An inglorious start followed by a run of 10 consecutive victories and ultimately the club’s fourth premiership…that was the extraordinary tale of the 2018 season.

The campaign opened at Perth’s shiny new stadium, one of the world’s greatest sporting venues but the first AFL match on the banks of the Swan River colosseum was owned by the Sydney Swans and a brilliant WA-brown star, Lance ‘Buddy’ Franklin.

The Eagles party was blown away as Franklin produced an irresistible eight-goal haul when Sydney stunned a record 55,000 mostly Eagles fans with a 29-point victory.

Shaken but not deterred the Eagles responded by winning their next 10 matches, including a brilliant 47-point dissection of reigning premiers Richmond – fuelling belief within the camp that another flag was possible.

Sydney, however, brought the Eagles back to earth once again when they dismantled their long-time rivals at the SCG, to win by 15 points. That was the start of a mini slide as West Coast lost three matches in succession immediately after the mid-season bye.

They rallied again to win six of their last eight games, with the greatest concern coming in a round 22 loss to Melbourne, a potential finals opponent. They closed out the qualifying rounds with a solid 26-point win over Brisbane, securing second position, guaranteeing two home finals by winning 16 games.

The first of those was the qualifying final against Collingwood – the first post-season game played at Optus Stadium that brought together the biggest football crowd (59,585) ever assembled in Western Australia.

In a little strife, trailing by 10 points at three-quarter time, the Eagles were fuelled by the energy in the stands and on the back of dynamic midfield.

Elliot Yeo and Jack Redden, in concert with Dom Sheed and Luke Shuey, assumed personal responsibility to ensure opportunities were presented to a dangerous forward line.

They had 19 possessions between them, most of them contested, and consistently won the stoppages. They pumped the ball inside the attacking arc and Josh Kennedy, after a long absence with a leg injury, found some touch and important goals to ignite the scoreboard.

Jack Darling also imposed himself on the game and they kept chipping away, until the little piece of magic from Jetta.

He intercepted a handball from the Pies’ defensive zone, ducked and weaved and slotted a neat snap from 45 metres. He then mimicked the great soccer star Ronaldo with his celebration and the massive crowd lifted their support by a few decibels.

The Eagles powered their way to a 16-point victory, the only downside being a major hamstring injury for versatile defender Brad Sheppard that would end his season.

A week off and the Eagles then prepared for a preliminary final with Melbourne, in front of an even bigger crowd of 59,608 who bore witness to a sublime performance. The Eagles blew the Dees away with a near perfect first half when they kicked 10.9 and held Melbourne to just 0.6.

Jack Redden, Dom Sheed and Elliot Yeo ensured a steady stream of opportunities flowed into the forward 50 and Luke Shuey brushed aside his shadow – aka James Harmes.

When the ball went inside the scoring zone, Josh Kennedy was white hot. Jamie Cripps, Mark LeCras and Jack Darling were similarly imposing and with added defensive pressure – and goals – coming from Liam Ryan and Willie Rioli, the Dees were under siege.

Other important elements of the triumph were the work of ruckmen Scott Lycett and Nathan Vardy, who worked in tandem against Max Gawn and nullified his influence.

In addition, skipper Shannon Hurn, key backs Tom Barrass and Jeremy McGovern and Lewis Jetta, Tom Cole and Liam Duggan all played strongly. Will Schofield was included as the replacement for Brad Sheppard and also performed his role to plan.       

So the Eagles were into their seventh Grand Final and would play Collingwood who upset favourites Richmond the previous night at the MCG.

When the Eagles claimed the fourth premiership of their 32-year history, a number of players etched their name into club, if not football, folklore.

None more so than Dom Sheed. The hero who converted a set shot from deep on the boundary 28 minutes into the last term that gave his club a four-point lead. He was good throughout with 32 possessions, but this was the most definitive of exclamation marks.

Then there was Luke Shuey, the Norm Smith medallist. He had 34 touches, 18 of them contested, sent the ball inside the attacking 50 metre arc eight times and was the team leader in tackles and clearances.

So good was his performance that according to Champion Data’s rankings system it was the best finals performance from an individual in a decade. And the best ever in a grand final.

Josh Kennedy was ubiquitous in attack, kicking three goals when he was a constant menace for the Collingwood defence.

Similarly, Mark Hutchings was a thorn in the side of Brownlow Medal runner-up Steele Sidebottom, holding the Pies’ most important midfielder to just 14 possessions.

There were the defensive heroes as well; none more so than Will Schofield. He was flawless in the back half, largely opposed to dangerous Pie Jordan DeGoey. Unbeaten in every one-on-one contest in which he was involved and winning a couple of crucial contests when he was outnumbered.

The Eagles resilience was tested when they trailed by 29 points at the 25-minute mark of the first quarter after the Pies exploded out of the blocks. Their pressure was through the roof, the Eagles were trying to find a way to settle.

An opportunistic goal from Willie Rioli helped calm the nerves and two minutes later Kennedy converted a set shot that had the game back within a manageable 17-point margin at quarter-time.

The Eagles continued to chip away at the Collingwood advantage until Elliot Yeo intercepted a poor defensive kick 20 minutes into the third term. The athletic midfielder nailed the set shot and put the Eagles in front for the first time in the game.

The game ebbed and flowed until the Sheed moment.

It came after a heroic Jeremy McGovern took a trademark defensive grab and chiselled the ball to Vardy. In turn he sent the ball forward of the wing where Liam Ryan flew high, landed like a cat and sent the ball to half-forward.

Sheed took the mark and then set himself for the difficult task of slotting the goal from the boundary line. With apparent calm he completed the task and moments later the Eagles had their fourth premiership.

It was one of the great Grand Finals in history as West Coast again tasted the game’s ultimate emotion.