A one-point thriller

Among countless unforgettable moments for West Coast fans in 50 western derbies perhaps one stands above all others.

It wasn’t a wild all-brawl or a massive win, or any other headline-grabbers that might generate a lot of chat. It was a one-point win decided on a kick from a favorite enemy after the siren by a piece of padding on the goal post in round 18, 2011.

And with derby #51 to be played this weekend as AFL football returns to Perth for round seven of the crazy campaign that 2020 has become, it is the headline story for the ‘Best of the Eagles’ round 18.

It was a see-sawing contest between the fifth-placed Eagles and the sixth-placed Dockers. Fremantle led by three points at quarter time before West Coast took a one-point lead to halftime and a seven-point lead to the last change.

Josh Kennedy and Luke Shuey stretched the West Coast lead to 22 points midway through the final term before Fremantle steadied. Quickly. First, Stephen Hill. Then Chris Mayne. And finally Nathan Fyfe. Three goals in six minutes.

West Coast led by three. Seven minutes to play.

A rushed behind for Fremantle cut it to two points. Three minutes to play.

It should never have been so close. West Coast had gifted not one or two but three goals to Fremantle via 50m penalties. Zac Clarke took full toll on the first after Nic Naitanui failed to give the ball back properly and did likewise when Scott Selwood gave the ball to Naitanui rather than Clarke.

Then, as Fremantle launched their late charge, Darren Glass knocked the ball out of the hands of Fyfe to set up what turned out to be the last goal of the game for the fresh-faced 19-year-old.

Suddenly, every contest mattered. With the ball deep in the Fremantle forward line West Coast midfielder Matt Rosa, playing his 106^th game, was penalised by umpire Dean Margetts for a deliberate out of bounds.

It was not exactly a new concept. In fact it dated back to the 19^th century, when, prior to the 1883 season, a rule was introduced to award a free kick against a player who deliberately kicked the ball out of bounds from a kick-in after a behind.

This was extended to putting the ball out of bounds from any in-play situation at the intercolonial conference prior to the 1886 season.

At this time, the rule read almost identically to its present form, stating that a free kick shall be given when a player wilfully kicks or forces the ball out of bounds while in play.

It was introduced largely to put an end to the disliked strategy of kicking the ball out of bounds as a means of wasting time.

The rule existed in the Laws of the Game more or less unchanged from then, except for the period from 1925 until 1938, when the basic out-of-bounds rules provided for a free kick to always paid against the last player to touch the ball before it went out of bounds, deliberate or not.

From 1939 the last touch element was removed and although applications varied over the years strictly speaking the rule was largely unchanged until a specific directive to apply the rule more strictly was introduced in 2016.

So, Margetts, a highly-respected 300-game umpire, was ahead of the times when he handed Fremantle’s Hayden Ballantyne a chance to win the game after the siren with a 50m kick from the boundary line.

At least there was no 50m penalty.

Ballantyne, one of the players who Eagles fans loved to hate, stood just outside the intersection of the 50m arc on the boundary line at left half forward. He went with a drop punt. From behind it looked good off the boot. So good that Ballantyne thrust his arm in the air as he charged off in celebration.

But the ball faded across the goals and hit the padding on the right post just above a sea of hands from both sides. West Coast won.

It was 8-.7 (65) to 9.10 (64) in an unforgettable 50^th game for Will Schofield.

Dean Cox, with 22 possessions (10 contested possessions), 42 ruck hit-outs and five tackles, won the Glendinning Medal and in his post-game interview admitted the Eagles “gave away some stupid 50m penalties that we’ve got to really address”.

Cox also picked up two Brownlow Medal votes behind Luke Shuey, who had a team-high 26 possessions (16 contested), eight clearances and a goal.

Derby #34 was the second clash between the two WA sides decided by a point after derby #12 in 2000 went to Fremantle 15.11 (101) to 15.10 (100) after West Coast led by 32 points at halftime and 42 points soon after.

It was a match that has become known as the Demolition Derby. It started with a free kick to Fremantle’s Matthew Pavlich against Michael Gardiner even before the first bounce and included a wild brawl at halftime.

In the aftermath Fremantle’s Dale Kickett was suspended for nine matches for striking West Coast’s Phillip Read (twice) and Andrew Embley. Gardiner got two weeks for striking Pavlich, Fremantle’s Brad Dodd got two matches for attempting to strike Read, and Read got two matches for striking Dodd in retaliation.

Seven Dockers and five Eagles were reported on melee charges, and after Embley was found not guilty the other 11 received fines of between $2000 and $4000.

In the final quarter two Eagles were carried off on a stretcher – five-goal hero Phil Matera after a collision with umpire Steve Handley, and Mitchell White after a legal Troy Cook shirt-front.

The football came down to one kick. With West Coast two points down Peter Matera snapped across body from about 25m in the right pocket. It bounced in front on an unattended Darren Glass just outside the square. Playing just his 13^th game and his derby at 19, Glass tried to trap it but it eluded him.

Did he touch it? It didn’t matter. The ball dribbled across the square and hit the goal post. A point to West Coast. Fremantle win by one.

There have been eight derbies decided by less than 10 points for four wins apiece.

West Coast won by four points in derby #9 in 1999 and Fremantle won by five points in derby #23 in 2006 and derby #30 in 2009, and by seven points in derby #40 in 2014. And West Coast twice prevailed by eight points in derby #21 in 2005 and derby #47 in 2018.

But only one of the other eight really went down to one kick. It was derby #23 in 2006, when Fremantle’s Paul Hasleby goaled from 48m straight in front 42sec from full-time before the Dockers shut it down at the last centre bounce.

Round 18 at a glance

Round 18 has been kind to the Eagles, with 21 wins and a draw from 32 games, with one bye. Even more so at home, with a powerhouse 17-4 record in round 18 matches at Subiaco (14-4), the WACA (2-0) and Optus Stadium (1-0).

In 33 years the Eagles have only lost four round 18 matches at home – three to Fremantle and a 17-point loss to Richmond in 2014. They’ve gone 2-6 in Victoria – 0-1 at Waverley, 1-2 at Princes Park and 1-3 at Docklands. And they are unbeaten elsewhere – 1-0 in NSW, 1-0 in the NT and a draw in Queensland.

They have a negative record only against North Melbourne (0-1) and have been unbeaten against Melbourne (3-0), Hawthorn and Essendon (2-0), Sydney and Brisbane (1-0), with a draw against Gold Coast. They are positive against Richmond (3-0) and St Kilda (3-2) and have an even split against Fremantle (3-3), Western Bulldogs (2-2) and Collingwood (1-1). They have never played Adelaide, Carlton, Geelong, GWS or Port Adelaide.

The other Matera

It’s a little unfair, but Wally Matera will always be the ‘other’ Matera. The oldest of famous Matera brothers, his 24 games with West Coast in 1987-88 and his 32 games for Fitzroy in 1989-90 pales into insignificance in comparison to the combined 432 games and 606 goals of siblings Peter and Phil.

But Wally, five and a half years older than Peter and more than 12 years older than Phil, has his own undeniable place in Eagles history.

Father of current Fremantle player Brandon Matera, he was a member of the first Eagles side which beat Richmond at Subiaco in round 1, 1987, collecting 18 possessions and kicking a team-high and equal career-best four goals. He, Chris Lewis and Phil Narkle were the Eagles’ first Indigenous.

Matera also played in the Eagles’ first final at Waverley in 1988 in what turned out to be his last game in blue and gold.

In between he had a career-best 35 possessions, kicked two goals and earned one Brownlow Medal vote in a 44-point round 18, 1988 win over Melbourne at Subiaco.

Ross Glendinning kicked six goals in Kevin Caton’s first and last game for the Eagles and Murray Rance, in his 18^th game for the Eagles, had a career-best 23 possessions to pick up the only three-vote Brownlow rating of his 97-game career.

The pride of Boyanup Capel Dardanup

Dean Turner might just be the only AFL player to come out of the Boyanup Capel Dardanup Football Club. Now known as the Eaton Dardanup FC and located 180km south of Perth and south-east of Bunbury, it doesn’t give even Google reason to think there is another one.

But he did his small town proud when, in round 18, 1989, he played his 100^th AFL game for West Coast in a 51-point Subiaco win over Richmond in which Peter Sumich kicked five goals and four players each topped 30 possessions – Dwayne Lamb (33), Chris Mainwaring (31), David Hart (31) and Peter Worsfold (30). Mainwaring (3) and Lamb (1) took the Brownlow votes.

Turner, a WAFL player with East Perth from 1978 and the club fairest and best winner in 1981, began his AFL career in the pre-Eagles era. He played 54 games with Fitzroy from 1984-86, including three finals in his last games.

But when the opportunity to join the inaugural playing list of the Eagles he jumped at it. He was one of seven players with AFL experience to join the new club.

Ross Glendinning, a 190-game Brownlow Medallist with North Melbourne, headed the recruits direct from Melbourne with Turner, Collingwood/Richmond 108-gamer John Annear and St Kilda 48-gamer Phil Narkle.

Geoff Miles, a Victorian who had played 31 games with Collingwood, was recruited by the Eagles after two years with Claremont in the WAFL, while Rob Wiley, a 95-gamer at Richmond who had retired from the AFL in 1983, made a comeback to part of the new club. And Hawthorn nine-gamer Steve Malaxos had also played the 1986 season with Claremont.

A ton for another recruit

Geoff Miles could easily have accepted his AFL career had finished when de-listed by Collingwood in 1984. A product of the Ivanhoe Amateurs in Melbourne, he’d played his 31^st and last game with the Pies in round eight, aged 22.

He’d lost his place in what was then a 12-team Victorian competition and, without any idea that the Eagles were on the horizon, accepted an opportunity to join Claremont in the WAFL.

He did enough in 1985-86 to earn a spot on the inaugural Eagles list and was a member of the club’s first team in 1987.

And in round 18, 1990 he played his 100^th AFL game as West Coast beat Sydney by 15 points at the SCG. With Dean Turner and Steve Malaxos, he was a survivor from the original import group of seven. Malaxos had 31 possessions for three Brownlow votes

Miles played only two more games for West Coast, and had to be content playing with Claremont in the WAFL. He was a member of their beaten grand final side in 1990 and their premiership side in 1991 before being traded to Geelong. He played his last game in the 1992 grand final loss to West Coast.

And the boy from Bruce Rock

David Hart played his 100^th AFL game for the Eagles in round 18, 1992. Born in Victoria, he grew up in Bruce Rock, 240km east of Perth, and played with West Perth and South Fremantle in the WAFL before joining the Eagles.

He was the club’s sixth 100-gamer behind Dwayne Lamb, Michael Brennan, Chris Mainwaring, John Worsfold and Chris Lewis.

Sadly, it wasn’t a happy day. The Eagles, a point up at quarter time, kicked only three goals and were beaten by 66 points by St Kilda as Tony Lockett kicked seven goals.  

Back to back wins over the Tigers

West Coast enjoyed back-to-back round 18 wins over Richmond at Princes Park in 1993 and Subiaco in 1994. Guy McKenna, Don Pyke and Glen Jakovich took the Brownlow Medal votes when Derek Hall made his debut in a 19-point win in ’93, and Peter Matera, Dean Kemp and Ryan Turnbull caught the umpires’ attention when Peter Sumich kicked six goals in a 48-point win in ’94.

Take that Sheeds

Chris Waterman kicked 75 goals in his 177-game career, including six in a 1990 semi-final against Melbourne, but as important as any goal was the one he kicked in round 18, 1996 against Essendon at Subiaco.

It was the match-winner in a magnificent contest which sent Eagles fans away in raptures as they waved their jackets wildly in the direction of Essendon coach Kevin Sheedy.

The crowd response right across the ground was a throwback to Sheedy’s much-publicised jacket salute after Essendon had beaten West Coast by two points in round 16 1993 on route to a premiership win.

It came after the Eagles, 20 points up at halftime, had managed just 3.3 to the Bombers’ 9.4 in the third quarter to find themselves 17 points down at the last change.

With 10 minutes to play it was still 10 points when Mitchell White took the ball out of a ruck contest in the forward pocket and miraculously screwed it back over his shoulder left foot for a goal.

The home side had all the momentum in the closing stages but the visiting defence stood firm, and with the clock down to 3min40sec Essendon still led.

From a boundary throw-in 50m from the West Coast goal the ball spilled to Waterman near the boundary line. He had time and space. So much. He ran to about 45m and fired a left-footer which put his side in front.

There was still time. Essendon’s Ben Doolan, who had earlier given away a 50m penalty for a Peter Matera goal, offended again. In what Channel Seven’s Ian Robertson described as “a shocker” he hit Eagles debutant Shane Sikora high and late after a mark.

“There’s a time for aggression and there’s a time for composure and control,” added co-commentator Leigh Matthews. “That was a time for composure”.

The 50m penalty put Sikora within range. He hit the post. They’d added 3.6 to 0.1 in the final term. It was 14.15 (99) to 14.9 (93). The Bombers had one last chance. They went forward before Tony Evans pulled off a match-winning tackle on Mark Mercuri to close it out.

“Have a look at this … the jackets are flying at Subiaco,” said Robertson.

White, with 28 possessions and two goals, topped the Brownlow votes from Dean Kemp (27 possessions and Drew Banfield (22 possessions), while Peter Sumich kicked six goals.