In 34 years since joining the AFL, the West Coast Eagles have played in the finals 25 times. They’ve played 54 finals for 26 wins and a draw. And four premierships.

No club has made more finals appearances in that time. Only Geelong (57) have played more finals. and only the Cats (28) and Hawthorn (28) have had more finals wins. The Hawks (7) are the sole club to have won more premierships.

The Eagles have played 10 elimination finals, 16 qualifying finals, 13 semi-finals, eight preliminary finals and seven grand finals.

In building their 26-1-27 finals record the Eagles have played against 11 different clubs. Having never played Brisbane, Fremantle, Gold Coast, North Melbourne, Richmond, St Kilda or the now defunct Fitzroy at the business end of the season, they have gone 2-2 against Adelaide, 2-1 against Carlton, 3-1-4 against Collingwood, 1-5 v Essendon, 4-2 v Geelong, 0-1 v GWS, 2-3 v Hawthorn, 4-1 v Melbourne, 1-1 v Port Adelaide, 2-3 v Sydney and 2-2 v Western Bulldogs.

It is a wonderfully proud finals record for a club young in comparison to most of their rivals, having spotted Geelong 90 years and Hawthorn 62 years in the competition at the time of their “birth”.

Tomorrow night, as the Eagles’ 34th year in the AFL enters finals mode, they will launch this season’s  finals campaign with an elimination final against Collingwood at Optus Stadium.

Although 54 finals is only 6.8% of the Eagles’ 795 total AFL matches, no less than 151 of the club’s 256 players all-time, or 59%, have been part of the club’s finals history.

And there will be more. Tim Kelly will make his Eagles finals debut on Saturday night, and six others who have played five or more games this year are hoping to play their first final - Brendon Ah Chee, Brayden Ainsworth, Oscar Allen, Jarrod Brander, Jarrod Cameron and Josh Rotham. Plus three-gamer Bailey Williams, who played in round 18.

But how well do you know your Eagles’ finals history?

Following is a quiz that identifies the facts & figures of the Eagles in the finals, and all the statistical oddities that are always such big talking points among long-time Eagles fans.

1. Name the 20 members of the first Eagles finals side in 1988?

The first finals side was:-

B: Dwayne Lamb, Andrew Lockyer, Geoff Miles
HB: Dean Laidley, Murray Rance, Guy McKenna
C: Chris Mainwaring, Steve Malaxos, John Gastev
HF: Karl Langdon, David O’Connell, John Worsfold
F: Chris Lewis, Ross Glendinning (capt), David Hart
R: Laurie Keene, Dean Turner, Wally Matera.
INT: Phil Scott, Murray Wrensted.

2. Who has played most finals for the club? Dean Kemp (25).

3. Who are the other six who have topped 20 finals? Guy McKenna (24), Chris Waterman (22), Chris Lewis (21), Peter Matera (21), John Worsfold (21).

4. Which two players have had most finals wins? Dean Kemp and Guy McKenna (12) from Peter Matera, Peter Sumich and Chris Waterman (11).

5. Which two players have played in most finals series? Drew Banfield and Ashley McIntosh (11) from Ben Cousins, Dean Kemp and Guy McKenna (10).

6. Three players have played 20 or more consecutive finals. Who are they? Dean Kemp (25), Guy McKenna (22) and Chris Waterman (21).

7. Which player has had most possessions in a final? How many? Matt Priddis had 37 possessions in just his second final in 2007.

8. Who are the 13 players who have had 30 possessions or more in a final? Sam Butler, Andrew Gaff, Chris Judd, Daniel Kerr, Dwayne Lamb, Steve Malaxos, Peter Matera, Matt Priddis, Jack Redden, Adam Selwood, Luke Shuey, Chris Mainwaring and Elliot Yeo.

9. And which player has had most 30-possession finals? How many? Andrew Gaff (5) has had most 30-possession games in finals. Matt Priddis (3), Jack Redden (2) and Daniel Kerr (2) are the others to have more than one.

10. Who is the club’s all-time leading possession-winner in the finals? Dean Kemp (499) from Guy McKenna (410) and Peter Matera (392).

11. Which player has the highest possession average in finals? Matt Priddis (27.2) from Sam Mitchell (27.0) and Andrew Gaff (26.6)

12. Who are the 13 players who have averaged 20 possessions or more in finals?

Ave Finals Possessions

(20.0ppg)

27.2

Matt Priddis

27.0

Sam Mitchell

26.6

Andrew Gaff

25.9

Jack Redden

24.7

Luke Shuey

24.2

Chris Judd

22.8

Daniel Kerr

21.7

Andrew Embley

21.6

Chad Fletcher

20.4

Chris Mainwaring

20.3

Dom Sheed

20.2

Scott Selwood

20.1

Ben Cousins

20.0

Dean Kemp

 

13. Peter Sumich is the Eagles’ all-time leading goal-kicker in finals with 62. Who are the next three on the list in the 30s? Josh Kennedy (37), Brett Heady (33), Jack Darling (31).

14. Who has kicked most goals in a final for the Eagles? Peter Sumich kicked eight goals in the 1992 semi-final against Geelong at the MCG. The Eagles won by 38 points.

15. Name the 11 players who have kicked four or more goals in a final?

4+ Goals in a Final

8

Peter Sumich

6

Peter Sumich (2)

Chris Waterman

Brett Heady

Quinten Lynch

5

Ross Glendinning

Peter Sumich

Peter Matera

4

Peter Sumich (4)

Josh Kennedy (3)

Adam Hunter (2)

Andrew Embley

Brett Heady

Jack Darling

Jamie Cripps

 

16. What is the Eagles’ greatest winning margin in a final and who was it against? West Coast beat Melbourne by 96 points – 24-.18 (162) to 9.12 (66) in the 2012 elimination final at Subiaco.

17. Who is the youngest Eagles finals player? Ben Cousins was 18 years 69 days in his first final – the 1996 qualifying final against Carlton at Subiaco. He had 16 possessions and kicked three goals as they won by 55 points.

18. And who is the second-youngest Eagles finals player – all of one day older? Michael Gardiner was 18 years 70 days in the 1997 semi-final against North at the MCG. West Coast lost by 13 points.

19. Who are the nine 18-year-olds who have played an Eagles final?

Youngest Finals Players

Years

Days

Player

Final

18

69

Ben Cousins

QF/96

18

70

Michael Gardiner

SF/97

18

162

Chad Morrison

QF/96

18

229

Ashley Sampi

EF/01

18

234

Sam Butler

EF/04

18

303

Josh Wooden

SF/97

18

321

Phillip Read

QF/98

18

323

Ashley McIntosh

QF/91

18

364

Chris Judd

EF/02

 

20. Who is the oldest Eagles finals player? Sam Mitchell was 34 years 339 days old in his last game for the club in the 2017 semi-final loss to the GWS Giants by 67 points at Sydney Showgrounds. He had 28 possessions and kicked two goals.

21. And who is the second-oldest Eagles finals player – three days older? In the same game Drew Petrie was 34 years 336 days old.

22. Who are the 12 players who have played a final beyond their 31st birthday?

Oldest Finals Players

Years

Days

Player

Final

34

339

Sam Mitchell

SF/17

34

336

Drew Petrie

SF/17

33

157

Peter Matera

EF/02

32

215

Drew Banfield

GF/06

32

195

David Hart

SF/96

32

179

Matt Priddis

SF/17

32

30

Mark LeCras

GF/18

31

352

Ross Glendinning

EF/88

31

216

Daniel Chick

SF/07

31

124

Darren Glass

SF/12

31

80

Andrew Embley

SF/12

31

45

Dean Cox

SF/12

 

23. Name the three players who shared the club record for fewest AFL games before their finals debut. How many? Andrew McDougall, Adam Selwood and Jamie McNamara played a final in just their second AFL game.

24. Who are the 13 players who had played 10 or less games by the time of their finals debut?

Fewest WC Games to WC Finals Debut

Games

Player

Final

2

Andrew McDougall

EF/02

2

Adam Selwood

EF/03

2

Jamie McNamara

SF/07

4

Tony Godden

EF/93

4

Ashley Sampi

EF/01

6

Brendan Fewster

SF/97

6

Jaxon Crabb

QF/99

6

Mark LeCras

GF/18

7

David O'Connell

EF/88

7

Brent Staker

EF/03

8

Tony Begovich

SF/90

9

Jeremy Humm

EF/02

10

Michael Gardiner

SF/97

 

25. Which Eagles player had played most games before his finals debut? Mitch Brown played 93 games without a final from 2007-16 while the Eagles played 10 finals.