| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Birth | 27 November 1975 |
| Recruited from | South Fremantle (WAFL) |
| Height and weight | 171 cm / 76 kg |
| Playing career¹ | |
| Debut | Round 4, 21 April 1996, West Coast Eagles v. Geelong, at Subiaco Oval |
| Team(s) |
West Coast Eagles (1996–2005) 179 games, 389 goals |
| ¹ Statistics to end of 2005 season | |
| Career highlights | |
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Phillip "Phil" Matera (born 27 November 1975) is a former Australian rules footballer of Italian-Aboriginal heritage.
Beginning his career in 1996, the 171 cm forward pocket was one of the Australian Football League's best small forwards.
Matera is the brother of former AFL players Peter and Wally, the third of the Matera brothers to player for West Coast. He won the club's goalkicking for the second time in 2002 and his speed and ability to apply pressure often created scoring chances. He hit back strongly after a midseason form slump. In 2003 he was in good form and won All-Australian selection for the first time after kicking 62 goals. In 2004 he just missed out on All-Australian selection after kicking 61 goals, as the selectors opted to play an extra midfielder. In 2005 injury hampered his input but he still managed to kick 39 goals from 19 games. He was a late withdrawal from the 2005 AFL Grand Final due to injury.[1]
On 23 November 2005, Matera announced his retirement from AFL football due to a chronic back injury. He was West Coast's most prominent goalkicker for his final years in a team which struggled for quality key-position forwards, scoring 389 goals from 179 games, the second-highest number of goals in the club's history.[2] He has since, as of December 2009, become an assistant coach at Claremont.[3]
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