Peter Matera

Peter Matera
Personal information
Nickname(s)	Roo
Date of birth	(1969-04-03) 3 April 1969 (age 48)
Original team(s)	South Fremantle (WAFL)
Position(s)	Wing
Playing career1
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
1990–2002	West Coast Eagles	253 (217)
Representative team honours
Years	Team	Games (Goals)
1989–1997	Western Australia	5 (4)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2002.
Career highlights
5× All-Australian 1991, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997 Norm Smith Medallist 1992 2× Premiership player 1992, 1994 West Coast Club Champion 1997 Indigenous Team of the Century 2005 Australian Football Hall of Fame inductee 2006 VFL/AFL Italian Team of the Century 2007
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Peter Matera (born 3 April 1969) is a former Italian-Australian rules footballer for the West Coast Eagles in the Australian Football League (AFL).

Matera is widely regarded as the finest wingman of his generation and one of the best wingmen of all time. His remarkable skills and ability to seemingly make something out of nothing made him one of the truly elite players of the 1990s. Matera is nicknamed "Roo", dubbed so by teammate Chris Lewis due to his supposed kangaroo-like appearance. He wore the number 30 for the majority of his career with West Coast.

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, and younger brother Phillip Matera, 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 (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 and earning All-Australian honors. Matera followed up with an excellent 1992, unlucky to miss AA honors once more but capped off the season with an outstanding finals series.

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 for his best on ground performance.