| Phillip Matera | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal information | |||
| Date of birth | (1975-11-27)27 November 1975 (age 49) | ||
| Original team(s) | South Fremantle (WAFL) | ||
| Debut | Round 4, 21 April 1996,West Coast Eagles vs.Geelong, atSubiaco Oval | ||
| Height | 171 cm (5 ft 7 in) | ||
| Weight | 76 kg (168 lb) | ||
| Playing career1 | |||
| Years | Club | Games (Goals) | |
| 1994–1998 | South Fremantle | 45 (93) | |
| 1996–2005 | West Coast | 179 (389) | |
| Total | 224 (482) | ||
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2005. | |||
| Career highlights | |||
| |||
| Sources:AFL Tables,AustralianFootball.com | |||
Phillip Matera (born 27 November 1975) is a formerAustralian rules footballer.
Beginning his career in 1996, the 171 cmforward pocket was one of theAustralian Football League's best small forwards.
Matera is the brother of former AFL playersPeter andWally, the third of the Matera brothers to player for West Coast. He won the club's goalkicking for the second time in 2002 and his speed and ability to apply pressure often created scoring chances. He hit back strongly after a midseason form slump. In 2003 he was in good form and wonAll-Australian selection for the first time after kicking 62 goals. In 2004 he just missed out on All-Australian selection after kicking 61 goals, as the selectors opted to play an extra midfielder. In 2005 injury hampered his input but he still managed to kick 39 goals from 19 games. He was a late withdrawal from the2005 AFL Grand Final due to injury.[1]
On 23 November 2005, Matera announced his retirement fromAFL football, citing a chronic back injury. Matera retired from all levels of the game effective immediately, and began focusing on his electrical contracting business, which he began in 2003. He wasWest Coast's most prominent goalkicker for his final years in a team which struggled for quality key-position forwards, scoring 389 goals from 179 games, the fourth-highest number of goals in the club's history.[2] In December 2009, he become an assistant coach atClaremont.[3]
Matera has since claimed that he walked away from the game in response to not being selected for the 2005 Grand Final. CoachJohn Worsfold chose the injury proneTravis Gaspar for the Grand Final, who had only played a single game all season, in spite of Matera giving Worsfold his word that he was fit enough to play.[4]
G | Goals | K | Kicks | D | Disposals | T | Tackles |
B | Behinds | H | Handballs | M | Marks |
| Season | Team | No. | Games | Totals | Averages (per game) | Votes | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | B | K | H | D | M | T | G | B | K | H | D | M | T | |||||
| 1996 | West Coast | 33 | 5 | 8 | 6 | 30 | 16 | 46 | 11 | 6 | 1.6 | 1.2 | 6.0 | 3.2 | 9.2 | 2.2 | 1.2 | 0 |
| 1997 | West Coast | 33 | 19 | 30 | 23 | 182 | 66 | 248 | 74 | 30 | 1.6 | 1.2 | 9.6 | 3.5 | 13.1 | 3.9 | 1.6 | 0 |
| 1998 | West Coast | 33 | 14 | 13 | 13 | 93 | 49 | 142 | 32 | 25 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 6.6 | 3.5 | 10.1 | 2.3 | 1.8 | 0 |
| 1999 | West Coast | 33 | 24 | 51 | 20 | 188 | 91 | 279 | 66 | 37 | 2.1 | 0.8 | 7.8 | 3.8 | 11.6 | 2.8 | 1.5 | 4 |
| 2000 | West Coast | 33 | 19 | 49 | 30 | 164 | 55 | 219 | 57 | 26 | 2.6 | 1.6 | 8.6 | 2.9 | 11.5 | 3.0 | 1.4 | 4 |
| 2001 | West Coast | 33 | 16 | 31 | 22 | 111 | 43 | 154 | 48 | 20 | 1.9 | 1.4 | 6.9 | 2.7 | 9.6 | 3.0 | 1.3 | 1 |
| 2002 | West Coast | 33 | 21 | 46 | 16 | 136 | 66 | 202 | 63 | 36 | 2.2 | 0.8 | 6.5 | 3.1 | 9.6 | 3.0 | 1.7 | 1 |
| 2003 | West Coast | 33 | 19 | 62 | 27 | 136 | 35 | 171 | 53 | 15 | 3.3 | 1.4 | 7.2 | 1.8 | 9.0 | 2.8 | 0.8 | 2 |
| 2004 | West Coast | 33 | 23 | 61 | 42 | 155 | 48 | 203 | 65 | 32 | 2.7 | 1.8 | 6.7 | 2.1 | 8.8 | 2.8 | 1.4 | 1 |
| 2005 | West Coast | 33 | 19 | 38 | 28 | 121 | 40 | 161 | 47 | 22 | 2.0 | 1.5 | 6.4 | 2.1 | 8.5 | 2.5 | 1.2 | 1 |
| Career | 179 | 389 | 227 | 1316 | 509 | 1825 | 516 | 249 | 2.2 | 1.3 | 7.4 | 2.8 | 10.2 | 2.9 | 1.4 | 14 | ||
