WEST COAST - Part Two: 1986 to 2008

Back to West Coast Part 1

ABOVE: State of Origin action from 1986, Western Australia versus Victoria at Subiaco.

By 1986 thinking in Perth and Melbourne as to the best future direction for football had reached a point of convergence, at least tacitly.  With many VFL clubs in dire financial straits an expanded competition was looking increasingly desirable, if only from a purely financial perspective.  In Western Australia, too, the major constraints were economic, but there was also concern that the traditional controlling authority for football in the state, the WAFL, might be undermined by a VFL incursion.  In July 1986 the WAFL board published a 64 page report outlining its preferred future path for football in the state.  The report conceded that an expanded VFL competition was inevitable, and suggested that the WAFL needed to be proactive in ensuring that Western Australia's involvement in such a competition was conducted, as far as possible, under its own auspices.  Already there had been rumblings from at least three WAFL member clubs to the effect of wanting to 'go it alone' in terms applying to enter teams in the VFL, while the prospect of another Sydney Swans type scenario with one of the weaker Melbourne-based clubs re-locating to Perth was as real as it was distasteful and alarming.

It is against this background that the apparently undignified haste of the West Coast Eagles' formation needs to be viewed.  Ostensibly, the WAFL board bent over backwards to conform to every whim of its VFL counterparts over the admission, in 1987, of a Perth-based club.  Such subjugation even included the payment, in full (rather than by instalments over ten years, as originally mooted), of a $4 million 'license fee', without which it is doubtful that the inward-looking and arrogantly parochial VFL clubs would even have given the fledgling Eagles time of day.

Prostitution or prescience?  You decide.

As far as the 'game' of football itself was concerned the newly formed club had just six months to assemble a squad of players capable of holding its own in the VFL.  East Fremantle's Ron Alexander had been appointed as the new club's coach even before its admission had been ratified by the VFL and on 1 October, simultaneous with the VFL endorsement, came an announcement that former East Perth star Ross Glendinning, who had won the 1982 Brownlow Medal while with North Melbourne, would be returning home as inaugural captain.

On 30 October 1986 the club's name and colours together with the identities of the 32 players on the initial training list were unveiled at a glitzy ceremony at the Merlin Hotel in Perth.  The name 'West Coast' was chosen to signify representation of the whole of Western Australia, not just Perth; the wedge-tailed eagle is the state's largest bird of prey, hence the 'eagle' emblem; and blue and gold were allegedly registered with the VFL as the new club's official colours just a matter of hours before West Coast's fellow debutants Brisbane endeavoured to do the same.  (The VFL's preferred option for a club from South Australia had not eventuated, for reasons discussed in the entry on Adelaide.)

What then went wrong in 1989?  With the same coach, and largely the same playing personnel (although there were numerous injuries) West Coast won just 7 games (out of 22 and finished 11th (out of 14).  Midway through the season, amidst cries that the Eagles be scrapped, and an old style WAFL competition be restored, the side managed just 1.12 (18) in a game at Windy Hill against Essendon.  The fact that it was the wettest Melbourne winter for years did not help matters; neither did the fact that four of the Eagles' losses were by margins of less than 10 points.  However, overall it was clear that something serious was wrong, and that drastic counter measures were required if the club was not only to get back on track, but actually to survive.

Enter Michael Malthouse.  A graduate of the Richmond school of hard knocks, where he had earned a reputation as a redoubtable and canny defender, Malthouse had gone on to serve an impressive coaching apprenticeship at Footscray, transforming perennial competition makeweights into bona fide premiership challengers.  At West Coast he would have considerably more resources at his disposal, resources which he would ultimately use to construct arguably Australian football's - as distinct from Victorian football's, or Western Australian football's - first major dynasty.  During his ten seasons at the helm the Eagles would never fail to contest finals and would enjoy an overall success rate of 64.4%.  In his first season in charge they finished 3rd, drawing a final with eventual premier Collingwood in the process, while in 1991 they were, for much of the season, clearly the best side in the competition.  Finals football represents another level, however, and in both the qualifying final at Subiaco and the grand final at Waverley, West Coast had to accept that they were second best to perennial front runners Hawthorn.  As far as Malthouse was concerned, however, and painful as losing a grand final always is, it was all part of the learning experience.

For most of the 1992 season West Coast appeared to have slipped a notch or two on its 1991 standards.  At the end of the home and away series it lay 4th with a 15-6-1 record, compared to its 19-3 record in '91; its percentage was also significantly inferior.  This time round, however, Malthouse had timed his team's assault on the flag to perfection, although having said that, there was no scope for error, as 4th place on the ladder meant that every final would be sudden death, starting with an elimination final re-match at Subiaco with 1991 nemesis Hawthorn. 

Just as in 1991 it was a tough, slogging, tortuous afternoon of football, with no quarter asked or given.  The Hawks threw everything they had at the Eagles, leading at every change by 21, 3 and 3 points, only for the home side to find that elusive extra gear during the closing ten minutes and edge away to a 14.16 (100) to 12.15 (87).  In retrospect, many said that it was here, rather than at the MCG three weeks later, that the 1992 AFL premiership was won.

The match itself was initially absorbing, if ultimately anti-climactic.  Geelong competed well in the 1st half, leading by 17 points at quarter time, and 2 straight goals at the main break.  Early in the 3rd term Gary Ablett goaled to extend the Cats' lead to 17 points but then came the West Coast surge.  With 'gut runners' (see footnote 11) like Peter Matera (eventual Norm Smith Medallist), Dean Kemp and Tony Evans already prominent Malthouse moved the previously ineffectual half forward Brett Heady into the centre in a bid to stymie the effectiveness of Paul Couch, who up to this point had had four times as many possessions as his opponent Craig Turley.  Suddenly, perhaps almost accidentally, the final piece of the jigsaw was in place.  West Coast rattled on 5 unanswered goals over the remainder of the quarter to go into the final change 17 points to the good.  Geelong tried hard in the last term, but with the Eagles backline, expertly coordinated by Ashley McIntosh (who thrashed Cats dangerman Bill Brownless) and Glen Jakovich, looking increasingly impregnable, it was never going to be enough to make up the leeway.  In the end, in fact, West Coast edged still further in front, finally winning with deceptive comfort by 28 points, 16.17 (113) to 12.13 (85).   An exultant Chris Mainwaring opined "I've always wanted to be a part of history.  Now I am.  No one can take that away now (see footnote 12)."  Peter Wilson meanwhile issued what was tantamount to a warning to the other fourteen clubs in the competition when he observed "There are so many good young players here.  It augurs well for the future (see footnote 13)."

From the opposition camp came a comment directed perhaps at the moronic Melbourne minority: "We're finally in an AFL competition now," remarked Malcolm Blight.  "Great, isn't it?"

West Coast struggled somewhat in 1993 in the wake of a perhaps inevitable premiership hangover.  Finally scraping into the finals on percentage in 6th spot, hopes were raised after a commanding 17.18 (120) to 11.3 (69) elimination final defeat of the fancied Kangaroos, but Essendon at the MCG in the 1st semi final proved too formidable a hurdle.

The 1994 home and away season proved to be one of the most even in history, but West Coast, with a 16-6 record, ultimately topped the ladder going into a final series which, for the first ever time, would feature eight clubs.  A hard fought 2 point qualifying final win over 8th placed Collingwood at Subiaco suggested that the even nature of the home and away series would carry forward to the finals, but a fortnight later in the preliminary final, again at Subiaco, the Eagles overcame Melbourne with a ruthless efficiency that was quite awesome.  Their 16.21 (117) to 8.4 (52) victory set up a grand final re-match with 1992 victims Geelong, which had suddenly found form after a mixed season.

In some respects - most notably, of course, in the result - the 1994 premiership decider was similar to that of two years earlier.  Just as in 1994, the Cats gave as good as they got early on, only trailing by a point at the first change; on this occasion, however, the Eagles gained a stranglehold on affairs about a quarter and a half earlier.  By half time the margin was 23 points in West Coast's favour; by 'lemon time', with the difference standing at 36 points in the Eagles' favour, the game was as good as over.  Once again, the West Coast on-ballers such as Don Pyke (26 possessions), Norm Smith Medallist Dean Kemp (23 possessions), and Chris Mainwaring (18 possessions) simply overran the Cats, while defenders like Glen Jakovich, Michael Brennan (who comprehensively silenced Ablett) and Guy McKenna were virtually impassable, whilst also providing considerable rebound.

There was a tiresome if predictable reaction in some Victorian quarters - Ted Whitten calling the Eagles "robotic", for example, and Kevin Sheedy laughably claiming "we have created a monster" - but a more realistic assessment would be that the Eagles, with their somewhat dour Victorian coach, merely represented a logical culmination in the trend towards more robust, efficient, disciplined, utilitarian football, a trend which had its origins in the latter-day VFL's fixation with "pressure, pressure, pressure" as the epitome of footballing excellence.

West Coast's final tally of 20.23 (143) represented its highest score of a 1994 season which had seen the duration of quarters in AFL games reduced from 25 to 20 minutes, albeit with 'long' time on (see footnote 14).  Geelong's score of 8.15 (63), paradoxically, was its lowest for the year.

The status of the West Coast Eagles Football Club as one of Australia's elite sporting organisations was now unquestionable.  Over the next five seasons, although there were no further premierships, this status was, if anything, enhanced.  In the period 1995 to 1999 the Eagles participated in every AFL finals series and although the early years of the new decade proved less successful there seemed no reason to suspect that this was anything other than a temporary aberration.   

The first signs that the Eagles might be on the verge of re-emerging as a force came in 2003, particularly during the first two thirds of the season.  Sadly, the latter stages of the season saw the wheels come off to some extent, but this is the sort of failing, typical of young, emerging sides, which time and experience could all too easily address and rectify.

In 2004, the Eagles overcame a lack-lustre first half of the season to finish the home and away rounds playing as well as almost any team in the competition.  Unfortunately, however, they did not take their good form into the finals, and a disappointing 41 point loss in the Harbour City against the Swans consigned them to 8th position on the ladder for the third season in a row.  Winning premierships from the bottom half of the 'eight', while not necessarily impossible, is much more difficult under the current finals formula than it was when the Crows won a flag from 5th in 1998, despite losing their first final against Melbourne.  One felt constrained to conjecture that, in order to pose a legitimate premiership threat, the Eagles would need to display sufficient consistency to qualify for one of the top two ladder positions heading into the finals.  The combination of the double chance 'safety net' with the prospect of playing finals matches in front of their own adoring fans would, almost certainly, make them an extremely formidable September proposition.

And so it proved.  In 2005 the Eagles were in pole position for most of the home and away series, only to miss out on the minor premiership on percentage thanks to a last round loss at home to Adelaide.  Nevertheless, 2nd position with a 17-5 record was still good enough to secure the automatic benefit of two successive home finals, an advantage on which the side duly capitalised with hard fought wins over Sydney in a qualifying final and the Crows in a preliminary final.  These successes earned a first grand final appearance since 1994, with the opposition provided by a tenacious and evenly balanced Sydney side.  The qualifying final, in which the Eagles had emerged victorious by just 4 points, had proved that there was very little to chose between the two teams, and the grand final proved to be the closest fought and most absorbing for almost three decades.  In the end, however - and tragically for West Coast - it was the Swans who had the good fortune to have their noses in front at the final siren, winning by just 4 points, 8.10 (58) to 7.12 (54).  For the Eagles, the enforced omission of leading goal kicker Phil Matera owing to a groin injury was arguably decisive, but coach John Worsfold refused to make excuses, conceding that his players had received a painful lesson.  "They learned how tough it is. You can play well all year and not win a premiership."  Nevertheless, "We only fell four points short today and we finished ahead of fourteen other sides."

Even when all the cards are dealt favourably, as in 2005, premierships do not simply happen (just ask Essendon or Port Adelaide), but those in control of the West Coast Eagles' destiny had already demonstrated on two previous occasions that they know what is needed to secure the ultimate in footballing achievement, and in 2006 it was obvious from the start that the players were, to a man, infused with a steely determination to do so again.  Apart from a handful of comparatively minor wobbles, such as the last round capitulation to Fremantle, the Eagles proved themselves to be the competition's pace setter, and ultimately procured pole position going into the finals with a record of 17 wins from 22 matches.  A 1 point home loss to Sydney in a qualifying final was disappointing, but all it really demonstrated was that there was very little between the two sides in terms of overall ability - a fact that would be emphasised even more tellingly on grand final day.

In order to qualify for the 2006 grand final the Eagles had to overcome one of the toughest hurdles in AFL football in the shape of a premiership hungry Adelaide side in front of their own obsessively fanatical supporters at AAMI Stadium.  The fact that the Eagles ultimately managed to do this with such indefatigable assurance and indeed panache underlined in no uncertain terms the fact that the 2006 premiership race was far from over.

Almost inevitably, or so it seems in hindsight, West Coast's opponents in the 2006 grand final were Sydney.  Watched by a crowd of 97,431, the biggest grand final attendance since 1997, the Eagles raced out of the blocks to lead by 16 points at the first change, a margin they had extended to 25 points by half time.  The side's redoubtable midfield unit, comprising the likes of Andrew Embley (who ultimately won the Norm Smith Medal), Chris Judd, Michael Braun and Daniel Chick, was doing everything that could be asked of it, and even the supposed achilles heel of its forward line was performing well above expectation.  As for the defence, players like Darren Glass, Adam Hunter and Brett Jones are among the best in their position in the AFL, a rating that their performances in this grand final only served to emphasise.

During the long break many spectators might have been forgiven for anticipating yet another grand final blow-out, but what they actually got was the complete reverse, courtesy of a defiantly relentless Sydney Swans charge that ultimately only just fell short.  Fall short it did, however, and credit for that has to go to a West Coast team that oozed resilience, fortitude, and consummate professionalism.  To talk of a side 'deserving' a premiership on the basis of a 1 point win is churlish, but overall, on the basis of a near exemplary whole season's work, there can be no doubt whatsoever that the 2006 AFL premiership cup found its rightful home.  Final scores in the grand final were West Coast 12.13 (85) defeated Sydney 12.12 (84), giving the Eagles their third flag in the twentieth year of their existence.  Given that they were only initially admitted to the then VFL in order to alleviate the financial woes of a number of Melbourne-based clubs, and were neither expected nor desired to be successful, this has to be regarded as an extraordinarily praiseworthy achievement.  Indeed, it would be hard to deny the contention that, since the suburban VFL began its gradual metamorphosis into a quasi-national competition in 1987, West Coast has been by some measure the most successful participating club, a status in no way undermined either by a somewhat disappointing climax to the 2007 season which saw the side bow out of premiership contention after narrow straight sets finals losses to Port Adelaide and Collingwood, or a frankly dismal 2008 campaign which produced just 4 wins and avoidance of the wooden spoon by the merest whisker.

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Footnotes

10.  In 'Inside Football', for example, the columnists went 8-3 West Coast, while the 'Inside Football' computer, demonstrating uncanny perspicacity, tipped West Coast by a 28 points margin, with the Norm Smith Medal going to Peter Matera.  Return to Main Text

11. An expression coined by Kevin Sheedy to describe those players who run hard under pressure and still manage to get the ball and use it effectively.  Return to Main Text

12. Quoted in 'Inside Football', volume 22, number 33, 30/9/92, page 2.  Given Mainwaring's tragically premature death in 2007 at the age of just forty-one, these words take on enhanced poignancy.   Return to Main Text

13. Ibid, page 2.  Return to Main Text

14.  'Long' time on basically meant that, every time the ball went dead - for example after going out of bounds - the clock stopped.  Return to Main Text