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, amongst four of their last five, and not having won in Perth since 1990 it seemed like Mission Impossible for the Demons. When Anthony Ingerson and Paul Hopgood dropped out of the selected side they were even further weakened.
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.
Melbourne lined up with an inexperienced side featuring rookies Matthew Bishop and Mark Bradly in key positions forward and back. Peter Matera, who had booted seven goals the week before, was held by Stephen Tingay.
The Eagles - on a six game winning streak - threatened to take over early, and held an 18 point lead in the second term. It was only a late goal from Bradly that kept the Demons within two straight kicks at the long break.
The third quarter saw Melbourne charged to the lead. They took an 11pt lead into the last quarter on the back of fine performances from Yze, White and Viney.
They held on to win, leading Neale Daniher to say "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.
Reserves
Richmond 7.16.58 d. Melbourne 4.10.34
Best - Gaspar, Nicholson, Anderson
Goals - Johnstone, Marsh, Williams, Hewett
Media
Age - 29/06/1998
Football Record R15 1998