Round 14, 1998
West Coast vs Melbourne
Sunday, 28 June
Venue: Subiaco
Attendance: 35,238
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
| West Coast | 3.6 | 6.9 | 7.10 | 11.13.79 |
| Melbourne | 2.1 | 5.5 | 9.9 | 14.12.96 |
Melbourne win by 17 points
Goalkickers: Russell Robertson 4, James McDonald 3, Shaun Smith 2, Mark Bradly 1, Donald Cockatoo-Collins 1, Darren Kowal 1, Stephen Tingay 1, Todd Viney 1
Brownlow votes:
3 - Todd Viney
2 - Jeff White
1 - Steven Febey
Best and Fairest
38 - Todd Viney
38 - Jeff White
38 - Stephen Tingay
27 - Russell Robertson
20 - Adem Yze
Milestones:
Rising Star nominee - Russell Robertson
First Goal
Mark Bradly (3rd game)
Coming off two huge losses, four defeats of their last five games, and without a win in Perth since 1990, Melbourne's mission to save their season was made even harder when Anthony Ingerson and Paul Hopgood dropped out of the selected side. Melbourne lined up with an inexperienced side featuring rookies Matthew Bishop and Mark Bradly in key positions forward and back. Stephen Tingay returned from injury to play on Peter Matera, who had booted seven goals the previous week.
The Demons hierachy had sat the team down at a dinner on the Tuesday night. Joseph Gutnick, Danny Corcoran and Cameron Schwab relayed the message that the board had confidence in the players.
West Coast came into the game on a six game winning streak and opened an 18 point lead in the second term. A late goal to Mark Bradly reduced the margin at half time, but the Eagles still looked most likely to win. However, Melbourne charged into the lead before three quarter time, opening an 11 point gap at the final change and holding on to win.
Neale Daniher said: "We are not a team of stars. We need everyone contributing and we got that today". He especially happy considering his side was missing David Neitz, David Schwarz, Jeff Farmer, Paul Hopgood, Anthony Ingerson, Glenn Lovett and Jamie Shanahan. The Demons youngsters had reignited their 1998 season.
Best were Yze, White and Viney.
Reserves
Richmond 7.16.58 d. Melbourne 4.10.34
Goals - Hewett 1, Johnstone 1, Marsh 1, B. Williams 1
Best - Gaspar, Nicholson, Anderson
Media
Age - 29/06/1998
Football Record - R15 1998