Winder joins exclusive AFL club in surprise debut

Bunbury’s latest AFL draftee Isiah Winder made a surprise debut for the West Coast Eagles on Saturday, coming on as a medical substitute and kicking a special debut goal to mark the occasion. The Eaton Boomers product, pictured, flew to Melbourne with the team on Thursday after a five-goal display in the WAFL last week and entered the game against St Kilda in the first quarter after Shannon Hurn was forced off with a calf issue. Winder then had his big moment early in the second term. The small forward received a handball from Josh Kennedy and snapped a ball around his body before jumping into the arms of the Eagles’ goal kicking star in joyful celebration. Those scenes were replicated in the Winder household back home in the South West. “I reckon the whole neighbourhood might have heard us,” Winder’s father Mick told the Bunbury Herald. “We knew he was going over with the team and we weren’t sure if he was playing or not but we were even just excited for him to have that experience, for him to get on the field was amazing.” St Kilda ran over West Coast late in the game to win 15.12 (102) to 13.4 (82) and like his son, Mick took a team-first approach when looking back on his son’s debut game. “The family are big Eagles supporters, so we were all watching the game anyway,” he said. “It wasn’t great for Hurn, unfortunately. In a way, we would rather have not seen Isiah go on at all, to be honest. “But to see him get an opportunity was great.” Michael said the opportunity was testament to his son’s hard work, since joining the club in last year’s National Draft. “It is a credit to his hard work, he is in a really good system with the Eagles I think,” he said. “I think he got around some good senior players and the coaching staff and people around the club are great. “He has just put his head down and got stuck into it, trained and learnt whatever he could.” Mick said Isiah’s focus in the aftermath had already moved on to next week. “Obviously they lost the game and that was the most important thing, so it was just about getting back to Perth, looking over some film and improving next week,” he said. Harvey’s Ethan Hughes had a difficult afternoon in defence, despite Fremantle holding on to beat Hawthorn at Optus Stadium on Sunday afternoon. Hughes was the Dockers’ sixth highest disposal winner in the 15-point win, but made a number of errors leading to Hawthorn goals. Hughes played alongside Bunbury product Tobe Watson, who had a quite first half but worked his way into the game. Neville Jetta also had a quiet day, managing just five touches down back as Melbourne beat Geelong at the MCG.