After three successive early finals exits following the 1994 flag, West Coast entered 1998 looking to once again stamp their authority on the AFL. The season started poorly with the Eagles losing five of the first seven games to drop as low as 12th, before a six-game winning streak saw them climb into the top 3. They sealed their finals spot with a few weeks to go, but lost their final two games to finish 7th and book a sudden-death final at the MCG against premiership hopefuls Western Bulldogs. In a controversial decision, inspirational captain John Worsfold was left out of the side on advice from the medical team. The Bulldogs demolished West Coast and Worsfold never played again.
West Coast were well served throughout the season by a combination of premiership veterans and young guns. One of the former, full-back Ashley McIntosh, won his first Club Champion award in a stellar season in which he also earned All-Australian selection. Guy McKenna and Chris Waterman were other senior players to star during the season, while at the other end of the spectrum Ben Cousins made the All-Australian side (for the first of many times) in just his third season and Michael Braun, Chad Morrison and Phil Read also showed plenty of promise. Fraser Gehrig established himself at full-forward following the retirement of Peter Sumich, leading the club with 42 goals.
Honour board
Coach: Mick Malthouse
Captain: John Worsfold
Vice-captain: Guy McKenna
Club Champion: Ashley McIntosh
Rookie of the Year: Phil Read
Best Clubman: John Worsfold
Leading Goalscorer: Fraser Gehrig (42)
All-Australians: Ben Cousins, Ashley McIntosh
Rising Star nominees: Michael Braun (round 1)
Milestones: 200 games: Chris Lewis (round 3), John Worsfold (round 9)
150 games: Glen Jakovich (round 13), Brett Heady (round 17), Ashley McIntosh (round 20)
100 games: Drew Banfield (round 1), Ryan Turnbull (round 4)
Squad
Senior list | |||||||||
4 | David Antonowicz | 23 | Brendon Fewster | 5 | Andy Lovell | 21 | Jarrad Schofield | 24 | John Worsfold |
26 | Jason Ball | 19 | Michael Gardiner | 3 | Chris Mainwaring | 34 | Shane Sikora | ||
6 | Drew Banfield | 7 | Fraser Gehrig | 43 | Neil Marshall | 22 | Nick Stone | ||
10 | Michael Braun | 14 | Ilija Grgic | 30 | Peter Matera | 16 | Paul Symmons | ||
15 | Callum Chambers | 1 | Brett Heady | 33 | Phil Matera | 50 | Ryan Turnbull | ||
9 | Ben Cousins | 25 | Todd Holmes | 11 | Ashley McIntosh | 39 | Chris Waterman | ||
35 | Jaxon Crabb | 27 | Glen Jakovich | 17 | Guy McKenna | 12 | Mitchell White | ||
20 | Trent Cummings | 31 | Rowan Jones | 8 | Daniel Metropolis | 37 | Andrew Williams | ||
29 | Andrew Donnelly | 2 | Dean Kemp | 42 | Chad Morrison | 44 | David Wirrpanda | ||
18 | Tony Evans | 28 | Chris Lewis | 36 | Phil Read | 13 | Josh Wooden | ||
Rookie list | |||||||||
45 | Laurie Bellotti | 41 | Chad Fletcher | 47 | Trent Simpson | ||||
40 | Conrad Chambers | 46 | Todd Nener | 38 | Heath Younie |
# | Player | Games | Goals |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Heady | 15 | 21 |
2 | Kemp | 17 | 6 |
3 | Mainwaring | 3 | 0 |
5 | Lovell | 4 | 1 |
6 | Banfield | 22 | 11 |
7 | Gehrig | 23 | 42 |
8 | Metropolis | 15 | 1 |
9 | Cousins | 23 | 20 |
10 | Braun | 20 | 14 |
11 | McIntosh | 23 | 2 |
12 | White | 14 | 11 |
13 | Wooden | 13 | 0 |
14 | Grgic | 1 | 0 |
16 | Symmons | 19 | 12 |
17 | McKenna | 22 | 1 |
18 | Evans | 5 | 0 |
19 | Gardiner | 15 | 4 |
21 | Schofield | 14 | 5 |
22 | Stone | 14 | 0 |
23 | Fewster | 14 | 13 |
24 | Worsfold | 17 | 2 |
25 | Holmes | 3 | 0 |
26 | Ball | 20 | 20 |
27 | Jakovich | 21 | 1 |
28 | Lewis | 15 | 14 |
29 | Donnelly | 13 | 12 |
30 | Pe.Matera | 21 | 17 |
31 | Jones | 2 | 1 |
33 | Ph.Matera | 14 | 13 |
34 | Sikora | 1 | 0 |
35 | Crabb | 2 | 0 |
36 | Read | 21 | 12 |
37 | Williams | 5 | 1 |
39 | Waterman | 22 | 5 |
42 | Morrison | 22 | 21 |
43 | Marshall | 2 | 0 |
44 | Wirrpanda | 1 | 1 |
50 | Turnbull | 8 | 1 |
Results
Rd | Opponent | Venue | Res | Score | Posn |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | North Melbourne | MCG | L | 101-103 | 9th |
2 | Collingwood | Subiaco | W | 116-56 | 5th |
3 | Fremantle | Subiaco | W | 94-67 | 3rd |
4 | Sydney | WACA | L | 99-118 | 6th |
5 | Richmond | MCG | L | 71-86 | 10th |
6 | St Kilda | Subiaco | L | 119-121 | 11th |
7 | Adelaide | Football Park | L | 71-79 | 12th |
8 | Carlton | Subiaco | W | 92-84 | 11th |
9 | Geelong | Kardinia Park | W | 65-44 | 9th |
10 | Western Bulldogs | WACA | W | 113-100 | 8th |
11 | Port Adelaide | Football Park | L | 57-55 | 7th |
12 | Hawthorn | WACA | W | 123-108 | 3rd |
13 | Essendon | MCG | W | 83-72 | 3rd |
14 | Melbourne | Subiaco | L | 79-96 | 4th |
15 | Brisbane | Gabba | W | 76-49 | 5th |
16 | North Melbourne | Subiaco | L | 80-94 | 7th |
17 | Collingwood | Victoria Park | W | 86-65 | 6th |
18 | Fremantle | Subiaco | W | 99-60 | 5th |
19 | Sydney | SCG | L | 68-74 | 7th |
20 | Richmond | Subiaco | W | 112-73 | 5th |
21 | St Kilda | Waverley | L | 55-63 | 7th |
22 | Adelaide | Subiaco | L | 81-106 | 7th |
QF | Western Bulldogs | MCG | L | 51-121 |
Club Champion leaderboard
# | Player | Votes | Games | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1st | McIntosh | 39 | 23 | ||
2nd | Cousins | 37 | 23 | ||
3rd | Waterman | 30 | 22 | ||
4th | Gehrig | 30 | 23 | ||
5th | Ball | 29 | 20 | ||
6th | McKenna | 29 | 22 | ||
7th | Braun | 28 | 20 | ||
8th | Banfield | 28 | 22 | ||
9th | Read | 26 | 21 | ||
10th | Morrison | 25 | 22 |
Stats leaders
# | Goals | Disposals | Disp/game | Marks | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1st | Gehrig | 42 . | Cousins | 489 . | Cousins | 21.26 . | Gehrig | 144 |
2nd | Heady | 21 | Waterman | 411 | Kemp | 20.12 | Waterman | 112 |
3rd | Morrison | 21 | Pe.Matera | 375 | Waterman | 18.68 | Morrison | 104 |
4th | Ball | 20 | McKenna | 370 | Pe.Matera | 17.86 | McIntosh | 90 |
5th | Cousins | 20 | Banfield | 365 | McKenna | 16.82 | Ball | 89 |
# | Kicks | Handballs | Clearances | Tackles | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1st | Pe.Matera | 294 . | Cousins | 195 . | Cousins | 77 . | McKenna | 64 |
2nd | Cousins | 294 | McKenna | 161 | Banfield | 71 | Pe.Matera | 55 |
3rd | Waterman | 265 | Banfield | 148 | Ball | 62 | Banfield | 51 |
4th | Morrison | 260 | Waterman | 146 | Kemp | 60 | Braun | 41 |
5th | Jakovich | 222 | Kemp | 142 | Braun | 41 | Kemp | 40 |
Season summaries |
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