Woodville-West Torrens Football Club
| File:Eagles logo.jpg | |
| Full name | Woodville-West Torrens Football Club |
|---|---|
| Sport | Australian rules football |
| Founded | 1990 |
| League | South Australian National Football League |
| Home ground | Woodville Oval Thebarton Oval |
| Anthem | We're the Mighty Eagles |
| President | L.G. Stevens |
| Head coach | Ron Fuller |
| Captain | Mark McKenzie |
| 2008 | 6th of 9 |
| Strip | |
| Blue, green and gold | |
Woodville-West Torrens Eagles is an Australian rules football club playing in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL). It was formed in 1990 from an amalgamation of the neighbouring Woodville and West Torrens football clubs and played its inaugural game in 1991. Since 1993, the Eagles have played most of their home games at Woodville's home ground of Woodville Oval, having previously used Football Park. They also play 2 or 3 games per season at their pre-season base of Thebarton Oval, a ground which has six light towers that the club wish to upgrade to allow night games at the ground for the first time since the 1980s.
History
West Torrens had competed in the SANFL since 1897, while Woodville entered the competition in 1964. Both sides had struggled throughout their respective existences, West Torrens having won four premierships in ninety seasons and Woodville none in thirty seven; whispers grew throughout SA football circles that perhaps a merger would save these clubs.
Calls for merger grew throughout the 1980s, culminating in 1990 when the imminent entry of the South Australian based Adelaide Crows into the national Australian Football League led officials of Woodville and West Torrens to realise that their clubs would struggle to exist as separate entities.
It was decided to merge the two sides as the Woodville-West Torrens Eagles, to play their home games at Woodville's home ground, Woodville Oval, and use the West Torrens Eagle emblem. The new club proved immediately competitive and won their first premiership in 1993.
Although officially formed in 1991, it was after the 1993 Premiership that many finally accepted the 'new' Eagles. In accepting the Thomas Seymour Hill Trophy for the first time for the Eagles (the first time for Woodville, and the first time since 1953 for West Torrens), captain Peter Schwarz jubilantly proclaimed:
- "This is a very sweet moment - the end result of two clubs that made a lot of tough decisions three years ago. This is for Woodville and for West Torrens. Now we are one club."
The club colours of blue, gold and green incorporate the club colours of West Torrens (blue and gold) and Woodville (green and gold). The Eagle logo of the West Torrens Football Club was adopted as the official emblem of Woodville West Torrens. It was also agreed that blue would be the primary colour of the merged club.
Club details
| Formed: | 1990 when Woodville and West Torrens merged. |
| League History: | SANFL League 1991- |
| Colours: | Blue and green with gold eagle. |
| Nickname: | The Eagles. |
| Current Coach: | Ron Fuller |
| Current Captain: | Mark McKenzie |
| Home Ground: | Woodville Oval (1992-) |
| Alternative Facilities: | 2 or 3 home games per year are played at Thebarton Oval (Former home of West Torrens) which is also the club's pre-season base. |
| Previous Grounds: | Football Park (1991-1992) |
Coaches
- 1991-1992 - Neil Balme
- 1993-1997 - Bruce Winter+
- 1998-1999 - Mark Mickan
- 2000 - Paul Hamilton
- 2001 - Ron Fuller+
italics current coach
+ premiership coach
Captains
- 1991-1994 - Peter Schwarz*
- 1995-2000 - Andrew Rogers
- 2001-2006 - Gavin Colville
- 2007 - Justin Cicolella*
- 2008 - Mark McKenzie
italics current captain
* premiership captain (Justin Cicolella was acting captain for the 2006 Premiership)
Woodville-West Torrens 2007 playing list
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Honours
| SANFL Premierships: | 2 | 1993, 2006 |
| South Australian Night Series Winners: | 2 | 1993, 1994 |
| SANFL Minor Round Premiership: | 4 | 1993, 1994, 2000, 2006 |
| Stanley H. Lewis Memorial Trophy: | 2 | 1993, 2000 |
| SANFL Grand Finals: | 7 | 1993, 1994, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2005, 2006 |
| SANFL Finals Appearances: | 14 | 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 |
| SANFL Reserves Premierships: | 5 | 1992, 1993, 2000, 2001, 2004 |
| SANFL Under 19's Premierships: | 3 | 1996, 1998, 2000 |
| SANFL Under 17's Premierships: | 4 | 1993, 1998, 1999, 2000 |
League placings
- 1991 - 4th
- 1992 - 3rd
- 1993 - Premiers
- 1994 - 2nd
- 1995 - 8th
- 1996 - 4th
- 1997 - 7th
- 1998 - 6th
- 1999 - 3rd
- 2000 - 2nd
- 2001 - 2nd
- 2002 - 4th
- 2003 - 3rd
- 2004 - 2nd
- 2005 - 2nd
- 2006 - Premiers
- 2007 - 3rd
- 2008 - 6th
Magarey Medallists
- None
Jack Oatey Medallists
Presented to best on ground in an SANFL Grand Final
- 1993 - Steven Sziller
- 2006 - Hayden Skipworth
Reserves Magarey Medallists
- 1992 - J Sziller
- 1996 - J King
- 2003 - D Newett
Bob Lee Medallists
Presented to best on ground in an SANFL Reserves Grand Final
- 2001 - Brett O'Hara
- 2004 - Luke Spehr
Best and fairest
- 1991 - Scott Morphett
- 1992 - Robert Pyman
- 1993 - Andrew Rogers
- 1994 - Jason Sziller
- 1995 - Andrew Rogers
- 1996 - Andrew Rogers
- 1997 - Steven Hall
- 1998 - Nick Pesch
- 1999 - Gavin Colville & Adam Pearce
- 2000 - Gavin Colville
- 2001 - Gavin Colville
- 2002 - Justin Cicolella
- 2003 - Justin Cicolella
- 2004 - Gavin Colville
- 2005 - Mark McKenzie
- 2006 - Mark McKenzie
- 2007 - Leigh Treeby
- 2008 - Mark McKenzie & Luke Powell
Life Governors
The highest individual honour that is bestowed by the club
Ken Farmer Medalists (SANFL Leading Goalkickers)
- Scott Morphett: 99 goals (1991)
- Chris Kluzek: 72 goals (2000)
- Mark Passador: 74 goals (2006)
Records
| Most Games: | 232 | G Colville (1995-08) |
| Most Goals: | 302 | M Passador (2003-) |
| Most Goals in a Match: | 12 | A Taylor v North Adelaide in 1994 |
| Most Goals in a Season: | 99 | S Morphett in 1991 |
| Most Years as Coach: | 8 | R Fuller (2001-) |
| Most Years as Captain: | 6 | A Rogers (1995-2000) |
| Highest Score: | 30.14 (194) | v North Adelaide in 1994 |
| Lowest Score: | 3.9 (27) | v North in 1995 |
| Greatest Win: | 156 | v North in 1993 |
| Greatest Loss: | 158 | v Norwood in 1995 |
| Longest Winning Run: | 14 | 1993-1994 |
| Longest Losing Run: | 8 | 1997 |
Team of the Decade
| Back | Glenn Freeborn | Steven Hall | Peter Schwarz |
| HalfBack | Andrew Rogers | Paul Prymke | Jamie Tape |
| Centre | Andrew Payze | Robert Pyman | Scott Camporeale |
| HalfForward | Shayne Breuer | Andrew Taylor | Gavin Colville |
| Forward | Brett Burton | Scott Morphett | Steven Sziller |
| Coach | Bruce Winter | ||
| Captain | Peter Schwarz | ||
| Ruck | David Niemann | Wayne Weidemann | Jason Sziller |
| Interchange | Paul Bulluss | Nick Pesch | Adam Pearce |
Club grounds
- Woodville Oval (1991—present)
Famous players
- Rhett Biglands
- Nathan Bock
- Brett Burton
- Scott Camporeale
- Trent Hentschel
- Kent Kingsley
- Chris Knights
- Brian Lake
- Ken McGregor
- Scott McMahon
- Matthew Pavlich
- Robert Shirley
- Mathew Stokes
- Jamie Tape
- Bernie Vince
- Wayne Weidemann