1998 Westar Rules season

Childhood East Fremantle fan Greg Egan finally joins the Sharks from Perth and becomes part of a dominant big-man division that the Bulldogs never threaten.^[3]

East Fremantle take advantage of Fremantle’s discarding of former Hawthorn regular Greg Madigan as he leads the Sharks to victory on an oppressive 35 °C (95 °F) day^[4]

Wayne Blackwell’s innovative use of the interchange bench - whereby he drags key players Toby Jackson and Drew Cornelius only for them to come back to decisive effect - helps Perth win its first game.^[5]

• After playing a few games in defence, Bulldog Peter Sumich is returned to attack and kick eight in his best performance in Westar Rules.^[6]
• East Fremantle list centre half-forward Damian Condon for their game with Claremont even though it was widely known he had no hope of playing and was replaced before the match^[7]

East Fremantle’s tall forward line of Earl Spalding, Damian Condon, Brendon Feddema and Leigh Willison is rendered ineffective by a lack of crumbing players.^[8] The match remains Subiaco’s biggest win with fewer scoring shots.^[9]

Nineteen-year-old Clint Kirey solves the Sharks’ problems of a crumbing forward as they down the previously unbeaten Falcons.^[10]

With former Carlton star Earl Spalding back in his home state and kicking seven goals, East Fremantle send Swans to a fourth straight defeat after starting in promising fashion.^[11]

• East Perth honour the late Jeremy Silcock, who died on a 1995 end-of-season trip, with a superb win over their traditional rivals. The Royals win with an eight-goal second quarter to one point by the Falcons.^[12]
• East Fremantle take top spot (which they will retain without losing for the rest of the year) with a fine win in a fluctuating derby^[13]

• Future Eagles star David Wirrpunda lives up to expectations three years after being recruited from Healesville with a brilliant display for East Perth.^[14]
• After the resignation of foundation coach Geoff Miles,^[15] Peel go from bad (if improving) to worse with their thrashing at Joondalup.^[16]

• Claremont consolidate their finals chances but lose skipper Jeremy Guard for the rest of the season.^[17]
• East Perth maintain their winning streak despite Perth dominating the game, due to the Demons’ inaccuracy in front of goal^[18]

• The game at Arena Joondalup was the last senior Westar/WAFL game where a team scoring fewer goals won until Easter Monday of 2004 when South Fremantle beat Swan Districts thus.
• East Fremantle end East Perth’s eight-match winning streak with Victorian Martin Mellody dominant. The Royals are handicapped by driving rain during the second quarter when they have a gale force wind.^[19]

• South Fremantle kick an extraordinary 4.24 (48) after quarter-time in violent winds and rain. With Scott Simister kicking four goals in the third quarter, Peel are poised for a monumental upset but the Bulldogs kick 2.10 (22) to 0.2 (2) in the last and keep their finals hopes alive.^[20]
• East Fremantle kick nine straight goals with a violent southwesterly wind in the first quarter to set up a winning break in heavy rain. During the second half as the wind changes direction, only two goals are kicked as both teams flood their backline when against the hurricane.^[21]

• Despite losing seven players to a State game in Adelaide, East Fremantle thrash Subiaco to jeopardise the Lions’ place in the top four.^[22]
• South Fremantle kick twelve straight behinds between late in the first quarter and early in the third, but come back to defeat the Royals.^[23] The win puts the Bulldogs within a game of fourth spot.

Two enormous upsets unsettle the battle for fourth position and see Claremont, second last in 1997, climb therein.^[24] Scott Simister kicks six for the Thunder as they win their second Westar Rules match.^[25]

• Perth do not score between the twelve-minute mark of the opening quarter and the nine-minute mark of the last,^[26] becoming the first senior WANFL/WAFL/WASFL/Westar team to fail to score in the second and third quarters since East Fremantle at Lathlain Park in 1967.
• South Fremantle, one point ahead at half-time, overcome the treacherous conditions with long kicking and the move of Marty Atkins to the ruck and Stephen Pears to a forward pocket, kicking 8.11 (59) to 2.3 (15) by the Lions.^[27]

West Perth eliminate the reigning premiers’ finals chances with a superb win in wet and windy conditions due to Troy Wilson’s four goals and fine marking.^[28]

• West Perth record their biggest ever win over Perth.^[29]
• Subiaco record their biggest ever win over Swan Districts,^[30] with Kenwick recruit Daniel Hardington destroying Swans’ highly touted Garth Taylor.^[31] Leading goalkicker Todd Ridley kicks nine.

• Swan Districts kicked their lowest-ever winning score, beating a 1952 record by three points.^[32]
• East Fremantle kicks seven goals in eleven minutes during the second quarter to win its fourteenth straight game against the Thunder.^[33] Only one goal, by the Thunder in the last quarter, is kicked against a strong and wet northwesterly wind.
• West Perth’s three late goals forces Claremont into a last-minute exist from the final four.

• Since the two semi-finals were played at the same venue on the same day, the attendance figure is the same for both.
• East Fremantle’s brigade of tall forwards and their superb defence, with Greg Madigan keeping Troy Wilson scoreless, demolished the Falcons on a perfectly fine day.^[34]

A brilliant solo goal after a zigzagging run from Neil Mildenhall and a perfectly executed shepherd allow West Perth, behind from early in the second quarter and twenty-eight points down halfway through the third, to obtain a rematch with East Fremantle.^[35]