West Coast Eagles

West Coast Eagles Football Club is an Australian rules football club competing in the Australian Football League. The club is based at Subiaco Oval in Perth, Western Australia and was formed in August 1986 when the then Victorian Football League (now known as the Australian Football League) expanded to include teams from Perth and Brisbane for the 1987 season. The club played 54^[1] of its home games between 1987 and 2000 at the WACA due to an agreement that some games would be played there and also the fact that Subiaco Oval could not host night games due to a lack in lighting. Since entering the competition, the Eagles have been one of the most successful clubs in the AFL, winning the 1992, 1994 and 2006 premierships, being runners up in 1991 and 2005, and competing in finals in all but five seasons.

History

1980s: The Early Years

The West Coast Eagles were formed initially when Indian Pacific applied in 1986 to enter a West Australian based franchise team in the Victorian Football League

The new club managed to draw a creditable squad together, mostly out of the WAFL, but also with a few players returning from Victoria to play for the new Perth based side. In a lavish function at the then Merlin Hotel (now the Hyatt Perth), in October 1986, the club released its new colours, its inaugural squad, and announced the club's name would be the "West Coast Eagles".^[2]

The club's reception in West Australian football circles was mixed, with many diehard supporters of the WAFL opposed to the entry of the VFL into Perth. But with a good array of local talent on board, including the return from Melbourne of 1983 Brownlow Medallist Ross Glendinning as the club's inaugural captain, the Eagles caught the attention of a majority of the football supporters of Western Australia. West Coast's first official match of any sort was a pre-season game against Footscray (now Western Bulldogs) on March 3, 1987, which the Eagles won.

The club's first official home and away match at Subiaco Oval against Richmond on March 29, 1987 was played before a respectable crowd of 23,897. The fledgeling Eagles, down by 33 points at the final change, somehow managed to outscore the visiting and tiring Tigers nine goals to one in the final term to run out 14 point winners - a club record last quarter comeback that lasted until round 10 of 2006.^[3] By season's end, the club had split its games with eleven wins and eleven losses for a seventh place finish, but despite this quite respectable effort, inaugural coach Ron Alexander was sacked from the position and replaced with WA coaching legend John Todd.

The 1988 season saw the Eagles improve to become one of the strongest teams of the competition, finishing the home and away season in fourth, before narrowly losing the Elimination Final to Melbourne by two points. Despite this loss, the mood was upbeat at the club for the future, although it was the last game for inaugural captain Glendinning.^[4]

However, the 1989 season put the club under a lot of pressure. Injuries and poor form led to the club only winning two matches in the first fifteen rounds of the season, culminating in the "Windy Hill Massacre", where the Eagles lost by a club record 142 points to Essendon. In the nadir of this season, with major financial problems besetting the club and a bleak outlook, there was even talk of disbanding the club and reverting back to the WAFL as the senior competition in Western Australia. However, the Eagles rallied with five wins in the last seven weeks of the season. While it was enough to stave off the wolves, it was not enough to keep John Todd in the role of senior coach, nor allow first year captain Murray Rance to retain the role.

1990s: The Malthouse Years

As the VFL made way for the new AFL the Eagles entered the 1990s with a new coach, Mick Malthouse, a Victorian recruited from Footscray, and a new captain in Steve Malaxos who had won the club's first club champion award in 1987. The change in leadership, and the rise of a few younger players, led to a resurgence at the club winning sixteen games on the way to a third place finish at the end of the home and away season. This led to a berth in the Qualifying Final against Collingwood, which resulted in a famous draw,^[5] but the Eagles could not win the replay, and despite beating Melbourne in the First Semi Final, bowed out a fortnight later to Essendon in the Preliminary Final.

As 1991 started, out of favour captain Malaxos was replaced with youngster John Worsfold. That didn't seem to affect the club as the season saw what was probably the most dominant Eagles side, winning the first twelve games of the season, a club-record nineteen games in the home and away series, and the Eagles' first minor premiership.^[6] However, the young team struggled with the finals pressure exerted by such a dominant season, and while they made the Grand Final, it was lost to Hawthorn by 53 points in front of a crowd of 75,230. It was the only Grand Final ever to be played at Waverley Park, and the first in the AFL to feature a non-Victorian side.

The Eagles weren't as strong through the 1992 season, but managed to get a reasonable spot in the finals, winning a classic final against Hawthorn^[7] on the way to a Grand Final appearance, this time against Geelong at the MCG. The Eagles struggled early in the match, trailing by as much as four goals, but ended up over-running the Cats to win by 28 points and claim the club's first ever premiership, with Peter Matera winning the Norm Smith Medal for best on ground. The 1992 premiership was the first senior AFL premiership won by a team from outside Victoria.

1992 AFL Grand Final	G	B	Total
West Coast	16	17	113
Geelong	12	13	85
Venue: Melbourne Cricket Ground	Crowd: 95,007 [6]

After a 1993 season that was a washout when the Eagles just never really got going (although still making the finals), in 1994 the Eagles again won the minor premiership at the end of the home and away season, and this time managed to carry the form through the finals series, despite a scare in the opening week of the finals when Collingwood nearly sneaked over the line in a close game at the WACA Ground. In the end the Eagles did not lose a match in the series, culminating in an 80 point thrashing of Geelong in the Grand Final for the club's second premiership. Dean Kemp was awarded the Norm Smith Medal for best on ground on this occasion.

1994 AFL Grand Final	G	B	Total
West Coast	20	23	143
Geelong	8	15	63
Venue: Melbourne Cricket Ground	Crowd: 93,860 [7]

In 1995, a local AFL rival the Fremantle Football Club was introduced to the WA football market, heightening competition for the West Australian audience and forming a fierce rivalry to become the Western Derby, a twice yearly encounter between the two clubs. The derby was for much of the 90s a West Coast affair, with the Eagles winning the first nine encounters before the Dockers finally won the later derby of 1999.

Meanwhile the club's performances on the field slipped a little from the heights of the early 90s, but never so far as to not make the finals. After bowing out quietly in 1995, the Eagles won their opening final in 1996, resulting in what would normally have been a home semi final against Essendon. However, due to what Eagles fans saw as a poorly constructed contract between the league and the MCG, the game was scheduled to be played at the MCG instead of Subiaco.^[8] In all the furore the Eagles were comprehensively thrashed. On a brighter note, young Eagle Ben Cousins won the club's first AFL Rising Star award for the best rookie in the competition for 1996.^[9]

The 1997 and 1998 seasons saw the Eagles mostly making up numbers in the finals, bowing out early both years, with the most notable incident being when captain John Worsfold was dropped for what would have been his final appearance in the 1998 Semi Final; ^[10] oddly mirroring what happened to his predecessor in the role, Steve Malaxos, who was dropped for the 1990 Preliminary Final and never played for the club again.^[11] Worsfold was replaced in the captaincy by his vice captain, Guy McKenna.

In the second week of the 1999 season the Eagles again found themselves in the situation where they earned a home final (after beating the Western Bulldogs at the MCG in the first week), but once again the MCG contract denied the club the right to host the final, and the Eagles faced Carlton and lost on the road.^[12] This rule later cost the Adelaide Crows the right to host a Semi Final in 2002, and the Brisbane Lions a Preliminary Final in 2004 before it was finally abolished.

The 1999 season is probably more remembered for the continual rumours that linked coach Mick Malthouse to the senior coaching role at Collingwood; the rumours ended up being proven correct when Malthouse was released from his contract to the club for the 2000 season, to be replaced with Ken Judge. Also notable in 1999 was the first (and currently only) Eagle to top the AFL goalkicking, when Scott Cummings won the Coleman Medal with 95 goals.^[13]

2000-2001: The Ken Judge Years

The Eagles might have started Judge's reign as coach impressively, thrashing reigning premiers North Melbourne in the opening game of 2000, and winning two games by over 100 points in three weeks against Adelaide and Fremantle, but it was to turn sour quite quickly in the latter part of the 2000 season. Sitting at six wins and five losses at the half way point of the season, injury struck, and West Coast slumped to win only one more match for the season, and missing the finals for the first time since 1989, and another change of captaincy, as McKenna retired to be replaced with Dean Kemp and Ben Cousins as co-captains. The Eagles also introduced a much maligned ochre colour to their home and away uniforms in these years, which have since been abandoned for the more traditional uniforms worn in previous years.

However bad 2000 might have been, the 2001 season was the club's all time nadir. In a shocking season, crueled by injury, older players falling away, and general mutterings of dissatisfaction, the club won only five matches for the entire year, all against other bottom four sides; the fourteenth place finish by far the lowest in the club's history. Against rumours of player dissatisfaction, and even revolt, Ken Judge was sacked from the coaching role, to be replaced in turn by former premiership captain John Worsfold.

2002 - current: The John Worsfold Years

It appeared to be a poisoned chalice that was handed to Worsfold in his first senior coaching role; a team that was widely tipped to slump further to the bottom of the ladder. Most fans would have been satisfied with just an improvement in performance, but Worsfold and his mostly young charges surprised many, being almost unbeatable at home, and sneaking a couple of crucial away wins to make an unexpected finals appearance on the back of an eleven win - eleven loss home and away season in 2002. The Eagles lost first up and were eliminated, but it was a sign of improvement to come.

The 2003 and 2004 seasons were opposites of each other. In 2003, the Eagles ran riot early, sitting in the high reaches of the ladder mid-season before injury took out the second part of the season and the club slumped to finish just inside the finals, and were bundled straight out; in 2004, the season was looking down the barrel early, but a dramatic late season recovery saw the Eagles steal a spot in the finals in the last week of the home and away season, only to be thrashed in a thunderstorm by the Sydney Swans first up.

2004 however saw the first ever Eagle to win Australian Football's highest individual award, when Chris Judd won the Brownlow Medal in a canter. Previous best West Coast performances had been runner up efforts from Craig Turley in 1991 and Peter Matera in 1996.

Season 2005 saw the Eagles start on fire, easily accounting for all opponents in the opening eight weeks before inexplicably losing to then-bottom-placed Collingwood. The Eagles however recovered to be as much as five games clear, before a poor run home saw the club lose the final week and surrender the minor premiership to the Adelaide Crows. Despite this, the Eagles turned it around in the finals to make the Grand Final against the Sydney Swans. However, in reverse of the result in the 2005 Qualifying Final which the Eagles won by 4 points, the Swans managed to hold out the Eagles to win the low scoring encounter by four points. There was some consolation for Eagles fans with Chris Judd being awarded the Norm Smith medal which, with captain Ben Cousins having already won the Brownlow Medal, highlighted the quality of the West Coast midfield.

Despite promises to turn it around in 2006, the season looked set to start badly, with Cousins stripped of his captaincy after the infamous "Booze Bus" Incident), former All-Australian ruckman Michael Gardiner relegated to play at Claremont in the WAFL for continued indiscretions including drinking the night before a practise match and Ashley Sampi having some domestic trouble. Chris Judd was appointed to replace Cousins as expected, while Gardiner did make it back to the club to play a couple of games, before crashing his car whilst under the influence of alcohol^[14] - which saw him made persona non grata at the club, and traded to St Kilda.

Despite all this, the Eagles started the season in fairly good form, winning eleven of the opening twelve matches, including a couple of massive comebacks; particularly a club record recovery against Geelong from 54 points down in the third quarter. The Eagles then struggled for a few weeks, slipping off the pace, before good late season form enabled them to win the minor premiership at the end of the season over a slipping Adelaide Crows.

The West Coast Eagles 2006 Premiership team, at their welcome home at Subiaco Oval, the day after their win.

In the 2006 finals, the Eagles were favourites in every game and lost the opening match at Subiaco to Sydney by 1 point, but came back strong to thrash the Bulldogs in the Semi Final, and come from behind (again) against the Crows in the Preliminary Final to book a berth in the Grand Final, once again against the Swans. The Grand Final ended up with a mirror of the 2006 Preliminary Final result between these two teams, the Eagles winning one of the great Grand Finals of recent years by a solitary point. The first ever AFL Grand Final decided by this margin, and the first in AFL/VFL history since 1966.^[15] Andrew Embley was awarded the Norm Smith medal for best on ground.

Main article: 2006 AFL Finals Series

The Eagles 2007 pre-season was the most turbulent in the club's history, with midfielder Daniel Kerr charged with assault for two separate incidents, and former captain (and 2005 Brownlow Medallist) Ben Cousins suspended from the club indefinitely after continued breaches of team rules, most notably not turning up to training, leading to massive amounts of speculative reporting in the media. Despite this, the Eagles started the season in good form, winning their opening 6 matches, including another one point victory over the Sydney Swans. However the Eagles of 2007 were nowhere near as dominant as those of 2005 or 2006. Instead, the Eagles spent much of the year in the bottom part of the top four, even slipping out of the top four at times. At the end of the season, the Eagles finished third on the ladder, drawing an away final at Port Adelaide in the opening week of the finals.

The Eagles finals series was cruelled by injuries to key players, something that had been quite common in the latter half of the season, exacerbated by a hamstring injury to Ben Cousins when leading Port Adelaide in the first week. Ultimately West Coast crashed out of the finals in straight sets, losing to Port by three points in the opening week before losing to Collingwood by 19 points in a highly exciting final that went into extra time for only the second time since the extra time rule had been implemented.^[16]

In a blow to the club, premiership captain Chris Judd declared his intention to move back to his home city of Melbourne for the 2008 season, prompting much speculation over his final destination.^[17]

Capping off an annus horribilis for the club, former Eagles champion Chris Mainwaring died on October 1, 2007, at his home, and his death was widely reported to be the result of drug-taking.^[18][19] This became a major issue in the media, when it was revealed that Cousins had visited Mainwaring at his home the same night, just prior to his death. Cousins volunteered for a drug test following the event.^[20] This - on top of Cousins' banishment, Chris Judd's departure and a string of minor incidents (such as Michael Braun's Western Derby speech stunt and the Adam Selwood incident involving Des Headland, all in the Western Derby) - contributed to an impression that 2007 was a disaster for the Eagles, despite a relatively successful year on the field. The horror season continued for West Coast Eagles when Ben Cousins was sacked by the club on the 17 October 2007 after being arrested for drug possession and other offences the previous day.^[21]

The Eagles started season 2008 on a positive note, defeating the Brisbane Lions by 16 points before losing their next seven games, the most recent a six-point loss to North Melbourne on the Gold Coast in front of a crowd of around 6,000. The Eagles the following week crushed Adelaide by 50 points at home but became victims of the AFL's new interchange policy which saw them concede a 50-metre penalty and a goal thereafter. Seeing as the Crows were in 4th place, Eagles fans became cautiously optimistic about the future, however, West Coast's finals hopes were all but dashed after a humiliating 100-point loss to Collingwood.

The Eagles have been hit hard by injuries and look set to miss the finals for the first time since 2001. In a shocking incident in their game against the Sydney Swans at ANZ Stadium (formerly known as Telstra Stadium), defender Brent Staker was floored by a left-hook punch from Sydney full-forward Barry Hall. Hall was then outed for seven matches. Coincidentally, Staker was reported in the Eagles' round six loss to the Western Bulldogs however escaped with a reprimand.

2008 was the Eagle's worst season in their club's history, with a 15th place finish after a season only producing 4 wins. Injuries, however, were mainly responsible for the Eagle's poor 2008 year, with many premiership players injured which caused a floored forward-line and a battered mid-field. Season 2008 was also the first season without star mid-fielders Chris Judd and Ben Cousins, who was traded to Carlton after requesting to go to his homestate of Victoria, and after being sacked by the club after drug offences respectivley.

Club Awards

AFL Premiers

1992, 1994, 2006

McClelland Trophy

1991, 1994, 2006

Club Honour Board

Note: The Chris Mainwaring Best Clubman Award was created in 2007, after his death. Ashley Hansen won the inaugural award.

Individual awards

AFL Hall of Fame Members

• Ross Glendinning (2000)
• Peter Matera (2006)
• Dean Kemp (2007)
• Glen Jakovich (2008)

Brownlow Medal winners

(Awarded to the player rated best in the competition during the home and away series by the umpires)

• Chris Judd (2004)
• Ben Cousins (2005)

Runner up Brownlow Medal

• Craig Turley (1991)
• Peter Matera (1994), (1997)
• Daniel Kerr (2005), (2007)

Leigh Matthews Trophy winners

(Awarded to the player rated best in the competition during the home and away series by the players association)

• Ben Cousins (2005)
• Chris Judd (2006)

Sandover Medal winners

(Awarded to the player rated best in the WAFL competition)

• Phil Narkle (1982) (Swan Districts)
• Murray Wrensted (1985) (East Fremantle)
• Ian Dargie (1991) (Subiaco)
• Robbie West (1992) (West Perth)
• Ryan Turnbull (2001) (East Perth)
• Matthew Priddis (2006) (Subiaco)

Norm Smith Medal winners

(Awarded to the player rated best on ground in the AFL Grand Final)

• Peter Matera (1992)
• Dean Kemp (1994)
• Chris Judd (2005)
• Andrew Embley (2006)

Coleman Medal winners

(Awarded to the player who kicks the most goals in the AFL competition during the home and away series)

• Scott Cummings (1999) - 88 goals - (95 after the Eagles two finals)

AFL Rising Star winners

(Awarded to the best rookie player in the competition)

• Ben Cousins (1996)

See the AFL Rising Star award page for the full criteria

Goal of the Year winners

• Ben Cousins (1999)
• Mark Merenda (2001)
• Daniel Kerr (2003)
• Chris Judd (2005)

Mark of the Year winners

• Ashley Sampi (2004)

All Australian selection

Team of the Decade

In 1996, when the AFL was celebrating its 100th year, the West Coast Eagles were celebrating their 10th, and so named a team of the decade:

Membership and attendance

In 2006, the Eagles had 44,138 members (seating capacity), a waiting list and an average home ground attendance of 40,243.

Club Song

We're flying high is the official anthem of the West Coast Eagles.

It was written in the 1980s.

Club Mascot

Main article: AFL Mascot Manor

West Coast Eagles Club Mascot - Rick "The Rock" Eagle

West Coast's mascot is Rick "the Rock" Eagle, named after the Daddy Cool hit song that is played at home games, "Eagle Rock".

Team 20

In 2006 the West Coast Eagles were celebrating their 20th anniversary, and a best team of the club's history was chosen. Consideration was based on 100 games played for the West Coast Eagles, career longevity, finishes in the Club Champion Award, impact and other individual accolades.:

Current squad

As of September 6, 2008:

Note: The No.3 jumper has been retired until the end of 2010 in memory of Chris Mainwaring.

See also

• West Coast Eagles players
• List of West Coast Eagles Football Club coaches
• Australian rules football in Western Australia
• Western Derby

References

External links

• Official Website of the West Coast Eagles Football Club
• West Coast Eagles Discussion Board on BigFooty.