Peter Matera (born 3 April 1969) is a former

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

er who played for the

West Coast Eagles The West Coast Eagles are a professional Australian rules football club based in Perth, Western Australia. The club was founded in 1986 as one of two expansion teams in the Australian Football League (AFL), then known as the Victorian Football ...

in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the gam ...

(AFL). Hailing from the West Australian country town of Wagin, Matera was born of an Italian father. He has seven siblings (Walter, Frank, Michael, Gino, Phillip, Gerard and Carmel), two of which were his older brother

Wally Matera Wally Matera (born 9 September 1963) is a former Australian rules footballer. He played with the West Coast Eagles and Fitzroy in the AFL and for South Fremantle in the WAFL. Matera arrived in South Fremantle from Wagin Federals, debuting ...

, and younger brother

Phillip Matera Phillip Matera (born 27 November 1975) is a former Australian rules footballer. Career Beginning his career in 1996, the 171 cm forward pocket was one of the Australian Football League's best small forwards. Matera is the brother of for ...

, who both played football at the elite level. Matera played soccer as a youngster and was influenced by the success of Wally in playing Australian rules football. Matera was recruited from South Fremantle in the

West Australian Football League The West Australian Football League (WAFL) is an Australian rules football league based in Perth, Western Australia. The league currently consists of ten teams, which play each other in a 20-round season usually lasting from March to September, ...

(WAFL) with the 4th selection in the 1989 National Draft and made his debut in 1990 for West Coast. Playing just five games in his debut season for the Eagles, Matera broke through as a star youngster in 1991, finishing fourth in the

Brownlow Medal The Charles Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal (and informally as "Charlie"), is awarded to the " best and fairest" player in the Australian Football League (AFL) during the home-and-away season, as determined by votes cast by ...

and earning

All-Australian The All-Australian team is an all-star team of Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules footballers, selected by a panel at the end of each season. It represents a complete team, including an interchange bench, of the best-perf ...

honors. Matera followed up with an excellent 1992, unlucky to miss AA honours once more but capped off the season with an outstanding finals series.

AFL career

Finest hour

Peter Matera permanently etched his name into football folklore with his outstanding performance in the 1992 Grand Final. The West Coast Eagles captured their first premiership on the back of Matera's excellent five goal effort from the wing. The image of Matera "setting sail for home" is considered by many to be the definitive moment in West Coast history. Matera collected the

Norm Smith Medal The Norm Smith Medal is an Australian rules football award presented annually to the player adjudged the best on ground in the Grand Final of the Australian Football League (AFL). Prior to 1990 the competition was known as the Victorian Football ...

for his best on ground performance.

Prime of career

Matera continued to establish himself as one of the games legitimate stars and most dangerous players throughout the mid-1990s. His outstanding goal sense and reading of the play made Matera a true game breaker. Selected as an All-Australian again in 1993 and 94, Matera also was something of a surprise runner up in the 1994

count, polling 28 votes, including four straight best of ground performances. Matera was also a key member of West Coast's second premiership team in 1994 – while he did not repeat his 1992 heroics, it was later revealed he played the Grand Final under much duress due to a stress fracture in his leg.

Moving back

With his trademark speed on the decline, 1996 saw Peter Matera reinvent himself as a half back flank with great success. This part of his career is often overshadowed by his outstanding years as a wingman but Matera made a fine defender and once again enjoyed All-Australian status in 1996 and 1997. Matera was named on a wing in West Coast's team of the decade in 1996.

Brother Phil

1996 also saw Matera joined at West Coast by his younger brother Phillip. A fine player in his own right, Phillip was a speedy

forward pocket In the sport of Australian rules football, each of the eighteen players in a team is assigned to a particular named position on the field of play. These positions describe both the player's main role and by implication their location on the gro ...

who emerged from his brother's shadow later in his career to be regarded as one of the better goal sneaks of his time. Affectionately known as "Fido", Phil Matera retired after the 2005 season playing 179 games and kicking 389 goals for West Coast.

Club Champion at last

After four top five finishes in the strong West Coast team of the 1990s, Matera won his first Club Champion Award in

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

. Finishing two votes clear of fellow Eagles' champion Dean Kemp. Despite only winning the award once, Matera's consistency throughout the 1990s elevates his status amongst West Coast greats.

The Demon decision

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 The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Demons, is a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. It is based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, ...

via the pre-season draft for the 1998 season. Citing a desire to play more at the

MCG The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as "The 'G", is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadium in the Southern Hem ...

, Matera's announcement triggered major public outcry in

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

and saw many of his longtime Eagles teammates, including captain

John Worsfold John Richard Worsfold (born 25 September 1968) is a former Australian rules football coach and player. He was the senior coach of the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL) between October 2015 and September 2020. He pr ...

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.

Winding down

Matera's form declined once he reached his 30s. Most of his premiership teammates retired around him leaving Matera one of only a handful of experienced Eagles left by the turn of the century – Matera was named a vice captain of the club in 1999, holding this position for three seasons. The team's fortunes took a turn for the worse in 2000 and 2001, missing the finals for the first time since 1989. Matera, while still finishing top 10 in the Club Champion award was not the outstanding performer he was in his prime. 2002 saw the return to the club of legendary Eagles captain

, this time in the role of senior coach. Worsfold's return saw the side return to the finals and saw Matera, aged 33, regain some fine form and it appeared he may play on in 2003. To some surprise and disappointment, late in the preseason of 2003 Peter Matera drew the curtain on his illustrious career, succumbing to a persistent thigh injury which had rendered him unable to reach peak fitness. Peter Matera played 253 games for the West Coast Eagles and kicked 218 goals over 13 seasons. He also played 60 games for South Fremantle and represented Western Australia in state football on 5 occasions.

Statistics

: , - , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 37 , , 5 , , 3 , , 3 , , 45 , , 16 , , 61 , , 16 , , 3 , , 0.6 , , 0.6 , , 9.0 , , 3.2 , , 12.2 , , 3.2 , , 0.6 , , 0 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 30 , , 26 , , 32 , , 25 , , 401 , , 134 , , 535 , , 87 , , 56 , , 1.2 , , 1.0 , , 15.4 , , 5.2 , , 20.6 , , 3.3 , , 2.2 , , 18 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" , scope=row bgcolor=F0E68C ,

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

^# , , , 30 , , 23 , , 31 , , 22 , , 349 , , 110 , , 459 , , 63 , , 65 , , 1.3 , , 1.0 , , 15.2 , , 4.8 , , 20.0 , , 2.7 , , 2.8 , , 9 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 1993 , style="text-align:center;", , 30 , , 20 , , 23 , , 24 , , 317 , , 124 , , 441 , , 74 , , 43 , , 1.2 , , 1.2 , , 15.9 , , 6.2 , , 22.1 , , 3.7 , , 2.2 , , 10 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" , scope=row bgcolor=F0E68C ,

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

^# , , , 30 , , 24 , , 21 , , 20 , , 305 , , 108 , , 413 , , 77 , , 68 , , 0.9 , , 0.8 , , 12.7 , , 4.5 , , 17.2 , , 3.2 , , 2.8 , , 28 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 30 , , 20 , , 31 , , 15 , , 284 , , 82 , , 366 , , 74 , , 40 , , 1.6 , , 0.8 , , 14.2 , , 4.1 , , 18.3 , , 3.7 , , 2.0 , , 13 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 30 , , 24 , , 9 , , 10 , , 339 , , 119 , , 458 , , 98 , , 71 , , 0.4 , , 0.4 , , 14.1 , , 5.0 , , 19.1 , , 4.1 , , 3.0 , , 9 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

, style="text-align:center;", , 30 , , 21 , , 7 , , 8 , , 336 , , 132 , , 468 , , 93 , , 39 , , 0.3 , , 0.4 , , 16.0 , , 6.3 , , 22.3 , , 4.4 , , 1.9 , , 21 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 30 , , 21 , , 17 , , 13 , , 294 , , 81 , , 375 , , 76 , , 55 , , 0.8 , , 0.6 , , 14.0 , , 3.9 , , 17.9 , , 3.6 , , 2.6 , , 6 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 30 , , 16 , , 8 , , 6 , , 196 , , 92 , , 288 , , 71 , , 37 , , 0.5 , , 0.4 , , 12.3 , , 5.8 , , 18.0 , , 4.4 , , 2.3 , , 8 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 30 , , 17 , , 22 , , 12 , , 216 , , 88 , , 304 , , 63 , , 39 , , 1.3 , , 0.7 , , 12.7 , , 5.2 , , 17.9 , , 3.7 , , 2.3 , , 1 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 30 , , 19 , , 2 , , 4 , , 245 , , 67 , , 312 , , 69 , , 42 , , 0.1 , , 0.2 , , 12.9 , , 3.5 , , 16.4 , , 3.6 , , 2.2 , , 3 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 30 , , 17 , , 11 , , 4 , , 212 , , 76 , , 288 , , 44 , , 57 , , 0.6 , , 0.2 , , 12.5 , , 4.5 , , 16.9 , , 2.6 , , 3.4 , , 0 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 253 ! 217 ! 166 ! 3539 ! 1229 ! 4768 ! 905 ! 615 ! 0.9 ! 0.7 ! 14.0 ! 4.9 ! 18.9 ! 3.6 ! 2.4 ! 126

Honours and achievements

Team * 2× AFL premiership player ():

* 2×

McClelland Trophy The McClelland Trophy is an Australian rules football trophy which has been awarded each year since 1951 by the Australian Football League (known prior to 1990 as the Victorian Football League) to the best-performing club in the home-and-away sea ...

():

Individual *

* John Worsfold Medal:

* 5×

All-Australian team The All-Australian team is an all-star team of Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules footballers, selected by a panel at the end of each season. It represents a complete team, including an interchange bench, of the best-perf ...

, 1993,

* 4×

State of Origin A State of Origin competition is a type of sporting event between players representing their state or territory. State of Origin began in Australian rules football on 8 October 1977 between Western Australia (WA) and Victoria, at Subiaco Ov ...

(

): 1991, 1992, 1993, 1997 *

Indigenous Team of the Century 1904-2003 – Wing * Italian Team of the Century - Wing

Life after football

In August 2005, Matera was named on the wing of the

Indigenous Team of the Century The Indigenous Team of the Century (Australian rules football) was selected to recognise the role of Indigenous Australians in the sport. It was announced in 2005 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the first senior-level game played by an indig ...

. Matera said of the honour:

Stephen Michael was my idol as a kid, and we used to hear all about how good
Polly Farmer Graham Vivian "Polly" Farmer (10 March 1935 14 August 2019) was an Australian rules footballer who played for the Geelong Football Club in the Australian Football League, Victorian Football League (VFL) and the East Perth Football Club and We ...
was so to be recognised with them is an honor.

After leaving the football world following his retirement, Matera dabbled in coaching in South Western WA before signalling his intentions to return to the game in a larger capacity. Despite being linked by some to the vacant assistant coaching position at West Coast, Matera took on an assistant coaching and mentoring role at the

East Perth Football Club The East Perth Football Club, nicknamed the Royals, is an Australian rules football club based in Leederville, Western Australia, current playing in the West Australian Football League (WAFL). Formed in 1902 as the Union Football Club, the club ...

in the WAFL for the 2006 season. On 10 March 2006, Matera was inducted into the Western Australian Football Hall of Fame. On 22 June 2006, Matera became the first ever career West Coast Eagle to be inducted into the

Australian Football Hall of Fame The Australian Football Hall of Fame was established in 1996, the Centenary year of the Australian Football League, to help recognise the contributions made to the sport of Australian rules football by players, umpires, media personalities, coa ...

. Considered one of the highest honours in Australian Football, Matera was pleased to receive the recognition

To be inducted in the highest level of football and accolades as in the Hall of Fame is one of those things that just caps off my career. This more or less finishes my career on a high.

In early 2015, th
Matera Foundation
was formed to assist Aboriginal Australians in finding employment. In 2019, it was announced that Matera would join the AFL Tribunal in 2020. In May 2022, Matera was rushed to hospital after suffering a heart attack.

References

External links

*
Matera Foundation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Matera, Peter 1969 births Living people Australian people of Italian descent Indigenous Australians from Western Australia Norm Smith Medal winners South Fremantle Football Club players West Coast Eagles players West Coast Eagles Premiership players Western Australian Sports Star of the Year winners All-Australians (AFL) Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees Western Australian State of Origin players Indigenous Australian players of Australian rules football John Worsfold Medal winners Australian rules footballers from Western Australia West Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees People from Wagin, Western Australia Two-time VFL/AFL Premiership players