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| Scott West | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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| Personal information | |||
| Date of birth | (1974-11-14)14 November 1974 (age 50) | ||
| Place of birth | Swan Reach, South Australia | ||
| Original team(s) | Strathmore | ||
| Debut | Round 1, 1993,Footscray vs.Collingwood, atMelbourne Cricket Ground | ||
| Height | 178 cm (5 ft 10 in) | ||
| Weight | 80 kg (176 lb) | ||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
| Playing career1 | |||
| Years | Club | Games (Goals) | |
| 1993–2008 | Western Bulldogs/Footscray | 324 (104) | |
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2008. | |||
| Career highlights | |||
| |||
| Sources:AFL Tables,AustralianFootball.com | |||
Scott West (born 14 November 1974) is a formerAustralian rules footballer who represented theWestern Bulldogs in theAustralian Football League (AFL). Having won a club-record sevenCharlie Sutton Medals, West is recognised as one of the Bulldogs' greatest-ever players. A tough "in-and-under" midfielder who was hard at the ball, especially around the stoppages, West was regularly among the league's most prolific ballwinners during his playing career.
One of three brothers, West grew up in the northwestern Melbourne suburb ofKeilor a keenEssendon supporter. Ironically, his childhood neighbour and future Essendon footballerRick Olarenshaw was a Footscray supporter.[1] His older brotherTroy initially trained at Essendon until told the West family residence actually belonged to Footscray's recruiting zone.[1] Troy would go on to have a fine career withWilliamstown Football Club. The third brother, Brent, is Scott's twin.[1]
West was educated atPenleigh and Essendon Grammar School (PEGS), whom he represented in football with theAssociated Grammar Schools of Victoria (AGSV) First XVIII in 1991 and 1992 along withShane Crawford and future teammatePaul Dimattina.[2] He also played forStrathmore and was subsequently recruited byFootscray (now Western Bulldogs), making his senior debut in1993. He won anAFL Rising Star nomination that season. In 1993 and 1994 he wore the number 14 guernsey, before changing to his famous number 7 in the wake ofDoug Hawkins' departure to Fitzroy in 1995.
After Footscray rebranded itself the Western Bulldogs during the tumultuous 1996 season, the Bulldogs rebounded dramatically in1997, falling agonizingly short of their first Grand Final appearance since 1961 when the eventual premiersAdelaide came from behind to win the Preliminary Final by two points. West's contribution in the club's amazing turnaround was recognised when he won the second of what would be sevenCharlie Sutton Medals. He madeAll-Australian selection on five occasions – in 1998, 2000, 2004, 2005 and 2006. West's best and fairest victory in 2005 saw him overtakeGary Dempsey's previous record of six.
Late in 2006 West had been described as being in the best form of his career despite him being 32 years of age and completing his 300th game. This run of form included an incredible career best 45 disposals in one match against theAdelaide Crows. In the 2006 season, West became the first player on record (recorded since 1987) to amass more than 400 handpasses in a season, finishing with 423.
West finished runner-up in theBrownlow Medal count twice: in 2000 and in 2006; in the former year, he was particularly unlucky: going into the final round, he was level withMelbourne'sShane Woewodin on 22 votes. Having had only 17 disposals and being interchanged for majority of the final quarter, Woewodin wasn't considered a chance to pollagainst West Coast, however Woewodin polled two votes to win the medal with 24 votes. In 2006, he won the Sunday Footy Show's Lou Richards award for best player as voted by Channel 9's football commentators. He was the crowd favourite to win theBrownlow Medal in 2006, due to his string of close misses and secondly, because he was one of the few Victoria-based players with a high chance of winning the award, during a period when non-Victorian teams were dominating the league. West ended up finishing second in 2006 behindAdam Goodes.
West andRohan Smith played their 300th games in the Bulldogs' semi-final loss toWest Coast atDomain Stadium on 16 September 2006. To date, they are the only pair of teammates to share their 300th AFL game in the same match.[3]
On 23 September 2008, his career came to an end after the Bulldogs said he was no longer required at the club.[4]
West is a qualified landscape gardener and has run a landscaping business since 1997.
From 2009 to 2011, West served as a midfield coach atMelbourne, earning praise for his teaching ability.[5]
In 2012 he became the coach of theWerribee Football Club in theVictorian Football League (VFL). His stint was short but reasonably successful, leading Werribee to consecutive Preliminary Finals before quitting after the 2013 season in the hope of landing a coaching role in the AFL.[6]
In October 2014, West was among the candidates considered to replaceBrendan McCartney as senior coach of the Bulldogs,[5] but the position eventually was given toLuke Beveridge.
West has also been working as a football commentator on radio for theAustralian Broadcasting Commission (ABC).[7]
In early 2002, West was named in the Western Bulldogs Team of the Century.
TheScott West Award, awarded to the Western Bulldogs' most courageous player during a season, was named in his honour.
In 2013 West was inducted into theAustralian Football Hall of Fame.[1]
In March 2017, West was chosen as one of the club icons to unfurl the Bulldogs' premiership flag.[8]
G | Goals | K | Kicks | D | Disposals | T | Tackles |
B | Behinds | H | Handballs | M | Marks | ||
† | Led the league for the season |
| Season | Team | No. | Games | Totals | Averages (per game) | Votes | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | B | K | H | D | M | T | G | B | K | H | D | M | T | |||||
| 1993 | Footscray | 14 | 17 | 21 | 15 | 170 | 119 | 289 | 36 | 35 | 1.2 | 0.9 | 10.0 | 7.0 | 17.0 | 2.1 | 2.1 | 8 |
| 1994 | Footscray | 14 | 23 | 9 | 11 | 338 | 155 | 493 | 51 | 38 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 14.7 | 6.7 | 21.4 | 2.2 | 1.7 | 2 |
| 1995 | Footscray | 7 | 23 | 6 | 13 | 365 | 182 | 547 | 46 | 45 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 15.9 | 7.9 | 23.8 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 9 |
| 1996 | Footscray | 7 | 15 | 0 | 4 | 137 | 128 | 265 | 21 | 23 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 9.1 | 8.5 | 17.7 | 1.4 | 1.5 | 1 |
| 1997 | Western Bulldogs | 7 | 24 | 5 | 3 | 367 | 240 | 607 | 58 | 57 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 15.3 | 10.0 | 25.3 | 2.4 | 2.4 | 5 |
| 1998 | Western Bulldogs | 7 | 24 | 5 | 3 | 309 | 301† | 610 | 40 | 67 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 12.9 | 12.5† | 25.4 | 1.7 | 2.8 | 23 |
| 1999 | Western Bulldogs | 7 | 21 | 11 | 5 | 244 | 268 | 512 | 47 | 40 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 11.6 | 12.8 | 24.4 | 2.2 | 1.9 | 14 |
| 2000 | Western Bulldogs | 7 | 23 | 7 | 5 | 331 | 326† | 657 | 80 | 51 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 14.4 | 14.2† | 28.6 | 3.5 | 2.2 | 22 |
| 2001 | Western Bulldogs | 7 | 22 | 11 | 4 | 283 | 298 | 581 | 72 | 59 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 12.9 | 13.5† | 26.4 | 3.3 | 2.7 | 8 |
| 2002 | Western Bulldogs | 7 | 18 | 8 | 8 | 222 | 249 | 471 | 61 | 57 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 12.3 | 13.8† | 26.2† | 3.4 | 3.2 | 8 |
| 2003 | Western Bulldogs | 7 | 22 | 3 | 6 | 277 | 343† | 620 | 107 | 67 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 12.6 | 15.6† | 28.2† | 4.9 | 3.0 | 4 |
| 2004 | Western Bulldogs | 7 | 22 | 7 | 10 | 278 | 314 | 592 | 104 | 80 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 12.6 | 14.3 | 26.9† | 4.7 | 3.6 | 20 |
| 2005 | Western Bulldogs | 7 | 22 | 4 | 7 | 267 | 370 | 637† | 91 | 61 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 12.1 | 16.8 | 29.0† | 4.1 | 2.8 | 17 |
| 2006 | Western Bulldogs | 7 | 24 | 6 | 5 | 285 | 423† | 708† | 119 | 77 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 11.9 | 17.6§ | 29.5† | 5.0 | 3.2 | 23 |
| 2007 | Western Bulldogs | 7 | 20 | 1 | 6 | 211 | 329 | 540 | 110 | 82 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 10.6 | 16.5† | 27.0 | 5.5 | 4.1 | 8 |
| 2008 | Western Bulldogs | 7 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 45 | 48 | 93 | 14 | 14 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 11.3 | 12.0 | 23.3 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3 |
| Career | 324 | 104 | 105 | 4129 | 4093 | 8222 | 1057 | 853 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 12.7 | 12.6 | 25.4 | 3.3 | 2.6 | 175 | ||
West has made several appearances on theAFL Footy Show and appeared on apizza ad withMelbourne'sDavid Neitz.
West was married to Leshelle and has four sons:Rhylee (born 2000, Kobi, Cooper and Levi (born 2008).West married Linda on 23/11/19.[9] Rhylee was drafted by theWestern Bulldogs in 2018 as a father-son selection.[10]
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Coach:Brereton | ||