The injury-ravaged West Coast went down to Collingwood in an extra-time thriller, 17 years after the drawn qualifying final between the two sides led to the extra-time rule. Despite an injury list including the star trio of Cousins, Judd and Kerr, as well as Beau Waters before the bounce and Ashley Hansen shortly afterwards, the Eagles were able to open up a 23-point lead in the third quarter thanks to Dean Cox's ruck dominance and Matt Priddis's tireless work in the middle. Collingwood then fought back with three late goals to get within a kick at three-quarter time, before tying the scores in a frantic final quarter. The Eagles had nothing in the tank for the overtime periods, managing just one point in each of the five-minute mini-halves and seeing their premiership defence finished in straight sets.
Summary[]
| 1/4 time | 1/2 time | 3/4 time | Full time | Final(ET) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Coast | 0.4.4 | 5.5.35 | 8.9.57 | 10.12.72 | 10.14.74 | |||||
| Collingwood | 1.5.11 | 4.8.32 | 7.11.53 | 10.12.72 | 13.15.93 |
Goals: LeCras, Wirrpanda 2, Cox, Embley, Fletcher, Lynch, Priddis, Rosa
Best: Priddis, Cox, Glass, B.Jones, Wirrpanda, Selwood
Injuries: Hansen (hamstring)
Milestones: Chick final appearance, R.Jones final appearance
Named side[]
| West Coast | Collingwood | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| B: | B.Jones | Glass | Wirrpanda | B: | Clement | Wakelin | Lockyer |
| HB: | Waters | Hunter | Stenglein | HB: | H.Shaw | O'Brien | Goldsack |
| C: | Braun | Selwood | Embley | C: | Clarke | Burns | Buckley |
| HF: | Chick | Hansen | Nicoski | HF: | Maxwell | Rocca | Pendlebury |
| F: | LeCras | Lynch | Seaby | F: | Thomas | Cloke | Rusling |
| R: | Cox | Fletcher | Hurn | R: | Richards | O'Bree | Davis |
| I: | Staker | Rosa | Priddis | I: | Swan | Fraser | Didak |
| R.Jones | Medhurst | ||||||
| E: | C.Jones | McNamara | Morton | E: | Licuria | R.Shaw | Bryan |
In: Fletcher, Hansen
Out: Cousins (hamstring), Judd (groin)
Late change: (WCE) McNamara for Waters (hip); (COL) Bryan for Fraser (back tightness)
From the papers[]
The Age[]
"As is the case in any war of attrition, there were heroes that came and went on a night on which two brave teams battled out a modern-day epic - one for the history books.
Matt Rosa put his hand up for special mention when he kicked truly from 55 metres to put the Eagles clear 23 minutes into the last term. But Dale Thomas quickly answered to give the Pies a two-point break.
Misses to Andrew Embley on the run and Darren Glass, a magnificent performer all night, locked the scores and forced coaches and players to look into the eye of the storm at full-time.
Collingwood's Chris Bryan and Pendlebury scored the telling goals in extra-time, while Rosa and Brent Staker missed their chances."[1]
Players in the WAFL[]
Preliminary Final (15 Sept)
South Fremantle (Graham) vs Subiaco
Grand Final (23 Sept)
Subiaco (Nicoski) def. Claremont (Morton, MacKenzie, C.Jones, Wilkes). Former Eagles Jarrad Schofield and Brad Smith won premiership medals and Smith received the Simpson Medal as best afield for his 7-goal haul.
Injury list[]
In the lead-up to the round the following players were listed as injured:
| Player | Injury | Expected duration | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spangher | Shoulder | Season | ||||
| Wooden | Hip | Season | (On LTI list 21/6, replaced by C.Jones) | |||
| Sampi | Personal | Indefinite | (On LTI list 24/7, replaced by McNamara) | |||
| Cousins | Hamstring | Season | ||||
| Kerr | Finger tendon | 2 weeks | ||||
| Butler | Groin | 1 week | ||||
| JUdd | Groin | 1 week | ||||
| Wirrpanda | Groin | Test | ||||
| Hansen | Hamstring | Test | ||||
| Embley | Hamstring | Test | ||||
| Rosa | Shoulder | Test | ||||
| Thornton* | Knee | Season |
References[]
http://afltables.com/afl/stats/games/2007/041820070914.html
- ↑ Ray Wilson, The Age (15 September 2007), "Magpies refuse to die": http://newsstore.fairfax.com.au/apps/viewDocument.ac?page=1&sy=age&kw=rocca+and+medhurst+and+wirrpanda&pb=age&dt=selectRange&dr=entire&so=relevance&sf=text&sf=headline&rc=10&rm=200&sp=nrm&clsPage=1&docID=AGE070915PE3L17J9A71
| 2007 season |
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<--2006-07 offseason | 2007-08 offseason--> |