West Coast Eagles
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The West Coast Eagles Football Club is an Australian Rules Football club that is a member of the Australian Football League.
The club is based at Subiaco Oval in Perth, Western Australia and was formed when the AFL (then the Victorian Football League) decided to include a team from Western Australia in August 1986.
The Eagles won their first official match, a pre-season game against Footscray (now Western Bulldogs) on March 3, 1987. They made their first Grand Final in 1991, and became the first non-Victorian football club to win a Premiership in 1992 and won again in 1994.
Chris Judd was the first West Coast player to receive Australian Rules Football's highest individual award, the Brownlow Medal, for being the best and fairest player in the AFL in 2004. He also won his first club Best and Fairest award in the same year.
The West Coast Eagles are currently coached by former Premiership captain, John Worsfold and are captained by mid-fielder Ben Cousins.
As of round 13 2005, the West Coast Eagles are AFL Premiership favourites, boasting an impressive 12-1 win-loss record (the only loss coming unexpectedly against then bottom-placed Collingwood Football Club), are sitting 3 games clear on top of the ladder, and captain Ben Cousins is the current Brownlow Medal favourite. The only question mark hanging over the Eagles is their ability (or lack thereof) to win in Melbourne, where the Grand Final is always played (regardless of which team finished on top of the ladder, a peculiarity of AFL football). This perceived weakness was exacerbated by the loss to lowly Collingwood, although the Eagles bounced back by smashing reigning champions Port Adelaide Football Club by a record 117 points, before returning to Melbourne to beat top 4 team Richmond by 2 points, a match many regarded as the best game of the year. The Eagles followed this up 2 weeks later to defeat the second-placed Melbourne Football Club in a top-of-the-table clash in Melbourne.
Team of the Decade
In 1996, when the AFL was celebrating its 100th year, the West Coast Eagles were celebrating their 10th, and so named a team of the decade:
| Backs: | David Hart | Michael Brennan | Ashley McIntosh |
| Half Backs: | Guy McKenna | Glen Jakovich | John Worsfold |
| Centres: | Peter Matera | Dean Kemp | Chris Mainwaring |
| Half Forwards: | Brett Heady | Mitchell White | Craig Turley |
| Forwards: | Chris Lewis | Peter Sumich | Tony Evans |
| Followers: | Ryan Turnbull | Don Pyke | Dwayne Lamb |
| Interchange: | Chris Waterman | Steve Malaxos | Peter Wilson |
External Links
- Official Website of the West Coast Eagles Football Club (http://westcoasteagles.com.au/)
- Official website of the Australian Football League (http://afl.com.au)