OPINION: "Why the West Coast Eagles' initial 1987 playing squad was faulty", by Jack Frost, 13/3/2018

West Coast Eagles’ inaugural playing squad (1987)

The official WPFC historian Brian Atkinson states that West Perth sometimes did not receive its fair share of state team representatives in years when the club made the finals. Atkinson comments that: “The failure of any West Perth player to gain state selection in 1984 was a matter of great controversy within the West Perth camp”, especially as the club was in third place at the time the team was selected (only to eventually miss the finals). The West Coast Eagles’ initial 35-man squad for season 1987 was also disheartening for some West Perth supporters.

The five West Perth players chosen were: John Gastev, Sean King, Dean Laidley, Paul Mifka, and Dean Warwick with King being a later addition to the original 32-player squad which was first announced at the official launch at Perth’s Merlin (now Hyatt) Hotel. These players were bright and promising youngsters but arguably, with the exception of Laidley and perhaps Gastev, they had not yet developed the consistency or backlog of strong performances to merit selection. The five West Perth players in the initial West Coast squad were clearly chosen, if not at random, then by people largely disrespectful or apathetic towards the club.

Favourite sons of the club, such as Phil Bradmore, Les Fong, and Peter Menaglio were wilfully overlooked although their careers were still active and their playing performances were still strong. Although Brian Atkinson “did not have any strong feelings either way”[1], he states “you would have to include Fong and Menaglio” as the top two players for the club during the drought-era and prior to the formation of West Coast (i.e. 1976-86). Both Fong and Menaglio were named in the club’s “Team of the Century”, Menaglio on the left-wing and Fong as the first rover. Menaglio continued to play senior football with West Perth up until the 1989 season so he was hardly “over the hill” by late 1986. Bradmore’s birth-date is 2 April 1959; Fong’s is 24 August 1956 whilst Menaglio’s is 4 September 1958, making these three players 27, 30, and 28-years-of-age, respectively, as at October 1986. (As mentioned, Menaglio won the Breckler Medal for club fairest-and-best in 1984 whilst Bradmore won it the following year. Menaglio was also equal runner-up behind the three tied winners for the 1984 Sandover Medal. Les Fong was a close runner-up to Menaglio in the 1984 Breckler Medal count and, from 1981-84, Menaglio and Fong shared four Breckler Medals.) Fong top-scored for the club with 14 votes at the 1986 Sandover Medal count, won by Mark Bairstow of South Fremantle, although, astonishingly, there were no West Perth players in the top 24 (yes, read that again, it is not a typo).[2]

Peter Menaglio (WPFC)

Also worthy of consideration for selection by West Coast in late 1986 were Corry Bewick, Derek Kickett, and George Michalczyk. A newspaper report at the time suggested that Darren Bewick, younger brother of Corry, was not chosen because he had elected to remain in Perth for two more years to complete his teaching degree.[3] It appears that West Perth was unfashionable for the corporate set that was running West Coast, compared to players from East Fremantle and Subiaco, despite the fact that West Perth had beaten East Fremantle consistently in 1985. The disrespect shown to the club’s favourite sons, and especially to Bradmore, Fong, and Menaglio, rankled with some West Perth supporters. It would have been a mark of respect to Fong and to the club if Fong had been selected, if only for one or two seasons, in the same way that Robert Wiley of Perth Demons (formerly of Richmond) had been brought into the West Coast squad for 1987 at the twilight of that player’s esteemed career.

West Coast’s initial squad was chosen for the future and, in hindsight, we might fail to realize how young the players were then since now, looking back, we remember the distinguished VFL/AFL careers that many of that initial squad went on to have. Even Phil Narkle was allegedly only 24-years-old despite already having played at St Kilda for three seasons.[4] (In fact The West Australian of 31 October 1986 was in error: Narkle was actually 25-years-old as at 31 October 1986. The ninth 2011 edition of The Encyclopaedia of AFL Footballers at page 627 lists his birth date as being 29 January 1961.) Don Holmes (27-years-old), Glendinning (30), Turner (27), and Wiley (31) were the only inaugural West Coast players aged over 25 as at 31 October 1986 according to The West Australian.[5] It seems that the general principle which guided selection was to only select players aged over 25 if they had prior VFL/AFL experience. Bradmore’s prior VFL/AFL experience seems to have been either forgotten or discounted. In hindsight, at least, West Coast erred with its selection of the five West Perth players in 1987 or it clearly picked players that it had no real intention, in advance, of awarding game time to. King and Mifka managed only one game each for West Coast and Warwick played zero. Early Eagles squad members from Swan Districts such as Kevin Caton (1 West Coast game, 1988); Joe Cormack (10 games, 1988); Don Holmes (23 games, 1987-89); Brent Hutton (13 games, 1988-89); and Don Langsford (zero games) suffered similar fates which further soured the relationship between Swans and West Coast.

Derek Kickett, Les Fong (WP)

At the 1986 Sandover Medal count Laidley was equal second among West Perth players with 13 votes while Gastev was fourth highest with 11 votes. However, Warwick and King were way down the list, polling only two votes each and coming in at equal 15^th for the club, while Mifka polled no votes at all. West Perth supporters could be forgiven for having being somewhat mystified about the five West Perth players selected. Had they been picked with only a bare minimum of thought just to make up the numbers with the West Coast leadership having had no serious prior intention of awarding any of them serious game time? Were people like Ron Alexander and Graham Moss unduly influenced by old WAFL club rivalries which led to them give insufficient thought to the selection of West Perth players and insufficient respect to the players who had played best for West Perth in the prior three seasons? West Perth’s 1986 Sandover Medal vote-getters’ list should have been given more respect and consideration by the West Coast leaders.

Phil "Spock" Bradmore (WPFC)

Apart from Laidley, only Gastev later had anything resembling a successful VFL/AFL career and the vast majority of his games (113 out of 143) were played with the Brisbane Bears. Similarly, Laidley is better known today, as his Wikipedia page writes, for his 99 games for North Melbourne rather than for his earlier stint at West Coast. The 1994 West Coast premiership team featured zero West Perth players or ex-West Perth players. However, Craig Turley did play 115 games for West Coast between 1989 and 1995 and was a 1992 premiership player. A further reason for the my initial dislike of West Coast, which has mellowed only but slightly over the years, was the lack of West Perth players in the team. I support any club playing against West Coast as they are the temporary embodiment of my hopes and dreams.

---

[1] Source: Personal conversation with the author, 8 July 2011.

[2] Source: The West Australian, 16 September 1986, pp. 87-8.

[3] Christian, “Bennett, Turner join the Eagles”, pp. 103-4.

[4] The West Australian, 31 October 1986, player profiles, p. 102.

[5] Source: Ibid., p. 102.

Round 13, 1986 - West Perth FC 16.13 (109) d Claremont FC 13.26 (104), Claremont Oval

The old Claremont Oval looking from the north-west forward pocket where Warren Ralph would lead out to take marks from Jimmy and Phil Krakouer's expert kicks in the 1981 premiership year. I was at Claremont Oval in May 2013 and was impressed by the quality of the hamburgers and chips being served at the bar inside the grandstand. (No, Jack Frost is not a Claremont member - that bar is open to the public on matchdays.)

Round 13, 1986 – Claremont v West Perth, Claremont Oval

Michael Mitchell (Claremont)

This exciting match was won by West Perth at Claremont Oval after the Falcons withstood a last-minute Claremont surge. The last section of the last quarter of this thrilling game can be viewed on YouTube (search for “WAFL Claremont versus West Perth 1986”). It was a sunny day and Claremont Oval looked magnificent. Both teams of this era were complete with a battery of fast midfield running players and based on the two close games the two teams played in 1986 they were evenly matched. Claremont was third after this Round 13 game, two premiership points and percentage above West Perth and Perth who were level on fourth and fifth but with low percentages of 98 and 96. Both Claremont and West Perth should have made the final four from this position. However, Perth made an end-of-season surge (finishing third with an impressive 12 wins, 8 losses, and a draw) to make the final series while West Perth dropped out. This season was surely one of potential unfulfilled for a talented West Perth side and, at the end of the last season before the VFL/AFL expanded into Western Australia, West Perth supporters were pretty much fed up with the club and ready to embrace something new. For most fans the new team was West Coast Eagles FC. West Perth had lost the first semi-final in 1985 and fans expected continual improvement in 1986 in John Wynne’s second year as coach but unfortunately the team fizzled out without a whimper and more motivated and consistent teams reached the final series. An unexpected loss late in the season in Round 19 to a rebuilding South Fremantle (seventh in 1986) at Fremantle Oval was a bitter blow to West Perth fans that had grown angry with the mediocrity being displayed by the team. A huge 98-point defeat to eventual premiers Subiaco in the last qualifying game revealed the true state of West Perth’s progress and further revealed it had no moral right to play in the finals. West Perth ended the last year of the pre-West Coast era in a mud heap of mediocrity and broken dreams, much like a washed-out LA hooker just stepped out from a Poison or Motley Crue song (to name two popular glam rock bands of the era).

Steve Malaxos (Claremont)

The team line-ups reveal that the Claremont team of this year was a patchwork quilt of older legends, players from other clubs or back from interstate, and some promising youngsters. Coach Graham Moss did extremely well to bring them to an eventual fourth position for 1986 after a first semi-final defeat at the hands of Perth (see posting "1986 first semi-final" on this website). The listed back-line featured the tough and reliable Larry Kickett in one pocket (recruited from East Perth) while Geoff Miles (the ex-Collingwood player later to star at West Coast) was at full back. The half-back line was made up of talented youngsters with brothers Michael and David O’Connell (both early West Coast players) at centre-half-back and centre-half-forward respectively. The centre-line was dependable and talented, with Darrell Panizza on one wing (before he departed for SANFL club Woodville), captain Steve Malaxos (back from a failed year at Hawthorn) in the centre, and the brilliant Peter Davidson on the other wing. This was a state football or VFL/AFL standard centre-line. Ex-West Perth player Derek Kickett was listed on a half-forward flank. Unable to maintain a good working relationship with new coach John Wynne, after Dennis Cometti had left West Perth, Derek, to the great disappointment of West Perth fans, moved to Claremont to join his cousin Larry. This was a major loss to West Perth and greater efforts should have been made to retain this player. By himself he could make the difference between a club playing finals football or just missing out. Another fine running player Steve Goulding was named as ruck-rover for CFC with the young David Court being given the first ruck responsibilities now Graham Moss was no longer operating as a playing-coach. On paper the ruckmen appeared to be Claremont’s biggest weakness but David Court surprised in this game by winning the ruck contest and being named as Claremont’s second-best player. Court’s dominance here perhaps makes it surprising that he never really went on to have a successful career as a footballer. [David Court played 59 games for Claremont from 1984-88.]  The tough and under-rated ex-East Perth full-forward John Scott was named at full-forward. Despite no longer being in the first flame of youth, Scott was still respected and feared by West Perth fans as he had put in some great performances against mediocre West Perth defences (are there any other types?) in past Perth derbies. Scott was a good mark and was very agile and nimble for his height, being able to weave around backmen and pick up the ball from the ground and inside packs. He had that typical East Perth bulldog (probably the wrong word to use to describe a club from north of the river) spirit even after he left the club.

Claremont Oval west side viewed from southern goals, 12/7/2011

The West Perth line-up for this game is also a revelation simply because the club had made very few changes of playing personnel since the previous year. In hindsight, this proved West Perth’s ultimate fatal weakness because it trod water in 1986 while the other clubs, most notably Perth, improved dramatically. If as a West Perth fan you had not attended any West Perth game in 1986 but then attended this Round 13 match, you would find you still had the luxury of knowing nearly all the players! To WPFC’s advantage, promising juniors such as Dean Laidley, Dean Warwick, Paul Mifka, and Craig Turley were all now a year older, more experienced, and more self-confident (as was John Gastev who was injured for this game). Phil Bradmore, Les Fong, and Peter Menaglio were still in the prime of their careers and all played well in this game except for Fong who was tagged into the realm of ineffectiveness. Bradmore was voted best-on-ground and defeated three Claremont players including future West Coast champion Geoff Miles. His win over Miles suggests he was good enough to play VFL/AFL and was perhaps unfairly overlooked by West Coast and other VFL clubs at the end of the 1986 season. His earlier brief career at Footscray was apparently either ignored or held against him. The West Australian for Monday, 23 June 1986 describes Bradmore’s performance as follows: “Strong and creative at centre-half-forward where he had 16 kicks and scored four goals”. Brendon Bell was a reliable, talented, and somewhat physical midfield player for West Perth in the 1980s and another of those WPFC players of this era who was hugely under-rated. He played a great game this day and was nominated second best for his club after Bradmore. Another good WPFC performer this day was another relative no-name David Martin in defence. The fact that Ross Munns was now in the starting line-up and not on the bench or in the reserves, unlike most of the previous two seasons, does suggest the club was running out of options. Among the few positive factors for the club in 1986 were the returns of Hawthorn premiership player Peter Murnane and club stalwart Corry Bewick but only Bewick was in the best players’ list for this game. Bradmore, Bewick, and Fong were the only WPFC players in the Top 20 players for the 1986 WA Footballer of the Year Award after Round 13 (see below).

Claremont Oval scoreboard wing from southern end goals, 12/7/2011

It appeared this day that David Court won the ruck duels overall but that WPFC’s makeshift ruck brigade of Dan Foley, Mal Bennett, and the often injured Craig Nelson put up a reasonable performance. Clearly the team missed Kim Rogers, the strong lead ruckman from the 1985 season, who was still at the club but must have been out injured. Renato Dintinosante was an effective tagger of Les Fong but Bell, C Bewick, and Menaglio were all still outstanding in the midfield. John Scott was effective for CFC with 6.3 but Derek Kickett and Steve Goulding were woefully inaccurate with 1.6 and 1.5 respectively. (The match-report in The West Australian on the following Monday credits Goulding with 1.5 but the scores in the same newspaper credit him with 1.4.) Scott’s 6.3 took him to equal first on the goal kicking table with 49 goals after Round 13, equal to the charismatic Mick Rea (who had had a new lease on life under Mal Brown at Perth). Peter Davidson played an outstanding game as did Steve Malaxos. Malaxos received a knee injury when tackled late after having kicked Claremont’s 10^th goal midway through the third term, and WPFC came back into the game after this point. To quote the match-report written by the late Geoff Christian: “West Perth kicked the last four goals of the third term (plus the first three in the last) in a seven-goal burst that took their score from 8.7 to 15.12 during which Claremont managed only three points”. Christian also wrote: “West Perth were fading at the finish but strong at the start of the [last] quarter when they kicked three early goals and held Claremont scoreless for 11 minutes to establish a 24-point lead, 15.12 to 10.18”. Ultimately, Claremont was not able to bridge this lead at the end although it came very close. WPFC showed it could beat Claremont during the 1986 season (it won three out of the three home-and-away games). However, if we take the season as a whole, then clearly finalist Claremont was by far the better performer as the final percentages of the two teams after 21 rounds make clear (110% and 88%) [by Jack Frost, 5 January 2013].

Likely line-ups:

(Source: The West Australian, Saturday, 21 June 1986, p. 203)

Claremont FC

Backs: L Kickett, Miles, Dintinosante

Half-backs: Morton, M O’Connell, Brayshaw

Centres: Panizza, Malaxos, Davidson

Half-forwards: D Kickett, D O’Connell, Shepherd

Forwards: Beers, Scott, Hann

Ruck: Court, Goulding, Mitchell

Interchange (from): Tait, Owens, Park, Begovich

West Perth FC

Backs: Munns, Mugavin, Lill

Half-backs: Laidley, Martin, Binder

Centres: Mifka, Warwick, D Bewick

Half-forwards: Turley, Bradmore, Bell

Forwards: Menaglio, Nelson, Murnane

Ruck: Foley, L Fong, C Bewick

Interchange: Bennett, Bushe-Jones

In: Laidley, Bennett, Murnane

Out: Barns (groin), Gastev (groin), Stephens

Match results – Saturday 21 June, 1986, Claremont Oval

West Perth FC 3.1 8.4 12.11 16.13 (109) d Claremont FC 4.7 6.12 10.18 13.26 (104)

Scorers: WP: Nelson 4.3, Bradmore 4.1, Foley 2.3, Murnane 2.0, C Bewick 1.2, Lill 1.1, Bell 1.0, D Bewick 1.0, Menaglio 0.2, Mifka 0.1.

C: Scott 6.3, Mitchell 2.1, D Kickett 1.6, Goulding 1.4, Owens 1.3, Malaxos 1.0, Beers 0.3, Hann 0.1, M O’Connell 0.1, Morton 0.1, Shepherd 0.1, Forced 0.2. [KJ note: One Claremont goal seems to be missing from this list.]

Weather: Fine, moderate north-easterly breeze.

(Source: The West Australian, Monday, 23 June 1986, p. 100)

Attendance: 8,807 (from WAFL Online)

Free kicks: WP: 6, 7, 5, 2 – 20.

C: 6, 10, 3, 6 – 25.

Best players:

WA Footballer of the Year Award:

5 votes Phil Bradmore (West Perth) – Strong and creative at centre-half-forward where he had 16 kicks and scored four goals.

4 votes Peter Davidson (Claremont) – Another typical hard-working and effective centreline performance, during which he had 22 kicks and 10 handpasses.

3 votes Brendon Bell (West Perth) – Busy and effective as a half-back and then in the centre in a performance that heralded his return to top form. [KJ note: The newspaper misspelt this player’s name as Brendan Bell.]

2 votes David Court (Claremont) – A sustained four-quarter effort in the ruck where he was a dominant player at the hit-outs.

1 vote David Martin (West Perth) – Was in control throughout at centre-half-back where he exerted a stabilising influence on the West Perth defence.

(Source: The West Australian, Monday, 23 June 1986, p. 100)

Team rankings: WP: P Bradmore 1, B Bell 2, D Martin 3, P Menaglio 4, D Foley 5, C Bewick 6.

C: P Davidson 1, D Court 2, J Scott 3, D Kickett 4, S Goulding 5, S Malaxos 6.

(Source: The West Australian, Monday, 23 June 1986, p. 100)

WA Footballer of the Year Award Leaders after Round 13 (Top 20 players):

33 votes – Laurie Keene (S)

30 votes - Brian Peake (EF)

29 votes – Steve Malaxos (C)

25 votes – Peter Featherby (S)

21 votes – Peter Sartori (SD), Brian Taylor (S)

20 votes – Peter Davidson (C)

18 votes – Phil Bradmore (WP)

17 votes – Warren Dean (S), Robert Wiley (P)

16 votes – Corry Bewick (WP), Mark Bairstow (SF)

15 votes – Craig Starcevich (EP)

14 votes – Steve Goulding (C), Darrell Panizza (C), Peter Wilson (EF), Neil Taylor (S)

13 votes – Michael Mitchell (C), Chris Mainwaring (EF), Les Fong (WP)

(Source: The West Australian, Monday, 23 June 1986, p. 100)

	Round 13	WAFL	Table	1986
	Played	Won	Lost	Drawn	%	Points
SUBIACO*	13	12	1	-	149.52	48
EAST FREM**	13	9	4	-	125.49	36
CLAREMONT	13	8	5	-	136.52	32
WEST PERTH	13	7	5	1	98.20	30
Perth	13	7	5	1	96.08	30
Swan Dist	13	3	10	-	87.08	12
South Frem	13	3	10	-	66.73	12
East Perth	13	2	11	-	73.81	8

(Source: The West Australian, Monday, 23 June 1986, p. 100)

*eventual 1986 WAFL premiers

**eventual 1986 WAFL runners-up

Leading goal-kickers after Round 13 (Top 9 players):

49 – Mick Rea (P), John Scott (C)

44 – Stephen Sells (S)

41 - Tony Buhagiar (EF)

40 – Colin Waterson (EF)

37 – Warren Dean (S)

36 - Brian Peake (EF)

32 – Todd Breman (S), Wayne Ryder (P)

(Source: The West Australian, Monday, 23 June 1986, p. 100)

Steve Malaxos - back at Claremont

Complete match report (full text):

By the late GEOFF CHRISTIAN:

“West Perth delved deep into their bag of last-quarter tricks at 4.35pm at Claremont Oval on Saturday and came up with a new way to frustrate, and then beat, Claremont.

“West Perth changed the formula they used at Leederville Oval on May 10 when they produced a surging finish, coming from 41 points down at the 10-minute mark of the last quarter to win by three points.

“This time West Perth were fading at the finish but strong at the start of the quarter when they kicked three early goals and held Claremont scoreless for 11 minutes to establish a 24-point lead, 15.12 to 10.18.

“That proved enough to frustrate the Tigers, who kicked a wasteful 3.8 to 1.2 for the remainder of the game to finish five-point losers at the end of a game they were desperate to win.

“The turning point in this game for West Perth came midway through the third quarter. The precise moment was when Claremont captain Steve Malaxos received a knee injury when tackled late after having kicked Claremont’s 10^th goal to give the side a 20-point lead.

“That was Malaxos’s last kick of the game and it also marked the high point of Claremont’s afternoon of football.

“West Perth kicked the last four goals of the third term (plus the first three in the last) in a seven-goal burst that took their score from 8.7 to 15.12 during which Claremont managed only three points.

“Malaxos was Claremont’s best player for 21/2 quarters and he looked the man likely to develop into a match-winner.

“But the title was eventually the property of West Perth centre-half-forward Phil Bradmore who was again superb as a key attacking player despite the attention of Michael O’Connell, Noel Morton and later Geoff Miles.

“Bradmore not only provided four goals but also a reliable avenue into attack that Claremont were unable to achieve at centre-half-forward.

“Claremont were blocked at that position by an excellent performance from David Martin, a Tigers reject, who had one of his finest days in football in a winning battle against David O’Connell.

“Claremont full-forward John Scott (6.3) set a standard of efficiency in the Claremont attack that was not followed by either Derek Kickett (1.6) or ruck-rover Steven Goulding (1.5). [Jack Frost note: The match scores on the same page of the newspaper credit Goulding with 1.4.]

“Kickett could not convert a notable winning effort against Dean Laidley in the air and on the ground into goals and Goulding spoiled a strong midfield effort with goalfront inefficiency.

“The exit of Malaxos from the ground made things easier for West Perth inside the centre-square, notably Brendan Bell, who was in superb form in the third quarter when he had six kicks, a mark and five hand-passes in a performance that helped the Falcons offset the influence of Claremont winger Peter Davidson, who ended up as his team’s best player.

“The combined efforts of rover Corry Bewick and Peter Menaglio were critical to the west Perth victory.

“It was essential for West Perth to win the roving battles against Michael Mitchell and Mark Hahn on a day when Claremont ruckman David Court won the majority of the hit-outs and Claremont’s Renato Dintinosante successfully tagged Falcons’ captain Les Fong restricting him to 11 kicks and two hand-passes.

“Corry Bewick enhanced his reputation for consistency and Menaglio was back at near his best a week after his return to league ranks against South Fremantle.

“Mitchell played spasmodically but he continues to attempt to achieve too much in a single burst. Quicker disposal could only help himself and Claremont’s all-round football.

“West Perth appeared to have solved their big-man problems.

“This has been achieved by using Dan Foley as a ruckman, regaining the services of Mal Bennett as a knock ruckman and Craig Nelson’s return to form and fitness.

“Bennett showed on Saturday that he is a capable player at the hit-outs and in the marking duels, Foley again displayed impressive around-the-ground talent and Nelson’s confidence is back where it belongs”.

(Source: Geoff Christian (1986), “A new trick from the Falcons’ bag”, The West Australian, Monday, 23 June 1986, p. 100)  [archival research by Jack Frost].

Round 14, 1984: West Perth FC 18.11 (119) d Swan Districts FC 11.19 (85), Leederville Oval

The former Swan Districts ruckman Ron Boucher in 2009 when he was working at Busselton Council - we had a confrontation with him this day in 1984 at Leederville Oval's northern-end goals during the reserves game.

Round 14, 1984 – West Perth v Swan Districts, Leederville Oval

This is the day we [West Perth FC] unexpectedly defeated the reigning 1983 premiers, Swan Districts FC, at home at Leederville Oval and by a convincing margin as well. We could beat any team on our day during the 1980s and especially at Leederville Oval where the home-ground advantage was enormous. This game was probably West Perth’s best performance for the 1984 season, a season in which the club sadly missed out on the finals. After Round 14 West Perth was third, Won 7, Lost 6, Drawn 1, so it was a rapid fall from grace over the last seven rounds of the home-and-away fixtures. None of The West Australian’s five resident tipsters tipped West Perth this day against Swans. By this time our West Perth FC Cheer Squad was growing in numbers and commitment and we were accumulating more flags. My 1984 Season Notes, compiled during the 1984 season, state that this was the first day we used our new “COP THAT” banner, a banner later made famous for many years in Perth as a result of its appearance in an Emu Export beer commercial. The banner was made up of one red and one blue horizontal stripe with the words “COP THAT” in white capital letters. This day against Swan Districts was also the day we had a confrontation with feared SD premiership ruckman Ron Boucher. Our confrontation might have occurred in the reserves match since Boucher was not named in Swans’ league team 20 on the morning of the game (Johns and Sartori were to share ruck duties).

There had been animosity between West Perth supporters and Swan Districts’ coach John Todd since Todd left West Perth’s Brian Adamson out of a Western Australian state team in 1975 (Dawson, 2004, pp 148, 150), and this animosity followed Todd across from East Fremantle to Swan Districts (Dawson, 2004, p 179). Dawson (2004, p. 179) writes as follows about the relationship between Swans and West Perth during the 1980s: “The feud was always publicly denied, but continued into the 1980s and all Swans-West Perth games were well-attended with many fiery incidents, off and on the field”. 

      We [West Perth cheer squad 1984-86] had a variation of our “walks on water” chant reserved for opposition players as follows: “Ronnie Boucher walks on water/ everybody knows that bullshit floats”. P.A., Mike C., Pete C., and Thommo, especially, thought that this chant was just hilarious. There was an alternative, negative chant “Ronnie Boucher woo-hoo” and at the last syllable we would raise our hands and then move the open right hands in downwards motion in front of our raised, stiff wrists. Mike B. [West Perth cheer squad founder] recounted to me an incident involving Boucher that had failed to rise to the top of my memory and which had missed the first draft of this article. This is one fiery incident relating to West Perth versus Swans matches in the 1980s which has not hitherto been published. According to Mike B. (personal conversation, Kalgoorlie, 14 July 2011), on this day at Leederville, Boucher became upset by our chanting and walked up to where Mike B. and I were seated, leaned forward over the boundary fence, grabbed Mike B. by his West Perth replica jersey, and demanded to know: “What did you f***ing say?” In deep shock, Mike B. managed to stammer: “I’m really sorry, Mr Boucher”. In an interesting postscript to this story, Mike B. (personal conversation, 14 July 2011) mentioned years after this Leederville Oval incident contesting an arm-wrestling bout against Boucher in Broome which was the town where Boucher was then living. To no-one’s surprise Boucher ultimately won the competition overall against all contestants. 

One interesting point from the match results is Dennis Cometti (West Perth coach) continuing with his unorthodox practice of playing players out of position. Phil Bradmore started at centre-half-back before being shifted back to his customary centre-half-forward position where he started to have a major influence on the game and eventually was rated second best-on-ground. David Marsh of The West Australian wrote: “After Phil Bradmore had been outclassed by Swans’ centre-half-forward Peter Sartori in the first term, Cometti moved him to centre-half-forward, where he was an instant success, marking strongly and making good use of the handpass” (Marsh, 1984, “Falcons hit a high note”, The West Australian, Monday, 9 July, p. 96). It is a moot point whether West Perth could have done better in the 1984 WAFL season had all this experimentation by Cometti never happened. David Marsh concluded in the same post-match article “Cometti deserves much of the praise for Saturday’s victory” because he switched Bradmore to centre-half-forward. However, a less charitable interpretation is that Cometti erred by not playing Bradmore at his customary centre-half-forward position from the opening bounce.

It was frustrating to support West Perth throughout the 1980s – brilliant one day, terrible the next. The “terrible” days are reflected in the club’s percentage of 93.18% after 14 rounds (see League Table below). It was doubly frustrating as often the brilliant performances were against the eventual premiers such as Swan Districts in 1984 and East Fremantle in 1985. The 1984 WAFL season was a promoter’s dream. There was a bunch of teams in the middle of the table very close together in terms of wins and losses. It was this tightness of the competition that made it possible for West Perth to drop from third to sixth in the last seven games of the home-and-away season. (WP would lose 5 and win 2 of these last seven games.) East Perth was sixth after Round 14 at Won 7, Lost 7, while Subiaco was seventh at Won 6, Lost 8. Only Perth was out of contention for the finals and even they had not been horrible with 4 wins and 10 losses and a respectable percentage of 83.67% (nowhere near 2012 Greater Western Sydney territory) [by Kieran James, 21 July 2012].

Likely line-ups:

(Source: The West Australian, Saturday, 7 July, 1984, p. 189)

West Perth FC

Backs: Papalia, Comerford, Morgan

Half-backs: Michalczyk, Bradmore, Bonson

Centres: Warwick, O’Brien, Mifka

Half-forwards: D Kickett, Nelson, Simms

Forwards: Davis, Hendriks, Gastev

Ruck: Crole, Menaglio, Fong

Interchange from: Mountain, Bell, Fraser

In: Papalia, Bell, Mountain, Crole, O’Brien, Nelson

Out: Bogunovich (hip), Campbell (knee), Dayman (ankle), Stephens, Hathaway

Swan Districts FC

Backs: Ware, Mullooly, Hetherington

Half-backs: Langsford, Rance, Solin

Centres: Brenton, Neesham, Narkle

Half-forwards: Richardson, Sartori, Holmes

Forwards: Marshall, Hutton, Shine

Ruck: Johns, Fogarty, Kimberley

Interchange: Hodyl, M Smith

Out: Hoyer

Selections:

GEOFF CHRISTIAN: Swan Districts

KEN CASELLAS: Swan Districts

ROBERT WAINWRIGHT: Swan Districts

DAVID MOSS: Swan Districts

TIM GOSSAGE: Swan Districts

(Source: The West Australian, Saturday, 7 July, 1984, p. 189)

Match results – Saturday 7 July, 1984, Leederville Oval

West Perth FC 3.1 7.4 14.9 18.11 (119) d Swan Districts FC 4.5 6.9 9.15 11.19 (85)

Scorers: WP: Bradmore 4.1, Fong 2.3, Davis 2.2, Gastev 2.1, D Kickett, Michalczyk 2.0, Comerford, Crole, Mifka, D Simms 1.0, Bell 0.1, Forced 0.3.

SD: Holmes 3.1, Narkle 2.0, Fogarty 1.3, Brenton, Marshall 1.2, Sartori 1.1, Richardson, M Smith 1.0, Kimberley 0.4, Hutton 0.2, Johns, Langsford 0.1, Forced 0.2.

(Source: The West Australian, Monday, 9 July, 1984, p. 97)

Weather: Unsettled, strong south-westerly breeze.

(Source: The West Australian, Monday, 9 July, 1984, p. 97)

Attendance: 7,146 (from WAFL Online)

Free kicks: WP: 7, 9, 12, 4 – 32.

SD: 9, 5, 4, 5 - 23.

(Source: The West Australian, Monday, 9 July, 1984, p. 97)

Best players:

1 John Gastev (West Perth) – A devastating 22-kick roving display. Inspired his teammates with his never-say-die attitude.

2 Phil Bradmore (West Perth) – After a quiet first quarter at centre-half-back, he played brilliantly at centre-half-forward.

3 Paul Mifka (West Perth) – Provided considerable drive on a wing with a 17-kick performance.

Team rankings: WP: J Gastev 1, P Bradmore 2, P Mifka 3, D Warwick 4, L Fong 5, D Simms 6.

SD: S Richardson 1, D Langsford 2, P Sartori 3, B Kimberley 4, J Fogarty 5, T Mullooly 6.

(Source: The West Australian, Monday, 9 July, 1984, p. 97)

	R 14
	P	W	L	D	%	Pts
EASTFREM**	14	9	5	-	107.47	36
SOUTH FREM	14	8	5	1	122.77	34
WEST PERTH	14	7	6	1	93.18	30
SWAN DIST*	14	7	7	-	111.03	28
Claremont	14	7	7	-	100.90	28
East Perth	14	7	7	-	89.07	28
Subiaco	14	6	8	-	97.57	24
Perth	14	4	10	-	83.67	16

(Source: The West Australian, Monday, 9 July, 1984, p. 97)

*eventual 1984 WAFL premiers

Coaches’ Comments:

Dennis Cometti (WEST PERTH):

“They [WP] battled hard and I’m proud of the way they stuck at it.

“A lot of people made comments about our loss to South Fremantle a week earlier. But that effort wasn’t all that bad, because we had several players on the sidelines”.

(Source: David Marsh (1984), “Falcons hit a high note”, The West Australian, Monday, 9 July, p. 96)

Match analysis
Quotes from DAVID MARSH:

Les Fong

“West Perth were swept to success against Swan Districts at Leederville Oval on Saturday on an irresistible wave of self-discipline and team-spirit.

“This wave, which began as a ripple during the first quarter, continued to swell till it was big enough to submerge Swans in the final term

“The skill, stamina, courage and discipline of the West Perth players brought coach Dennis Cometti one of his best moments since taking over the Falcons in 1982.

“Cometti deserves much of the praise for Saturday’s victory. After Phil Bradmore had been outclassed by Swans’ centre-half-forward Peter Sartori in the first term, Cometti moved him to centre-half-forward, where he was an instant success, marking strongly and making good use of the handpass.

“His strong attacking play and the brilliant roving of John Gastev was the spark needed to set West Perth alight.

“Captain Les Fong was a courageous rover and Doug Simms played soundly at centre-half-back in the second half.

“West Perth had clear winners on the wings, with Dean Warwick and Paul Mifka providing tremendous drive.

“Full-back Geoff Hendriks, ruckman Stuart Crole and ruck-rover Peter Menaglio were consistently good performers.

“Half-forward flanker Steve Richardson was active for Swans, but he lacked support.

Derek Kickett & Les Fong

“Sartori shone at centre-half-forward in the first half and then excelled in the ruck.

“Swans also received good service from Barry Kimberley, Tom Mullooly, Don Langsford and Keith Narkle.

“West Perth played with far greater discipline than their rivals.

“An example of this was shown in the third quarter when the West Perth players were consistently first to the ball.

“In the 31-minute [third] quarter, the Swans players gave away 12 free-kicks and four 15-metre penalties and received only four free-kicks”.

(Source: David Marsh (1984), “Falcons hit a high note”, The West Australian, Monday, 9 July, p. 96) [archival research by Kieran James].

Rex Lipp (left) and Ron Boucher (right). I did a Google search for Ron Boucher and this is one of the images that came up. This is from a Queensland website and I can't be sure whether this is "our" Mr Ron Boucher because of the sunglasses.  It would be great if a more knowledgeable person could comment on this.