(73rd Eagles player)
A fleet-footed midfielder, Robbie West won an Ovens & Murray League premiership with Wodonga as a 21-year old before being drafted west in 1990.
West Coast career[]
Like so many other Eagles’ listed players of that era, West was forced to bide his time in the WAFL. After spending most of 1991 at West Perth, he made his AFL debut against Fitzroy in the final home and away game of the season and performed credibly, picking up 16 possessions, but took no part in the finals series.
He added just two more games in 1992 despite performing exceptionally at WAFL level and winning a Sandover Medal with the Falcons. In 1993, West started the year in the seniors, tallying 26 possessions in a loss to Adelaide and then 17 touches and two goals in a win over Richmond the following week. All up, West played 10 games for the year to take his West Coast tally to 13.
Footscray career[]
West was traded to Footscray at the end of the 1993 season and played 7 games for the Bulldogs the following year, including their losing semi-final.
Post-AFL career[]
West moved to South Australia in 1995 and played for Port Adelaide in the SANFL, winning the club’s best and fairest and a premiership medal in his first year. He was then the victim of a cowardly assault that left him in a coma. Luckily he survived and was even able to return to the field, playing another 7 SANFL games for Port in 1997, although reports suggest that he (unsurprisingly) wasn’t the same player as before the incident.
His son Connor West was drafted by West Coast in the 2021 mid-season draft after excelling for several years at West Perth.
Stats[]
| AFL | Gm | G | B | K | M | H | D | T | WAFL | Gm | G | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 4 | 7 | 16 | 2 | WP | 17 | 18 | |
| 1992 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 19 | 16 | ||
| 1993 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 81 | 27 | 36 | 117 | 14 | 11 | 12 | ||
| Tot | 13 | 4 | 2 | 95 | 33 | 44 | 139 | 17 | ||||
| Avg | 0.3 | 7.3 | 2.5 | 3.4 | 10.7 | 1.3 |
References[]
http://afltables.com/afl/stats/players/R/Robert_West.html