1998 Westar Rules Grand Final
The 1998 Westar Rules Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between East Fremantle and West Perth on Sunday, 20 September 1998, at Subiaco Oval in Perth, Western Australia to determine the premier team of Westar Rules for the 1998 season. East Fremantle won convincingly by forty-three points, 20.10 (130) to 13.9 (87), taking out their twenty-ninth premiership but their last as of 2018.
In the process, the Sharks achieved their sixteenth consecutive win, having lost during the season only to Claremont and Subiaco in their fifth and sixth matches. It constituted the most consecutive wins ending in a Westar/WAFL/WANFL premiership since East Fremantle had achieved a unique undefeated season in 1946. After the game Shark coach Tony Micale said that the 1998 team must rank as one of the greatest in East Fremantle history.[1]
East Fremantle and West Perth had completely dominated the season, finishing five games and over fifty-eight percent clear of their nearest rivals for the premiership, but the Sharks showed their superiority in the second semi-final by holding the Falcons to three goals in completely fine conditions[2] and West Perth only overcame Subiaco in the preliminary due to a brilliant solo goal from Neil Mildenhall,[3] so East Fremantle entered as hot favourites with odds of 1/4 to win their third premiership of the 1990s.[4]
As it turned out, despite major injuries to Leigh Willison, Wayne Roser and Steve O‘Brien, East Fremantle were, after kicking into a wind in the opening quarter, always ahead of the Falcons.[5] They kicked the first three goals and at no point did West Perth get closer than the ten-point quarter time margin. Three successive goals early in the third quarter were responded to by the Falcons, but late in that period the Sharks kicked four goals without reply to be thirty-eight points ahead and West Perth coach John Dimmer knew then his team would lose.[6]
Adrian Bromage (East Fremantle) won the Simpson Medal as best on ground, completing a rare double of winning the Sandover Medal and Simpson Medal in the same season.[7][8]
Teams
East Fremantle
| FB: | Jon Stagg | John Kerr | Scott Spalding |
| HB: | Marshall Stockden | Greg Madigan | Michael Collica |
| C: | Gary Dhurrkay | Martin Mellody | Chris Pobjoy |
| HF: | Steve O‘Brien | Earl Spalding | Stephen Bilcich |
| FF: | Clint Kirey | Damien Condon | Leigh Willison |
| R: | Greg Egan | Adrian Bromage | Wayne Roser |
| I: | Matthew Clucas | Justin Sanders | Rhett Bowden |
| Coach: | Tony Micale | ||
West Perth
| FB: | Luke Rayner | Ryan Webb | Digby Morrell |
| HB: | Paul Mifka | Brendon Barrows | Peter Julian |
| C: | Darren O‘Brien | Kim Rigoll | Callum Chambers |
| HF: | Christian Kelly | Dean Brunton | Andrew Williams |
| FF: | Heath Younie | Troy Wilson | Corey Johnson |
| R: | Ron Skender | Brendon Logan | Bryce Steel |
| I: | Neil Mildenhall | Steve Trewhella | Chris Rigoll |
| Coach: | John Dimmer | ||
Match Details
| 1998 Westar Rules Grand Final | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sunday, 20 September | East Fremantle | def. | West Perth | Subiaco Oval (crowd: 23,258) | |
| 4.1 (25) 7.4 (46) 14.7 (91) 20.10 (130) |
Q1 Q2 Q3 Final |
2.3 (15) 5.5 (35) 8.5 (53) 13.9 (87) |
Umpires: Adam Binks, Wayne French, Simon Gill Simpson Medal: Adrian Bromage (East Fremantle) | ||
| Condon 4 Bilcich, Egan 3 Dhurrkay 2 Roser, Clucas, Kirey, E. Spalding, O‘Brien, Willison, Bromage, Pobjoy 1 |
Goals | 5 Brunton 4 Logan 2 Williams 1 Johnson, Darren O‘Brien | |||
| Bromage, Bilcich, Condon, Sanders, Collica, Stagg | Best | Barrows, Brunton, Rayner, Skender, Logan, Wilson | |||
| Willison (ankle) Roser (thigh) S. O‘Brien (knee) Madigan (ankle) Bowden (ankle) |
Injuries | ||||
References
- Reid, Russell; “Sharks Up With Best”; in The Game, p. 3; from The West Australian, 21 September 1998
- Perth Metro (Mount Lawley) September 1998 rainfall
- Lague, Steve; “Falcons Swoop at the Death”; in The Game, p. 11; from The West Australian, 14 September 1998
- Lague, Steve; “Sharks Red-Hot Favourites”; in The West Australian, 19 September 1998, p. 117
- Stocks, Gary; “Champion Sharks Bury the Torment”; in The West Australian, 21 September 1998; p. 72
- Lague, Steve; “Injured Fill Interchange Bench Early”; in The Game, p. 3; from The West Australian, 21 September 1998
- "Grand Final - 1998 - League". WAFL Online. West Australian Football Commission. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
- "Simpson Medalists". WAFL Online. West Australian Football League. Retrieved 1 October 2012.