It was a season where the West Coast Eagles won their first 12 games in succession, secured the first final ever played outside of Melbourne and then went on to play in their first grand final.

On the face of it, things look pretty straight forward.

But this game is never exactly what it seems. It was a year of high drama, controversy and, ultimately, disappointment.

Things started routinely enough. Drawn to confront two of the 1990 finalists in the opening two rounds, including premiers Collingwood, the Eagles announced themselves as a team ready to have an impact.

They got it rolling against Melbourne at Subiaco Oval and torched the Dees in a masterful display. They had ended Melbourne’s season in 1990, the club’s first finals victory, with a methodical 30-point victory, but this was ruthless.

On their home turf they held the Demons to just a solitary behind in the first half and powered away to win 14.15 to 2.8. It was a classical performance from the Malthouse-coached team; stifle the opposition, smother their will and when they have their quarry in a submissive mindset complete the task.

West Coast had only kicked three goals themselves in the first half but once they sensed Melbourne was vulnerable a merciless assault was launched.

From there, it was off to Waverley (again) and a confrontation with the Magpies, who had ended a 32-year premiership drought in 1990, after initially tying the qualifying final with the Eagles – and then winning the subsequent replay.

After a relatively even first half, the Eagles kicked away in the third quarter with a brilliant six-goal burst, on the way to a comfortable 27-point win. Peter Sumich kicked five goals while key architects were Craig Turley and Chris Waterman.

The Eagles ploughed through the first month virtually unchallenged until a meeting with Geelong – who were also undefeated – in round five. After an even first quarter the Eagles dominated in a mesmerising display that saw them win by 45 points.

Again, Sumich was at the forefront with eight goals while Brett Heady kicked four and the midfield stars were Chris Mainwaring, Dwayne Lamb and Don Pyke.

A fortnight later the Eagles again confronted an opponent who had not yet tasted defeat in 1991 – Essendon, at Windy Hill.

This was that day that Kevin Sheedy, former teammate and long-time tormentor of Mick Malthouse, had the windsock tied down so that the visitors would be unsure of the direction and strength of the breeze.

The Eagles kicked five goals to none in the opening term of the club’s 100^th game and although the Bombers came hard thereafter, they hung on to win by seven points.

The Eagles had won the first seven matches and among the vanquished were highly-regarded opponents Melbourne, Collingwood, Geelong, Hawthorn and Essendon. It had been a searching examination but West Coast had prevailed in highly impressive fashion.

That momentum continued for another five weeks, some of the highlights being the debut of an 18-year-old Ashley McIntosh against Richmond, the unveiling of another emerging teenager, Glen Jakovich a week later, and a club record 13.3 from Sumich in a night game at the WACA Ground against Footscray.

It was a wonderful storyline that was unfolding as the Eagles set themselves to win their 13^th consecutive victory and equal the mark established by Melbourne in 1956 for the most wins to start a season.

Unfortunately for the Eagles that record remained intact as they played Carlton at Princes Park – a ground that was proving problematic for the Perth-based club. And on this occasion the trend continued, in more ways than one.

The Blues held sway from the outset and withstood a late charge from the Eagles to win by three points, but the day was marred by an incident post-game when forwards Karl Langdon and Sumich were attacked by spectators as they left the field.

The AFL investigated but no charges were laid. That was not the first time in the season that Eagles players were man-handled leaving the arena in that season.

A week after the Carlton skirmish a record crowd of 42,255 crammed in to Subiaco Oval to watch the Eagles play St Kilda with one of the major drawcards being the showdown in the goalsquare at either of the ground.

Tony Lockett kicked eight goals in a losing performance for the Saints, while Sumich kicked just two. But the star of the day was Brett Heady, who bagged seven goals, including five in a brilliant opening quarter blitz.

In the run home, the Eagles again conquered highly-regarded opponents – Melbourne (MCG), Collingwood, Geelong, Hawthorn and Essendon – to ensure they won the minor premiership and locked away the first final to ever be played outside of Melbourne.

The victory against Melbourne on July 6 looked routine enough, but skipper John Worsfold was incensed by the antics of Allen Jakovich and could not contain himself as the two groups were leaving the arena.

Worsfold, who did not play, delivered a strong verbal barrage it his former WA Teal Cup teammate and lunged at him over the players race as they left the ground.

That was not the end of the controversies of the day, with Chris Lewis accused of biting Melbourne midfielder Todd Viney. Lewis subsequently travelled to Melbourne to defend the charge, but received a three-match suspension.

The Eagles were furious at the process, the fact that no explanation was sought as to how Viney’s hands happened to be around Lewis’ face and mouth and that Lewis’ denial was summarily dismissed.

The champion Eagle also received no support in the media. It was a classic case of ‘trial by media’ and the club reacted the only way it could, placing a media ban on player interviews after beating Collingwood a few days after the hearing.   

All that was left to be done to prepare for that game was to despatch Fitzroy at Princes Park.

After looking in charge at half-time, the Eagles uncharacteristically conceded 13 goals in the second half and lost by 10 points. It was not the ideal lead in to a finals series, but they would tackle Hawthorn having won 26 of their previous 27 games in Perth.    

The hype in the town was electric and so was the start in front of 44,142 enthusiastic fans, with West Coast kicking the first four goals. The Hawks responded and the game was in the balance until Jason Dunstall broke free of Michael Brennan, who had held him to just 0.3 to that stage, and kicked four final term goals.

The Hawks won by 23 points and the Eagles were left with the challenge of taking the long route to the Grand Final.

They did that by beating both Melbourne and Geelong at Waverley – the win against the Cats coming after some anxious moments in the last quarter when they edged to within five points before West Coast kicked away to win by 15 points.

That was on a bitterly cold Melbourne day when West Coast players on the bench dipped their hands in buckets of warm water in attempt to assist blood circulation.

The Grand Final was also played at Waverley, the first and only time the premiership decider has been played away from the MCG. And the Hawks were once more the team standing between the Eagles and glory.

West Coast won the toss and kicked with the breeze and made an encouraging start, kicking the first four goals, thanks largely to Sumich. But the Hawks rallied in the second half of the term, kicking three goals themselves and had gained the ascendancy.

The finals-hardened Hawks never relinquished their grip on the game and extended a 10-point three-quarter time lead to deny West Coast by 53 points.

1991 Grand Final Team

B	John Worsfold	Michael Brennan	Guy McKenna
HB	Craig Turley	Andrew Lockyer	Chris Waterman
C	Dean Kemp	Scott Watters	Peter Matera
HF	Brett Heady	Ashley McIntosh	Chris Lewis
F	Glen Jakovich	Peter Sumich	David Hart
R	Dean Irving	Dwayne Lamb	Don Pyke
I	Chris Mainwaring	Peter Wilson