The biggest win of all time

In 779 AFL games West Coast have won by 100 points 15 times. But the club’s biggest win all-time was by 135 points over Adelaide at Subiaco in round 19, 1995.

Fourteen different players kicked a goal in the 26.21 (177) to 5.12 (42) massacre, which topped a 131-point win over the Brisbane Beas at the WACA Ground in 1992 to get to the top of the list and is the headline story of the ‘Best of the Eagles’ flashback series for round 19.

Only twice in club history have more players got themselves a ticket to the goal-kicking party - when the Eagles had 16 different goal-kickers against Port Adelaide in 2005 and 15 against Brisbane in 2012.

And it offers a testing trivia question. Who was the leading goal-kicker in the Eagles’ biggest win?

Clues? He ranks 22^nd on the club’s all-time goal-kicking list and needed only four of the 26 goals to head the list. And he was the Eagles leading goal-kicker in 1995.

Jason Ball, 22 and in his 35^th game, led the rout as West Coast kicked 7.6 to 0.3 in the first quarter to grab control and added 5.7 to 2.3 in the second, 6.2 to 2.4 in the third and 8.6 to 1.2 in the last.

Dean Kemp, Guy McKenna, Chris Waterman and Peter Matera kicked three goals. For Kemp and McKenna it was an equal career best.

John Worsfold kicked two goals and eight players kicked one – Fraser Gehrig, Chris Lewis, Brayden Lyle, Daniel Metropolis, Paul Peos, Don Pyke, Craig Turley and Ryan Turnbull.

Matera’s three goals came with 32 possessions and earned him three Brownlow Medal votes, while Turley and Mitchell White took the minor votes.

The seven players not to figure in the goal fest were Drew Banfield, Michael Brennan, David Hart, Glen Jakovich, Paul Symmons (who kicked three behinds), White and Peter Wilson.

The record win also proved to be a memorable last game for Paul Peos in his second stint with the club. He played 51 games with West Coast from 1987-92 and, after 33 games with the Brisbane Bears in 1993-94, returned home to add four games in blue and gold in 1995.

The record win came in a season in which West Coast finished fifth on the home-and-away ladder before losing finals to Essendon and North Melbourne. Adelaide finished 11^th.

Only two of West Coast’s 15 triple-figure wins have been interstate – against Melbourne at Princes Park in 1996 and GWS Giants at the Sydney Showgrounds in 2013. Details are:-

135 – Adelaide, Subiaco, 19/95
131 – Brisbane, WACA, 20/92
126 – G/Coast, Subiaco, 14/12
123 – W/Bulldogs, Subiaco, 9/11
118 – Brisbane, WACA, 3/88
118 – W/Bulldogs, WACA, 13/91
117 – Port Adel, Subiaco, 10/05
117 – Fremantle, Subiaco, 6/00
116 – Carlton, Subiaco, 15/03
114 – Adelaide, WACA, 4/00
111 – GWS, Subiaco, 8/14
108 – Melbourne, Subiaco, 2/12
106 – Melbourne, Princes Park, 6/96
103 – StKilda, Subiaco, 8/16
100 – GWS, Sydney Showgrounds, 9/13

Round 19 at a glance

West Coast have enjoyed an 18-15 win/loss record in round 19 matches in the AFL. They’ve gone 9-6 at home, with an 8-5 record at Subiaco, a loss at the WACA Ground and a win at Optus Stadium heading an itinerary which has taken them to every State capital.

They’ve had a combined 6-6 record at six different venues in Victoria that would have been a whole lot better but for a 0-4 run at the MCG. They are 3-0 at Docklands and 1-1 at Kardinia Park after going 0-1 at Princes Park, 1-0 at Whitten Oval and 1-0 at Waverley in the early days.

They are 2-0 at the Gabba, 1-0 at Adelaide Oval and 0-1 at Football Park for an even split overall in South Australia, and 0-1 at the SCG and Bellerive Oval in Hobart.

They’ve played more than a fifth of their round 19 matches against North Melbourne for a 4-3 record, and a further third against three other clubs - Brisbane (3-1), Western Bulldogs (2-1) and Adelaide (2-2).

They have never played a round 19 match against Carlton, GWS, Port Adelaide or St.Kilda, were 1-1 against Fitzroy, and are 1-1 against Essendon, Fremantle, Geelong and Hawthorn, 1-0 against Richmond and Gold Coast, and 0-1 against Collingwood, Melbourne and Sydney.

Thanks for the memories

Ross Glendinning was a father/son recruit to East Perth in the WAFL as a 17-year-old in 1974, a prized interstate signing by North Melbourne at 21 in 1978, and a homecoming hero when he joined West Coast at 30 for the club’s first season in 1987.

Glendinning, the Eagles’ inaugural captain, played four times against North and kept his best for last, piloting his side to their first round 19 win over the Kangaroos at Subiaco in 1988.

He’d gone WLL against North and had kicked 2-3-5 before he booted six goals to pick up two Brownlow Medal votes as they piled on 5.4 to 0.2 in the final term to win 16.19 (115) to 12.12 (84) after trailing at every change. It was Glendinning’s fifth-last game. Guy McKenna was best afield.

A big turn-around

West Coast manufactured a 72-point turnaround as they beat Richmond by 48 points at Subiaco in round 19, 1990, adding 19.18 to 9.6 after being down 3.3 to 7.3 at quarter-time as Guy McKenna took best afield honors.

The comeback win gave Peter Wilson a perfect first season against his former club after the Eagles had beaten Richmond at the MCG in ound 6.

A 100-game WAFL premiership player with East Fremantle from 1982-86, Wilson had played 54 games with Richmond from 1987-89 before returning home to share in the 1992-94 West Coast premierships and win All-Australian selection in 1996.

And a little known fact about Wilson? His full name is Peter Eric McKenzie Wilson but no relation to the 147-game Eagles fullback from 2007-17 who shares his two middle names (albeit spelt differently).

The Eagles first centurion

Dwayne Lamb became the first player to post 100 AFL games for West Coast in round 19, 1991.

A member of the club’s first side, Lamb missed just four games on his way to his ton, which came in a three-point loss to North Melbourne at the MCG.

The Eagles had done their best to mark the occasion with a win, coming from 33 points down at halftime, but were wasteful in front of goal in going down 11.16 (82) to 12.13 (85).

Lamb, a North Innaloo junior, was a product of WAFL club Subiaco during a time when they struggled badly in the early 1980s. He won the Club Champion Award in a 1982 season in which they were heading for a winless campaign until a breakthrough in round 17. He repeated the dose in ’84 before playing a key role in Subiaco’s 1986 premiership to win a contract with the inaugural Eagles.

Also the first player 50 games for West Coast, and later the first to 150, Lamb had missed only round 17, 1987 and rounds 1-4 1989 in reaching 100 games

A 1992 premiership player, Lamb beat Michael Brennan to his Eagles century by four weeks before Chris Mainwaring, John Worsfold and Chris Lewis followed in rounds 3-5-12 1992.

Another farewell game

It was getting to be an annual question … which Eagles player would play his last game for the club in round 19? After Derek Hall in 1993, Brendan Krummel in 1994 and Paul Peos in 1995 the answer in 1996 was Shane Bond. He wore blue and gold for the last time in a 45-point loss to Geelong at Kardinia Park.

Originally drafted from SANFL club Port Adelaide with pick #21 in the 1992 AFL National Draft, Bond had played 34 games from 1994-96 and was a member of the Eagles’ 1994 premiership side in his 21^st game before returning home for Port’s entry to the AFL in 1997.

He played 57 games with Port for a total of 91 games in a career that ran strikingly parallel to that of older brother Troy, a 94-gamer with Carlton and Adelaide, and a premiership player at Adelaide in 1997 after being dropped for grand final at Carlton in 1995.

The Bond brothers were drafted together, with Troy going to Carlton at pick #82 in 1992, and debuted a day apart in round one, 1994. Both played finals with both of their clubs and after Troy finished in round 22, 1999 Shane went on to play just three more games in 2000.

Oddly, despite living in the same world together for six years they played against each other just six times for three wins apiece.

Crash the party

West Coast travelled to Waverley to meet Hawthorn in round 19, 1997 looking to crash the 300^th game celebrations of veteran Hawk Chris Langford. And they did just that to mark two significant milestones of their own.

Chris Waterman played his 150^th game and Tony Evans his 100^th in a 21-point win in which Fraser Gehrig kicked five goals to pick up three Brownlow votes.

The curse continues

Five consecutive round 19 losses followed from 1996-2000 as the round 19 last game curse struck again when Laurie Belotti and Jaxon Crabb played their last West Coast game in 2000. For Belotti it was his 24^th game and Crabb his 15^th. They went out in a 17-point loss to Adelaide at Football Park.

A last game loss would also fall to Michael Prior in round 19, 2002, and Troy Wilson and Kane Munro in round 19, 2003, when Adam Selwood made his AFL debut.

Plus 10 in the derby

West Coast stretched their aggregate advantage in the local derby to 10 when they beat Fremantle 14.14 (98) to 9.10 (64) in derby No.14 at Subiaco in round 19, 2001. It was 12-2 after Ben Cousins had 32 possessions to earn three Brownlow Medal votes and Mark Merenda kicked four goals.

The 10-win buffer stretched to 11 and then an all-time high 12 in 2002.

This will be the target of the Eagles in the first derby next year after last week’s win in derby No.51 gave the Eagles a record 10^th consecutive derby win and left the overall record at 31-20.

 

Sam Kerr’s brother

Seven years after the end of his brilliant 220-game career with the Eagles Daniel Kerr finds himself in an odd situation, being shown up by his baby sister. At least on the international stage.

While the now 37-year-old 2006 premiership star enjoys time away from the spotlight in retirement 26-year-old Sam Kerr is captain of the Australian Matildas and one of the best women’s soccer players in the world. If not the very best.

But in round 19, 2005 all eyes were on the Eagles ace when he played his 100^th game against the Western Bulldogs at the MCG.

Claimed by the Eagles with pick #18 in the 2000 National Draft, Kerr was the 35^th Eagles player to 100 games. But in an indication of his immediate impact at AFL level he reached his ton having missed only 10 games.

Only six of what is now 69 Eagles 100-gamers posted their century more quickly. Glen Jakovich and Chris Judd missed one game, Dwayne Lamb four, Drew Banfield seven and Chad Morrison and Andrew Gaff eight.

Kerr’s 100^th game came in a season in which West Coast were beaten by Sydney by four points in the grand final and he was beaten by just one vote in the Brownlow Medal by teammate Ben Cousins.

It was the first of a stunning triple assault on the Brownlow by Kerr, who went on to win a flag in 2006 and earn All-Australian selection and play International Rules in 2007.

He finished third in the medal in 2006, polling 22 votes to trail only Adam Goodes (26) and Scott West (23). And in 2007 he was equal second, picking up 22 votes to share the second line on the leaderboard with Simon Black and Brent Harvey behind Jimmy Bartel, who polled 29 votes.

Sadly, Kerr’s 100^th game came in a 43-point loss to the Western Bulldogs at the MCG. After the Eagles kicked the first goal the Dogs kicked the next seven and were never headed.

But if Kerr wanted to challenge his standing against sister Sam he could always point to cumulative Brownlow votes of 2005-06-07. He polled a league-high 63 in this three bumper years. Next best were Goodes (53), teammate Chris Judd (52), West (48), Nick Dan Santo and Matthew Pavlich (44) and Jonathan Brown (41).

Guess who?

Twelve months later in round 19 2006 West Coast enjoyed a 26-point win over North Melbourne at Subiaco. Who do you think received the Brownlow votes? It was Chris Judd (3), Daniel Kerr (2) and Ben Cousins (1). In round 19, 2007 the Eagles beat North by 17 points at Docklands. Kerr collected two votes.

Seven of the best

Ben McKinley burst onto the AFL scene with 42 goals in 18 games in his first full season in 2008. If it was the 2020 Covid season he’d have a lock on the Coleman Medal.

Having played just one game in 2007 after being drafted at No.29 in the 2005 National Draft from the Northern Knights in the then TAC Cup, he kicked a career-best seven goals in a 10-point win over Essendon at Subiaco in Round 19, 2008.

He had to be content with two Brownlow Medal votes, edged out by Quinten Lynch’s 24 possessions and one goal, but did earn membership of an exclusive group in Eagles history.

He was just the 13^th Eagles player to kick seven of more goals in the game – a feat that has been achieved by only John Kennedy in the last 12 years since McKinley’s big day out.

Who was the first? It’s a tough trivia question with an unlikely answer. It was Don Holmes in round 20 of the Eagles first season in 1987.

The other 10? In chronological order after Holmes came Chris Lewis, Ross Glendinning, Phil Scott, Peter Sumich, Brett Heady, Peter Matera, Scott Cummings, Phil Matera, Mark LeCras, Troy Wilson and Quentin Lynch.

McKinley, who went on to play 46 games for West Coast and two games with North Melbourne, bagged his seven goals in his 16^th AFL game. Only Wilson (3), Sumich (9) and Holmes (12) did so quicker. Cummings kicked seven in his third West Coast game but it was his 80^th AFL game.

LeCras match-winner

It was a bizarre Saturday afternoon at Docklands in round 19, 2009, when the 13^th-placed Eagles took on the third-placed Western Bulldogs at Docklands. Twenty-four minutes into the second quarter the Eagles led 9.3 to 0.11, but it took a Mark LeCras match-winner two minutes from the final siren to secure one of the biggest upset wins.

West Coast hadn’t won in Melbourne since round 21, 2007 when, oddly enough, LeCras kicked the last-minute clincher in an eight-point win over St Kilda at Docklands.

But it seemed like their brilliant start would be all for nothing as the Dogs cut into their 46-point difficult. After Lindsay Gilbee put the Dogs in front five minutes into the last quarter and Adam Cooney goaled 10 minutes later to give them an eight-point buffer Channel 7’s Matthew Campbell said in commentary “it’s going to come down to someone doing something special”.

It did. In one of the club’s great wins, worth a look on youtube, the Eagles found two last quarter heroes to ice the relentless work of a backline led superbly by Shannon Hurn and Darren Glass.

Glass took a saving mark and found Andrew Embley in the middle of the ground. He ran to 51m and kicked truly for his third goal. Back to a point but still 11 minutes to play.

Then it was Hurn’s turn to take the great saving mark. He spread it wide to Glass. He directed it to  Patrick McGinnity who found David Wirrpanda. It was end to end football. Wirrpanda speared a pass to a leading Embley in the pocket.

From right on the boundary, 45m from goal, Embley split the big sticks. He had his fourth and West Coast were five points up with 3min14sec to play.

Back to the middle. Gerard Healy said in commentary “they’ve got to go one on one at the bounce” but they didn’t. They left Jason Akermanis free on the offensive side and after a brilliant ruck tap from Will Minson, Akermanis goaled on the run from 50m. Dogs by one.

This time the Eagles did man up at the bounce, where it was the unlikely figure of Quinten Lynch who took it out of the middle. From the next contest Matt Priddis gathered a loose ball and threw it quickly on his left.

It fell short and, playing in front, LeCras took a simple chest mark. From 25m straight in front he made no mistake. Eagles by five as the backline took over again to guarantee victory.

There was huge joy as the players and coach John Worsfold celebrated the 16.6 (102) to 13.19 (97) win. The drought had been broken.

Embley, with 32 possessions and four goals, was a clear three-vote choice while Hurn (31 possessions) picked up two votes and Matt Rosa (31 possessions) one vote. LeCras finished with 23 possessions and three goals.

A welcome change

West Coast had found wins hard to come by at Football Park in Adelaide after the Adelaide Crows and then Port Adelaide Power joined the AFL. In 34 visits they won just 11 times. A win ratio of 32.3%.

So when the SA teams moved from suburban Westlakes to a redeveloped Adelaide Oval in the heart of the City in Adam Simpson’s first year as coach there were no complaints from the west.

The Eagles played for the first time at Adelaide Oval on a beautiful Saturday afternoon in round 19, 2014 and after a big final quarter flew home after a 31-point win over the Crows.

They were two points down at three-quarter time but piled on five goals in 21 minutes. First it was Andrew Gaff, then Josh Kennedy and Kennedy again. Mark LeCras added a fourth and Kennedy a fifth and West Coast were 28 points up with nine minutes to play.

They’d done enough. Gaff, with 31 possessions and three goals, was awarded three votes, while Kennedy’s five goals earned him two votes. He kicked 5.4. It could have been seven or eight. Matt Priddis (31 possessions) took one vote.

Good breeding

Hopes were high for Malcolm Karpany when he arrived at the West Coast Eagles via pick No.31 in the 2013 AFL National Draft. And with very good reason. The Indigenous 18-year-old from Moonta on the Yorke Peninsula of South Australia was a direct relative of 300-game AFL champions Gavin Wanganeen and Michael O’Loughlin.

Karpany was so highly regarded that the Eagles took him with their second pick after claiming Dom Sheed at No.11 and before picking up Tom Barrass at No.43.

Among the multitude of players drafted after Karpany who are still playing regularly in the AFL are pick No.32 George Hewett, No.35 Toby Nankervis, No.37 Alex Pearce, No.42 Jade Kolodjashnij, No.44 Aliir Aliir, No.47 Ben Brown, No.52 Darcy Byrne-Jones, No.55 Orazia Fantasia, No.56 James Sicily, No.57 Jayden Hunt, No.65 Tom Langdon, No.66 Sam Lloyd and No.68 Karl Amon, plus rookie picks Charlie Cameron, James Harmes, Patrick Ambrose, Sam Gray and Jake Kelly.

Having moved to Adelaide to do his schooling at Rostrevor College, which counts among its notable alumni AFL identities Luke Darcy, Tom Jonas, Jared Crouch, Ben Hart and Neil Kerley, plus singer Paul Kelly and actor Anthony LaPaglia, Karpany was drafted from SANFL club Woodville-West Torrens.

Best afield in the 2013 SANFL under-18 grand final after representing SA in the Australian championships, the small forward/midfielder spent his first two seasons with West Coast playing in the WAFL.

He got his AFL chance in round 19, 2016. And there was no soft entry to the big-time. He was thrust onto the big stage of the MCG as the fifth-placed Eagles took on 12^th-placed Collingwood in a Saturday twilight game in front of a crowd of 34,929.

Ironically, among five Eagles changes by coach Adam Simpson, Sheed played his first AFL game of the year following a pec injury but Barrass was omitted. Rupert Wills debuted for the Magpies.

It wasn’t a great day. After leading 3.1 to 1.4 in Jeremy McGovern’s 50^th game, West Coast conceded six of the next eight goals to trail by 17 points at halftime. They pulled to within a point late in the third term but four quick and unanswered Collingwood goals early in the last decided the issue. The Pies won by 17 points.

Karpany, wearing jumper No.39, played 65% game time for eight possessions and four tackles as Andrew Gaff (35 possessions) and Matt Priddis (31 possessions) won plenty of the ball and Jack Darling kicked four goals.

He played rounds 10-14-15-16-19-20 in 2017, producing his best effort of 17 possessions and three goals in a tight win over the Bulldogs at Docklands, and signed a one-year contract extension.

He spent the first eight weeks of his make or break 2018 season in the WAFL, missed five weeks with a bad knee, played two WAFL games, missed three with a rib problem and finished with two games in the WAFL. He hadn’t done enough and was de-listed at the end of the season.

Another debutant

Twelve months on, in round 19 2017, West Coast went through it all again with another South Australian. Luke Partington, a midfielder drafted from SANFL club Norwood with the Eagles’ first pick at #28 overall in the 2015 National Draft, got his first taste of the AFL against Brisbane at Subiaco.

It was Andrew Gaff’s 150^th AFL game and the Eagles celebrated with a 68-point win. Gaff led the possession count with 30 but Josh Kennedy took three votes with six goals, extending his career tally to 499. It should have been more – he kicked 6.4.

Partington had 16 possessions to go with a third quarter goal and did enough to play the next five games, including the extra-time elimination final against Port Adelaide at Adelaide Oval.

He made way for Sharrod Wellingham in the semi-final and never at AFL level played again before he was delisted on the same day as Malcolm Karpany in October 2018.

Seven and 600 for JK

The record for most goals in a game at Optus Stadium stands to the credit of Sydney’s Lance Franklin at eight. It was posted in the very first game at the new stadium in round 1, 2018 and has survived exactly 50 games, including its most serious challenge in round 19 last year when West Coast hosted North Melbourne.

Josh Kennedy kicked three goals as his side grabbed the upper hand in the first quarter and had five by halftime. He added a sixth inside a minute after the long break and a seventh in time-on of the third quarter.

The Eagles had the game won and Kennedy needed one more. It didn’t happen. Not even a shot on goal. He finished with 7-0 in an 18.13 (121) to 10.12 (72) win in Rhyce Shaw’s eighth game as caretaker North coach.

Although he missed the record Kennedy did collect three Brownlow votes as Dom Sheed picked up two votes for 31 possessions and Jack Darling one vote for 21 possessions and two goals.

Kennedy also became the 32nd player in league history to kick 600 AFL goals, surpassing Kelvin Templeton (593), Jonathan Brown (594) and Stewart Loewe (594).