West Whyalla Football Club

West Whyalla Football Club has a history littered with memorable achievements and notable personalities. Admitted to the WhFL in 1945, the club had to wait until 1957 for its first senior flag, but has made up for lost time since. Captain-coached by ‘The General’, John McInerney, Wests won their first four premierships in succession and enjoyed an overall success rate during that phase of 90.6%.

McInerney again coached West, this time in an off-field capacity, between 1966 and 1975, during which time he oversaw a further six premiership wins, including a then record five in a row between 1969 and 1973. With an overall record of ten flags from thirteen seasons as a senior coach, small wonder John McInerney earned the selectors’ nod as captain-coach of the official WFL ‘Team of the Century’, which was named in 2001. John’s sons Kevin, Peter and Mark all followed in dad’s footsteps by playing with distinction for the Dragons, while Peter went one step further and enjoyed a fine SANFL career with Glenelg that included 2 state games.

West Whyalla have been a force to be reckoned with in recent seasons, winning the 2005 premiership, and topping the ladder after the minor round the following year only to bow out of contention in ‘straight sets’ at the hands of Central Whyalla and Roopena. The 2008 season brought another grand final, but North Whyalla proved marginally too strong, claiming a hard fought victory by 9 points after the Dragons had enjoyed a 13 point advantage at the final change. The Dragons again played off for the flag in 2009 but Roopena had their measure on this occasion, winning comfortably by 44 points. Another grand final appearance followed in 2011, this time against North Whyalla, who triumphed by 24 points. West finally rediscovered the winning habit in 2012 when they obtained revenge over North with an 8.8 (56) to 6.1 (37) grand final victory. A year later the Dragons went back to back by accounting for Central Whyalla in the grand final by 23 points, 10.17 (77) to 7.12 (54).

More recently, West Whyalla obtained their eighteenth A grade flag in 2016 courtesy of a 15.6 (96) to 7.8 (50) grand final defeat of North Whyalla, and their nineteenth by means of a 16.5 (101) to 12.10 (82) victory mover the same opposition.