After a tense finals series earlier in the day, it was only fitting that the grand final was a rematch of 2023 which saw the Eagles in their inaugural season falling short of the Perth Demons by 10 points.
Finishing the season as minor premiers, the Eagles squad was primed to write the wrongs of 2023 and that they did with a back-and-forth contest against the reigning premiers.
The Eagles started the match in hot form taking an early two goal lead with reigning Club Champion and 2024 All Australian Ben Green slotting multiple early goals to put Perth on the back foot early.
Each player had their moment in the match, but it was newly named 2024 Club Champion Paul Whitehurst chipping in with a competitive effort against a strong Perth ruck-forward combination.
The 2022 and 2023 reigning premiers weren’t going to go down without a fight though, as they clawed back the lead to keep it close before a blistering third quarter saw them take a two-point lead heading into the final quarter.
With the pain of 2023’s grand final still etched into the squad’s memory, the Eagles could easily have folded to the dominance of a Perth team looking to complete the three-peat and cement their position as the first dynasty of the WAWFL competition.
That is not what happened however, as the final ten-minutes of the match saw the Eagles squad never give up going tit-for-tat as the lead changed constantly right down to the wire before a spilled marking contest went the way of Green who slotted a goal as the final siren roared.
The elation on the faces of all eight Eagles players was clear as the dominant 2024 season was capped off with the Club’s first ever wheelchair football premiership and the pain of 2023 officially redeemed.
FINAL SCORE: West Coast Eagles 15.10 (100) def. Perth Demons 13.10 (88)
Marchetto Medal (WAWFL Fairest & Best): Ben Green
Two players were recipients of the Club’s Wheelchair Football awards with Paul Whitehurst being named 2024 Club Champion after his 29-goal season and Tristan Thomson awarded the Coaches Award in just his first year.
The West Coast Eagles are proud of our partnership with the WA All Abilities Football Association who facilitated the WAWFL competition each year and are already looking forward to defending our title in 2025.
2024 Wheelchair Football Premiership Squad
Ben Green
Tristan Thomson
Jason Kappler
Levi Bennett
Tyson Knowles
Paul Whitehurst
Dylan Maynard
Tin Yan Tse
