McIntosh debut

It was 1991 before the Eagles won a round 11 game, and it came as an 18-year-old Ashley McIntosh made his AFL debut 18 months after becoming an example often-quoted by Melbourne-based clubs on why the father/son system needed a little more accountability.

While today there is a bidding system that ensures clubs pay market value for father/son players, at the time eligible candidates could simply be claimed by the club for their last pick in the draft.

Because 51-game St Kilda, WA and Victorian ruckman John McIntosh had also played 149 WAFL games for Claremont the Eagles paid the princely price of selection #106 for his son Ashley McIntosh in the 1989 AFL National Draft.

At 18 years 224 days McIntosh became the fifth player aged 18 or younger and the fourth-youngest player at the time behind Chris Lewis (18/12), Mitchell White (18/44) and John Worsfold (128/205) when he debuted against Richmond at Waverley.

The tall blonde, later to play in the Eagles’ 1992-94 premierships and become one of the club’s all-time greats, kicked two goals from six disposals on debut as his side led by 50 points at three-quarter time and won 17.15 (117) to 12.8 (80).

Dean Kemp (28 possessions) took three Brownlow Medal votes from Stevan Jackson (26 possessions, three goals) and Dean Irving (18 possessions, 19 hit-outs) while Peter Sumich kicked five goals and Lewis became the third player to kick 100 goals for the Eagles behind Ross Glendinning and Sumich.

The win gave the Eagles a 10-0 record at the mid-point of the season, with one bye, which 29 years on remains the best round 11 standing in club history.

It was the first of five times when the Eagles have sat on top of the AFL ladder at the notional mid-point of the season. They did likewise in 1994, 1999, 2005 and 2006.

Interestingly, when they won their first flag in 1992 they were sixth on a 15-team ladder at Round 11 with five wins, three losses, a draw and two byes.

In the 1980s they were 5^th-7th-14th at round 11, and in the 1990s they went 5^th-1^st-6^th-2^nd-1^st-5^th-7^th-5^th-7^th-1^st. In the first decade of the 21^st century they were 5^th-15^th-6^th-3^rd-10^th-1^st-1^st-2^nd-13^th-13^th, and from 2010 they went 14^th-6^th-3^rd-8^th-11^th-3^rd-7^th-7^th-1^st-4^th.

Fantastic 50 for Jako

Glen Jakovich celebrated his 50^th AFL game in round 11 1993 with a 57-point SCG win over the Sydney Swans and three Brownlow Medal votes.

It was the debut of Will Schofield and Damien Hampson and saw Peter Sumich (six goals) and Ashley McIntosh (four goals) outscore the home side by themselves as Peter Matera (two) and Brett Heady (one) rounded out the medal votes.

In a pointer to how much things have changed, the total possession count was 298 for West Coast and 264 for Sydney, and the free kick count was 37-32 to the Swans.

Waterman’s MCG love affair

The MCG hasn’t been so kind to a lot of West Coast players, but one who had reason to like it more than most was Chris Waterman.

Not only did he enjoy the ultimate success at the MCG via the 1992-94 premierships but he enjoyed a 13-11 career record at the grand final venue and played his 100^th AFL game there against Melbourne in round 11, 1994. And he celebrated with a 44-point win.

Waterman became the ninth player to post 100 games for the Eagles as Chris Lewis kicked five goals and Peter Matera (3), Ashley McIntosh (2) and Dean Kemp (1) took the Brownlow Medal votes.

Only eight Eagles players have had more wins at the MCG – Kemp (18), Glen Jakovich (16), Drew Banfield (16), McIntosh (15), Lewis (14), Peter Matera (14), Chris Mainwaring (14) and Guy McKenna (14). And of them none have a better ‘net’ record than Waterman’s “plus two” mark and only Mainwaring (14-13) is in the positive.

Nice to see you Mick, but …

In round 11, 2000 West Coast played for the first time against the man who had guided the club through 243 games and 25 finals from 1990-99, and master-minded the 1992-94 premierships.

Mick Malthouse had replaced Tony Shaw at Collingwood and after a 5-5 start which had the Pies ninth on the ladder he found himself and his new team hosting his old team at Docklands.

Coincidentally, Ken Judge, who had taken on the unenviable task of stepping into the Malthouse shoes, was to coach his 100^th AFL game on the same Sunday afternoon.

If Malthouse’s presence meant anything untoward to a West Coast team made up entirely of ex-Malthouse players it didn’t show. They kicked seven goals in the first quarter to lead by 37 at quarter-time and were untroubled to take the points 18.20 (128) to 13.14 (92).

A 20-year-old Michael Gardiner, who had enjoyed something of a love/hate relationship through three years under Malthouse, picked up three votes for 20 possessions and 31 hit-outs, while Dean Kemp earned two votes and Chad Morrison, later to join Malthouse at Collingwood, received one vote.

This was West Coast’s second round 11 win over Collingwood. They’d also bettered the special foe by 53 points in 1996 at Subiaco, when Mitchell White was the hero with a team-high 26 possessions, an equal team-high three goals and three Brownlow votes as they kicked 11.11 to 4.4 after halftime.

Andrew Donnelly had 22 possessions and two goals to earn two Brownlow votes in his eighth game. He’d already picked up three votes in his third game but in 60 subsequent games he never polled again.

A new foe

Port Adelaide had joined the AFL in 1997, and from day one had carried a strong West Coast presence. Their very first side included no less than three ex-West Coast players, more than any other club, with acting captain Brayden Lyle joined by Shane Bond and Ian Downsborough.

West Coast had accounted for the competition new boys by 18 points in their first meeting at Subiaco in round 15, 1997 and in round 11, 1998 they travelled east to confront the Power at Football Park.

This time, having lost John Worsfold, Glen Jakovich and Tony Evans to injury, it was much tighter on a cold and wet night in the SA capital.

After leading by seven points at the first change the Eagles were 15 down at the second and 10 down at the third in a low-scoring slog. It took two inspirational goals from Ben Cousins in six minutes, the only goals by either side in the final term, to get the visitors home.

And even then they had to survive an anxious moment when Darryl Poole had a last-minute set shot which could have given Port the win. It could not have got much closer. He hit the post.

Nineteen-year-old Cousins took three Brownlow votes for 22 possessions and his two goals, while Chris Waterman picked up a team-high 25 possessions and Jason Ball in his 75^th game became the eighth player to kick 100 goals for the Eagles.

Merenda’s memorable moment

Mark Merenda was a product of suburban Osborne Park via WAFL club West Perth who played 26 games with West Coast in 2001-02 after 75 games at Richmond from 1994-2000.

Noteworthy as a teammate of brothers Peter and Phil Matera in the Italian Team of the Century, he enjoyed a special Eagles moment in round 11, 2002 in what turned out to be his fourth-last AFL game.

Playing against Sydney at Subiaco, he kicked not one but two goals in the last six minutes to give the Eagles a 13-point win after they had been 12 points down 17 minutes into the final term.

West Coast had led by 20 points at half time before Sydney kicked eight of the next 10 goals to grab what seemed like a match-winning advantage.

Phil Matera cut the deficit to six points and after a Josh Wooden behind Merenda put them in front. David Wirrpanda gave them a little buffer before Merenda put it beyond doubt.

Wooden, with 25 possessions and a goal, picked up three of his four career Brownlow votes, while Dean Cox (14 possessions, 27 hit-outs and one goal) received two votes.

Merenda, of Sicilian decent, played the next three games before being dropped, and after missing the last five games of the season with a back injury he retired. Understandably, he’d had enough. From his debut to the last game of his last season he missed 81 games in total.