An injury-depleted West Coast fell to the Crows in the first final played at Football Park, Adelaide increasing their lead at every change to win by 33 points and push the Eagles close to finals elimination. West Coast's cause wasn't helped by losing Ashley McIntosh and Michael Gardiner before the match and Brett Heady and Guy McKenna during the game. Premiership stars Peter Matera and Chris Lewis were the Eagles' best.
Summary[]
| 1/4 time | 1/2 time | 3/4 time | Final | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adelaide | 4.4.28 | 6.10.46 | 10.10.70 | 14.15.99 | ||||
| West Coast | 3.1.19 | 4.6.30 | 7.9.51 | 9.12.66 |
Goals: Pe.Matera 2, Banfield, Gehrig, Kemp, Lewis, Ph.Matera, Sumich, Symmons
Best: Pe.Matera, Morrison, Banfield, Kemp, Jakovich, Symmons
Injuries: Heady (knee), McKenna (hamstring)
Reports: McKenna for striking T.Bond, Gehrig for striking K.Johnson
Milestones: Sumich 150th game and final appearance
Named sides[]
| West Coast | Adelaide | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| B: | 30.Pe.Matera | 11.McIntosh | 50.Turnbull | B: | 28.Johnson | 34.Hart | 13.Ellen |
| HB: | 24.Worsfold | 27.Jakovich | 17.McKenna | HB: | 7.Smart | 44.Caven | 23.McLeod |
| C: | 21.Schofield | 42.Morrison | 16.Symmons | C: | 5.Koster | 3.Jarman | 14.Connell |
| HF: | 29.Donnelly | 7.Gehrig | 1.Heady | HF: | 30.Vardy | 10.Robran | 24.Sampson |
| F: | 33.Ph.Matera | 4.Sumich | 14.Grgic | F: | 35.Jameson | 6.Modra | 42.Rintoul |
| R: | 19.Gardiner | 2.Kemp | 35.Cousins | R: | 15.Pittman | 26.Bickley | 32.Ricciuto |
| I: | 6.Banfield | 18.Evans | 39.Waterman | I: | 18.Bond | 36.Goodwin | 52.Rehn |
| E: | 28.Lewis | 5.Lovell | 22.Stone | E: | 16.Standfield | 8.McCartney | 9.Edwards |
| 13.Wooden | 11.James |
In: Worsfold, Grgic, McIntosh
Out: Lewis, Stone, Wooden
Late change: (WCE) Lewis, Stone for Gardiner (knee), McIntosh (thigh); (ADL) Edwards for Ricciuto (groin)
From the papers[]
The Age[]
"If Adelaide lacked a dominant forward, it still had plenty of scoring options, with 10 players sharing 14 goals and just about every player making a worthwhile contribution.
The Eagles were no where near as consistent. Peter Matera was a force on a wing, Glen Jakovich worked hard at centre half-back on an improved Matthew Robran and Drew Banfield was at least as effective as Darren Jarman in the midfield.
Dean Kemp was useful in the midfield, Chad Morrison had his moments on a half-back flank and Nicholas Stone battled gamely at full-back on Tony Modra, who kicked the third of his three goals after hauling in one of his trademark speccies.
Overall, West Coast lacked Adelaide's depth and cohesion, and there was never any suggestion of the Eagles' renewed vigor intimidating the Crows, who had thrashed the Eagles by 75 points at Football Park in round 14."[1]
WAFL[]
Semi Finals (6 Sept)
East Perth (Nener) vs Perth (Spinks, Sikora)
East Fremantle vs South Fremantle (Hart)
Injury list[]
In the lead-up to the match the following players were listed as injured or unavailable:[2]
| Player | Injury | Expected duration | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mainwaring | Knee | Season | ||||
| White | Knee | Season | ||||
| Dunstan | Ankle | Season | ||||
| Wirrpanda | Groin | Season | ||||
| Metropolis | Groin | Season | ||||
| Ball | Suspension | 1 week | ||||
| Braun | Groin | 1 week | ||||
| McIntosh | Quadriceps | Test | ||||
| Gardiner | Bruised knee | Test | ||||
| Grgic | Shoulder | Test | ||||
| Worsfold | Calf | Test |
References[]
http://afltables.com/afl/stats/games/1997/011819970907.html
| 1997 season |
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<--1996-97 offseason | 1997-98 offseason--> |