Celebrate our 25th season and count down the moments that have shaped our football club
Hundreds of moments make up the proud football club we all know and love today.
From a match-winning goal, to a gravity-defying mark, to a solid team-oriented effort, our past on-field achievements have brought joy to supporters across the country and have helped to shape and define the direction our future will take.
Season 2011 marks our 25th year, and to help us celebrate, you were invited to have your say on the historic moments you believe have been the most significant to the West Coast Eagles.
All your votes have been tallied up and we are ready to countdown from moment #25. Stay tuned to westcoasteagles.com.au as we’ll be revealing one moment each week until we unveil the single most defining moment in our history at the end of the home and away campaign.
Coming in at #3 is West Coast’s incredible comeback against Geelong at Skilled Stadium back in 2006.
With 18 minutes to go in the third quarter, West Coast trailed by 54 points, a margin that chief executive officer Trevor Nisbett admits seemed insurmountable.
“I was sitting with [then chairman] Dalton Gooding,” Nisbett said. “At half-time, we were getting a fearful ribbing from these Geelong guys sitting in front of us.
“John was ropeable. I don’t see him get angry too often, but he was pretty angry at half-time and the guys just responded. Halfway through the third quarter, we were starting to kick back and I said, ‘Dalton, I’m not sure this is all over.’
By three-quarter-time, the margin had been reduced to 36 points and the start of the final term triggered an Eagles avalanche, with the visitors scoring two goals in the first three minutes.
Swingman Adam Hunter had been knocked out in the first quarter while taking a mark on the boundary line and sliding into the dugout courtesy of a Cameron Mooney bump, but he reappeared to kick the winning goal.
Teammate Dean Cox paid tribute to Hunter’s courage in returning to the field after sustaining serious facial injuries.
“That showed exactly what Hunts’ character was about,” Cox said. “I think just his toughness and what he brought to the football side, the commitment he showed to come back on and to kick that goal late in the game, that’s probably one of the biggest moments.
“As a side, to rally together, when we hadn’t beaten Geelong too many times down at Skilled Stadium, knowing we had a big deficit, but to stick to the structures and the game plan that we knew could win games of football and come out on top was pretty rewarding.”
The comeback was the best in AFL history from so deep in a game, and the victory represented the biggest three-quarter-time deficit ever retrieved by the club.
Click here to watch past and present West Coast players look back on this remarkable match.
