond.

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.”

1990 Rewind: 2nd Spot Opens Up For West Coast

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Eagles Survive Tiger Scare

Richmond got the early jump, but it still wasn’t enough to prevent West Coast from romping to a 45 point win at Subiaco.

The Tigers booted seven goals in the opening quarter to open up a four goal lead at quarter time, but the Eagles took control in the final three terms to close in on second spot.

The lowly Tigers weren’t expected to present much of a challenge to the finals-bound Eagles, who were priced as short as $1.06 during the week, but they got the better of the early match-ups to stun the home team and fans to get an early break.

Michael Mitchell was electric in the first quarter, while Stuart Maxfield had the better of Chris Mainwaring on the wing and Matthew Knights provided the drive out of the centre.

The Eagles were also uncharacteristically clumsy in defence as Richmond pounced on a number of errors from the West Coast backmen.

At quarter time, Eagles coach Mick Malthouse moved the magnets and found the right balance, with West Coast booting 7.6 for the quarter and orchestrating a 38 point turnaround.

David Hart moved from Trent Nichols to Mitchell, Brett Heady went to half-forward and Dean Kemp shifted into the middle.

Heady was one of two inclusions for West Coast, who lost vice-captain John Worsfold during the week to suspension. Worsfold was slapped with a two week ban for striking Sydney midfielder Greg Williams. Dean Turner was the other change, omitted in favour of Don Pyke, who was recalled for just his fourth game of the season.

Leading by 14 points at the break, Richmond closed the margin to just six with the first two goals of the term but the Eagles booted five of the next eight goals into the breeze to hold the lead going into the last quarter.

Troy Ugle came off the bench after half-time, to boot three of the Eagles’ five for the third term. The Eagles then ran away with the game in the last term, with their second use of the breeze.

West Coast registered 16 scoring shots for the term and their inaccurate effort of 7.9 prevented the margin from being higher. The Tigers, for all their effort at the start of the game, fell off the pace as Eagle players did as they pleased in the final quarter.

Twice Guy McKenna drifted forward to boot goals, finishing as one of the best players for West Coast after a jittery opening quarter. Defenders Geoff Miles and Phil Scott also drifted forward to hit the scoreboard as the last quarter descended into one-way traffic.

Chris Mainwaring was another to finish as one of the Eagles’ best after lowering his colours early in the game to Maxfield. Malthouse persisted with Mainwaring on the wing, and the Eagle had a hand in many of the Eagles’ scoring opportunities.

Stephen Malaxos again finished as the Eagles’ prime possession winner, tallying 27 through the middle, as did Kemp. Craig Turley picked up 24 disposals, while David Hart was able to gather 22 and kick three goals, while also putting the clamps on Mitchell in the final three terms.

Hart was one of four players to finish with three goals for West Coast, who were still without spearhead Peter Sumich and had a goalless performance from Craig McGrath up forward.

Hart, Ugle, Heady and Karl Langdon all booted three goals, while Chris Lewis could have had a day out but could only return an inaccurate 2.4. The Eagles spread the load of the scoreboard, with 12 Eagles kicking majors.

Dean Kemp was one of the best for West Coast

Jeff Hogg booted four majors for the Tigers, while Matthew Knights chipped in with three goals to go with 22 touches as his side’s standout player. With Dale Weightman copping a four week ban during the week for a late hit on Fitzroy midfielder Paul Broderick, Craig Lambert stepped into the vacant centreman role picking up a team high 26 disposals.

The major disappointment for West Coast was the likely season-ending injury to half-forward Peter Wilson. Wilson suffered a double fracture in his jaw after he was crashed into by former teammate Richard Nixon during the third quarter, prompting Malthouse to question the incident with the field umpires during the three-quarter time break.

After the match, Malthouse expressed happiness over the win, but admitted that his side needed to show a lot more improvement.

“We have a fair way to go to be the side we all want to be.”

“The true test is against the top sides. They are the ones that expose the team’s old mannerisms.”

Interestingly, Richmond coach Kevin Bartlett agreed with Malthouse’s summation that West Coast had plenty to improve on. “I didn’t think the Eagles played well at all. If we could have bolstered our side with some of our injured players, we could have made it a lot tougher.”

The Eagles remained third on the ladder following the win, but joined the Magpies on points, after Collingwood fell to Essendon in a top-of-the-table clash.

Such was the anticipation for the match, in what was strongly predicted as the Grand Final preview, the AFL broadcast the game live on television into Victoria – the first time a match had been shown live against the gate, excluding Grand Finals, since 1970.

And the match didn’t disappoint, as Essendon withstood a late Magpie fightback and a debilitating injury list to hold on for a six point victory. The Bombers broke out to a six goal lead by early in the second term and still held a 28 point lead with a quarter to play.

But the Bombers had just 15 fit players through the final term as Collingwood booted four goals to close in on the lead. Neither side could find the goals in the final ten minutes of the game, as Collingwood relentlessly attacked and Essendon resiliently defended.

James Manson had two simple chances late in the game to put the Magpies in front, but butchered both opportunities, allowing Essendon to hold on at the final siren. The result meant Essendon held onto their spot at the top of the ladder, but were now a game clear of the Magpies and Eagles.

Melbourne continued their push for the double chance when they coasted to a 67 point win over Sydney. Ricky Jackson and Darren Bennett combined for 11 majors as the Demons primed themselves ahead of a trip to Perth to take on West Coast in a crucial game for both sides.

The Hawks rounded out the top five with an impressive 36 point win over St Kilda, which all but snuffed out the Saints’ finals chances. A nine-goal second term proved the difference in the game, with Jason Dunstall booting five goals for the victors and Tony Lockett four in the battle of the heavyweight forwards.

Footscray appeared to be the last team fighting for a finals spot after North Melbourne defeated Carlton by 34 points. The Kangaroos kicked six goals to nil in the opening term and maintained their lead through the remainder of the match, leaving both clubs sitting two games behind Hawthorn with four matches to play.

The Bulldogs leapt up to sixth, one win behind the Hawks, when they got the job done against Fitzroy, winning by 35 points. In the other match in the round, Brisbane climbed off the bottom of the ladder when they thrashed a pathetic Geelong by eleven goals. Roger Merrett booted eight goals for the Bears, with the result relegating the Swans to the foot of the table.

1990 Rewind: Eagles Bounce Back Against Bears

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Eagles Get Four Points But Miss Percentage Booster

West Coast returned to winning ways when they comfortably accounted for the Brisbane Bears at Subiaco Oval. In a performance that warranted a triple-digit winning margin, poor kicking on goal meant the Eagles had to settle for a 59 point victory.

Peter Sumich booted four goals, as did Geoff Miles who was thrown forward in the second half. With such a complete performance, many Eagles stood out, but the performance that would have most delighted the West Coast match committee was that of Phil Narkle, who returned for his first senior match in over two and a half years.

Narkle – a member of the Eagles inaugural squad of 1987 – was delisted at the end of 1988 after injuries restricted the gifted wingman to just nine games in two seasons. Returning to the WAFL, Narkle managed some games with Swan Districts late in the 1989 season, with the Eagles throwing a lifeline ahead of the 1990 season, with their final selection at the pre-season draft.

Narkle’s last appearance for the Eagles had been the 130 shellacking against Sydney in Round 16 of the 1987 season.

Narkle shone in his first game back, picking up 22 disposals and booting 2.3 playing mostly from the forward pocket. Malthouse, in particular, was delighted by Narkle’s showing.

“I was tickled pink with Phil’s game, especially as he was a bundle of nerves beforehand,” a ‘rapt’ Malthouse said after the game.

“His pace and genuine crumbing ability gave us something that we lacked.”

Narkle was one of four inclusions for the Eagles, who swung the axe after their poor display against the Demons the previous week.

Chris Mainwaring earned an instant reprieve after being dropped to East Fremantle the week before, responding as one of the best players for West Coast. Scott Watters and Tony Begovich were the others brought in, with Craig Turley, Andrew Lockyer and Todd Breman dropped. Dean Laidley was finished for season 1990 having undergone a knee reconstruction during the week.

Begovich debuted for the Eagles after being selected at the 1989 National Draft, but his selection capped off a rampant rise. Begovich initially rejected the Eagles offer to join the club, choosing instead to remain with WAFL club Claremont, alongside fellow draftee Peter Mann.

However, a change of heart in the new year saw Begovich join his new Eagle teammates and a strong start to the WAFL season garnered his first senior AFL game. While he spent most of his first match on the bench, Begovich still managed to have an impact booting his first goal.

The need for Begovich was limited as West Coast controlled the contest from the get go.

The Eagles registered 13 scoring shots in the first term and the game could have been done at the first change if not for an inaccurate return of 4.9.

Chris Mainwaring slotted back on a wing and gave plenty of drive, as did rookie Peter Matera who produced a more rounded effort in his 3rd AFL game. Fellow rookie Brett Heady provided class through the midfield and at half forward, while Peter Wilson was industrious around the ground.

The Bears had arrived in Perth off the back of their second win of the season, by eight points over Sydney, with forward Cameron O’Brien the difference in the win with seven goals. However, he was completely blanketed up forward by Michael Brennan. Murray Rance was similarly effective on Bears captain Roger Merrett.

Guy McKenna provided the drive from the backline and with Karl Langdon and Stevan Jackson up forward, along with Sumich and later Geoff Miles, there was too much class across the ground for the Bears to contain.

The Eagles added another four goals in the second term, and put the foot down after half time with six majors to take their lead out to 60 points with a quarter to play. However 2.7 in the final quarter cost the Eagles a chance at a significant percentage boost.

Remarkably, the Eagles booted 8.13 in each half, to finish with one of their most inaccurate displays in the clubs history, a final score of 16.26, from 42 scoring shots.

Mainwaring, McKenna and Wilson all tallied 26 disposals to be the leading ball winners for the Eagles, with rookies Dean Kemp (22 disposals) and Brett Heady (21 disposals, two goals) also impressive. The only concern for West Coast was full forward Peter Sumich limping off midway through the third term.

Bears coach Norm Dare admitted his side were ‘just not tough enough’ in the contest with the result undoing much of the good work they had showed the week before.

Ironically for the Bears, their best players were also Eagles. Mark Zanotti, John Gastev and Alex Ishchenko had all been a part of the Eagles’ inaugural squad, but had worked their way east to the Bears in subsequent seasons.

Zanotti was the leading possession getter for the Bears with 25 from defence, while Gastev offered an avenue to goal with 18 touches and two goals. Ishchenko was the Bears’ best on the day, completely monstering Phil Scott in the ruck and getting the better of his former teammate around the ground.

Ishchenko finished with 18 disposals and 10 marks, while also having 25 hit-outs in the ruck, compared to just nine for Scott.

While happy with the win, Malthouse bemoaned the missed opportunities on goal. “We worked hard to set up goals rather than kick them.”

And despite the win lifting the Eagles back up to second spot on the ladder, a game clear of the chasing pack, Malthouse acknowledged the win would mean nothing if they lost to the Cats the following week.

“We have to defeat Geelong next week,” Malthouse declared. “That will put us three games up on them.”

“In the wash-up, after 22 rounds they (Geelong) will be vying as we will be, for a place in the five.”

It was déjà vu for the Cats when inaccurate kicking cost them what should have been a straight forward win against a side at the bottom of the ladder. A week on from their shock defeat to Richmond at Kardinia Park, the Cats booted 13.20 in their nine point loss to the Swans at the SCG, who had started the round in equal bottom.

The consecutive defeats had robbed the 1989 Grand Finalists the chance to sit comfortably inside the top five, instead languishing in eighth position, a game and percentage out of the top five. Carlton pushed past the Cats into seventh when they won their third straight match, thrashing the Hawks.

The Blues led from the outset and slammed their advantage home in the final term with an eight goal quarter securing a 67 point win. The Hawks would be the big losers of the round, dropping from 2nd on the ladder to 5th.

Essendon and St Kilda each climbed a spot with narrow wins over Footscray and North Melbourne, respectively, while the Magpies remained stayed in touch with the top five with a ten goal final term turning a 17 point three-quarter time deficit into a 45 point win over Fitzroy. The Demons remained the pacesetters at the top of the ladder with an easy win over the Tigers.

1994 Rewind: Finals Secured But Too Soon For Malthouse

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The Eagles were unimpressive but still made it six wins in a row when they held off a plucky Brisbane at Subiaco Oval.

The Bears arrived in Perth off wins against finals fancies North Melbourne and Geelong and threatened to topple the ladder-leading Eagles for much of the afternoon. However, the Bears butchered their chances in the final term meaning the Eagles are still yet to lose to Brisbane – a draw in 1992 the closest the Bears have gotten.

The Eagles 9-2 record after 11 games kept them a game clear at the top of the ladder and virtually assured them of a fifth straight finals appearance, although Eagles coach Mick Malthouse wasn’t exactly celebrating.

Post-match, an agitated Malthouse resumed his criticism from before the season about the newly implemented top eight. Malthouse had derided a system that ‘rewarded’ more than half the of the teams in the competition with a finals spot and also suggested that the larger finals system had eliminated the late season drama of teams competing for finals.

Malthouse said that the season had developed a clear division of the top teams and the bottom teams at the halfway mark and that the finals make up had already been decided, killing any interest in the second half of the year.

“I think its ridiculous. In the past two seasons we have gone to round 22 or 24, we’ve gone to the final siren in many instances to find out who would make the top six. Now, in round 12 we have got real division.”

Malthouse said that only Adelaide – who were in ninth position – were capable of pushing into the top eight out of the sides sitting in the bottom half.

“That’s the unfortunate thing about the final eight,” Malthouse continued. “You can get all the Victorian sides in that you like, but it doesn’t solve the problem of having a competition that’s fierce right to the end.”

Malthouse though wasn’t done after expressing his views on the top eight.

The Eagles had been put on notice by the AFL during the week after they had exploited a loophole which allowed Dean Kemp to be a late inclusion to the team that played Melbourne a week before, despite not being named in the squad of 24 submitted to the AFL on the Thursday night.

Under AFL rules, clubs were allowed to add an extra player to their emergency list the following day if they were playing on Sunday, with Kemp added as the 25th player in the Eagles squad. Kemp was subsequently included in the final side the morning of the clash with Melbourne, replacing Brett Heady who was never expected to play after straining a hamstring a week earlier.

As such, the AFL announced they would revoke the rule from Round 13, expressing their disappointment that West Coast had blatantly benefitted from the situation. For Malthouse, the whole scenario seemed unwarranted, simply stating that they were entitled to ‘use it to their advantage’. “While the rule is there, you use it.”

“We took the opportunity to take Dean Kemp across and he filled the role of the player (Heady) who pulled out of the side late.”

The Eagles clearly weren’t bothered by the AFL’s stance, as they made a further two late changes for their clash with Brisbane.

Brett Heady was named to return from a hamstring injury, but failed to come up on game day allowing Jarrad Schofield to reclaim his place after he was omitted for Heady. The other late change was Peter Wilson, who had been surprisingly named after Malthouse had ruled the half-forward out earlier in the week with a hamstring injury suffered against the Demons.

Wilson had his place taken by Matt Clape, who returned to the West Coast side for his first game since round 4. Brett Spinks was another who spent much of the week under an injury cloud, but he recovered enough from an ankle concern to take his place.

Michael Brennan plays game 150

The Bears were dealt a double blow for their trip west with captain Roger Merrett unavailable due to a thigh complaint and Matthew Kennedy ruled out with a fractured cheekbone. Merrett, in particular, was a bad loss for the Bears. The veteran had booted five goals and two goals in the previous two weeks as Brisbane recorded consecutive upset wins.

Scott McIvor was named for his 100th game at full forward in place of Merrett, with Fabian Francis the other inclusion.

The Eagles had the better of the early chances, but wasteful kicking at goal kept the Bears in the game at quarter-time with the visitors then dictating the play after the first change.

Adrian Fletcher and Craig Lambert led the Brisbane midfield who had the better of their Eagle counterparts. Dean Kemp struggled in his second game back from a knee injury and Chris Mainwaring found himself on the pine with Chris Scott getting the better of their duel.

Paul Peos then changed the game with three goals in 13 minutes. The former Eagle was proving a handful for several of his ex-teammates, with John Worsfold and then Guy McKenna both unable to contain the half-forward. Michael Brennan – who was playing game 150 – became his third opponent but the Bears had taken a seven point lead following Peos’ purple patch.

At the other end, West Coast were sorely missing Sumich, Heady and Wilson. Malthouse had a constant rotation of players through his front half, as he searched for an effective combination. David Hynes, Ashley McIntosh and Karl Langdon all started the game in the forward 50 but failed to have an impact, with Hynes well beaten by Martin Leslie and Darryl White getting the better of McIntosh.

A goal to Chris Waterman right before half-time levelled the scores at 44 apiece with West Coast then taking charge again in the third quarter. The Waterman goal started a run of four for the Eagles, with Peter Matera (twice) and Ryan Turnbull kicking majors to have the hosts ahead by 17 points.

Still, the Bears wouldn’t go away.

Brisbane booted the last two goals in the term to reduce the Eagles lead to six at three-quarter time, making it anyone’s game to win.

It would be the Eagles who would find the goals when it mattered in the final term. Guy McKenna was shifted to the forward line at the start of the last quarter, with the move paying immediate dividends. McKenna goaled just three minutes into the term to take the Eagles lead out to 12 points.

The Bears continued to pepper the goals, but couldn’t hit the major target. Peos and Alastair Lynch both missed from close range and then Troy Clarke slammed his rushed shot on goal into the post. The game was then decided heading into time-on with the Eagles pouncing on a Scott McIvor turnover. McIvor’s errant disposal was swooped on by the Eagles at half-back and a quick movement up the ground finished with McIntosh kicking an easy goal on the run to put the Eagles out to a three goal lead and end the contest.

A late goal to Brisbane reduced the final margin, but they paid for their missed chances earlier in the quarter. The Bears booted 1.6 for the term and Robert Walls was left to rue the opportunities. “We had our chances. Whoever won today could say they were a bit fortunate.”

“We weren’t able to close it and to their credit they bottled it up and did all the things that an experienced and good team should do in the final minutes.”

Malthouse though was blunt in his assessment of the performance. “We were ordinary in certain passages of the game… a lot of them are very disappointed in their performance today and are not buoyed at all by the fact that we got over the line.”

In further sour news, the Eagles lost Don Pyke and John Worsfold during the second half to injury. Pyke was forced off the ground with a shoulder injury early in the third quarter, while Worsfold played for nearly a quarter with an arm complaint, before then sitting out the last term.

Asked why Worsfold spent so long on the ground despite being clearly hampered, Malthouse said he did all he could get to his captain off. “Have you ever had front teeth extracted? That’s how hard it was to get him to leave the ground.”