AFL grand final: West Coast rewarded for revitalising list

In the twilight of his career, no one was more chuffed by West Coast’s fourth premiership than chief executive Trevor Nisbett.

West Coastplayers emrbrace after the siren. Picture: AAP.

In the twilight of his career as one of the code’s greatest administrators, no one was more chuffed by West Coast’s fourth premiership than chief executive Trevor ­Nisbett.

And it is not because the five-point victory will probably result in an AFL club record profit of close to $10 million.

Nisbett, 61, who has been a fixture at West Coast for 30 years, said the win was more special because the club was written off at the start of the season and widely tipped not to play finals.

“They are so hard to compare, because they’ve all been different,” Nisbett said of the two flags under his watch as general manager of football operations (1992 and 1994) and then the two, including 2006, he has won as CEO.

“This was special because of our resolve after not many gave us a chance from day one. I was asked at the start of the year at our season launch about how we would go, and I always thought we’d make the eight, so did our coach and so did our players.

“I think the catalyst for us this year probably was the fact that few even thought we would be playing in finals. We thought we were a lot better than that and moving to Optus Stadium was a big help — the players got an enormous lift from the crowds and the people that believed in them this year.”

Last year the Eagles made a profit of $5.8m and that result — the best in the AFL in 2017 — came after paying annual royalties to the WA Football Commission of $2.3m and much more in ground rental.

Nisbett told The Australian that with the premiership and all the associated benefits including merchandise sales, the Eagles would post their best ever financial result, which could hit $10m. “On the back of the win, it’s likely that we could be getting up to that number,” he said. “It’s something you just can’t forecast.”

The premiership is also a great result for grassroots funding of football and the state league in WA this year as the Eagles are now likely to pay before-profit royalties and ground rental of more than $11m into the pool.

Nisbett reiterated his club’s added bonus was for the future following a concentration on youth this year. After being around about the mark in the bottom half of the top eight over the previous two years with an ageing list, the Eagles introduced eight new faces to the elite level this year, including six teenagers.

The newcomers were Jake Waterman, Jack Petruccelle, Brayden Ainsworth, Oscar Allen, Jarrod Brander and now three premiership players — Daniel Venables, Willie Rioli and Liam Ryan.

Nisbett also singled out no-frills defender Tom Cole, who entered the season with six games under his belt. “He’s now played 28 games and has a premiership medal, it’s quite exceptional really.” Nisbett said. “You just can’t underestimate the value of young players and the strength of depth and excitement they bring.

“What our list and recruiting guys did was to make an effort to reinvigorate our list and part of that philosophy included trading out our first selection in the draft last year for a number of second-round picks which has helped us.

“Playing the young guys does a number of things, including adding great enthusiasm. We think all of those kids that have played have got really great futures and great capabilities, so the upside for the club is that our success this year is going to be sustainable.

“It’s a great strength to have when you’re in the finals and you’ve got enough kids underneath that you think are going to make the grade.”

Richmond played five debutants in their premiership season last year. The Western Bulldogs played four the previous year when they broke their flag drought and Hawthorn played two in the last year of their three-peat in 2015.

For the first 20-odd minutes of the grand final it appeared as if the ghosts of 2015 still haunted the Eagles as Collingwood banged on the first five goals. West Coast were a rabble, with numerous mistakes costing them dearly.

They were hurt on the scoreboard early when Venables crashed into teammate Josh Kennedy in a marking contest that should have led to a goal. The error was further compounded when 30 seconds later Jaidyn Stephenson kicked Collingwood’s second goal.

The Rising Star winner booted his second when Cole spilled a chest mark, then three minutes later West Coast captain Shannon Hurn uncharacteristically missed his target and the ball landed with Brody Mihocek, allowing Jordan De Goey to kick the first of his three goals.

With less than five minutes remaining in the opening tern, Will Hoskin-Elliott kicked the Magpies’ fifth goal to establish a 28-point lead. The Eagles only remained in the game courtesy of four goals deep into time-on in the first half — two in each quarter after Rioli finally put them on the board after almost 27 minutes of play.

At half-time West Coast forward Jack Darling had only three touches and was heading for another grand final shocker after his six-possession performance against Hawthorn three years earlier. However, he helped turn the match when he took six marks — four contested — in the third quarter and booted a goal to bring West Coast’s deficit back to six points.

Nisbett said the Eagles this year had shown that they were never beaten despite appearing down and out in games. “They just stayed with it on Saturday as they had shown all year no matter how tough it got through times of adversity in matches,” he said. “They just persevered and persevered, and never panicked at any stage. It’s been a remarkable resilience.”