It was the summer of 1986-87 and a group of athletes from myriad backgrounds and at various stages of their journeys, both in life and football, had been brought together in unique circumstances.

Pioneers in every sense, the inaugural West Coast Eagles squad was embarking on an adventure into the unknown.

Even the handful of players lured from existing VFL clubs did not know exactly what was in front of them; there weas no blueprint for their mission, travelling from Perth to the east coast every second week to play in the game’s toughest competition.

It was vastly different to living in Melbourne and driving to traditional venues like Princes Park, Western Oval, Victoria Park or Windy Hill.

They had signed on to play with an organisation that had a name, colours and logo. But that was it.

No clubrooms. No training base. No infrastructure.

It was particularly brave of Ross Glendinning (North Melbourne), the club’s first captain, John Annear (Collingwood), Dean Turner (Fitzroy) and Phil Narkle (St Kilda), expatriate West Australians playing in the VFL who returned home.

When the 35 members of the squad gathered at Clontarf College in Manning for a weekend training camp, around February from memory, the stark reality of the varied experience in the group was evident as they set out on a triathlon of sorts.

The concept of throwing in the multi-disciplined event had been part of VFL preparation for a while, but uncommon in the WAFL. Annear, a six-year VFL veteran, turned up with a schmick racing bike while others who had not been exposed to a ramped up pre-season had begged or borrowed their chariot.

A fitness fanatic Annear dominated the triathlon, even after carrying his bike on his shoulders after it suffered a puncture in the closing stages.

“In all fairness to the other players the triathlon became something we did in off-season in Melbourne,” Annear said. “I had a reasonable bike. Richmond had done a few, but some of the other guys turned up with bikes they could have borrowed from their mum.

“Davo (Claremont wingman Peter Davidson) came along with a 10 year-old mountain bike.”

As the Eagles prepare to pay homage to the 1987 squad, inviting all players and coach Ron Alexander to Sunday’s game against Richmond, Annear reflected on the lead-up to the first season. And the first match for premiership points against the Tigers – one of his former clubs.

“I’d just finished three years at Richmond and six years in Melbourne. It was one of those things where Mossy (General Manager Graham Moss, 1976 Brownlow medallist and 1981 Claremont premiership coach) rang me out of the blue.

“He was trying to get six senior players to bolster the squad and he asked if I would think about coming home.

“I’d just finished three years at Richmond and I thought ‘if I don’t do now I might not get back.’  I had started studying physiotherapy in Melbourne and the clincher was trying to get studies transferred over.

“Bill Mitchell, one of the club’s directors and Don Watts who was Chancellor at Curtin University, made it happen.

“It was a big thing as it was the first time (the university) were making way for someone who may not have been there every second Friday. It was the start of serious sport in WA.

“They got rag dolled a bit, but three years down the track got used to the whole process. It was pretty amazing. We used to go to Guildford Grammar’s bottom oval, remove a couple of cows as we could then use it Friday about 11am.

“We’d roll up our stinking gear, head east, get our gear out when we arrived in Melbourne and it would be pungent.

“When we got to Melbourne about 9pm, we’d pull runners out and go for a run in park, have dinner about 10, wake up, adjust to Melbourne time and play footy. We were competitive even with the travel arrangement and pre-game prep sloshing at Guildford.”

Annear, vice-captain for the first three years, was slightly bemused by the entertainment around the opening match against Richmond on March 29.

“A circus,” was his description. “We had a marketing department and it was like Cirque de Solei. Half-time entertainers, a wild west theme and by the time got out to play there was horse s..t everywhere.

“The way we pinched it was phenomenal. In some ways it was a blur. I was as nervous as anything for three days. We had done okay in the night series, but Richmond still had serious fire power; Michael Roach, Dale Weightman, Maurice Rioli, Jim Jess, Michael Mitchell. They were pretty intimidating.

“Ross would have rated with those players and a lot of others would gain that status, but they weren’t there at that time.”

Richmond seemed in control at three-quarter time when leading by 33 points. But the Eagles, led by Glendinning who was swung from defence into attack, led a remarkable charge as the debutants rattled on nine goals to win by 14 points.

That remained the biggest comeback in club history until round 10, 2006 when the Eagles recovered from 54 points down in the third quarter against Geelong at Kardinia Park before winning a fabled thriller by three points.

John Annear quirks

1. John Annear had the unusual record of playing for eight different coaches in the first eight seasons of his VFL career. In his first three years in the ‘big’ league he was coached by Tom Hafey, Mick Erwin and John Cahill at Collingwood before going to Richmond where Mike Patterson, Paul Sproule and Tony Jewell were on the merry-go-round. When he joined the Eagles he had Ron Alexander in charge in 1987 and then John Todd in 1988 and 1989. Todd was then replaced by Michael Malthouse in 1990. That meant JA played under nine coaches in a 10-year career.

2. While Annear played 166 games for three clubs – 58 of them with the Eagles – his involvement with the WA club did not end there. He later served as a runner and then as a physiotherapist.

3. Annear believed that aside from the opening game of the season against Richmond one of the most important and ground-breaking victories came against Hawthorn in round five at Princes Park. The Hawks were in the middle of a golden era but on a boggy deck, the Eagles endured by 12 points in a game that fortified the fledgling team’s belief.

4. The midfield workhorse also recanted a story when the Eagles played the Brisbane Bears at Carrara, now the home base of the Gold Coast Suns, in round 20. The players were having a kick outside the changerooms (aka mine site dongas) when a Rolls Royce convertible cruised into the venue. Belonging to high flying businessman Christopher Skase the Eagles boys took on the challenge of lobbing footballs into the luxury vehicle (obviously after Mr Skase had alighted) when it was left with the roof down.