Quantifying the euphoria of winning a premiership against the decision to suspend a club legend in a desperate bid to encourage him to get the required professional help.
It was a period of conflicting emotions, but that was the backdrop to the start of the 2007 campaign and the defence of the 2006 flag.
The West Coast Eagles were in Sydney, preparing for a game at Telstra Stadium to open the 2007 season, when Ben Cousins was heading out of Australia to an overseas rehabilitation clinic. The champion Eagle had a very public battle with drug addiction and a club-imposed suspension was an unprecedented attempt to aid his fight against that addiction,
Sadly, a decade later, that battle continues for one of the club’s favourite sons.
It was against the backdrop of Cousins leaving Australia, a massive media pack following his exit through Perth airport, that the Eagles and Swans restored hostilities at the Olympic precinct.
The game was almost a sideshow – until the opening bounce when another chapter in this astounding rivalry was written.
On a night when draftee Mitch Brown made his senior debut at centre half-forward – and had a remarkable impact in the first half – it seemed like West Coast would break the cycle of the close finishes between the clubs when it led by 36 points at the long break – 10.2 (62) to 3.8 (26).
But routine results were not a part of these Sydney-Eagles epics and this one would not break the sequence of extraordinary results. Without Cousins, Sam Butler, Andrew Embley, Dean Cox, Chad Fletcher and Ashley Hansen – all of whom were part of the premiership campaign – who were unavailable and it left the Eagles vulnerable.
The Swans, as one might have expected, rallied and ensured another pulsating finish, with the Eagles hanging on to win by a point after kicking just one second half goal before winning 11.8 (74) to 10.13 (73).
And victory was claimed on the back of an amazing chase down and tackle by Daniel Kerr. Swans star Jarrad McVeigh was heading inside his team’s attacking 50 in the dying minutes when Kerr willed himself to chase down his opponent, caught him holding the ball and then the Eagles held out for another memorable win.
The most slender of margins meant that 13 points separated the two clubs in their past six encounters.
When the Swans travelled to Perth for the next encounter with the Eagles in round 16, coincidentally, it was the night that Cousins resumed his career, having ticked all of the required boxes to prove he was fit to return.
On another remarkable night Cousins accumulated a staggering 38 possessions in his first game for four months.
The impact of Cousins was profound, but so, too, was the return of other stars like Brent Staker, Ashley Hansen, Tyson Stenglein and Daniel Kerr.
Staker was nominated for both mark of the year and goal of the round with two magnificent individual efforts, Hansen returned after a two-month absence from a ruptured tendon in a finger, to kick four goals while Stenglein offered some steel in the midfield having been sidelined for three weeks with Staker.
The result was a 12 point victory, the Eagles kicking away in the second half after scores were level at the main break. It’s all relative and in the scheme of matches between these two clubs that was a virtual blow-out.
Despite the disruptive environment, West Coast finished third after the qualifying rounds and played Port Adelaide, who finished second, in the second qualifying final at AAMI Stadium.
In a tense, hard-fought, typical finals contest, the Eagles started well, despite the fact that Chris Judd, troubled by osteitis pubis at the back end of the year, was struggling through, and led for most of the night.
The margin was seven points at three-quarter time, but there was a game-changing incident late in the third term.
In the dying moments of the quarter, Cousins swooped on a loose ball in the centre, veered to send it forward and then felt the unmistakable twang of a pinged hamstring, the sensation of the muscle recoiling up his leg.
His game was over and the task for the Eagles was infinitely harder. Cousins was just starting to assert himself on the contest, having worn down Kane Cornes with his disciplined hard running.
In the next couple of minutes, Port kicked two priceless goals and you could almost see their emotions lift as Cousins was assisted from the ground by two trainers.
The Eagles, as they do, fought valiantly and still had chances to win the game but were denied by three points. It would be the last game in Eagles colours for two West Coast superstars.
Cousins would have his contract terminated by the club for a post-season incident and subsequently deregistered by the AFL and Judd would be unavailable for the first semi-final against Collingwood the following week.
The Eagles lost a game that went into overtime after scores were locked at full time and the Pies dominated the additional period.
Initially it appeared the Eagles would cover magnificently for the absence of Judd, Cousins, Daniel Kerr, who had a ruptured finger tendon and Waters who had a hip injury. It seemed also that the loss of Ashley Hansen to a hamstring strain 14 minutes into the game would have no great profound effect either.
But the absences proved too significant to cover and Collingwood won by 19 points.
The next day Judd informed the club of his intention to return to his home State of Victoria and not long after nominated Carlton as his destination of choice.
A premiership captain and Brownlow medallist he was one of the highest profile players ever to seek a change of club, so West Coast then set to work on organising the best outcome from the deal.
The Eagles secured two draft selections (Chris Masten and Tony Notte) as well as a young forward originally from Northampton named Josh Kennedy, who has since carved out an amazing career with the Eagles.
