The opponent was Swan Districts, which included future teammate Clancee Pearce and current West Coast ruckman Nic Naitanui.
An 18-year-old Hill had 11 disposals as the Falcons were overrun in the final quarter to lose the game by 10 points.
Much haschanged since that day. Hill, who was taken by Freo at pick three in the National Draft just weeks later, is now one of the most damaging players in the AFL, the target of a regular tag from the opposition because of his match-winning abilities.
While he’s moved on to bigger and better things, Hill has fond memories of his WAFL days and is excited at the opportunity to play at Arena Joondalup tonight against the Eagles in a NAB Challenge match.
“It’s going to be great to get back to Arena Joondalup, I’ve got plenty of good memories of the ground, playing in development squads and later a few league games with some good mates,” Hill said.
“I’ve been there in the past few years as a spectator and we’ve had a training session there with Fremantle, but the opportunity to play a game there again would be great.”
Hill, who grew up in the northern Perth suburb of Clarkson and played for local side Quinns District, also remembers the jitters before his league debut for the Falcons on Saturday 19 July, 2008.
“I was quite nervous playing my first league game,” he said.
“I was a fairly skinny little kid playing against fully-grown men.”
Current teammate Kepler Bradley also lined up for West Perth in Hill’s league debut, while opponents Peel Thunder included Hayden Ballantyne, who kicked four goals in the game on his way to winning the Sandover Medal in that season.
Tonight’s game against West Coast starts at 4.10pm.
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