The previous season's grand finalists once again staged an epic battle, with the Swans prevailing by the barest of margins. Sydney had the best of the first half and led by as much as 22 points during the third quarter, but West Coast rallied to cut the lead by the final change and managed to hit the front in the last term. A goal in time-on to promoted rookie Steve Armstrong looked to have the Eagles home until an errant spoil by veteran Drew Banfield led to Michael O'Loughlin running into an open goal and finishing up celebrating his match-winning score just inches from the West Coast cheer squad, as Sydney got a much needed week off and consigned West Coast to a sudden-death semi final. Chris Judd was heroic with 34 possessions and 2 goals, and Dean Cox singlehandedly won his ruck duel with Swans pair Jolly and Doyle.
Result[]
| 1/4 time | 1/2 time | 3/4 time | Final | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Coast | 2.3.15 | 4.6.30 | 9.9.63 | 12.12.84 | ||||
| Sydney | 3.2.20 | 7.3.45 | 10.6.66 | 13.7.85 |
Goals: Hunter, Judd, Lynch, Waters 2, Armstrong, Cousins, Staker, Stenglein
Best: Judd, R.Jones, Selwood, Wirrpanda, Hunter, B.Jones, Cox
Injuries: Nil
Reports: Chick for rough conduct against N.Malceski
Milestones: Armstrong 50th AFL game
Named sides[]
| West Coast | Sydney | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| B: | Selwood | Glass | Wirrpanda | B: | Richards | Barry | Malceski |
| HB: | Waters | Hunter | Stenglein | HB: | Kennelly | Roberts-Thomson | C.Bolton |
| C: | Rosa | Cousins | Braun | C: | Buchanan | Kirk | Ablett |
| HF: | Chick | Staker | Butler | HF: | O'Keefe | O'Loughlin | J.Bolton |
| F: | Graham | Lynch | LeCras | F: | Schneider | Hall | Fosdike |
| R: | Cox | Judd | Fletcher | R: | Jolly | Goodes | McVeigh |
| I: | Seaby | R.Jones | Banfield | I: | Mathews | N.Davis | Dempster |
| Armstrong | Doyle | ||||||
| E: | Hansen | B.Jones | Morton | E: | Phillips | Bevan | Grundy |
In: Wirrpanda
Out: B.Jones
Late change: B.Jones for Seaby
From the papers[]
The West Australian[]
"The Eagles looked anything like winners when Schneider kicked his team's eighth goal early in the third term, giving the Swans a 22-point break, a mountain of a lead considering recent close results between these sides.
Then along came Daniel Chick, another player who Worsfold uses as a guest forward and whose strongest contributions didn't come on the stat sheet.
Chick set the cat amongst the pigeons when he crunched Nick Malceski in the middle of the ground, sending the Swan to the deck clutching a shoulder."
WAFL[]
Semi Finals (10 Sept)
Subiaco (Priddis) vs South Fremantle (Gaspar, Sampi)
Claremont (Gardiner, Morton) vs West Perth (Seaby, Sharp). Wilkes played reserves
Links[]
http://afltables.com/afl/stats/games/2006/161820060909.html
Ray Wilson, The West Australian (11 September 2006, p. G8), "Sydney orchestrates winning tune"
| 2006 season |
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<--2005-06 offseason | 2006-07 offseason--> |