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Peter Matera Was Almost a Demon

Demonland
in Melbourne Demons

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I don’t remember this one. Anyone else remember this. 

MELBOURNE

The Demons almost struck gold and snared dual premiership Eagle and Norm Smith Medallist Peter Matera, only for his teammates to convince him to stay in Perth. Matera flagged an intention to join Melbourne after the 1997 season, causing a media storm in WA. But several senior teammates eventually convinced the star wingman to stay at the Eagles – the club he’d ultimately spend his entire career at.
 

Any other stars we almost lured?

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    Yes Matera was very close (Bags Packed) to being on our list. So sad. Just the Player we needed to put serious Respect back into the Club

    23 years later we still need an A Grade recruit

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    Absolutely.  Peter Matera was ready to sign and come across. Dees would have grabbed him with PSD#1.  WA media went nuts and camped out the front of his house. The Eagles players and coaches put pressure on him to stay and I recall the club offered him leadership credentials.  

    Matera played for 5 more years across 1998 to 2002. He would have been a star in the MCG and might have helped us in the 1998, 2000 & 2002 finals runs. 

    Certainly would have been the Biggest get since Templeton and Moore moves across. 

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    We were very close to getting Leigh Matthews at about 28 and he was coming, until Hawks matched our offer, which was well above theirs.

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    3 hours ago, Redleg said:

    We were very close to getting Leigh Matthews at about 28 and he was coming, until Hawks matched our offer, which was well above theirs.

    Wow, that would have him (Leigh) heading to Melbournefc,  at the same time as RdBarassi.

    Now that would have been a coup.

    I think,  that one might have changed our fortunes.   Leigh was strong enough,  to really help change the culture of the club.   Much needed help.

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    6 hours ago, david_neitz_is_my_dad said:

    Chris Judd

    I read the chapter in Chris Judd's book about this. We were never in the race. He says he named us as an option initially as he went for us as a kid, but he never seriously considered us.

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    I remember this one well.  

    We did some great signings when Daniher came on board.  Matera would have been the best and of them and with him running the wings on the MCG we would have won the lot in ‘98.

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    Matera would have been perfect at the time and the nest few years.  As it turned out the following season was a shocker for Matera at the eagles, well down on form.  Which I think was because had mentally left despite being convinced to stay, though after that year he rise back to his usual standard.

    Him on the wing after the loss of Tingay would have made a difference, better than Craig Turley.  

     

     

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    The Demon decisionEdit

    The most controversial moment of Peter Matera's career came in late 1997 when he shocked the football world by declaring his intentions to leave the West Coast Eagles and join the Melbourne Football Club via the pre-season draft for the 1998 season. Citing a desire to play more at the MCG, Matera's announcement triggered major public outcry in Western Australia and saw many of his longtime Eagles teammates, including captain John Worsfold visit Matera's home (which was staked out by the media). Days after news of Matera's defection broke, he did a back flip, agreeing to stay on at the West Coast Eagles. While he remained in the blue and gold for the rest of his career, many believed his form slump in 1998 was a result of the extreme pressure he was placed under as a result of his decision to originally leave the club.
     

    (Wikipedia) 

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    Don't know if it was ever a possibility but didn't we draft one or both of the Jarmans in 89? They stayed in SA until Darren joined hawthorn in 91 and Andrew was part of the inaugural Crows side the same year.

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    21 hours ago, Demonland said:

    MELBOURNE

    The Demons almost struck gold and snared dual premiership Eagle and Norm Smith Medallist Peter Matera, only for his teammates to convince him to stay in Perth. Matera flagged an intention to join Melbourne after the 1997 season, causing a media storm in WA.

    I don't see the advantage of bringing just one elite player,  into a team of questionable culture.

    We'd already had extremely strong lists in preceding  7Yrs,  without proper success from them.   Bbut we did have a Holywood Boulevard locker-room,  and associated ills.

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    19 hours ago, MyFavouriteMartian said:

    Wow, that would have him (Leigh) heading to Melbournefc,  at the same time as RdBarassi.

    Now that would have been a coup.

    I think,  that one might have changed our fortunes.   Leigh was strong enough,  to really help change the culture of the club.   Much needed help.

    Yes in 1980 the Dees thought they’d got Barassi as coach and Leigh Matthews as new skipper.  The Dees were ready to a full in assault to get back to the glory days. Matthews was ready to sign but Hawks matched the $$$s and appointed him skipper. Probably deserved it. 

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    19 hours ago, BAMF said:

    I read the chapter in Chris Judd's book about this. We were never in the race. He says he named us as an option initially as he went for us as a kid, but he never seriously considered us.

    I actually don't blame him for that, we were a rabble at the time, we brought him to tour AAMI Park before it was built. We really didn't have anything positive to offer him, still sickens me he chose the Blues though. VISY ambassador my [censored]. 

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    55 minutes ago, Pates said:

    I actually don't blame him for that, we were a rabble at the time, we brought him to tour AAMI Park before it was built. We really didn't have anything positive to offer him, still sickens me he chose the Blues though. VISY ambassador my [censored]. 

    Carlton supporters on BigFooty,  were saying 6 months prior to that end of season jaunt around the clubs,  by Juddas granny;  that he was already signed as a Bluebagger,  before the Midseason.

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    4 hours ago, Pates said:

    I actually don't blame him for that, we were a rabble at the time, we brought him to tour AAMI Park before it was built. We really didn't have anything positive to offer him, still sickens me he chose the Blues though. VISY ambassador my [censored]. 

    We were a rabble in 2007? And the Blues weren't? C'mon, it was always about the $$$

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    22 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

    We were a rabble in 2007? And the Blues weren't? C'mon, it was always about the $$$

    Blues were a rabble but at least they had a home and facilities to show off, we had a construction site. And yes I agree that the $$$ got him to Carlton, but we had very little to offer.

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    On 5/5/2020 at 9:26 PM, MyFavouriteMartian said:

    Wow, that would have him (Leigh) heading to Melbournefc,  at the same time as RdBarassi.

    Now that would have been a coup.

    I think,  that one might have changed our fortunes.   Leigh was strong enough,  to really help change the culture of the club.   Much needed help.

    They were (reportedly) trying to get him as captain/coach before signing Ditterich so probably wouldn't have been there with Barassi. Might not have needed Barassi if all went well.

    Edited by Supermercado

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    On 5/5/2020 at 3:10 PM, Demonland said:

    I don’t remember this one. Anyone else remember this. 

    MELBOURNE

    The Demons almost struck gold and snared dual premiership Eagle and Norm Smith Medallist Peter Matera, only for his teammates to convince him to stay in Perth. Matera flagged an intention to join Melbourne after the 1997 season, causing a media storm in WA. But several senior teammates eventually convinced the star wingman to stay at the Eagles – the club he’d ultimately spend his entire career at.
     

    Any other stars we almost lured?

    I swear I remember seeing him in a press conference wearing a Melbourne polo or something of that kind but then he decided to stay at West Coast.

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    On 5/5/2020 at 9:26 PM, MyFavouriteMartian said:

    Wow, that would have him (Leigh) heading to Melbournefc,  at the same time as RdBarassi.

    Now that would have been a coup.

    I think,  that one might have changed our fortunes.   Leigh was strong enough,  to really help change the culture of the club.   Much needed help.

    Well according to Don Scott, Matthews was pretty much a loner and kept to himself.

    I am not sure he would have changed our culture.

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    20 hours ago, MyFavouriteMartian said:

    Carlton supporters on BigFooty,  were saying 6 months prior to that end of season jaunt around the clubs,  by Juddas granny;  that he was already signed as a Bluebagger,  before the Midseason.

    Round 10 Carlton was sitting on four wins, but Judd gave them the nod so Carlton made sure they didn't win another game. The Kreuzer Cup was more about Judd than Kreuzer.

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    On 5/5/2020 at 10:21 PM, BAMF said:

    I read the chapter in Chris Judd's book about this. We were never in the race. He says he named us as an option initially as he went for us as a kid, but he never seriously considered us.

    Quite right . He went through the farce of inspecting the Junction Oval............"not up to standard " .  In typical Carlton style he had already stitched up a nice little extra earner as Richard] Pratt's Environmental Spokesman .

    Edited by dee-eee

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