West Coast limped into the 1999 season without a host of their premiership stars - Chris Waterman announced his retirement before the start of the season and Brett Heady lasted just one match, following on from captain John Worsfold and Tony Evans calling it quits after 1998. Added to that was the injury-enforced absences of Chris Lewis and Chris Mainwaring, the latter managing just five games which was five more than Lewis.
Despite the loss of personnel the Eagles stormed out of the gates, winning their first six games and 11 of the first 14 to sit on top of the ladder with a couple of months to go before finals. They then won just one more match during a horror run that saw them lose to Brisbane by a record 100 points and, even more disturbingly, lose a Derby for the first time ever. As they limped into the finals in fifth spot, long-time coach Mick Malthouse announced that he would not re-sign for 2000 and would be returning to Victoria with his family. West Coast then found some form in the first week of the finals to beat the Bulldogs, but the vagaries of the final 8 system saw them drawn to play their semi-final against Carlton in Melbourne despite the Blues having finished below the Eagles and having been soundly beaten in their qualifying final. Carlton won comfortably and brought down the curtain on Malthouse's long and successful stint as West Coast coach.
Decorated defender Guy McKenna took over the captaincy from Worsfold and led from the front, winning the Club Champion award in a countback from young midfielder Michael Braun. Another young mid, Ben Cousins finished just a vote back from McKenna and Braun in third and also made the All-Australian side for the second straight year. Burly sharpshooter Scott Cummings, who had arrived from Port Adelaide in a trade the previous October, kicked 95 goals to become the first Eagle to win the Coleman Medal, although he was controversially left out of the AA-side.
Honour board
Coach: Mick Malthouse
Captain: Guy McKenna
Deputies: Glen Jakovich, Mitchell White
Club Champion: Guy McKenna
Rookie of the Year: Laurie Bellotti
Best Clubman: Dean Kemp
Leading Goalscorer: Scott Cummings (95)
All-Australians: Ben Cousins
Rising Star nominees: Rowan Jones (round 8), Andrew Williams (round 12)
Milestones: 250 games: Guy McKenna (round 15)
200 games: Dean Kemp (round 7), Chris Mainwaring (round 16), Peter Matera (semi-final))
100 games: Jason Ball (round 17)
Squad
| Senior list | |||||||||
| 4 | David Antonowicz | 29 | Andrew Donnelly | 27 | Glen Jakovich | 5 | Chad Morrison | 44 | David Wirrpanda |
| 26 | Jason Ball | 40 | Joel Duckworth* | 31 | Rowan Jones | 21 | Michael O'Brien* | 13 | Josh Wooden |
| 6 | Drew Banfield | 32 | Andrew Embley | 2 | Dean Kemp | 36 | Phil Read | ||
| 45 | Laurie Bellotti | 23 | Brendon Fewster | 28 | Chris Lewis | 42 | Chad Rintoul* | ||
| 34 | Scott Bennett* | 41 | Chad Fletcher | 3 | Chris Mainwaring | 22 | Nick Stone | ||
| 10 | Michael Braun | 19 | Michael Gardiner | 30 | Peter Matera | 16 | Paul Symmons | ||
| 15 | Callum Chambers | 7 | Fraser Gehrig | 33 | Phil Matera | 50 | Ryan Turnbull | ||
| 9 | Ben Cousins | 1 | Brett Heady | 11 | Ashley McIntosh | 39 | Chris Waterman | ||
| 35 | Jaxon Crabb | 20 | Brandon Hill* | 17 | Guy McKenna | 12 | Mitchell White | ||
| 14 | Scott Cummings* | 25 | Todd Holmes | 8 | Daniel Metropolis | 37 | Andrew Williams | ||
| Rookie list | |||||||||
| 43 | Simon Duckworth* | 46 | Mark Pearson* | 47 | Andrew Taylor* | 38 | Heath Younie |
(* indicates new addition to playing list)
| # | Player | Games | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heady | 1 | 0 |
| 2 | Kemp | 22 | 6 |
| 3 | Mainwaring | 5 | 1 |
| 5 | Morrison | 23 | 13 |
| 6 | Banfield | 24 | 6 |
| 7 | Gehrig | 11 | 19 |
| 8 | Metropolis | 24 | 12 |
| 9 | Cousins | 22 | 14 |
| 10 | Braun | 24 | 4 |
| 11 | McIntosh | 22 | 0 |
| 12 | White | 24 | 29 |
| 13 | Wooden | 6 | 1 |
| 14 | Cummings | 24 | 95 |
| 16 | Symmons | 9 | 0 |
| 17 | McKenna | 23 | 0 |
| 19 | Gardiner | 17 | 4 |
| 22 | Stone | 2 | 0 |
| 23 | Fewster | 13 | 8 |
| 25 | Holmes | 3 | 0 |
| 26 | Ball | 16 | 4 |
| 27 | Jakovich | 23 | 4 |
| 29 | Donnelly | 11 | 6 |
| 30 | Pe.Matera | 16 | 8 |
| 31 | Jones | 16 | 7 |
| 32 | Embley | 9 | 3 |
| 33 | Ph.Matera | 24 | 51 |
| 35 | Crabb | 5 | 0 |
| 36 | Read | 23 | 6 |
| 37 | Williams | 22 | 11 |
| 41 | Fletcher | 1 | 0 |
| 42 | Rintoul | 24 | 6 |
| 44 | Wirrpanda | 24 | 4 |
| 45 | Bellotti | 15 | 1 |
Results
| Rd | Opponent | Venue | Res | Score | Posn |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fremantle | Subiaco | W | 102-98 | 8th |
| 2 | Brisbane | Subiaco | W | 83-73 | 4th |
| 3 | Collingwood | Victoria Park | W | 111-75 | 3rd |
| 4 | Essendon | Subiaco | W | 97-23 | 1st |
| 5 | Hawthorn | Waverley | W | 94-68 | 1st |
| 6 | Western Bulldogs | Subiaco | W | 124-52 | 1st |
| 7 | St Kilda | Waverley | L | 48-68 | 1st |
| 8 | Adelaide | Subiaco | W | 126-72 | 1st |
| 9 | Sydney | SCG | W | 94-81 | 1st |
| 10 | Carlton | Subiaco | L | 84-101 | 1st |
| 11 | North Melbourne | SCG | L | 64-84 | 1st |
| 12 | Port Adelaide | Subiaco | W | 137-72 | 1st |
| 13 | Geelong | Kardinia Park | W | 112-68 | 1st |
| 14 | Melbourne | Subiaco | W | 112-77 | 1st |
| 15 | Richmond | MCG | L | 75-104 | 1st |
| 16 | Fremantle | Subiaco | L | 72-119 | 3rd |
| 17 | Brisbane | Gabba | L | 66-166 | 5th |
| 18 | Collingwood | WACA | W | 108-72 | 4th |
| 19 | Essendon | MCG | L | 93-153 | 5th |
| 20 | Hawthorn | WACA | L | 82-84 | 5th |
| 21 | Western Bulldogs | Princes Park | L | 104-106 | 5th |
| 22 | St Kilda | WACA | L | 80-121 | 5th |
| QF | Western Bulldogs | MCG | W | 65-60 | |
| SF | Carlton | MCG | L | 70-124 |
Club Champion leaderboard
| # | Player | Votes | Games | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | McKenna | 36 | 23 | ||
| 2nd | Braun | 36 | 24 | ||
| 3rd | Cousins | 35 | 22 | ||
| 4th | Banfield | 35 | 24 | ||
| 5th | Wirrpanda | 34 | 24 | ||
| 6th | Ph.Matera | 33 | 24 | ||
| 7th | Jakovich | 32 | 23 | ||
| 8th (tie) | Cummings | 32 | 24 | ||
| 8th (tie) | White | 32 | 24 | ||
| 10th | Metropolis | 31 | 24 |
Stats leaders
| # | Goals | Disposals | Disp/game | Marks | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Cummings | 95 . | Cousins | 515 . | Cousins | 23.41 . | White | 131 |
| 2nd | Ph.Matera | 51 | Braun | 454 | Jakovich | 18.96 | Cummings | 123 |
| 3rd | White | 29 | Jakovich | 436 | Braun | 18.92 | McKenna | 113 |
| 4th | Gehrig | 19 | Banfield | 432 | Banfield | 18.00 | Metropolis | 107 |
| 5th | Cousins | 14 | Wirrpanda | 404 | Pe.Matera | 18.00 | Braun | 104 |
| # | Kicks | Handballs | Clearances | Tackles | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Cousins | 310 . | Cousins | 205 . | Cousins | 94 . | Kemp | 50 |
| 2nd | Jakovich | 307 | McKenna | 175 | Banfield | 92 | McKenna | 41 |
| 3rd | Braun | 287 | Banfield | 173 | Braun | 63 | Pe.Matera | 37 |
| 4th | Wirrpanda | 278 | Braun | 167 | Kemp | 50 | Ph.Matera | 37 |
| 5th | Banfield | 259 | White | 144 | Read | 49 | Braun | 30 |