Under new coach Mick Malthouse and new skipper Steve Malaxos, West Coast started strongly, winning seven of their first nine games to sit in the top two on the ladder. After hitting a bit of a roadbump midseason, the Eagles recovered to win seven of their last eight games and stormed into their second-ever finals series full of confidence. They managed to contribute to a piece of history in the qualifying final against Collingwood when Peter Sumich's set shot from the pocket after the siren hit the post to tie the scores, resulting in the two sides having to return the following week. West Coast were smashed in the replay, but then returned to Waverley the following week (without Malaxos, who had been controversially dropped) for a grudge match against Melbourne, who had beaten the Eagles in their first final two years previously. This time the Eagles defeated the Dees to book a spot in their first preliminary final, but that was as far as they went as Essendon knocked them out of the premiership race the following week.
Exciting midfielder Chris Lewis had a breakout season and was rewarded with selection in the All-AFL side as well as winning the Club Champion award. He was joined in the All-AFL side by John Worsfold, the tough young defender who had stepped into the captaincy after Malaxos' omission. Full-forward Sumich improved on his rookie season to kick a club record 90 goals, including a bag of 8 against the Swans and five hauls of 6 goals. Some other talented youngsters also impressed, including draft bargains Dean Kemp and Brett Heady.
Honour board[]
Coach: Mick Malthouse
Captain: Steve Malaxos
Vice-captain: John Worsfold
Club Champion: Chris Lewis
Rookie of the Year: Dean Kemp
Best Clubman: Phil Scott
Leading Goalscorer: Peter Sumich (90)
VFL Team of the Year: Chris Lewis, John Worsfold
Squad[]
| 2 | John Annear | 39 | Brett Heady* | 18 | Andrew MacNish | 1 | Don Pyke | ||
| 38 | Adrian Barich | 29 | Peter Higgins | 3 | Chris Mainwaring | 23 | Murray Rance | ||
| 44 | Tony Begovich* | 42 | Bret Hutchinson* | 8 | Steve Malaxos | 58 | Stephen Schwerdt* | ||
| 11 | Todd Breman | David Hynes | 59 | Peter Mann* | 12 | Phil Scott | |||
| 14 | Michael Brennan | 34 | Dean Irving* | 37 | Peter Matera* | 4 | Peter Sumich | ||
| 30 | Clinton Browning | 27 | Stevan Jackson | 40 | Craig McGrath* | 7 | Craig Turley | ||
| 32 | Shane Cable | 25 | Laurie Keene | 53 | Ashley McIntosh* | 50 | Ryan Turnbull* | ||
| 16 | Joe Cormack | 33 | Dean Kemp* | 17 | Guy McKenna | 10 | Dean Turner | ||
| Warren Dean* | 15 | Dean Laidley | 26 | Peter Melesso | 35 | Troy Ugle | |||
| 22 | Shane Ellis | 5 | Dwayne Lamb | 6 | Geoff Miles | 31 | Chris Waterman | ||
| 49 | Tony Evans* | 19 | Karl Langdon | 41 | Phil Narkle* | 13 | Scott Watters | ||
| 43 | Brad Gwilliam* | 28 | Chris Lewis | 21 | David O'Connell | 9 | Peter Wilson* | ||
| 36 | David Hart | 45 | Andrew Lockyer | 20 | Paul Peos | 24 | John Worsfold | ||
| 55 | Craig McNaughton** |
(*indicates new addition to playing squad)
(**McNaughton added in mid-season draft)
| # | Player | Games | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pyke | 4 | 3 |
| 2 | Annear | 4 | 2 |
| 3 | Mainwaring | 21 | 7 |
| 4 | Sumich | 23 | 90 |
| 5 | Lamb | 23 | 7 |
| 6 | Miles | 10 | 6 |
| 7 | Turley | 21 | 16 |
| 8 | Malaxos | 22 | 10 |
| 9 | Wilson | 19 | 18 |
| 10 | Turner | 6 | 2 |
| 11 | Breman | 8 | 5 |
| 12 | Scott | 24 | 3 |
| 13 | Watters | 10 | 1 |
| 14 | Brennan | 25 | 3 |
| 15 | Laidley | 7 | 1 |
| 17 | McKenna | 26 | 4 |
| 19 | Langdon | 25 | 39 |
| 20 | Peos | 8 | 1 |
| 21 | O'Connell | 2 | 0 |
| 23 | Rance | 18 | 1 |
| 24 | Worsfold | 23 | 1 |
| 25 | Keene | 5 | 5 |
| 26 | Melesso | 4 | 3 |
| 27 | Jackson | 15 | 20 |
| 28 | Lewis | 22 | 24 |
| 31 | Waterman | 6 | 13 |
| 33 | Kemp | 23 | 4 |
| 34 | Irving | 16 | 3 |
| 35 | Ugle | 18 | 24 |
| 36 | Hart | 18 | 14 |
| 37 | Matera | 5 | 3 |
| 39 | Heady | 20 | 24 |
| 40 | McGrath | 11 | 11 |
| 41 | Narkle | 9 | 10 |
| 43 | Gwilliam | 4 | 0 |
| 44 | Begovich | 9 | 2 |
| 45 | Lockyer | 6 | 0 |
Results[]
| Rd | Opponent | Venue | Res | Score | Posn |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Collingwood | Subiaco | W | 100-54 | 3rd |
| 2 | St Kilda | Moorabbin | L | 69-127 | 9th |
| 3 | Footscray | Western Oval | W | 122-59 | 6th |
| 4 | Carlton | WACA | W | 120-70 | 5th |
| 5 | Sydney | Subiaco | W | 128-67 | 3rd |
| 6 | Richmond | MCG | W | 103-68 | 1st |
| 7 | Melbourne | MCG | L | 61-116 | 3rd |
| 8 | Brisbane | Subiaco | W | 122-63 | 2nd |
| 9 | Geelong | Subiaco | W | 112-92 | 2nd |
| 10 | North Melbourne | MCG | L | 90-118 | 3rd |
| 11 | Essendon | Windy Hill | L | 60-99 | 5th |
| 12 | Hawthorn | WACA | W | 105-82 | 4th |
| 13 | Fitzroy | Subiaco | W | 128-91 | 4th |
| 14 | Collingwood | Victoria Park | L | 76-102 | 3rd |
| 15 | St Kilda | WACA | W | 108-90 | 3rd |
| 16 | Footscray | WACA | W | 109-66 | 3rd |
| 17 | Carlton | Princes Park | W | 132-101 | 3rd |
| 18 | Sydney | SCG | W | 83-68 | 3rd |
| 19 | Richmond | Subiaco | W | 153-108 | 3rd |
| 20 | Melbourne | Subiaco | L | 103-139 | 3rd |
| 21 | Brisbane | Carrara | W | 100-59 | 3rd |
| 22 | Geelong | Kardinia Park | W | 90-83 | 3rd |
| QF | Collingwood | Waverley Park | D | 90-90 | |
| QF Replay | Collingwood | Waverley Park | L | 67-126 | |
| SF | Melbourne | Waverley Park | W | 130-100 | |
| PF | Essendon | Waverley Park | L | 58-121 |
Final ladder[]
| Pos. | Team | W | D | L | % | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Essendon | 17 | 0 | 5 | 139.2 | |||||
| 2 | Collingwood | 16 | 0 | 6 | 130.2 | |||||
| 3 | West Coast | 16 | 0 | 6 | 118.4 | |||||
| 4 | Melbourne | 16 | 0 | 6 | 113.2 | |||||
| 5 | Hawthorn | 14 | 0 | 8 | 120.6 | |||||
| ____ | _ | ______________ | _ | ___ | _ | ___ | _ | ___ | _ | _______ |
| 6 | North Melbourne | 12 | 0 | 10 | 114.0 | |||||
| 7 | Footscray | 12 | 0 | 10 | 99.3 | |||||
| 8 | Carlton | 11 | 0 | 11 | 104.1 | |||||
| 9 | St Kilda | 9 | 0 | 13 | 100.6 | |||||
| 10 | Geelong | 8 | 0 | 14 | 93.7 | |||||
| 11 | Richmond | 7 | 0 | 15 | 78.6 | |||||
| 12 | Fitzroy | 7 | 0 | 15 | 78.4 | |||||
| 13 | Sydney | 5 | 0 | 17 | 70.4 | |||||
| 14 | Brisbane | 4 | 0 | 18 | 71.4 |
Qualifying Final: Collingwood drew with West Coast
Elimination Final: Melbourne def. Hawthorn
Qualifying Final Replay: Collingwood def. West Coast
Semi Finals: Collingwood def. Essendon; West Coast def. Melbourne
Prelim Final: Essendon def. West Coast
Grand Final: Collingwood 13.11.89 def. Essendon 5.11.41
Club Champion leaderboard[]
| # | Player | Votes | Games | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Lewis | 39 | 22 | ||
| 2nd | Lamb | 36 | 23 | ||
| 3rd | Brennan | 36 | 25 | ||
| 4th | Worsfold | 35 | 23 | ||
| 5th | Mainwaring | 34 | 21 | ||
| 6th | Malaxos | 34 | 22 | ||
| 7th | Kemp | 34 | 23 | ||
| 8th | McKenna | 34 | 26 | ||
| 9th | Langdon | 32 | 25 | ||
| 10th | Sumich | 30 | 23 |
Stats leaders[]
| # | Goals | Disposals | Disp/game | Marks | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Sumich | 90 . | Malaxos | 513 . | Malaxos | 23.32 . | Sumich | 139 |
| 2nd | Langdon | 39 | Mainwaring | 479 | Mainwaring | 22.81 | McKenna | 97 |
| 3rd | Ugle | 24 | Lamb | 478 | Lewis | 21.09 | Heady | 94 |
| 4th | Heady | 24 | Lewis | 464 | Lamb | 20.78 | Mainwaring | 91 |
| 5th | Lewis | 24 | McKenna | 462 | Laidley | 19.71 | Scott | 91 |
| # | Kicks | Handballs | Tackles | Hit-outs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Lewis | 346 . | Malaxos | 229 . | Lewis | 59 . | Scott | 197 |
| 2nd | Mainwaring | 331 | McKenna | 210 | McKenna | 52 | Irving | 178 |
| 3rd | Lamb | 316 | Kemp | 179 | Kemp | 46 | Keene | 53 |
| 4th | Heady | 285 | Lamb | 162 | Worsfold | 45 | Jackson | 42 |
| 5th | Malaxos | 284 | Worsfold | 152 | Langdon | 43 | McGrath | 28 |
| Season summaries |
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