INTERVIEW: My interview with Caveman from the FOOTSCRAY NOT WESTERN BULLDOGS (FNWB) lobby group, by Jack Frost, 4 November 2012

The famous Western Oval in Barkly Street, Footscray, Melbourne

Jack Frost: Dear Caveman 

Thank you very much for agreeing to do an interview with me for the WAFL GOLDEN ERA website. I'm a football traditionalist who deplores the spread of hyper-capitalist logic and practices (as well as political correctness) into all codes of football over the past 20-30 years. I believe we have much in common! Here are the questions:

Authoritarian sign at Western Oval

Jack Frost Question 1: Before we move on to discuss FNWB can you tell us more about your personal background such as how and when you became a Footscray supporter?

Caveman: My reason for following Footscray is due to family members (especially my father and his siblings) being supporters of the club. I was born in Footscray and lived within walking distance (though admittedly a reasonably long walk) from the then named Western Oval. Our family moved away from Footscray before my 4th birthday, moving across the great divide of the river (the Maribyrnong River that is!). So although I was no longer living in Footscray, we weren’t that far away from there. I went with my father and his relatives to three games in 1975, but it was in 1976 that I began to fully understand the game and from that year I became a devoted fan of ‘Aussie Rules’. The next year (1977) was when I began to regularly attend games and this was to continue on for many years. The family thing was all from my father’s side; my mother didn’t come from Melbourne. The football team that my mother’s family had a connection to was Cananore. Guess what Cananore did during the 1940s - they CHANGED THEIR NAME! So if you know about the Cananore Football Club, then you will know what part of Australia my mother came from. So Footscray was the team that my father, his siblings, my cousins and most of my father’s mates followed. I decided at the age of 6 to NOT be a rebel and thus this decision of being loyal to family tradition has rewarded me with 37 odd years of supporting a club which has participated in NO Grand Finals!

So I follow Footscray for heritage and the (initial) residential allegiance. My father's two sisters who are both in their 80s still live in West Footscray, they went to the Hyde Street State School back in the 1930s and early 1940s. This is the school from [from which] the much remembered ‘Hyde Street Band’ [came from]. [They] would play before the game and at half time during home matches at Footscray. The family moved before my father could go there, so he went to the Geelong Road State School (now known as the Footscray Primary School) If Footscray’s nickname was something other than what it is i.e. the cats, hawks, demons, magpies, blues, power, etc I would still have followed them, the nickname ‘bulldogs’ had nothing to do with it. So when people ask me who I follow I always tell them - FOOTSCRAY. I never answer that question with the nickname ‘Bulldogs.’ I would hope that rival fans would answer that question in the same way - i.e. someone would answer with GEELONG or RICHMOND rather than ‘The Cats’ or ‘The Tigers’. 

JF2: Please briefly introduce for our readers the history and goals of FNWB.

Caveman: FNWB had four tasks - the top one is the main one though the others are connected to it. One of those (b) has been 90% achieved as explained below:

(a) Footscray name to return in whole for the club. To cut a long story short there is to be no amalgamated name like Footscray/Western Bulldogs- just Footscray as it was at Round 22 1996. This is not negotiable. Footscray and nothing else.

(b) Dispense with the ‘Yawning Cat’ uniform in favour for the pre 1975 jumper. This is the banded guernsey. This task has been achieved. Nevertheless the jumper is not completely correct as we want it. The 2012 onwards jumper requires a red collar and also for size of the red and white bands to be increased for it to be a proper Footscray jumper. However what it is now is certainly a marked improvement. So we can now campaign to just tinker with the uniform rather than prior to 2012 where we were fighting to overhaul it completely!

(c) The history of the Footscray Football Club must be recognised from our earliest days and not just from 1925. This was the year that Footscray moved competitions from the Victorian Football Association (VFA) to the Victorian Football League (VFL) The reason for this is to show the world that the Footscray Football Club did not just appear in 1925 out of nothing. We had been around since 1883 (possibly earlier- the original founding date is far from certain). Not only had the club been around for many years it had also been a very successful club. Nine senior premierships were won between 1898-1924. Next season will be 100 years since the 1913 Premiership. Hardly anyone is seemingly aware of this!
 

(d) This [next] task has never been aggressively lobbied for on FNWB - but this is still a longed for ambition. That is for a brand new exclusive home ground for the Footscray Football Club. We need a new stadium from where we would play our entire home games there, not just home used as a training base. This will be the hardest of all FNWB’s tasks to achieve. We just cannot continue with our present HOME game arrangements, it is financially crippling as well as depriving us of what we previously had- a decided home ground advantage. It is surely not a coincidence that Geelong’s three recent Premierships are connected to having a bona fide home ground.

JF3: I'm aware of your website and Facebook page. Is that all there is to FNWB or do you have campaigns and actions in the so-called "real world" as well?

Caveman: The FNWB website is not a major player in the crusading world, though for the message to get out there it really needs to increase input and publicity (for the cause though not for the actual site). The designated FNWB Facebook page was NOT created by FNWB. There have been a few different Facebook groups arguing for the Footscray name, some are no longer around and others have sprung up. The FNWB website would need to become more ebullient to tap into areas that may not know that it exists. 

JF4: How successful have you been in your relationships and networking with (a) FFC fans and (b) the FFC management?

Caveman: FNWB has some keen devotees who keep in regular contact, though FNWB is not an organised resistance or pressure group (well NOT YET anyway.)
 



Western Oval from Barkly St end

FNWB’s direct relationship with the club could be considered neither positive nor negative. The Western Bulldogs knows that FNWB exists, but there is certainly no direct “hotline” like relationship. FNWB rarely attacks the club over performances on the field. We never contact the club to complain about players, coaches’ etc - the Caveman personally doesn’t feel comfortable ‘bagging’ employees at the club, whether they are admin staff or players on the park. We never ring or email the club. The Caveman is a WB member (additionally as a social club one too) though in the first 7 years of the Western Bulldogs (1997-2003) I purposefully refused to be a member of the club.

So perhaps the club respects us for this - though I couldn’t tell you really if that is how they think. When FNWB is ‘venting the spleen’ it is directed at those who continue to deny the Footscray name. We realise that we can’t do much about performances on the ground, but we will fight 100% for the re-introduction of the Footscray name.

JF5: Are there realistic possibilities of a name change back to Footscray and/or a move back to the Western Oval for some or all home games? Can you give us an estimate of the % probability that these two events will happen? Which event is more likely?

Caveman: Yes -I believe that the Footscray name will return. This is coming from a committed pessimist! The issue is gaining additional publicity in social [media] and also the mainstream media. More people are questioning the supposed benefits of the name change. There is less likely to be any group fully committed and organised in fighting for maintaining the ‘Western Bulldogs’ name. The arguments used to resist changing the name back to Footscray have always been negative ones - the trashing of Footscray as a suburb/name etc. No one knows what Western is supposed to represent, the club always markets itself as The Bulldogs this and Bulldogs that- Western is really a pointless exercise.

This is more likely to happen than home games at the Western Oval. I would consider changing the name back to Footscray an 85% chance, yet the probability for some home games for Premiership points to be played at the Western Oval, I consider a 0% chance. The reason for this is that the result of the much heralded upgrade to the training facilities meant the encroachment into the areas which would hold spectators. The capacity of the ground has been decimated; the ground could not hold 10,000 people anymore. This is my reason for a new stadium to be built for the Footscray Football Club.

I cannot see the club surviving as Western Bulldogs in the long term. All that is required is for a change at the top of the AFL and should a more ‘pay your own way’ ideology come to power, then I believe that the club will be either merged or relocated out of Victoria. Now this could happen under Footscray. However if the new President Peter Gordon continues on for some time and refuses to change the name back many fans will not tip into their pockets again should the AFL decide to merge/ relocate us. 

JF6: What do you think of the FFC letters on the back of the current WBFC jersey? Is this a good move or just, to quote St Matthew from the Bible, "killing the prophets and then building their tombs"?

Caveman: I personally find having those three letters up there insulting, so definitely closer to St Matthew’s quote. The FFC acronym could mean all forms of crude or vulgar meanings to further trivialise or demean our 100 year old history. If they had to have it there they could have found room for 6 extra letters to make the 9 letter word FOOTSCRAY. It doesn’t make me feel any [more] closely connected to the club. If it is a ‘sorry but’ exercise then I am still not won over. 

JF7: Has FNWB got any formal or informal associations with other traditionalists groups in any code? As mentioned, Pave Jusup and Kova of the MCF supporter group at Melbourne Knights Soccer Club in Sunshine North support Footscray in the AFL and are aware of your campaign.

Caveman: FNWB has a very good rapport with the main player involved with the campaign to reinstate the genuine name, to another one of the clubs nicknamed ‘bulldogs’ in Australia [Canterbury-Bankstown in the NRL]. I have read many items about this situation north of the Murray River with Canterbury and it really is a parallel universe as to what went in on Sydney and here in Melbourne with both of us ‘bulldogs’ clubs. It is an interesting paradox that two keen fans from different clubs and codes with teams nicknamed bulldogs have an alliance, due to both wanting to ‘turn back’ from the influence of the ‘bulldogs’ nickname.

I don’t have a connection with the MCF supporter group, though it wouldn’t hurt to get involved with like minded people. 

JF8: What is your opinion on the Foxtel Cup?

Caveman: Unfortunately I haven’t followed it, for the reason connected to question 9 directly below.
 
JF9: What is your opinion of the current VFL?

Caveman: I can’t take it seriously, some old traditional VFA Clubs fighting on their own competing with both the seconds of Victorian AFL clubs and some old VFA clubs made up from the seconds of Victorian AFL clubs. It is too supercilious for me to follow.
 

I yearn for the old days of my team's reserves playing the curtain raiser against our opponent's seconds. It was fair as you were watching blokes all striving to play well enough to step up to the seniors next week. It also gave people a reason to turn up early and it would prevent the mad crowd rush into the ground 15 minutes before the first bounce. So teams with compromised line ups just don’t hold my interest. 

JF10: In my blog I call the old Barkly Street ground "Western Oval". Do you prefer this name or the "Whitten Oval" name (and give your reasons)?

Caveman: That is a hard one as I personally dislike both terms - but for different reasons.

Firstly I never liked the name Western Oval - though I never thought about it much. Anyhow when I did I always believed it was bland and uninteresting. However I was never sufficiently interested to actively campaign against it. To me ‘Such and Such Oval’ is like a private in the army - the lowest ranking, you have ‘Field Marshals’ and ‘Majors’ etc down to ‘Privates’ at the bottom. Similar here ‘Stadium’ down to ‘Park’ and ‘Oval’ is the ‘Private’.

Footscray FC support, Barkly St, Footscra

As for changing it - I didn’t agree with it being Whitten Oval- so for the reasons above I would have preferred Whitten Park.

However although I was happy that it was no longer the Western Oval, I didn’t support changing the name of the ground to a former player. Teddy Whitten is probably the best player that the club has had - yet the club had been around since 1883. Teddy Whitten was born in 1933, so the club had been in existence for 50 years before he was born. Teddy had a long continuous connection with the Footscray Football Club from 1951-1971. Yet from Round 22 1971 to his death in August 1995, he was not regularly involved with the club. That is not a criticism of Teddy, there is no reason why he would had to have been there in those last 25 years of his life. Nevertheless there was already the Ted Whitten Stand, so it seemed rather ridiculous having a E.J. Whitten Stand at the Whitten Oval. They should have changed the name of the E. J. Whitten Stand to something else. My main annoyance was that the board at the time (led at the time by the now returning President Peter Gordon) made this decision to change the name of the ground without consulting anyone (a similar scenario to David Smorgon changing the Footscray name to Western Bulldogs). I certainly don’t support arbitrary decisions by a small elite at Footscray! Again like the name change - there was no vote of members on the issue of changing the name of the ground.

JF11: Can you name for me the best Footscray players you have ever watched play.

Caveman: Kelvin Templeton is the best player I have seen, Doug Hawkins second, with Brian Royal and Chris Grant the next in line. That verdict may surprise some, but Templeton was a genius, his career cut short due to the effects of a horrific knee injury in a pre-season night game in 1981. He did play again but he was never the same dominant target man. Templeton ranks so highly for his sheer ability to take pack marks (as well as chest marks of course) and he was usually a very accurate kick. Doug Hawkins is probably the most under rated footballer of all time, his awareness was perfect, and his disposal and ability to read the play was second to none. He was a champion in 1978, yet non-Footscray people only learned this in the 1985 finals series. Brian Royal was full of courage, a rover that regularly kicked goals, he was excellent with both feet, he often kicked important goals in close games near the end. Chris Grant is a champion, but [I] would go for Templeton ahead of him for the reasons that Templeton kicked more bags of goals and was a stronger mark. Templeton regularly kicked 8’s and 9’s as well as the 15 of course in 1978; Chris Grant wasn’t as prolific in that regard, though he did play many games in the backline.

Other players that made me feel proud were Scott West, Andrew Purser, Simon Beasley, plus some that were only there for a small amount of time- like Les Bamblett, [and] Brad Hardie. I only caught the tail end of Laurie Sandilands, Bernie Quinlan and Gary Dempsey. From the late 1970’s and early 1980’s Stevie Power, Geoff Jennings and Ian Dunstan were also well loved.

We did well with the ‘secessionists’ that made their way to Footscray - Andrew Purser, Jimmy Sewell, Brad Hardie, Bruce Duperouzel, Tony Buhagiar and Daniel Southern. [JF comment: It's great to see so many Western Australian players listed here among the all-time Footscray greats.] We had some very good ‘free settlers’ as footballers Ray Huppatz, Neil Sachse, John Riley, Tony McGuinness plus the latter day ‘Western’ blokes. We all know what happened with Neil Sachse, John Riley was possibly one of the smartest blokes to play senior footy- he had one game the opening round of 1984, but returned home to play his footy as well as his job as a Nuclear Physicist in Adelaide. 

JF12: Have you had a chance to read much of the WAFL GOLDEN ERA  website? If so please give your comments and suggestions.

Caveman: It is a ripper - I have never liked the attitude of the (old) VFL of ‘We are the be all and end all’. Way too arrogant, plus there is the killing of the goose that laid the golden egg.
 

From a ‘political’ viewpoint, South Australians, Tasmanians, Victorians and Western Australians should be all mates - our race horses run anti-clockwise unlike the other two who play that different game. The VFL has had this attitude of swallowing up or attempting to devour ‘friendly’ competitions - the VFA, WAFL, SANFL. When I see West Coast and Adelaide Crows fans at games in Melbourne on a Saturday afternoon, I feel like telling them that they should be home watching their real team in action i.e. Subiaco, Claremont, Glenelg, Norwood etc.

I would like to see all West Coast and Fremantle home games to be played on a Friday night and Adelaide games to be played on a Sunday, so these four clubs can see their fans actually spend their Saturday afternoons doing what their Great- Grandfathers did - that being watch their ‘traditional teams’ on that Saturday afternoon. 

JF: Thank you very much for your time and we wish you the very best for your campaign.

HUMOUR: 2125 Sports History Conference, Debate Topic: How many Eddie McGuires were there in the early 21st century?

Eddie "Everywhere" McGuire, an influential early 21st century figure in Melbourne life, was the subject of intense scholarly debate at the Sports History Conference held in Melbourne in the Year 2125

HUMOUR: 2125 Sports History Conference, Debate Topic: How many Eddie McGuires were there in the early 21st century? by Patrick O'Brien

This is a report from the 2125 Sports History Conference held at the inner-city campus of Clayton, Melbourne and hosted by the Monash-RMIT-Latrobe University on 14-15 January 2125. The conference was held in extremely hot weather with temperatures reaching a record 59.5 degrees Celsius on the first day and then dropping to the high-40s. Unfortunately some conference delegates were distracted by the TV screen showing the Australia versus Saudi Arabia test cricket match live. (Because of serious global warming the test match was being played on Macquarie Island which is around halfway between Tasmania and Antarctica.) It is suggested that no live TV telecasts of test matches be shown at the conference in future years.

Debate at the conference was centered nearly exclusively on the conference theme "How many Eddie McGuires were there in the early 21st Century?" Heated and vigorous debate occurred throughout the conference as old enemies locked horns once again. A resolution to this long-standing scholarly debate is not yet in sight.

Professor Cuthbert Rumbold opened proceedings. He is the leading scholarly figure representing the "One Eddie McGuire" camp and he is founding editor of the respected scholarly journal "One Eddie McGuire Studies". He began his talk on the opening day by outlining his usual arguments in favor of there being only one Eddie McGuire who dominated Australian life in the first three decades of the 21st century. He points to the fact that pictures of Eddie McGuire in newspapers of the era clearly all show the same somewhat round-faced and pale-skinned individual wearing black suits and white shirts. He points to the nickname "Everywhere" and argues this suggests only one Eddie McGuire was in fact President of Collingwood Magpies FC, President of Melbourne Star, and the host of Channel 9's "Who wants to be a Millionaire?" He also showed ancient TV footage which shows Eddie and his son watching Collingwood lose to Greater Western Sydney in the 2023 AFL Grand Final. (This was the first AFL Grand Final in history to be played in Sydney.)

Next to speak was Professor Stephen Peacock of the "Two Eddie McGuires" camp. This group of leading scholars includes those who believe there were three Eddies and the few scholars who support the radical and somewhat extreme "four or more Eddies" hypothesis. Professor Peacock is founding editor of the "Two Eddie McGuire Studies" journal. He argues that it would have been highly unlikely in the conservative and hierarchical "old-money" society of 2010's Melbourne for any one individual to have been able to amass so much power. He argues that while it might have been possible in Sydney it would have been impossible in the Melbourne of that era especially for a man allegedly only in his mid-40s at the time. Therefore, this camp argues that there must have been more than one Eddie McGuire in sports circles in Melbourne in the 2010s. Whilst improbable this camp argues that such coincidences can occur and are more likely than the "fanciful" and "unscholarly" scenario proposed by the "One Eddie McGuire" group.

Lastly the leader of the non-aligned group Professor Ernest Grainger addressed the conference just before lunch on the opening day. His group are not fully convinced by either the One Eddie or the Two Eddie theories and call for more detailed archival research of the newspapers of the era (i.e. those still remaining after the destruction wrought in Melbourne by the Anglo-Islamic War of 2067-69).

We wish all the conference delegates best wishes for their future scholarly activities.

[By Patrick O'Brien, 18 January 2125] 

Footnote: The above article is intended as humour only. I have nothing against Eddie McGuire personally. In fact I have never met him. There are plenty of worse people out there [by Patrick O'Brien].

OPINION: "Yuppies walk their Dogs in the Late Afternoons on the Sacred Western Oval Turf: The Abandonment of the Traditional Victorian Suburban Grounds", by Jack Frost

The famous Western Oval in Footscray in Melbourne's west is now a public reserve where yuppies walk their dogs on weekday afternoons. This is an insult to Bulldogs' legends such as Dougie Hawkins and the late Ted Whitten who used to thrill the crowds at this reserve on winter Saturdays in a bygone era. The mighty grandstands now lie silent. The taxpayers are the losers or the April Fools (coincidentally and not by design the picture was taken on 1 April 2011). 

WO: Dictatorial sign left-over from AFL match days

I think the NRL [National Rugby League] has done a much better job than the AFL in keeping some games in authentic suburban venues [for example Brookvale Oval (Manly-Warringah), Campbelltown Sports Stadium (Wests Tigers), Endeavour Field (Cronulla-Sutherland), Kogarah Oval (St George Illawarra), Leichardt Oval (Wests Tigers), and Penrith Stadium (Penrith)], some of which still have areas of grassed banks and/or concrete terracing and hence retain appeal for the traditional fans. Partly this can be explained by the physical layout of Sydney meaning that fewer people regularly traverse from one section of the city to another section, not in the immediate area, than is the case in Melbourne. Small suburban grounds then have a role to play because many fans will not venture far from their local districts. Sydney separates because of its physical geography and especially its famous Harbour (Warby, 2011). Some might point out, perhaps with a mocking attitude, that NRL crowds are significantly smaller than AFL crowds. Therefore, the cosy suburban venues can much more easily accommodate NRL crowds. However, there is more to the story than this. The NRL appears to value tradition and community more than the AFL does at present. The AFL and its (now truly powerless) clubs have been completely unsentimental in their rapid and guiltless abandonment of the suburban grounds. Collingwood is not even based at Victoria Park anymore. I wonder whether, in a generation or two, this policy and culture will rebound upon the AFL and upon its clubs. A day may come when football supporters forget or never knew the AFL clubs’ traditional associations with certain districts. Then the competition’s appeal may be adversely impacted as clubs, all playing in shared mega-stadiums, become little more than names and jersey designs. Carlton, Collingwood, and Essendon, in a generation or two or three, may come to mean little more than Team A, Team B, and Team C. Dr Phil Griffiths, lecturer in politics at the University of Southern Queensland and a diehard Richmond supporter, has written as follows about the AFL’s attitude towards ground rationalization (personal e-mail communication to the author dated 24 January 2011):

“I’ve never really expressed an opinion on the move from suburban football grounds; not that I can remember. If anything, I think the move was a mistake, or at least the extent of it. Geelong have [sic] done well to keep their ground, and many people (including me) wish that Carlton had kept Optus Oval. Richmond’s move from Punt Rd was logical because the ground was too small, and couldn’t expand, and was next to the MCG. But at the same time, those grounds were pretty horrible places at times with minimal facilities. Kevin Sheedy discusses Essendon’s move in his autobiography”.

Hunt and Bond (2005, p. 97) make the following comments on ground rationalizations:

“With the changes in footy over the past 40 years, however, the suburban venues have disappeared. Geelong’s Skilled Stadium is really the only home ground left in Victoria, and the traditional suburban scrap is no more.

            The game has moved on, but it is disappointing that such a colourful part of the game’s history has only a small part to play in the modern competition”. 

WO: Old outer wing terraces now grassed

Even now I would argue that the name “Collingwood” has become an empty signifier (Ferguson, 1999, p. 121) in the sense that people no longer generally think of the actual suburb of Collingwood when they use the club’s name. The same comment applies also to Essendon and St Kilda. Only Geelong is different in that the club name still brings with it a generally accepted signified of the town of Geelong which is, in itself, a signifier with its own set of geographic and socio-economic signifieds. Geelong has not yet become disattached to place or community in the way that Collingwood has. The phrase “Kill for Collingwood” now becomes ironic or sarcastic as the signifier has become empty. What does “Collingwood” mean now other than Mick Malthouse, Eddie "Everywhere" McGuire, and the black-and-white stripes? It is no wonder Eddie will not let Port Adelaide wear its famous prison-bar jerseys in the AFL! (Eddie "Everywhere" tried to argue that Collingwood has some form of legal trademark over the black-and-white stripes. How completely ridiculous. What is he going to do? Go to Africa and sue a zebra? Sue Newcastle United Soccer Club? Sue Juventus? If only one club can wear black-and-white stripes in the AFL perhaps it should be Port Adelaide which was formed in 1874 whereas Collingwood was formed only as late as 1892.) 
      I recently visited the Western Oval in Footscray - the impressive stands are empty, the perimeter seating has been removed, and the concrete terracing has been replaced with a grassed bank (see pictures on this page taken by the author on 1 April 2011, quite appropriately April Fools’ Day, the fools being the taxpayers). The old tin sheds on the outer wing, on the city side of the ground, are gone and the outer fence has been removed so people can freely walk into the oval using a concrete footpath at the northern or Barkly Street goals end. In the late afternoons double-income yuppies walk their dogs on the once hallowed turf. Although the ground is still the training base for the Western Bulldogs, it can be argued that the AFL has cheated the taxpayers since the empty grandstands will never be full again nor is the ground used anywhere near as often as it should be. We have what urban sociologists term the “privatization of public spaces” (see, for example, Ferguson, 1999, p. 124). The West Footscray train station will never again accommodate thousands of fanatical football followers every second Saturday afternoon in winter. Without wanting to disparage dog-walking, is dog-walking truly an activity suitable for the great Western Oval where Ted Whitten, Dougie Hawkins, Kelvin Templeton, and Simon Beasley used to perform their mighty feats? Is dog-walking respectful of the generations of great deeds and memories that the ground still contains and rekindles?

WB players train on Western Oval, 1/4/11

Hunt and Bond (2005, pp. 107, 113) refer to the demise of VFL/AFL Park in Glen Waverley. The present article is not the place for a detailed discussion of the VFL/AFL Park issue but the following quote is worthy of consideration:

“Between 1969 and 2004 we saw 85 hectares of grazing and market garden land in Melbourne’s south-eastern suburbs become the site for a magnificent stadium and end up as a housing estate. ... Emotional Hawthorn president Ian Dicker fired a parting shot in his pre-match address [for the last match at Waverley, Hawthorn versus Sydney, 29 April 1999], saying the fans would never forgive the AFL for the demise of the ground as a league venue”.

FOOTNOTE: I was pleased to hear recently that the Footscray VFL team has started to play matches at the Western Oval and its opening match there attracted 7,000 people.

[By Jack Frost, 11 October 2012; footnote added 21 April 2015]

DVD REVIEW OF: 1979 WAFL Grand Final DVD, East Fremantle 21.19 (145) d South Fremantle 16.16 (112).

Port Adelaide Magpies supporters, Foxtel Cup versus Claremont, Subiaco Oval, 16/7/2011. The group are seated in the two-tier stand which was opened on 27/4/1981. The older three-tier stand at the southern end (opened 31/8/1969) is behind them at centre rear. The stand at the extreme left of the picture is a much newer monstrosity and it postdates the formation of West Coast Eagles. How long will the three-tier stand last the perpetual redevelopment at what is now called by some people (but not by me) Paterson's Stadium?

The late great Maurice Rioli

I should have written this review during the recently ended 2012 WAFL final round series but I didn't get the free time necessary to be able to do it. Last night [6 October 2012] I watched the DVD of the 1979 WAFL Grand Final, East Fremantle v South Fremantle. I picked up the DVD from the East Fremantle Football Club office on Moss Street for AUD25.00 so if you are motivated and inspired to watch this great game of WAFL football either go to the club office during ordinary business hours or shop online at the EFFC official website (see link at the foot of this article).

This game was for many people of my generation the highlight of the WAFL Golden Era. I was ten years old when the game was played but I was not at the ground because my dad would only take me to qualifying round matches until I reached high-school age. (The first grand final I watched at the ground was 1981.) On the 1979 GF DVD, expert commentator Steve Marsh often talks about the 1954 Grand Final and other grand finals of his era. Back in 1979 those games were still in the living memory of most people just as the 1980s games are today. However, I was too young to have experienced the 1950s, 1960s, and early-1970s. For people of my generation this game was the greatest game and most significant game that we are able to personally remember. It was an even contest with East Fremantle only sealing the game when it went four goals ahead around the 20-minute mark of the last quarter. It was of course the day a record Grand Final crowd of 52,781 entered Subiaco Oval with the gates being shut at 2pm. Before the official crowd figure came through after half-time the commentators were suggesting 54,000 plus people. This attendance of 52,781 was not bettered in the period 1980-86 and obviously in today's environment of the WAFL as a second-tier league the record will never be beaten. It will stand for eternity or as long as the WAFL continues to exist (whichever is the shorter, God bless the WAFL)! 

Tony Buhagiar (Essendon days)

East Fremantle started strongly with Tony Buhagiar making several fast breakaway moves and East Fremantle scored the first goal. From that point on South never gained the lead except for once early in the final term. Buhagiar was a stand out player for Old Easts this day and his bursts of speed over ten to twenty metres were so efficient they gave him time to get the ball, weave around two or three players, and then dispose of the ball calmly and with time to spare. Mario Turco played a similar role in defence. Even backman Merv Carrot, who was in excellent form, managed to play the role of attacking defender. On a few occasions he ran with the ball through the half-back line working in combination with Buhagiar or the youthful and bearded Brian Peake to move the ball forward. Kevin Cornell and Simon Outhwaite played similar roles for South Fremantle and both players were major contributors for the Fremantle Oval-based team. [Cornell played 130 games for South from 1976-84 while Outhwaite played 158 games from 1973-82.] On the DVD three players wear long-sleeve jerseys: Kevin Cornell for SFFC and Ken Judge and Rod Lester-Smith for EFFC. Peake was targeted early for rough treatment but overall he managed to play a superb game of long kicking, fast running, and skilful ball control. Peake was one of those few players that always had an aura of self-confidence and inner strength about him even when he didn't have the ball or was not doing something extraordinary with it. You certainly get that impression watching the tape from the vantage point of the year 2012. I remember watching him play for EFFC in his twilight years in the 1988 WAFL season and he still had that aura and he could still dominate a game. Steve Marsh said on the 1979 Grand Final DVD that he (Peake) received three elbows, two intentional, early in the game. Although a fight only broke out once in the game and that was in the second-half SFFC was the most physical side overall. EFFC's team of that era looked very statesmanlike and even upper-class with Doug Green's height and classic good looks being typical of that so-called EFFC look. Green also played well, taking some fine marks at centre-half-back, and helping his team on many occasions with his long clearing kicks out of the half-back line. As mentioned, Kevin Cornell and Simon Outhwaite played similar roles for SFFC although neither had the aristocratic look of Doug Green! Somehow "Monkey" Brennan with his moptop of hair managed to replicate that look in the EFFC defence ten years later. What is it about this club?

South was able to keep pace with EFFC for the first three quarters with the margin sometimes closing to just a few points and at other times blowing out to a few goals. This was certainly not the sort of game where one team always looked like it was going to win. The result was uncertain at three-quarter time and the players and crowd really only began celebrating when EFFC kicked the margin out to four goals at the 20-minute mark of the final term. Remember this was the era where all quarters were 25 minutes long plus time-on. Some skilful and brilliant work by Stephen Michael, Benny Vigona, and Maurice Rioli kept SFFC in the game and generally the SFFC defence was reliable and workmanlike. Kevin Taylor and Ken Judge always threatened to blow the game apart up forward but this only happened towards the end of the final term. Ruckman Graeme Carter was a towering rock for EFFC in defence where he took many strong marks. Stephen Michael was effective in the first half playing as a loose man a kick behind the play across half-back. One bouncing run of his out of defence was especially memorable. It is a surprise to see how lacking in height Michael was for a ruckman. He was just around six foot (183cm.) and about the same height as the average ruckrover or centreman. That he could contest at centre bounces against ruckmen a few inches taller than him shows his amazing leap. However, I'm sure Michael found contesting ruck contests against the gentle giant Laurie Keene (Subiaco FC) during the years 1981-85 to be very challenging indeed. [Michael played 243 games for SFFC from 1975-85 while Keene played 140 games for Subiaco from 1981-94.] Noel Carter was there and thereabouts for SFFC this day in 1979. He had a number of possessions but it could not reasonably be said that he dominated the game. [Carter played 155 games for SFFC from 1978-85.]

B Peake, young & bearded, 1981

In the second half EFFC gradually looked more and more threatening although this is most likely because of the benefit of hindsight. For those people at the ground I'm sure they would have been hard pressed to pick a winner for three-and-a-half quarters. Kevin Taylor was extremely dangerous up forward for EFFC and he kicked seven goals mostly from running starts. He was much less competent at taking set shots for goal and these set shots often resulted in points or out-of-bounds. During the match Taylor reached his 100th goal for the season which at that time was a feat which had never been equalled by any rover in any major league in Australia. His blistering pace, great ball-skills, and unfailing accuracy from shots on the run were ultimately devastating for SFFC. Both Buhagiar and Taylor could dominate small sections of play in this manner in the spirit of the Richmond great Kevin "KB"/ "Hungry" Bartlett.

In what was surprising but totally expected in terms of the spirit of this game the SFFC full-forward Ray Bauskis came to life in the second-half playing a traditional full-forward's role of wrestle, lead, mark and kick, similar to Tony Lockett or Jason Dunstall but perhaps one notch in class lower (which is not to call Bauskis a bad player, he was one of a long list of great SFFC full-forwards from Gerovich and Naylor to Sumich and Dorotich). He marked well, out-wrestled and outran his immediate opponents and scored well from set shots (unlike Taylor at the other end). He looked genuinely dangerous and it seemed SFFC might be able to kick a winning score through Bauskis. [Bauskis played 120 games for SFFC from 1972-80.] However, as the game wore on, Peake played a more important role as did Judge and Taylor up forward, Turco and Green in defence, and Robbie Johnson (Percy Johnson's son) around the ground. Geraldton player Graham Kickett came on to the ground in the last quarter and was placed on the wing. His fresh legs and passion were obvious and he was involved in a few great passages of play as the minutes ticked away at the end. His very presence with his fresh legs probably was enough to cause discouragement among the SFFC players. However, this was one grand final where just based on its performance on the day you can say SFFC would have been worthy winners and worthy premiers. Of course SFFC won the following year's 1980 Grand Final against Swan Districts and that was poetic justice of a sort.

B Peake, 1982 VFL Scanlens card

At the end of the game, we see on the DVD Brad Smith, first-year EFFC coach, celebrate with the players and we see one Malcolm Gregory Brown (SFFC coach), in bright red SFFC jacket, stride on to the ground, obviously frustrated and disappointed. The tape cuts off quite early and viewers do not get to see the cup and trophy presentations which would have been held in the old grandstand. In the 1976 and 1977 Grand Final DVDs, available from PFC at Lathlain Park, Perth fans get to watch the after-match presentations before the tape ends.

What can you see of the crowd? Obviously it was a packed venue that day. This was the era of the three-tier stand all on its lonesome at the southern end (opened 31/8/1969), concrete terracing on the Roberts Road wing, grassy bank at the city end, and the old grandstand on the western flank. The two-tier stand was not opened until 27/4/1981 (according to the Paterson's Stadium page at www.Austadiums.com). The public admission areas obviously were extremely full. The gates were closed at 2pm for the 2.20pm start. You can see about ten people sitting on the roof of a fast-food van at the top of the grassy bank. The old tin shed and scoreboard can be seen on the eastern flank. Progress scores for North Melbourne v Carlton (VFL) can be read on the board. The crowd was very much pro-South Fremantle. If you look at people in the crowd wearing the club colours I would estimate 80%-90% was South and only 10%-20% was East. This shows the huge dormant followings clubs such as South Fremantle, West Perth, and East Perth had back in this era. At the ground alone there must have been around 30,000 to 40,000 SFFC fans and 5,000 to 15,000 EFFC fans. EFFC even then had fewer supporters than many other clubs probably in part because its urban territory was and is a closed square, bordered by SFFC to the south, PFC to the east, and the Swan River to the north. Many red-and-white flags were obvious at the city end and there were one or two EFFC young people with flags in the middle of them. One of these guys stood on the fence and waved his flag when EFFC scored and did what appeared to be a two-fingered salute each time SFFC scored. That particular salute seems to have died out now and I can't say that is a bad thing. It is hard to be sure whether all these South flags at the city end on the DVD were part of an organized cheer squad or they were just carried by isolated individuals who all just happened to sit behind the goals.

B Peake in recent years

Behind the ground that red brick block of flats made famous in many grand final pictures is clearly visible on the DVD as is another green-topped block of flats further to the city side. Apart from that there were few high-rise or medium-rise buildings in the background. A row of about five pine trees can be seen over in Subiaco proper around 600 metres away and to the left of the three-tier stand.

On the DVD you can see that around 30% or 40% of the boundary fence had no sponsorship signs on it. At the city end goals people were allowed to leave their flags hanging over the boundary fence when not in use. Imagine that being allowed in the hyper-corporate and politically-correct AFL of today! Clearly these were simpler and less politically-correct times when the football public rather than the sponsors were still perceived to be the most important stakeholder within the footballing community. Around the half-forward flank at the city end in front of the tin shed you can see on the DVD a Red Rooster advertising sign on the boundary fence. I can remember this company used to advertise its meals frequently in the Football Budget including mouth-watering photographs of the Hawaiian Pack so that football patrons could start to get hungry during the last quarter and then head directly to Red Rooster straight after the game. Red Rooster was an integral part of the WAFL football match-day experience for many people in the late-1970s. At Bassendean Oval in the 1980s supporters would get half-time pass-outs and go to the Red Rooster shop across the street (on the corner of West Street and Extension Street) and then bring the food back into the ground. Bassendean Oval was such an intimidating place for West Perth fans back in that era that you learnt to appreciate little things at the ground such as the Red Rooster meals which you couldn't access easily at any of the other suburban grounds.

SFFC aboriginal legends - Vigona, Roe & Rioli

Overall, this remarkable DVD captures a brilliant grand final from a brilliant era and part of the childhood memories of so many thousands of people today aged in their forties, greying, and overweight (well yours truly ticks all three of these boxes anyway). Get your copy now. It is part of a unique sporting and social history of Perth that in this era of AFL, Naitanui, and pages of West Coast Eagles in the morning newspaper each day (whether you want it there or not) will never come back again. Watch it for two hours and re-enter a world when the WAFL was King everywhere west of the South Australian border. How I wish it had always remained so [by Jack Frost, 7 October 2012, revised on 16 April 2015].

SFFC coach Mal Brown (a mongrel I never met)!

WAFL joke: Q: Where would you be if you tried to put a carrot through the eye of a needle?
A: At an East Fremantle FC training session circa 1979!

Facebook comment by Marco Melia (11 September 2018): "Brian Peake was my apprenticeship officer when I was doing Panel beating at Carisle Tech, ripper bloke".  

Facebook comment by Doug Winning (11 September 2018): "Played under 16's cricket with Brian Peake at the South Perth Cricket Club. He was our opening bowler. At South Perth at the time, all playing under 16's at the same time were a plethora of talented kids. They included Sandover medallist Peter Spencer; West Coast, Perth and Richmond star Robert Wiley; Australian Hockey representatives Greg and Craig Davies; and former East Fremantle league footballer Paul Bennett." (Note: Doug Winning's cousin Dean Winning played 13 senior games for Claremont in 1984-85.)

Link to buy Grand Final DVDs at EFFC's official website (valid as at 7 October 2012):
http://www.effc.com.au/team-store/match-dvds/ 

The prices are AUD25.00 plus shipping for all individual DVDs (as at 7 October 2012).

Round 1, 1986 - Swan Districts FC 21.20 (146) d East Perth FC 22.12 (144), Perth Oval

Laurie James with Ted "Square" Kilmurray picture, EPFC office, Leederville Oval, 12/7/2011

Round 1, 1986 – East Perth v Swan Districts, Perth Oval

EPFC modern-day office, Leederville Oval, 6/7/2011

This thrilling game was played on the Monday of the split round on the opening weekend of the 1986 WAFL season. On the Saturday Subiaco had defeated reigning premiers East Fremantle (pointing to Subiaco’s dominance over Old Easts which continued throughout the season) and Perth drew West Perth at Lathlain Park (see posting on this website “Round 1, 1986 – Perth 13.15 (93) drew West Perth 13.15 (93)”). I was not at either one of the Monday games. If anyone was at this Swans versus East Perth match please add a comment to this post. Nonetheless, if you were a dedicated WAFL supporter in this era if you were told the two teams, the venue, and the weather, you could pretty much imagine what it would have been like there at the ground. Round 1 of the new football season is always full of hope and excitement as everybody starts the season on equal footing and it is always possible that your team might have a fantastic year. Richmond fans have been happy and optimistic every April since the club’s last premiership year of 1980!

The 10,405 fans that were there at Perth Oval for Round 1 of the 1986 season in beautiful fine autumn weather (maximum 23.0 degrees) were treated to one of the truly great games of WAFL football, a golden game from the golden era. As Gary Stocks retold the story in the Tuesday edition of The West Australian, SDFC trailed by 58 points late in the second quarter. Clearly a wipe-out was on the cards. However, the always gallant Bassendean crew staged a miraculous comeback with a ten-goal third quarter and by kicking 18 of the last 28 goals. SDFC took the lead at the ten-minute mark of the last quarter. However, the excitement had not yet finished. EPFC then regained control of the game and kicked five of the last seven goals. The home team’s late rush fell agonizingly short as the Bassendean crew held on to win by the meagre margin of two points.

The miraculous Kevin Taylor continued on his fine form from the 1985 first-semi final defeat of West Perth to dominate the match with his courage and aerial brilliance. As Gary Stocks reported, Taylor ended the game with 13 marks, 25 kicks, and five goals. One of Taylor's greatest achievements was his Simpson Medal win in the 1979 Fremantle derby grand final, when playing for East Fremantle. He kicked seven goals in that grand final and finished the season with 102 goals (including goals kicked during the final round). However, Taylor’s inconsistency and his susceptibility to injury sadly have denied him a place among the legends of the game. Nonetheless, those who have seen him in top form, myself included, will consider themselves fortunate to have been there at the ground.

EPFC merchandise for sale, Leederville Oval

The Best Players’ lists are interesting and they show the incredible depth and strength of the WAFL in 1986 even after a decade of plundering by VFL and SANFL clubs. Ultimately neither of these two clubs played in the 1986 final series which reveals again how deep the talent pool of the WAFL was in this era. I will cite the Best Players’ lists here to illustrate my point about depth of talent. Top players for SDFC were: K Taylor, P Vasoli, J Cormack, P Sartori, P Ware, and I Williams. Top players for EPFC were: C Starcevich, D Bain, G Hawkins, A Ishchenko, L Kelly, and P Peos. Of the SDFC group, Joe Cormack and Peter Sartori had VFL / AFL careers while Peter Ware and Ian Williams were sturdy, reliable, and consistent remnants of the club’s premiership era of 1982-84. Vasoli was the type of guy that you often saw in the WAFL in that era: a journeyman then with his third club and while he was not a superstar he was a truly capable footballer nonetheless. Vasoli had played in a premiership with South Fremantle, had not played well for SFFC in the 1985 season, and now recreated himself afresh leading the young talent at Swan Districts. (In his 1997 autobiography From the Hart the West Perth, South Fremantle, and West Coast rover David Hart states on page 8 that he did not gel well with the 1985 SFFC coach Don Haddow and this affected his on-field performance. Perhaps Vasoli had been similarly affected in 1985.) Of the EPFC Best Players’ list cited above we can see the zoning system was producing some talented young players with Craig Starcevich, David Bain, Alex Ishchenko, and Paul Peos of course eventually going on to fine VFL / AFL careers. 

PO, SE corner gates were here in 1986

Sadly the as then unnamed VFL expansion club was casting a spectral shadow over the WAFL throughout 1986. (The “West Coast Ghosts” – now that would have been a fine name!) People were aware that the old way of life was on its last legs and a football revolution was approaching. By today’s standards the official crowd of 10,405 seems wonderful but had this game been played ten years earlier (i.e. 1976) you might have got a crowd of 14-16,000 given that these two clubs have strong followings, it was the Monday of the split round, and the early Autumn weather was magnificent. WAFL crowds fell significantly in 1986 and in fact they had been falling since the high water mark of the 1979 Fremantle derby grand final year.

SW corner gates, Celtic V Perth Glory, 9/7/11

The League Table is unrevealing as you might expect after Round 1. It does show Perth and West Perth both with won nil, lost nil, drawn one. I don’t know exactly how Perth managed to be placed above West Perth as both teams had scored 13.15 in their Round 1 contest. Perhaps it was the home ground venue for the drawn game? A true home ground advantage if that was the case. The strong Claremont and Subiaco teams had opened up a percentage and two premiership point lead at the top of the table. Claremont thrashed South Fremantle in Round 1. However, by the end of the year, South Fremantle (won seven, lost fourteen, seventh place) had regained some respectability by producing a plucky and fearless side featuring such classy young players as Mark Bairstow, Wally Matera, Peter Sumich, Neil "Nicky" Winmar, and John Worsfold. Subiaco went on to win the 1986 WAFL premiership, East Perth missed the finals (won seven, lost fourteen, sixth place), and Swan Districts slumped to last (won five, lost sixteen) during this rebuilding phase two years on from the last flag of Swans' premiership era. However, the Bassendean-based club was rarely disgraced (as its respectable 1986 final percentage of 83.02% suggests) and it did not hit the woefully uncompetitive lows of 1977-78. Peter Sartori polled well in the 1986 Sandover Medal Count with 25 votes and Kevin Taylor polled 15 votes. [Sartori left SDFC at the end of the 1986 season. He played 54 games for Carlton from 1987-91 and 23 games for Fitzroy from 1992-94.] Returning to Bassendean Oval after his two years at West Coast, John Todd performed yet another coaching miracle by taking SDFC to the 1990 WAFL premiership in a by then vastly different competition [by Jack Frost, 5 September 2012].

Match results – Monday 31 March, 1984, Perth Oval

Swan Districts FC 1.5 4.10 14.14 21.20 (146) d East Perth FC 3.4 13.8 17.9 22.12 (144)

Scorers: SD: Taylor 5.4, Hutton 4.2, Ahmat 2.3, Williams 2.3, Cormack 2.1, Richardson 2.1,

Vasoli 2.0, Johns 1.2, Holmes 1.0, Langsford 0.1, Renfrey 0.1, Forced 0.2.

EP: Dunn 3.1, Dennis 3.0, Kelly 3.0, Del Borrello 2.2, Ishchenko 2.1, Bain 2.1, Wynne 2.0,

Starcevich 1.2, Otway 1.1, Hawkins 1.1, Stephens 1.1, Blakely 1.1, Campbell 0.1.

Weather: Fine, light westerly breeze, minimum 17.8 at 4.50am, maximum 23.0 at 2.05pm.

(Source: The West Australian, Tuesday, 1 April, 1986, pp. 74, 107)

Attendance: 10,405 (from WAFL Online).

Free kicks: SD: 12, 1, 7, 2 – 22.

EP: 6, 4, 7, 2 – 19.

(Source: The West Australian, Tuesday, 1 April, 1986, p. 107)

Best players:

WA Footballer of the Year Award:

5 votes (Best on Ground) Kevin Taylor (SD) – A scintillating performance in the centre and in attack. Finished off his work with five goals.

4 votes Craig Starcevich (EP) – Showed great maturity in a four-quarter effort in the ruck and when resting in attack.

3 votes David Bain (EP) – Characteristically dogged display on a wing. Had 23 kicks and made five effective handpasses.

2 votes Paul Vasoli (SD) – Started on the interchange bench but wielded a tremendous influence on the match when given an opportunity.

1 vote Gavin Hawkins (EP) – Was noticeable from the outset and gave an encouraging display.

Team rankings: SD: K Taylor 1, P Vasoli 2, J Cormack 3, P Sartori 4, P Ware 5, I Williams 6.

EP: C Starcevich 1, D Bain 2, G Hawkins 3, A Ishchenko 4, L Kelly 5, P Peos 6.

(Source: The West Australian, Tuesday, 1 April, 1986, p. 107)

	Round 1	Table	WAFL	1986
	Played	Won	Lost	Drawn	%	Points
CLAREMONT	1	1	-	-	313.04	4
SUBIACO*	1	1	-	-	141.96	4
SWAN DIST	1	1	-	-	101.39	4
PERTH	1	-	-	1	100.00	2
West Perth	1	-	-	1	100.00	2
East Perth	1	-	1	-	98.63	-
East Frem**	1	-	1	-	71.94	-
South Frem	1	-	1	-	31.94	-

(Source: The West Australian, Tuesday, 1 April, 1986, p. 107)

*eventual 1986 WAFL premiers

**eventual 1986 WAFL runners-up

David Bain, great talent (EP / BB)

Match analysis:

Quotes from GARY STOCKS:

“The brilliant skills of Swan Districts centreman Kevin Taylor helped his side stage a remarkable second-half fightback to beat East Perth by two points in a thrilling football match at Perth Oval yesterday.

“Sean Districts trailed by 58 points late in the second quarter, but the performance of Taylor and veteran ruck-rover Paul Vasoli saw Swans take the points in a major form reversal.

“In the first half, East Perth dominated play, kicking 10 goals in the second quarter.

“At that stage of the game the Royals dominated in almost every position on the ground, but things changed dramatically after the halftime break.

“Swan Districts, mainly because of Taylor, Vasoli, newcomer Joe Cormack and ruckman Peter Sartori, changed the course of the match.

“Swans fought their way back with a 10-goal third quarter and won the match by kicking 18 of the last 28 goals.

“Taylor stood out as Swan Districts’ best player even when his side was struggling early in the match.

“In a superb display, he took 13 marks, had 25 kicks and finished with five goals.

“East Perth also showed tremendous grit by scoring five of the last seven goals after being headed by Swans at the 10-minute mark of the last quarter.

“But that was not enough for them to win.

Craig Starcevich (EP), Collingwood 1990 flag

“Vasoli, who struggled to find form with South Fremantle last year, seems to have been rejuvenated at his third league club.

“Young ruckmen Craig Starcevich and Alex Ishchenko, wingman David Bain and ruck-rover Gavin Hawkins were all solid [East Perth] contributors.

“Starcevich, yet another Teal Cup product, showed he is ready to enjoy his best season in league football when he dominated in the ruck and while resting in attack”.

(Source: Gary Stocks (1986), “Taylor-made victory for Swan Districts”, The West Australian, Tuesday, 1 April, 1986, p. 107) [archival research by Jack Frost].