West Coast Eagles Wiki
Advertisement
Craig Turley
Photo: aflphotos.com
DOB
24/8/65
Height
185cm
Weight
84 kg
Junior club
Arrived
Pre-draft selection in the 1988 national draft
Number
7
Debut
Round 1 1989 vs Essendon
(47th Eagles player)
Games
115
Goals
91
Honours
Premiership medal (1992)
All-Australian (1991)
Club Champion (1991)
B&F Top 10
2 (1991, 1992)
Best Finish
1st (1991)
Last app.
Semi Final 1995 vs North Melbourne
Departed
Traded to Melbourne at the end of the 1995 season for Andy Lovell
Other clubs
West Perth (WAFL) 1988-1995, 2001
Melbourne (AFL) 1996-1997

One of the more unsung driving forces behind the Eagles’ early 1990s success, Craig Turley was an endurance athlete capable of playing on a forward flank or in the midfield.

West Coast career[]

Turley made his debut in the season opener in 1989 and played 11 games for the year, demonstrating his potential with a 24 possession, 3 goal performance against Carlton.

Turls cemented his place in the side in 1990 and then exploded in 1991. The smooth-skilled runner played every game, averaging 22 possessions and a goal a game, and won the Club Champion award by a vote from Guy McKenna. He also finished runner up in the Brownlow Medal to Jimmy Stynes and was named on the interchange bench in the All-Australian team that year.

While back injuries hampered him in 1992, he still played 23 games and won a well-deserved premiership medal.

Turley shocked the WA footy world early in the 1993 season when he announced a premature retirement. Plenty of rumours as to the reasons behind his decision circulated at the time - Turley revealed years later in a documentary on the ABC that he had found out he was adopted and took time off to find his birth parents.[1]

He returned in time for the 1994 season but not as the player he had been in 1991. Turley spent the best part of two months at West Perth mid-season, and was suspended for the first two weeks of finals for striking Carlton’s Greg Williams in the final home and away round. (Williams, despite having giving Turley a few good whacks to the gut to provoke the strike, got off scot-free and went on to narrowly win the Brownlow over Peter Matera). Turls was unable to win his spot back and missed out on the 1994 premiership as a result.

Still battling the back problems that had plagued him since 1992, Turley played 17 senior games in 1995 and showed only flashes of his best. At the end of the season, after playing in a premiership with the Falcons, he was traded to Melbourne in a straight swap for Andy Lovell.

Melbourne career[]

Turley played 16 games for the Dees in the 1996 season but retired in the 1997 pre-season after a recurrence of his back injury.

Post-AFL career[]

He made a comeback for West Perth in 2001 but played just two games. After hanging up the boots, Turley became an indigenous relations consultant and co-authored West Coast's Reconciliation Action Plan.

Stats[]

AFL Gm G B K M H D T WAFL Gm G
1989 11 5 6 127 39 43 170 12 WP 14 12
1990 21 16 11 240 70 143 383 24 5 3
1991 26 25 14 330 83 247 577 31 0
1992 23 17 17 261 94 155 416 31 1 0
1993 2 0 0 5 2 6 11 2 3 2
1994 15 10 6 106 39 78 184 18 9 10
1995 17 18 13 138 55 114 252 16 6 5
Tot 115 91 67 1207 382 786 1993 134
Avg 0.8 10.5 3.3 6.8 17.3 1.2

References[]

http://afltables.com/afl/stats/players/C/Craig_Turley.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craig_Turley

https://www.wafl.com.au/player/craig-turley

http://waflfootyfacts.net/player/stats.php?PlayerID=6511

  1. Mark Duffield, The West Australian (25 February 2006, p.190), "Turley's torment"
Advertisement