1997 season

1997

Photo: aflphotos.com.au

Position

6th

H&A record

13-9 (5th)

Finals

Lost Semi Final

Captain

John Worsfold

Coach

Mick Malthouse

Best & Fairest

Peter Matera

Most goals

Peter Sumich (33)

<--1996

1998-->

West Coast started the season strongly and after winning five of their first seven games sat at the top of the table. A poor run saw them win just two of the next seven, and a loss in Sydney in mid-July saw the Eagles fall out of the eight altogether. They recovered, winning five of the last six to finish the regular season in 5th spot and earn a potential double chance, which came in handy as they fell to eventual premiers Adelaide in the qualifying final. The second chance sent the Eagles to Melbourne to play defending champions North Melbourne, where they pushed the Roos all the way before falling in the final quarter to mark the end of another season. Injury hurt the Eagles' chances with Chris Mainwaring, Mitchell White and Daniel Metropolis among those who missed the majority of the season.

Peter Matera had possibly the best season of an already decorated career, excelling in his new role as a half-back and winning his first Club Champion award as well as selection in the All-Australian side. Of his fellow veterans, Dean Kemp continued to lead the midfield brigade and Guy McKenna and Brett Heady also had solid seasons. In just his third full season Fraser Gehrig stamped himself on the competition, earning All-Australian selection alongside Matera. Chad Morrison and Paul Symmons were other youngsters to impress, while Josh Wooden beat top draft pick Michael Gardiner to win the club's Rookie of the Year award. A fading Peter Sumich narrowly won the club's goalkicking for the seventh time in his final season, but with the lowest tally of any winner in the club's history.

Honour board

Coach: Mick Malthouse

Captain: John Worsfold

Deputies: Guy McKenna (vc), Glen Jakovich, Chris Mainwaring, Peter Matera

Club Champion: Peter Matera

Rookie of the Year: Josh Wooden

Best Clubman: Chris Mainwaring

Leading Goalscorer: Peter Sumich (33)

All-Australians: Fraser Gehrig, Peter Matera

Rising Star nominees: Michael Braun (round 14), Michael Gardiner (round 19)

Milestones: 200 games: Guy McKenna (round 8),

150 games: Peter Matera (round 9), Chris Waterman (round 19), Peter Sumich (qual. final)

100 games: Mitchell White (round 4), Tony Evans (round 19)

Squad

Offseason player movements

	Senior list
26	Jason Ball	23	Brendon Fewster	3	Chris Mainwaring	37	Craig Smoker	13	Josh Wooden*
6	Drew Banfield	19	Michael Gardiner*	43	Neil Marshall	25	Brett Spinks	24	John Worsfold
32	Ashley Blurton	7	Fraser Gehrig	30	Peter Matera	22	Nick Stone*
38	Michael Braun*	14	Ilija Grgic*	33	Phil Matera	4	Peter Sumich
41	Jonson Clifton	36	David Hart	11	Ashley McIntosh	16	Paul Symmons
35	Ben Cousins	1	Brett Heady	17	Guy McKenna	50	Ryan Turnbull
20	Trent Cummings*	27	Glen Jakovich	8	Daniel Metropolis	39	Chris Waterman
29	Andrew Donnelly	2	Dean Kemp	42	Chad Morrison	12	Mitchell White
15	Michael Dunstan	28	Chris Lewis	21	Jarrad Schofield	40	Paul Whitelaw
18	Tony Evans	5	Andy Lovell*	34	Shane Sikora	44	David Wirrpanda
	Rookie list
48	Paul Blair*	46	Todd Nener*	47	Trent Simpson*	45	Ryan Webb*

Player reviews

#	Player	Games	Goals
1	Heady	21	23
2	Kemp	22	13
3	Mainwaring	1	0
4	Sumich	13	33
5	Lovell	16	6
6	Banfield	21	14
7	Gehrig	22	31
8	Metropolis	3	0
11	McIntosh	19	5
12	White	5	4
13	Wooden	18	3
14	Grgic	22	15
16	Symmons	24	15
17	McKenna	20	1
18	Evans	14	7
19	Gardiner	10	9
20	Cummings	2	1
21	Schofield	20	5
22	Stone	14	4
23	Fewster	3	6
24	Worsfold	14	0
25	Spinks	2	0
26	Ball	14	7
27	Jakovich	16	3
28	Lewis	15	23
29	Donnelly	10	8
30	Pe.Matera	21	7
32	Blurton	3	0
33	Ph.Matera	19	30
35	Cousins	18	22
36	Hart	7	1
38	Braun	7	1
39	Waterman	12	0
42	Morrison	24	9
43	Marshall	2	0
44	Wirrpanda	6	2
50	Turnbull	24	67

Results

Ansett Cup

Rd	Date	Opponent	Venue	Res	Score	Posn
	Ansett Cup
	Fri 14 Feb	Fremantle	Fremantle Oval	L	27-110
1	Sat 22 Feb	Geelong	Waverley	L	34-64
	Sat 8 March	Port Adelaide	Subiaco	W	126-66
	Sat 15 March	Brisbane	Waverley	W	122-48
	Home & away
1	Sat 29 March	Sydney	Subiaco	W	78-37	1st
2	Sat 5 April	Geelong	Kardinia Park	L	72-78	6th
3	Sun 13 April	Fremantle	Subiaco	W	111-71	3rd
4	Sat 19 April	Hawthorn	Subiaco	W	112-88	1st
5	Sat 26 April	Melbourne	MCG	W	126-78	1st
6	Fri 2 May	Western Bulldogs	WACA	L	99-113	2nd
7	Sun 11 May	Brisbane	Gabba	W	139-60	1st
8	Mon 19 May	Richmond	MCG	L	67-119	3rd
9	Sun 25 May	Essendon	Subiaco	W	110-85	2nd
10	Sat 31 May	North Melbourne	Princes Park	L	58-103	5th
11	Sun 8 June	St Kilda	Subiaco	L	73-89	5th
12	Sat 14 June	Collingwood	Victoria Park	W	71-55	3rd
13	Fri 27 June	Carlton	Subiaco	L	79-86	5th
14	Fri 4 July	Adelaide	Football Park	L	31-106	8th
15	Sun 13 July	Port Adelaide	Subiaco	W	85-67	6th
16	Sat 19 July	Sydney	SCG	L	75-112	9th
17	Sun 27 July	Geelong	Subiaco	W	129-82	9th
18	Sun 3 August	Fremantle	Subiaco	W	82-49	7th
19	Sat 9 August	Hawthorn	Waverley	W	87-66	6th
20	Fri 15 August	Melbourne	WACA	W	97-59	5th
21	Sat 23 August	Western Bulldogs	Western Oval	L	68-86	7th
22	Fri 29 August	Brisbane	WACA	W	120-81	5th
	Finals
QF	Sun 7 September	Adelaide	Football Park	L	66-88
SF	Sat 13 September	North Melbourne	MCG	L	85-98

Club Champion leaderboard

#	Player		Votes		Games
1st	Pe.Matera		37		21
2nd	Kemp		35		22
3rd (tie)	Morrison		33		24
3rd (tie)	Symmons		33		24
5th	Heady		31		21
6th	Banfield		30		21
7th	McKenna		29		20
8th	Gehrig		29		22
9th	Grgic		28		22
10th	Turnbull		27		24

Stats leaders

	Goals		Disposals		Disp/game		Marks
1st	Sumich	33 .	Kemp	488 .	Pe.Matera	22.29 .	Gehrig	115
2nd	Gehrig	31	Pe.Matera	468	Kemp	22.18	Heady	104
3rd	Ph.Matera	30	Symmons	423	Lewis	21.13	Morrison	103
4th	Lewis	23	Morrison	408	Banfield	19.29	Pe.Matera	93
5th	Heady	23	Banfield	405	Symmons	17.63	Symmons	92
6th	Cousins	22	Heady	370	Heady	17.62	McKenna	89
7th	Grgic	15	McKenna	322	Jakovich	17.44	Ph.Matera	74
8th	Symmons	15	Lewis	317	Morrison	17.00	Grgic	71
9th	Banfield	14	Schofield	313	McKenna	16.10	Banfield	70
10th	Kemp	13	Gehrig	303	Schofield	15.65	Kemp	69
	Kicks		Handballs		Tackles		Hit-outs
1st	Pe.Matera	336 .	Kemp	192 .	Kemp	63 .	Grgic	150
2nd	Kemp	296	Banfield	176	McKenna	58	Turnbull	123
3rd	Morrison	282	Symmons	168	Banfield	53	Gardiner	85
4th	Heady	258	McKenna	145	Symmons	41	Ball	55
5th	Symmons	255	Pe.Matera	132	Pe.Matera	39	Jakovich	24
6th	Lewis	236	Morrison	126	Stone	38
7th	Banfield	229	Cousins	114	Ph.Matera	30
8th	Gehrig	223	Heady	112	Evans	29
9th	Schofield	202	Schofield	111	Morrison	29
10th	Jakovich	187	Grgic	102	Lewis	28
					Schofield	28
					Grgic	28

Tribunal

Rd		Player		Charge		Outcome
8		Gehrig		Charging P.Bulluss (Ric)		Dismissed by Tribunal
9		Lewis		Striking B.Young (Ess)		Suspended for 7 matches
9		Lewis		Striking D.Morgan (Ess)		(combined penalty)
13		Gehrig		Charging M.Hogg (Car)		Suspended for 1 match
16		Gehrig		Striking S.Grant (Syd)		Dismissed by Tribunal
16		Gehrig		Wrestling T.Lockett (Syd)		Fined by Tribunal
16		Ball		Wrestling J.Mooney (Syd)		Fined by Tribunal
16		Blurton		Wrestling S.Grant (Syd)		Fined by Tribunal
19		Evans		Striking B.Krummel (Fre)		Suspended for 2 matches
21		Ball		Striking P.Dimattina (WB)		Suspended for 2 matches
QF		McKenna		Striking T.Bond (Adl)		Suspended for 1 match
QF		Gehrig		Striking K.Johnson (Adl)		Suspended for 2 matches
SF		Ph.Matera		Tripping P.Bell (NM)		Dismissed by Tribunal
SF		Lewis		Pinching D.King (NM)