2011 West Coast Eagles season

The 2011 season was the West Coast Eagles' 25th season in the premier Australian rules football competition, the Australian Football League (AFL). The previous season, West Coast had finished 16th and last overall to receive their first wooden spoon. The club began the season by reaching the semi-finals of the league's pre-season knock-out competition, the NAB Cup. They began their season with a four-point win over North Melbourne on Sunday, 27 March. At the conclusion of round 10, West Coast had won five of their nine games and lost four, but over the remainder of the season won 12 of their 13 games to finish fourth at the end of the regular season. In the finals series, the club lost their qualifying final to Collingwood by 20 points. They defeated Carlton in a home semi-final, but lost to Geelong, the eventual premiers in a preliminary final at the MCG the following week, to finish fourth overall.

Darren Glass and John Worsfold were retained as captain and coach respectively from the previous season, with Beau Waters appointed as sole vice-captain. At the conclusion of the season Glass was awarded the Club Champion Award as the club's best and fairest, with Matt Priddis finishing runner-up. Josh J. Kennedy was the leading goal-kicker, kicking 59 goals throughout the season.

Squad

Leadership group

The Eagles' leadership group for 2011 is composed of the captain Darren Glass, vice-captain Beau Waters, as well as Andrew Embley, Shannon Hurn, Josh Kennedy, Mark LeCras, Matt Priddis, Adam Selwood, Scott Selwood and Beau Waters.^[1]

Pre-season

Delistings

Ashley Hansen, Matthew Spangher, Will Sullivan, Adam Cockie and Tony Notte were delisted.^[2][3][4] Tim Houlihan was delisted but was later re-listed by the Eagles in the 2011 Rookie Draft.^[5]

Trades

West Coast traded Ben McKinley to North Melbourne in exchange for pick 86 in the 2010 National Draft.

Draft selections

• National Draft selections

4 - Andrew Gaff (Oakleigh Chargers)

26 - Jack Darling (West Perth) (priority)

29 - Scott Lycett (Port Adelaide)

62 - Jacob Brennan (East Fremantle) (F/S)

• Pre-season Draft selections

5 - Blayne Wilson (Peel Thunder)

• Rookie Draft selections

10 - Tim Houlihan (West Coast Eagles) (re-drafted)

27 - Anton Hamp (Claremont)

44 - Jeremy McGovern (Claremont)

West Coast also upgraded rookies Lewis Stevenson, Callum Wilson and Andrew Strijk to the senior list using selections 78, 84 and 93 respectively.

NAB Cup

The first round of the 2011 NAB Cup was played using a round-robin format where the Eagles, Fremantle and Hawthorn each played each other once in a series of games held at Patersons Stadium on 13 February.^[6] The Eagles won both of their games, progressing through to the NAB Cup quarter-finals, where they defeated Gold Coast by 37 points to progress to a semi-final against Collingwood, however they lost their semi-final by 24 points and were eliminated from the NAB Cup.

Season overview

After finishing with the wooden spoon in 2010, most commentators predicted the Eagles to finish in the bottom four.^{[7][8][9][10]} The team won their first two matches, against North Melbourne and Port Adelaide by four points and 18 points respectively, and lost the next two, at home to Sydney by 13 points and away to Hawthorn by seven points. The team won the Western Derby by 33 points in round 8, their first since 2007. The Eagles won their round 9 match against the Western Bulldogs by 123 points, the Eagles' highest score and greatest winning margin against the Bulldogs, and the third-biggest winning margin in the club's history, with Josh Kennedy kicking 10 goals, the season-high for the competition.^[11] West Coast lost to Collingwood in round 10 by 52 points before going on a five-match winning streak, their best since 2007. The team's round 16 win over Geelong was their first over the Cats since 2006.^[12]

Fixtures

Home team's score listed in bold:

source: Fixtures

Tribunal cases

Seven West Coast Eagles were cited by the Match Review Panel for eight separate offences during the 2011 season:^[13] Quinten Lynch was the only player suspended, receiving a one-match suspension after the round 14 game against Carlton for forceful front-on contact with Marc Murphy:

Awards

League awards

• John Worsfold was named Coach of the Year at the 2011 AFL Coaches' Association Awards.^[14]
• Dean Cox and Darren Glass were selected as ruckman and full-back respectively in the 2011 All-Australian team. Andrew Embley, Josh Kennedy and Matt Priddis were also named in the initial squad of 40 players, but were not selected in the final team.^[15]
• Nic Naitanui was nominated as a finalist for the 2011 AFL Mark of the Year.^[16]
• Luke Shuey (round two), Jack Darling (round six) and Andrew Gaff (round 19) were nominated for the 2011 AFL Rising Star award, with Shuey finishing second, Darling fifth and Gaff seventh overall.^[17]
• Matt Priddis polled the most club votes in the 2011 Brownlow Medal, receiving 19 votes to finish equal ninth.^[18]

Club awards

The 2011 West Coast Eagles Club Champion Awards were held on Friday, 7 October 2011, at the Burswood Entertainment Complex. Darren Glass was named Club Champion and Best Finals Player, Brett Jones received the Best Clubman award and Luke Shuey was awarded Rookie of the Year. Josh Kennedy was leading goal-kicker, kicking 59 goals for the year. Mark LeCras (47 goals) and Mark Nicoski (41 goals) was next.^[19] Adam Selwood, Richard Godfrey and Glenn Stewart were inducted as life members of the club. The voting for the Club Champion Award went as follows:^[20]

^a Glass and Priddis finished equal first on votes, but Glass was awarded Club Champion on countback, having played less games.

^b Embley and Nicoski both polled the same number of votes, but Embley finished higher, having played less games.

Season records and milestones

Team records

• Highest home attendance: 42,803 vs. Carlton at Patersons Stadium, 17 September
• Highest away attendance: 67,379 vs. Collingwood at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, 10 September
• Highest team score for: 26.19 (175) vs. Western Bulldogs at Patersons Stadium, 22 May
• Highest team score against: 17.15 (117) by Geelong at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, 24 September
• Lowest team score for: 9.7 (61) vs. St Kilda at Etihad Stadium, 16 July
• Lowest team score against: 7.8 (50) by Adelaide at the Patersons Stadium, 3 September
• Most consecutive wins: 7 (between rounds 18 and 24)
• Most consecutive losses: 2 (between rounds three and four)

Source: AFL Tables

Player records

• Most games: 25 - Dean Cox, Shannon Hurn, Mark Nicoski, Matt Priddis, Adam Selwood, Scott Selwood and Luke Shuey
• Most goals: 59 - Josh Kennedy
• Most goals in a game: 10.3 - Josh Kennedy vs Western Bulldogs at Patersons Stadium, 22 May
• Most kicks: 343 - Shannon Hurn
• Most handballs: 386 - Matt Priddis
• Most possessions: 662 - Matt Priddis
• Most contested possessions: 362 - Matt Priddis
• Most marks: 157 - Quinten Lynch
• Most contested marks: 51 - Josh Kennedy
• Most inside-50s: 118 - Quinten Lynch
• Most tackles: 202 - Scott Selwood
• Most hit-outs: 716 - Dean Cox

Source: West Coast 2011 statistics

Milestones

• Darren Glass played his 200th AFL game.
• Adam Selwood played his 150th AFL game.
• Mark LeCras, Mark Nicoski, Matt Priddis and Matt Rosa played their 100th AFL games.
• Eric Mackenzie, Chris Masten, Nic Naitanui, Scott Selwood and Will Schofield played their 50th AFL games.

Debuts

• Jack Darling (round one)
• Andrew Gaff (round one)
• Gerrick Weedon (round seven)
• Scott Lycett (round 19)

Ladder

Notes

^b "Points" refers to carry-over points accrued following the sanction. For example, 154.69 points draw a one-match suspension, with 54.69 carry-over points (for every 100 points, a one-match suspension is given).

References

External links

• 2011 West Coast Eagles Fixtures
• West Coast Eagles Official AFL Site
• Official Site of the Australian Football League