Peter Lori SUMICH

PLAYER: 1986-1998

GAMES: 267: South Fremantle 112; West Coast 150; WA 5

PREMIERSHIPS: South Fremantle 1997; West Coast 1992, 94.

HONOURS: Leading goal kicker West Coast 1989,90,91,92,93,94,97; Total goals West Coast 514; finals goals 62, equal 9^th AFL/VFL history; Leading goal scorer South Fremantle 1988, 1998 and kicked 175 in total; Coached South Fremantle 2000-01.

Peter Sumich is not often mentioned when critics debate the best West Coast p layers of all time but his contribution to the team’s extraordinary run of success in the early 1990s should not be underestimated. While the bulk of the Eagles team and talent were on-ballers or defenders, Sumich was West Coast’s one quality tall forward. A product of WA’s winning Teal Cup team in 1985, Sumich was also a talented cricketer and juggled football and cricket commitments for several seasons before committing himself to West Coast in 1989.  He kicked 45 goals that year as the team struggled to 11^th on the ladder, but his career took a quantum leap forward the following year when he bagged 90.  His hooking, left-footed style derived from younger days playing soccer, allowed him to kick remarkable goals from long distances. 

In 1991 Sumich became the first left-footer to ever kick 100 goals in an AFL season, bagging 111 as West Coast made its  first grand final and in the premiership year of 1992 he kicked 82 and managed six in the grand final against Geelong.  His 514 goals remains a club record.  He won the Eagles’ goal kicking seven times and kicked 62 goals in 19 finals, a tally which places him equal 9^th on the AFL’s all-time list.