Josh Kennedy and Will Schofield in Geraldton for fan event to reminisce about West Coast’s 2018 premiership

Recently retired West Coast premiership hero Dom Sheed luckily didn’t miss the shot at goal that sealed the 2018 flag, but unfortunately for a group of local diehard fans he missed his plane to Geraldton this week. Sheed was meant to join premiership teammates Josh Kennedy and Will Schofield for an event in Geraldton on Thursday, regaling fans with stories from their football careers and, most importantly, that one unforgettable day in September seven years ago. More than 60 people joined Kennedy and Schofield at the Gerald Hotel’s Batavia Coast Conference Centre for an intimate chat, with all guests invited to have their photo taken with the pair and their premiership medals. “It’s the first time we’ve bought our premiership medals out of the safes for a little while. So, everyone got a cool experience,” Schofield said. Noticing Schofield’s medal had been nicely polished and his was a bit dirty, Kennedy joked: “I’m going to try and swap it by the end of the night. “Obviously, I’m from up here in Northampton, so it’s great to be able to connect back with Schoey and have something up here in the Mid West.” The pair spoke of their journey from young up-and-coming footballers spurred by their mums, through the draft process as well as Kennedy’s time at Carlton and teaming up at the Eagles in the years following the 2006 flag. They talked about the highs and the lows, speaking about the lean years and the wooden spoon in 2010, the change of coach in 2013 and the club rebuild which led to the 2018 grand final. Unfortunately, due to a missed flight, Sheed did not make it to the event, with Kennedy apologetic on behalf of his mate. “Talking about 2018, he’s the main man of the story. So, he’s shattered that he can’t be up here and share his insight on that day,” he said. Sheed’s goal and the sequence that lead up to it have gone down in Eagles’ folklore as one of, if not the best moment in the club’s history. In the final minutes of the 2018 AFL grand final against Collingwood, the Eagles were down by two points when a kick into the Pies’ 50 was intercepted by Jeremy McGovern, who then played on kicking to Nathan Vardy. Vardy kicked to Geraldton’s Liam Ryan, who took a sensational contested mark and booted it to Sheed, 45m out in the forward pocket. With nerves of steel, Sheed went back and slotted the goal, cementing West Coast’s four-point win. Kennedy said Ryan’s part in the chain of play should not be forgotten. “Well, that was probably the hardest mark ever, everyone talks about Gov’s intercept, but I reckon that (Ryan’s mark) was probably the hardest, and then having that ability to be able to get up and just play on, get it inside 50 quick to Dom, yeah, it was pretty cool, and he’s another Mid West boy as well,” he said.