 |
| Former long-serving player and past President for South Fremantle Football Club, Mr Brian Ciccotosto, Fremantle Oval |
 |
| SFFC legends: Benny Vigona, Willie Roe, Maurice Rioli |
Round 19, 1986 – South Fremantle v West
Perth, Fremantle Oval
This
Round 19 match at Fremantle Oval was a match West Perth really had to win to
secure a final four position, as David Marsh wrote in his match preview in The West Australian on the morning of
the game (see below for the full-text of Marsh’s match preview). On paper it
did not look a difficult proposition for West Perth to win as the club was
sitting on 8 wins, 9 losses, and a draw, with percentage of 89%, compared to
South Fremantle’s 5 wins, 13 losses, and 72%. If West Perth could not win games
against a rival with such a track record then obviously it had little hope of
ending the year successfully even if it did scrape into the final four. South
Fremantle was in a rebuilding year with the few older players still hanging
around from the premiership year of 1980, such as Benny Vigona, entering their
twilight years. One interesting development of the last two years of the WAFL
prior to introduction of West Coast Eagles was the surprising resurgence of
depleted East Perth and South Fremantle sides which were then, by necessity as
much as by choice, filling their senior teams with promising youngsters. These
young players had not yet begun to make a huge impression on the scoreboard
with these two clubs finishing sixth and seventh in 1986. However, both clubs
contained large numbers of promising juniors who would go on to forge
successful VFL/AFL careers. This shows the magnificent ability of the WAFL
clubs, even at this late stage of the game (one year prior to formation of West
Coast), to recreate themselves successfully from within during down years by
turning to talented juniors from the country and metropolitan zones. A read
through the selected teams of both East Perth and South Fremantle in 1986 shows
what great talents were emerging. As David Marsh wrote, SFFC had begun the
season extremely poorly but slowly the young team had begun to gel and pick up
its self-confidence, playing with the enthusiasm of youth mixed with that
indomitable bulldog spirit. Marsh wrote that South Fremantle had inflicted
surprise mid-season defeats over eventual premiers Subiaco and eventual
third-placed team Perth. South had won two and lost three since Round 13.
Another factor counting against West Perth this day was its bad record at
Fremantle Oval, traditionally a graveyard for WPFC teams. Marsh wrote that the
Falcons had not won at this windswept ground in eight years prior to this
match. This means that even in 1982 when West Perth had finished third and in
1985 when West Perth had finished fourth it had been unable to win against
South at South’s home ground. Because of these factors, West Perth fans who
headed to Fremantle Oval this day in 1986 found it hard to push aside feelings
of dread and foreboding.
 |
| Mark Bairstow (SF / G) |
If
we look at South Fremantle’s nominated team, we can see it included a number of
brilliant young players who would go on to achieve great success in the
VFL/AFL. Starting from the back line and working forwards, this included Peter
Sumich at centre-half-back (a first-year player), Mark Bairstow in the centre
(a second-year player), Neil “Nicky” Winmar on the half-forward flank (a
fourth-year player), John Worsfold as ruck-rover (a first-year player), and
Wally Matera as first rover (a fifth-year player). Other players who would not
play VFL/AFL but who had great years at Fremantle Oval included Brad Collard on
the left wing (a third-year player), Matt Sambrailo at full-forward (a
first-year player), Derek Collard in the forward pocket / second rover (a
second-year player), and the 1989 Sandover Medallist Craig Edwards as first
ruckman (a third-year player). This would have been the beginnings of a new
dynasty for South Fremantle had the VFL/AFL not intervened and picked all the
best talent out of the side.
By
contrast, the West Perth team was largely unchanged from the previous year but
just a little older. It had some juniors coming through but not in the same
numbers and not with the same quality as those at the port club. West Perth’s
best young players included John Gastev, Sean King, Dean Laidley, Paul Mifka,
and Craig Turley, all of whom later played for West Coast Eagles. Another
promising young player was Darren Bewick, probably the best of the lot, but his
success at Essendon probably surprised many who had watched him play in the
WAFL. His elder brother Corry returned to West Perth in 1986 and he was one of
the best and most consistent players for the club that year. Claremont player
Simon Lill was really the only recruit of note to come from another WAFL club
in 1986. The East Fremantle premiership player Gavin Wake was a sensational
recruit for West Perth in 1987 but his impact was lost in the year when most
football fans had turned their attentions from the WAFL to West Coast Eagles.
If Wake had come over a year earlier it might have made a big difference as
that type of toughness is hard to come by at West Perth (except for ruckmen)
and has always had to be imported.
Like
the 1985 first semi-final (West Perth versus Swan Districts) this was a
demoralizing game to watch for WPFC fans as the result was never in doubt and
our club was just overshadowed and outplayed in pretty much all positions
without being completely disgraced. West Perth trailed 21.12 to 10.9 at
three-quarter time and the game was obviously completely over. The author remembers
sitting and watching this game with his friend 16-year-old Pete C. on the
concrete terraces on the scoreboard wing at around the half-forward flank
position at the city end of the ground. Pete C. and the author were the only
remnants remaining of the West Perth cheer squad which had sat behind the
northern end goals at Leederville Oval during 1984-85. The group had gradually
disintegrated from its peak of 15-20 regulars starting in Round 2 of the 1986
season as people just naturally drifted apart due to life changes and with
no-one making the mental effort anymore to keep the group together. The author only
met Pete by chance this day. Both Pete and the author were wearing their usual
clothes of long-sleeve replica West Perth jumper and jeans. They had a good
time chatting as they hadn’t seen each other for a few weeks. Pete’s elder
brother Mike was nowhere in sight. After the game Pete C. and the author walked
through the Fremantle city streets together and the author thinks Pete took a
Number 106 bus or a train back into Perth while he took a different bus to
Booragoon. They probably parted at Fremantle train station. The author is
writing this commentary 26 years later, on 9 January 2013, and he hasn’t seen
Pete since that day at Fremantle Oval near to the close of the 1986 season. As
they walked through the Fremantle city streets together, as the dark and the
chill started drifting in from the ocean, they were both fairly subdued and
disappointed as it looked like their team’s season was over and all the hope of
the past two years had come to nothing. The author thinks that another reason for his anxious and melancholic
mood was in the realization, pushed to the back of his mind, that his life was
changing and it would never be the same again. He was 17-years-old, in the
first year of university, and the adult world of responsibilities, choices,
careers, and consequences was fast closing in, whilst childhood was at an end.
In football terms, there was also massive change at work behind the scenes as
the powerbrokers were putting together and planning for the new as yet unnamed
super-team which would play in the VFL in 1987. Every genuine football person in
Perth knew that the WAFL would never be the same no matter how upbeat the
newspapers were. Like the author’s childhood, the old WAFL was slipping away.
The days of fourteen thousand plus crowds at the match-of-the-round were never
coming back.
After
all the atmosphere and pressure had left the game in the last quarter, West
Perth kicked six goals to three but still only managed to close the gap to 55
points. WPFC was now in fifth place, six premiership points adrift of
Claremont, and with two games remaining. Most supporters wrote off the club’s
chances of reaching the finals series after this game. The top five players on
the ground were all South Fremantle players, according to Monday’s The West Australian. These included
promising youngsters Wally Matera, Mark Bairstow, Craig Edwards (enjoying his
life at Fremantle Oval more than his days as a Royal), and Peter Sumich (this
day at centre-half-back), and the old stalwart Warren Mosconi (who had made his
league debut as long ago as 1981). The late Geoff Christian in his match report
(full-text reproduced below) remarked that there was so much young talent at
South Fremantle that aging veterans Benny Vigona and Willie Roe had played in
the reserves. Obviously they hadn’t been needed. Christian made the important
observation that while South had many brilliant individual players on this day
it was their “bulldog spirit” that West Perth just had no hope of matching
anywhere south-west of Leederville Oval. Christian wrote in his match report as
follows: “South had plenty of other individual stars but it was more the spirit
and the team co-operation revealed by this young Bulldogs’ line-up that West
Perth found impossible to match for all but the opening 12 minutes”. Neil
Winmar (still not yet called “Nicky” by the press) was mentioned in closing by
Christian for his excellent 17-kick, four-goal effort in the centre which did
not even grant him a spot in his team’s best five players. He had been named on
the half-forward flank so even at this young age he was beginning to show his
remarkable versatility. Other good players for the Southerners were Matt
Sambrailo (5.1) at full-forward and Ross Hutcheson at centre-half-forward. Best
players for West Perth were John Gastev, Craig Nelson, Craig Binder, Les Fong,
Craig Turley, and Corry Bewick. Surprisingly, one of the best West Perth
players in the past three seasons, centre-half-forward Phil Bradmore, was well
held by Peter Sumich. Christian stated that Sumich was “a first year player who
started the season in attack but looked admirably suited at centre-half-back”.
 |
| Dean Laidley, 1984 (courtesy: Lost WAFL) |
South
had left its run too late and could not play finals although clearly it was now
playing football at finals’ standards. By contrast, West Perth showed everybody
at the ground that it was far away from being of final round standard even if
by good fortune it might just sneak into fourth place. Its recruits were not as
good as those at other clubs and its dedication was not what it should have
been. The club was relying too much on the heroes of the past few years (such
as Phil Bradmore, Les Fong, and Peter Menaglio), and while Corry Bewick had
played well all year his advancing age meant he was never going to be anything
more than a stopgap. Noel Mugavin was a dependable old warhorse at full-back
but he was basically just the last one left standing of the old-guard full-back
line which had included at various times Graeme Comerford, Bill Duckworth, John
Duckworth, Russell Ellen, Geoff Hendriks, Ray Holden, Ben Jager, and Mick
O’Brien. The club had failed to recruit strong new key attacking players (to
replace Rod Alderton, Brian Adamson, and Doug Simms and in time Phil Bradmore) nor had it
recruited new key defenders (to replace Graeme Comerford, John Duckworth, Geoff
Hendriks, Ray Holden, and Noel Mugavin). The fact that ex-WP player Mick Rea
had morphed into an excellent full-forward at Perth and was leading the
goalkicking list with 80 majors after 19 rounds was particularly irksome for
West Perth fans. The WPFC coach John Wynne seemed to lack the ability to
consistently bring the best out of former second-string players as Mal Brown
was now doing at Perth with Mick Rea. Too many good players had been allowed to
slip through the net including not only Mick Rea but also David Hart (South
Fremantle) and Derek Kickett (Claremont). The juniors coming through were all
running midfielders, a type of player West Perth traditionally had an abundance
of. West Perth had no tall juniors who could play in key positions coming
through whereas South had Craig Edwards, Matt Sambrailo, and Peter Sumich. No
West Perth player this day scored more than three goals. (John Gastev kicked
3.2.) In the Round 13 win over Claremont no West Perth player had kicked more
than four goals. These statistics tell an important story.
The
absence of any West Perth players in the best five players’ list shows that on
the day it was completely outclassed both as individuals and as a unit. The
youngsters at the club were too inconsistent and too easily intimidated at
hostile away grounds such as Fremantle Oval. The only young players in West
Perth’s best six players’ list were John Gastev and Craig Turley. Clearly, Dean
Laidley (out with an ankle injury) was sorely missed but the author would not
be foolish enough to suggest that his presence might have influenced the result [by Kieran James, this version dated 22 October 2013].
 |
| The author (Kieran James) outside Fremantle Oval just before the South Fremantle versus Swan Districts Friday night match on 17 August 2012. He went to the game with Chris Egan and two of
his mates and the group enjoyed a few nice beers at the Rosie O'Grady
pub just beforehand. That is the great advantage of Friday night
Fremantle Oval games - pre-match pub drinks and escaping to the Old
Shanghai food court for dinner at halftime! |
 |
| Inside the bar at Rosie O'Grady's in Fremantle. On a cold winter's night outside is certainly not the place to sit! |
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| Rosie
O'Grady's pub is a fantastic sight at night. If you walk left on the
street here 60 metres further on you will find yourself at the main
gates of the historic Fremantle Oval. |
Likely line-ups:
(Source:
The West Australian, Saturday, 9
August 1986, p. 187)
South
Fremantle FC
Backs:
Macdonald, Carter, Maskos
Half-backs:
D Wilson, Sumich, Mosconi
Centres:
B Collard, Bairstow, Lynch
Half-forwards:
Winmar, Hutcheson, Todd
Forwards:
Bennett, M Sambrailo, D Collard
Ruck:
Edwards, Worsfold, Matera
Interchange:
Lockhart, Sims
West
Perth FC
Backs:
Munns, Mugavin, Barns
Half-backs:
Binder, Mifka, Turley
Centres:
D Bewick, Bell, King
Half-forwards:
Menaglio, Bradmore, Lill
Forwards:
Waddell, Foley, Gastev
Ruck:
Nelson, Fong, C Bewick
Interchange:
Collinge, Martin
In:
Waddell, Collinge, Martin
Out:
Laidley (ankle), Chaplin (ankle), Bennett
Match
preview
By
David Marsh:
“Today
is D-Day – do-or-die – for West Perth, who have their last chance to stake a
claim for a berth in this year’s finals.
“And
they could not have a tougher assignment, as they meet giant-killers South
Fremantle at Fremantle Oval.
“South
have had victories over Subiaco and Perth in the past three weeks. In addition,
West Perth have not won at Fremantle Oval for eight years”.
Match results –
Saturday, 9 August, 1986, Fremantle Oval
South
Fremantle FC 7.5 16.10 21.12 24.18 (162) d West Perth FC 3.5 6.6 10.9 16.11
(107)
Scorers:
SF: Edwards 5.3, Matt Sambrailo 5.1, Winmar 4.2, Matera 4.1, D Collard,
Bairstow 2.2, Hutcheson, Todd 1.0, B Collard 0.2, Worsfold, Lockhart 0.1,
Forced 0.3.
WP:
Gastev 3.2, Bradmore 2.1, Fong, King, D Bewick 2.0, C Bewick, Collinge 1.2,
Foley, C Nelson 1.1, Menaglio, Lill 0.1. [KJ note: One WP goal seems to be
missing from this list.]
(Source:
The West Australian, Monday, 11
August 1986, p. 101)
Weather:
Fine, light south-westerly breeze.
(Source:
The West Australian, Monday, 11
August 1986, p. 101)
Attendance:
5,872 (from WAFL Online)
Free-kicks:
SF: 7, 4, 4, 3 – 18.
WP:
4, 5, 4, 1 – 14.
Best
players:
WA
Footballer of the Year Award:
5
votes Wally Matera (South Fremantle) – A brilliant 22-kick, four-goal display
of roving.
4
votes Mark Bairstow (South Fremantle) – Another strong, creative performance at
centre where he was under notice from the start.
3
votes Craig Edwards (South Fremantle) – A quality performance in the ruck and
when resting in attack. Marked brilliantly and kicked four goals.
2
votes Warren Mosconi (South Fremantle) – A dashing and effective half-back who
was outstanding in a solid South defence.
1
vote Peter Sumich (South Fremantle) – A notable performance at centre-half-back
against Phil Bradmore.
(Source:
The West Australian, Monday, 11
August 1986, p. 100)
Team
rankings: SF: W Matera 1, M Bairstow 2, C Edwards 3, W Mosconi 4, P Sumich 5, D
Collard 6.
WP:
J Gastev 1, C Nelson 2, C Binder 3, L Fong 4, C Turley 5, C Bewick 6.
(Source:
The West Australian, Monday, 11
August 1986, p. 100)
|
Round
19
|
WAFL
|
Table
|
1986
|
|
|
|
Played
|
Won
|
Lost
|
Drawn
|
%
|
Points
|
SUBIACO*
|
19
|
15
|
4
|
-
|
134.56
|
60
|
EAST
FREM**
|
19
|
14
|
5
|
-
|
132.29
|
56
|
PERTH
|
19
|
12
|
6
|
1
|
105.06
|
50
|
CLAREMONT
|
19
|
10
|
9
|
-
|
119.01
|
40
|
West
Perth
|
19
|
8
|
10
|
1
|
89.54
|
34
|
South
Frem
|
19
|
6
|
13
|
-
|
72.80
|
24
|
Swan
Dist
|
19
|
5
|
14
|
-
|
86.09
|
20
|
East
Perth
|
19
|
5
|
14
|
-
|
82.24
|
20
|
(Source:
The West Australian, Monday, 11
August 1986, p. 101)
*eventual
1986 WAFL premiers
**eventual
1986 WAFL runners-up
Leading
goal-kickers after Round 19 (Top 9 players):
80 –
Mick Rea (P)
71 –
John Scott (C)
55 –
Warren Dean (S), Stephen Sells (S), Colin Waterson (EF)
53 –
Brian Peake (EF)
48 –
Wayne Ryder (P), Craig Edwards (SF)
41 –
Tony Buhagiar (EF)
(Source:
The West Australian, Monday, 11
August 1986, p. 101)
Complete
match report (full text):
By
the late GEOFF CHRISTIAN:
“South
Fremantle are at the start of a bright [new] era in league football based on an
excellent mix of raw talent and enthusiasm, blended with the right amount of
experience.
“That
formula was the basis of South’s scintillating 55-point win over West Perth at
Fremantle Oval on Saturday, a victory full of merit and one that should help
guarantee that the season ends a lot happier than it started for the Bulldogs.
“An
indication of the amount of ability available at Fremantle Oval these days can
be gauged by the fact that gifted veterans Benny Vigona and Willie Roe were in
action in the reserves on Saturday.
“The
absence of these brilliant attacking players obviously did not hamper South who
kicked their season’s highest score [of] 24.18 and almost kicked the Falcons
out of business.
“West
Perth arrived at Fremantle Oval on Saturday knowing that victory was a stepping
stone into the final four. It was not an easy task on an oval where the ground
surface is obviously a big advantage for the home team.
“The
Falcons left four hours later without even touching that stepping stone and
failed miserably to measure up to the challenge laid down by South.
“The
victory was built around superb performances by No. 1 rover Wally Matera (their
smallest player), ruckman Craig Edwards (their biggest player) and centreman
Mark Bairstow, who fitted neatly in the middle.
“[Wally]
Matera has not given a better display of his roving skills. His work at the
fall of the ball was classical in style and he made few, if any, handling
errors.
“Edwards’
marking and general ruck play was superb and the same could be said of Bairstow
whose powerful work in the middle was of the quality West Perth wished they had
available to them.
“South
had plenty of other individual stars but it was more the spirit and the team
co-operation revealed by this young Bulldogs’ line-up that West Perth found
impossible to match for all but the opening 12 minutes.
“Everywhere
West Perth turned on Saturday they found trouble. On a day dedicated to
national dental health week, West Perth simply bit off more than they could
chew.
They
lacked the bite of the Bulldogs; there was [sic]
too many gaps in their play and too many weak spots that obviously were tender
to the probe.
“It
was not a day when centre-half-forward Phil Bradmore could lead the Falcons out
of trouble. He was well held by Peter Sumich, a first year player who started
the season in attack but looked admirably suited at centre-half-back.
“There
was plenty of defensive support for Sumich, mainly from Warren Mosconi, Gavin
Carter and Arthur Maskos.
“Things
were no better in defence for West Perth.
“Matt
Sambrailo, who started the year for South on a wing, showed natural flair at
full-forward when he kicked 5.1 and Barry Hutcheson has the look of a man who
knows how to play at centre-half-forward.
“And
to add to the woes of the West Perth defence, Neil Winmar [later “Nicky”
Winmar] decided to show how well he can play at centre with a 17-kick,
four-goal effort”.
(Source:
Geoff Christian (1986), “Bulldogs find a formula for success”, The West Australian, Monday, 11 August
1986, p. 100) [archival research by Kieran James].
