Scott West

Scott West (born 14 November 1974) is a former Australian rules footballer who represented the Western Bulldogs in the Australian Football League (AFL). Having won a club-record seven Charlie 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.

Scott West
Personal information
Date of birth (1974-11-14) 14 November 1974
Place of birth Swan Reach, South Australia
Original team(s) Strathmore
Debut Round 1, 1993, Footscray vs. Collingwood, at Melbourne 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

Early career

One of three brothers, West grew up in the northwestern Melbourne suburb of Keilor a keen Essendon supporter. Ironically, his childhood neighbour and future Essendon footballer Rick Olarenshaw was a Footscray supporter.[1] His older brother Troy 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 with Williamstown Football Club. The third brother, Brent, is Scott's twin.[1]

West was educated at Penleigh and Essendon Grammar School (PEGS), whom he represented in football with the Associated Grammar Schools of Victoria (AGSV) First XVIII in 1991 and 1992 along with Shane Crawford and future teammate Paul Dimattina.[2] He also played for Strathmore and was subsequently recruited by Footscray (now Western Bulldogs), making his senior debut in 1993. He won an AFL 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 of Doug Hawkins' departure to Fitzroy in 1995.

AFL career

After Footscray rebranded itself the Western Bulldogs during the tumultuous 1996 season, the Bulldogs rebounded dramatically in 1997, falling agonizingly short of their first Grand Final appearance since 1961 when the eventual premiers Adelaide came from behind to win the Preliminary Final by two points. West's contribution in the club's amazing turnaround was recognized when he won the second of what would be seven Charlie Sutton Medals. He made All-Australian selection on five occasions – in 1998, 2000, 2004, 2005 and 2006. West's best and fairest victory in 2005 saw him overtake Gary 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 the Adelaide 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 the Brownlow Medal count twice: in 2000 and in 2006; in the former year, he was particularly unlucky: going into the final round, he was level with Melbourne's Shane 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 poll against 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 the Brownlow 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 behind Adam Goodes.

West and Rohan Smith played their 300th games in the Bulldogs' semi-final loss to West Coast at Domain 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]

Post-playing career

West is a qualified landscape gardener and has run a landscaping business since 1997.

From 2009 to 2011, West served as a midfield coach at Melbourne, earning praise for his teaching ability.[5]

In 2012 he became the coach of the Werribee Football Club in the Victorian 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 replace Brendan McCartney as senior coach of the Bulldogs,[5] but the position eventually was given to Luke Beveridge.

West has also been working as a football commentator on radio for the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC).[7]

Honours

In early 2002, West was named in the Western Bulldogs Team of the Century.

The Scott West Award, awarded to the Western Bulldogs' most courageous player during a season, was named in his honour.

In 2013 West was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame.[1]

In March 2017, West was chosen as one of the club icons to unfurl the Bulldogs' premiership flag.[8]

Career statistics
Legend
  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 1417211517011928936351.20.910.07.017.02.12.18
1994 Footscray 142391133815549351380.40.514.76.721.42.21.72
1995 Footscray 72361336518254746450.30.615.97.923.82.02.09
1996 Footscray 7150413712826521230.00.39.18.517.71.41.51
1997 Western Bulldogs 7245336724060758570.20.115.310.025.32.42.45
1998 Western Bulldogs 72453309301†61040670.20.112.912.5†25.41.72.823
1999 Western Bulldogs 72111524426851247400.50.211.612.824.42.21.914
2000 Western Bulldogs 72375331326†65780510.30.214.414.2†28.63.52.222
2001 Western Bulldogs 72211428329858172590.50.212.913.5†26.43.32.78
2002 Western Bulldogs 7188822224947161570.40.412.313.8†26.2†3.43.28
2003 Western Bulldogs 72236277343†620107670.10.312.615.6†28.2†4.93.04
2004 Western Bulldogs 722710278314592104800.30.512.614.326.9†4.73.620
2005 Western Bulldogs 72247267370637†91610.20.312.116.829.0†4.12.817
2006 Western Bulldogs 72465285423†708†119770.30.211.917.6§29.5†5.03.223
2007 Western Bulldogs 72016211329540110820.10.310.616.5†27.05.54.18
2008 Western Bulldogs 740045489314140.00.011.312.023.33.53.53
Career 324 104 105 4129 4093 8222 1057 853 0.3 0.3 12.7 12.6 25.4 3.3 2.6 175

Other

West has made several appearances on the AFL Footy Show and appeared on a pizza ad with Melbourne's David 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 the Western Bulldogs in 2018 as a father-son selection.[10]

References
  1. Green, Warwick (5 June 2013). "Scott West crowned an AFL Hall of Fame member". Herald Sun.
  2. "Football 1981-" (PDF). AGSV Sport. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
  3. "Smith, West to make history". ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation). 12 September 2006. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
  4. "Bulldogs axe West". AFL.com.au. 23 September 2008. Archived from the original on 24 September 2008. Retrieved 23 September 2008.
  5. Landsberger, Sam (10 October 2014). "Scott West signals intent to pursue Western Bulldogs coaching job after Brendan McCartney resigns". Herald Sun.
  6. Collins, Ben (8 October 2013). "Scott West quits Werribee in hope of AFL gig". AFL.com.au.
  7. afl.com.au
  8. "Bulldogs Icons – Scott West". westernbulldogs.com.au. 30 March 2017.
  9. Stevens, Mark (14 August 2008). "Scott West welcomes fourth son into the world". Herald Sun.
  10. "AFL Draft Pick 26: Rhylee West". westernbulldogs.com.au. 23 November 2018.
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