Narrowing down retiring superstar Josh Kennedy's 270 matches for West Coast to his 10 best games in blue and gold is no mean feat.
From kicking big bags, standing tall on the big stage or nailing last-minute match-winners, the Eagles great has done it all.
Below westcoasteagles.com.au has picked the 10 most memorable performances from the club's all-time leading goalkicker.
1. Round 9, 2011
Sunday, May 22 – Patersons Stadium
West Coast Eagles 6.5 9.10 16.15 26.19 (175)
Western Bulldogs 2.1 5.3 8.4 8.4 (52)
Goals: West Coast Eagles – Kennedy 10; Shuey 5; LeCras 3; Embley, Cox 2; Smith, Masten, Darling, Lynch. Western Bulldogs – Jones 2; Giansiracusa, Stack, Grant, Sherman. Murphy, Liberatore.
Concerns of a post-derby let-down heading into a confrontation with the Western Bulldogs were doused on the back of key forward Josh Kennedy kicking a double-figure tally for the first time.
Backing up from the first Carlton Mid Derby victory in three years, history suggested the attention focussed on the local battle often led to let down the next week.
The West Coast Eagles quashed that theory in the most emphatic style possible, putting the Bulldogs to the sword in a record breaking 123-point rout.
The Eagles were in sync from the outset and when leading by 28 points at the first change the only concern was that the hosts had not transferred total domination to just rewards on the scoreboard after the Bulldogs bagged two late goals.
There was a similar feeling at half-time and even half-way through the third quarter when the margin was still less than four goals, despite 19 scoring shots to eight. But from that point forward, they were clinically efficient, kicking 17 of the last 18 goals.
At the centre of the onslaught was power forward Kennedy, who became just the fourth Eagle – behind forward coach Peter Sumich, Scott Cummings, the only Coleman medallist in club history to that stage, and teammate Mark LeCras – to rack up a double figure tally in a single match.
He marked the ball with surety, kicked with accuracy and provided his dominant midfield teammates with the confidence to kick long and strong to a one-out contest deep inside the forward 50 after clearly out-pointing all four Bulldogs opponents asked to quell his influence.
2. Round 8, 2014
Sunday, May 11 – Patersons Stadium
West Coast Eagles 5.2 11.5 21.5 30.8 (188)
GWS Giants 1.2 6.2 9.3 12.5 (77)
Goals: West Coast Eagles – Kennedy 11; LeCras 4; Darling 3; Cox, Cripps, Hutchings 2; Gaff, Shuey, Priddis, Naitanui, Selwood, Wellingham. GWS Giants – Smith, Hoskin-Elliott 2; Phillips, Tomlinson, Giles, Hunt, Kelly, Lamb, Palmer, Greene.
Football is a team game, but occasionally a performance is all about one man. And this was such an occasion.
When the West Coast Eagles kicked 30 goals in a game for the first time in history, Kennedy was front and centre.
Sure, his forward cohort, Mark LeCras was brilliant with four goals, Matt Priddis, Matt Rosa and Shannon Hurn also appeared to have their own personal footy at times, but this was all about JK who became the only active player in the AFL to kick two double-figure bags; following on from the 10 goals he kicked against the Western Bulldogs in round 9, 2011 at Patersons Stadium.
Kennedy’s dancing feet have been the focus in recent times, with television cameras zooming in on his stuttering approach to set shots at goal.
Against GWS those cameras again locked in on Kennedy’s boots as he produced one of the most memorable goal-kicking feats of the modern era.
When a forward kicks 11 goals it’s hard to go past him as the most influential player on the ground.
So it came as no surprise that Kennedy got the nod as best afield in the 111-poiint demolition of Greater Western Sydney, after one of the great performances ever seen at the ground.
Kennedy was in hot from the outset when he kicked 11 goals straight, hitting the scoreboard early as West Coast established its superiority and continued in that fashion to the end, possibly even getting better as the day wore on.
While the double-figure haul appeared to be a realistic prospect when he kicked his seventh major for the day in the third term, his teammates then sensed the opportunity, worked to create more opportunities for him and he was able to capitalise.
They didn’t go crazy in directing the ball his way, but he was like an NBA star in the three-point zone where his sure hands and hot boot took care of everything sent his way.
3. Round 19, 2014
Saturday, August 2 – Adelaide Oval
West Coast Eagles 5.5 10.8 14.11 20.16 (136)
Adelaide 6.0 9.2 15.7 16.9 (105)
Goals: West Coast Eagles – Kennedy 5; Gaff, Darling 3; Cripps, Ellis 2; Mackenzie, Hutchings, LeCras, Hurn, Lycett. Adelaide – Walker 4; Betts, Jenkins 3; Crouch 2; Martin, Wright, Dangerfield, Sloane.
West Coast’s first sojourn to the Adelaide Oval was always going to be interesting.
With football’s premier venue in the State moving from West Lakes to the inner city’s traditional home of cricket, there was a level of curiosity.
The venue had been a big winner with fans of the two SA clubs, they enjoyed the location and were flocking in big numbers to all games. Around 50,000 was the norm. And so it was for this clash with the Crows.
About five minutes into the contest, the unique setting on the River Torrens was about all there was to enjoy. Adelaide exploded out of the blocks. Kicked the first four goals. The Eagles couldn’t get their hands on the ball.
It was becoming sickening, after every goal, hearing a pre-recorded crow call booming out of the audio system. Caaaw, Caaaaw, Caaaaaw it thundered with each Adelaide goal. It was already a long day.
But West Coast then settled into those foreign climes. Began to get a share of the footy and slowly edged back into the contest. So much so that by quarter time, they trailed by only a point and had racked up 10 shots at goal, opposed to the Crows’ six.
By half-time the visitors led. Rather than Crow calls belting around the stadium, they were calling on what they label the 19th man, their fans, to generate a comeback.
And that they did. They resumed after half time full of vitality, regained the ascendancy and the lead – two points – by three quarter-time.
It was then a question of how West Coast responded. And as it transpired, it was with the club’s best win of the season.
Adelaide had lost Daniel Talia to an errant and accidental knee to the head from opponent Josh Kennedy and he failed the concussion test, so sat out the second half.
In his absence the Eagles forwards took charge. Kennedy, who bagged five and subsequently secured two Brownlow Medal votes, Darling and Mark LeCras were constantly dangerous and, largely through their contributions, the Eagles took 17 marks on the lead inside the attacking 50.
4. Round 2, 2015
Friday, April 10 – Domain Stadium
West Coast Eagles 4.1 7.8 14.10 20.11 (131)
Carlton 6.1 6.1 7.6 9.8 (62)
Goals: West Coast Eagles – Kennedy 10; LeCras 4; Shuey, Cripps 2, Naitanui, Lycett. Carlton – Casboult 2; Everitt, Tuohey, Murphy, Henderson, Bell, Ellard, Jones.
One of the good things about footy, the saying goes, is that there is always next week.
And for the West Coast Eagles that came quickly. After dropping the opening game of the season against the Western Bulldogs, the Eagles were back in business six days later.
That challenge came in the form of Carlton. On the metaphorical big stage, which is a bit ridiculous given that every game of AFL footy is played on a grand scale. But Friday nights are stand-alone fixtures and generally the rest of the footy world watches.
And they were looking to see how West Coast responded.
Initially – save for the first 30 seconds when Nic Naitanui produced a remarkable opening, following up his ruck work to kick a goal from outside 50 – it was Carlton who looked best.
Their midfield was on top, courtesy of dual Brownlow medallist Chris Judd, and they took a two-goal lead at the first change.
West Coast coach Adam Simpson changed things up, pushed Matt Rosa to shadow the Blues star and from there the game turned. Irrevocably.
West Coast was on top in the second term, though reward did not come on the scoreboard from that level of control. Not immediately anyway.
At the half, the Eagles led by 13 points and it seemed it was going to be a tight arm wrestle to the death.
After the long break, however, Josh Kennedy imposed himself on the game. He had already enjoyed a presence with three goals in the first half, but added six in a clinical display in the third quarter.
The game was done and dusted and most interest focused on whether Kennedy, for the third time in his career, could bag double figures. He completed that task in the opening minutes of the final term.
He and Mark LeCras (four goals) enjoyed the midfield dominance set up by Naitanui and relished by Rosa (who held Judd to seven possessions after quarter time), Matt Priddis, Luke Shuey and Andrew Gaff.
5. Round 21, 2015
Saturday, August 8 – Domain Stadium
West Coast Eagles 5.5 11.9 16.10 25.12 (132)
Western Bulldogs 3.2 9.5 12.6 13.7 (85)
Goals – West Coast Eagles: Kennedy 7; Hill 4; LeCras 3; Sinclair, Hutchings 2; Sheed, Cripps, Darling, Shuey, Newman, Naitanui, McGinnity. Western Bulldogs: Stringer 5; Crameri 3; Redpath, Dickson 2; Wallis.
A 16-point lead at half-time over another top-four aspirant would normally be greeted with a level of satisfaction.
But coach Adam Simpson, his assistant coaches and the players were far from content with their first hour at the coalface against the Western Bulldogs at Domain Stadium.
In contrast to the opening game of the season at Etihad Stadium, when contested football was the order of the day, this game was played in a slingshot with first one team having a crack at scoring and then the other grabbing the footy and attacking on the rebound.
The Bulldogs managed to slice their way through the West Coast “press” far too easily and had nine goals on the board at the half. It was one day footy and not the way the Eagles wanted to play.
All season a feature of the way West Coast played had been their ability to play the game in their half and to make it difficult for opponents to produce any offensive assaults.
So at half time, Simpson and his coaching staff addressed the issue, made it a tighter, more hotly contested game and the result was 14 goals to four in the second half.
The ascendancy was built around the domination of Nic Naitanui, Matt Priddis and Andrew Gaff through the middle, while Mark Hutchings and Dom Sheed also enjoyed their work in the clinches.
That group was responsible for setting up opportunities for a dangerous forward line, spearheaded by Coleman Medal leader Josh Kennedy, who produced an imperious display attacking side of centre.
He took 14 marks – nine of them inside the attacking arc – and kicked seven goals in a sublime display that gave him a 17-goal advantage as the league’s leading goal-kicker with two rounds remaining.
He would go on to join Scott Cummings as a Coleman medallist and also polled three Brownlow Medal votes for his game-breaking performance against the Bulldogs.
6. Second Preliminary Final
Saturday, September 25 – Domain Stadium
West Coast Eagles 0.2 3.8 8.14 10.20 (80)
North Melbourne 3.4 4.7 5.11 7.13 (55)
Goals – West Coast Eagles: Kennedy, Shuey 2; Sheed, Darling, Hill, LeCras, Priddis, Wellingham. North Melbourne: Higgins 2; Brown, Ziebell, Turner, Gibson, Garner.
In terms of a vision of how this game might unfold, it was reasonable to expect no one in West Coast colours imagined the first 40 minutes of this preliminary final would play out quite like this.
The Kangaroos were a mature team, the most experienced outfit in the finals series and they had played in the preliminary final 12 months earlier. They were well versed in this finals caper.
It was about seven minutes into the second quarter that they were in the box seat to kick their fourth, unanswered goal. Again the Roos had rebounded efficiently, had leap-frogged the Weagles Web, and had the ball out the back in space.
The footy was kicked to the advantage of veteran North forward Drew Petrie. He was odds-on to kick a goal from about 20 metres, but sensing the need to do something miraculous Brad Sheppard willed himself to make a spectacular tackle.
He took Petrie and the ball to ground, then prevented the Roos star from knocking the ball loose, until the cavalry arrived and the Eagles cleared the danger zone. The slingshot attack saw Josh Kennedy mark about 40 metres from goal.
He survived a late assault from Scott Thompson who threw his body at the Coleman medallist’s torso. Kennedy absorbed that brutal contact, Thompson sucked in some deep breaths and with the North defender still on his haunches, Kennedy galloped away and kicked the Eagles first goal.
From there West Coast slowly assumed the ascendancy in a classic finals encounter where contested footy was king. It was tough to find any combination of time or space, but by half-time West Coast trailed by just five points and won on to win by 25 points.
That was possible because of the imposing presence of Kennedy up forward. He kicked two goals for the game, but both were precious and central to winning.
7. Round 1, 2016
Sunday, March 27 – Domain Stadium
West Coast Eagles 7.4 13.7 19.9 26.10 (166)
Brisbane 5.2 7.4 11.7 15.12 (102)
Goals – West Coast Eagles – Kennedy 8, Cripps, Hill 3; Naitanui, LeCras, Bennell, Darling 2; Yeo, Redden, McGovern, Ellis. Brisbane – Taylor, Christensen 3; Rockliff, Schache, Walker, Rich 2; Hanley.
Perfection it wasn’t, but is there such a thing as the perfect game anyway?
But there was still a lot to like about this season opener against Brisbane, including a bag of goals for the dynamic Kennedy.
The Eagles attacking flair, ball movement and rebound out of defence was exemplary. And when the ball went inside the forward 50 metre arc, it did not rebound without a score being posted or intense pressure being applied.
The result of all that was the Eagles kicked at least six goals in every term.
That was possible because of the work of a brilliant midfield outfit, led by Matt Priddis and Nic Naitanui, with outstanding support coming from the likes of Luke Shuey, Andrew Gaff and Jack Redden.
Up forward Josh Kennedy was in stellar form, in conjunction with Jamie Bennell, Josh Hill, Jamie Cripps and Mark LeCras. The scoring options were bountiful with 11 Eagles finding the goals.
West Coast was never in any real danger of losing this match, with Naitanui, Priddis, Shuey and Kennedy the star contributors in a solid team display, the champion Eagles spearhead kicking eight goals.
Priddis had 29 disposals to half-time and it was remarkable how often he was able to effectively dispose of the footy when under fierce tackling pressure. He finished with 43 disposals, 10 of them hard ball gets, to be the second most influential player on the ground.
Kennedy received three Brownlow Medal votes for his dominant performance that could have been even more pronounced had he not been so selfless with ball in hand and giving off opportunities for teammates to hit the scoreboard.
8. Round 21, 2017
Saturday, August 12 – Domain Stadium
West Coast Eagles 4.0 9.2 10.4 15.10 (100)
Carlton 3.3 3.7 9.10 12.11 (83)
Goals – West Coast Eagles: Kennedy 6; Cripps 3; Darling, Redden 2; Partington, Hutchings. Carlton: Silvagni, Casboult, Murphy 2; Boekhurst, Gibbs, C Curnow, Lamb, Pickett, Fisher.
This was always going to be one of those ugly games; the prevailing conditions and an opposition game plan built around creating a scrap meant the style of contest was almost pre-determined.
Perth was in the middle of a prolonged weather cycle of strong winds and heavy showers. The rain would desist for this game, but an unusual gusty north-westerly breeze ensured players’ skill levels were given the ultimate test.
So it was no surprise that large numbers of West Coast fans opted to stay away and watch it from the comfort of their lounge rooms.
What they missed, given the circumstances, was the return of Matt Priddis, a six-goal haul that put Josh Kennedy at the top of the Coleman Medal race and a grinding victory that elevated the club back inside the top eight.
Priddis resumed a fortnight after announcing he would retire at season’s end and combined with another retiring star, Sam Mitchell, to provide some much-needed midfield grunt. The long-serving Eagles star had 10 tackles while Mitchell has more possessions than any of his teammates.
Kennedy, meanwhile, who missed five games with a calf injury, went back to the top of the goal-kicking leaderboard with another six goal haul that gave him 25 goals from five games post injury. The 2015 and 2016 Coleman medallist led Essendon’s Joe Daniher by a goal at the end of the round.
More importantly those six goals helped to propel the Eagles to a much-needed victory. Defeat would almost certainly have spelled the end of the finals quest.
Kennedy earned two Brownlow Medal votes for another classic performance of forward line artistry.
9. Grand Final 2018
MCG, Saturday September 29
West Coast Eagles 2.2 4.3 8.7 11.13 (79)
Collingwood 5.1 6.3 8.7 11.8 (74)
Goals – West Coast Eagles: Kennedy 3; Rioli, Hutchings, Shuey, Cripps, Darling, Yeo, Vardy, Sheed. Collingwood: De Goey 3; Stephenson, Cox 2; Varcoe, Adams, Hoskin-Elliott, Mihocek.
Reputations are made in big games. And in Australian sport they come no bigger than an AFL grand final.
More than 100,000 people at the MCG, around four million people watching it live on television around the country. The spotlight falls squarely on this event for three hours on the last Saturday of September every year.
And when the West Coast 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 the Eagles a four-point lead. He was good throughout with 32 possessions, but this was the most powerful 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.
And Josh Kennedy was ubiquitous in attack, kicking three goals when he was a constant menace for the Collingwood defence on a day of extreme fluctuations. Clearly the best forward in the game he was ever threatening and drew close attention from the Pies defenders.
Scores were locked at 8.7 (55) apiece at the last change, but the mental strength of these Eagles would be tested again as Collingwood kicked the first two goals of the final quarter inside 90 seconds.
To come back from a five-goal deficit in the opening stanza, on Collingwood’s home ground, was one thing. Could this group reverse momentum yet again?
The answer was rapid.
From the next centre clearance, Vardy took a commanding contested mark, went back and split the middle. The next 30 minutes would produce some of the most absorbing, compelling, adrenaline-charged footy in history, closed out by a perfectly executed set shot from Sheed.
It was an absolute spear from the young man who handled the spine-tingling moment with aplomb.
10. Round 13, 2021,
Optus Stadium, Saturday June 13
West Coast Eagles 3.0 7.1 8.3 13.7 (85)
Richmond 2.2 7.5 9.9 12.9 (81)
Goals – West Coast Eagles: Kennedy 4; Allen, Cripps, Waterman 2; Naitanui, Jones, Ryan. Richmond: Riewoldt, Lambert, Coleman-Jones, Martin 2; Aarts, Bolton, Castagna, Graham.
Led by two of the greatest players in club history the West Coast Eagles produced a stunning come-from-behind victory for the ages against Richmond in a pivotal twilight game at Optus Stadium.
With Josh Kennedy ubiquitous inside – and outside of the attacking arc – and 2018 premiership captain Shannon Hurn patrolling the backline imperiously, the Eagles came from 22 points behind in the middle of the last quarter to win 13.7 (85) to 12.9 (81).
Kennedy, the greatest goal-kicker in club history, had a spring in his step from the start after having a week off the previous round, while Hurn controlled things in the back half to thwart Tiger attacking moves and then launch forward surges.
He even drifted down the ground in the pulsating final moments that helped West Coast power to victory and hit Kennedy with a lace out pass with laser-like precision.
Kennedy kicked four goals and with support from Oscar Allen, Jamie Cripps and Co. their accuracy in front of goal was a major factor.
It was fitting that Kennedy, the most consistent contributor in the game, should kick the goal in the last minute that snatched back the lead for the Eagles. After marking a low ball from Liam Ryan, he snapped around the body from the set shot and nailed it – to an enormous roar from the crowd that might have been heard in his home town of Northampton.
With fellow 2018 premiership stars Tom Barrass and Nic Naitanui, the advantage of big game experience was a telling factor. Midfielders Jack Redden, Dom Sheed and Elliot Yeo also stepped up to the occasion and were influential.
Midfielders Redden and Sheed led the way around the contest and youngsters Harry Edwards and Foley showed once again that are emerging players of note.
