ARTICLE: "Subiaco Oval: Every kid's field of dreams", by John Townsend, 22/9/2017

ARTICLE: Arthur Bancroft was seven when he first slipped across the road from his home next to the Perth railway line, climbed an ancient fig tree overhanging the fence and watched football at Subiaco Oval.

It was 1928, just 20 years after the first game was played at the ground initially known as the Mueller Road sand patch, but those joyous football memories were to sustain Bancroft during the most torrid years of his life a decade or so later.

Blood Bancroft was a survivor. He had two ships sunk under him during World War II, lived through the unspeakable horrors of the Burma railway and floated without food or water for six days in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

He had one ambition throughout those ordeals — to play football on Subiaco Oval, a goal he expressed in a charcoal mural at his first prisoner of war camp in Java and which later proved essential as he and four mates clung to wreckage hoping to be rescued.

“We kept our spirits up by talking about some of the things we would do if we ever got rescued,” Bancroft recalled just before his death in 2013. “I said I was going to play footy again on Subiaco Oval. And I did.”

Bancroft had played alongside Haydn Bunton Sr in his early days, the triple Sandover medallist saying little to the scrawny teenager other than growling “get out of my way” as he set sail for goal, but admitted he was fortunate to play as many as his 12 matches.

Bancroft’s sense of Subiaco Oval as the centre of his early universe was not an uncommon view for a ground that started as a weedy stretch of sand and evolved to become the headquarters of WA football.

Subiaco entered the league in 1901, five years after their beginnings in the lower First Rate Junior competition, but their battle to win games — they came last or second last in each of their first 11 seasons — was little compared with the struggle to find a suitable ground.

Their initial home ground Shenton Park, now Lake Jualbup, was often underwater, with drowning a genuine match day threat, while the common age at Mueller (now Roberts) Road provided an ad hoc venue in the 1890s but offered no security of tenure.

But Subiaco was a thriving town at the turn of the 20th century. It had the advantage of a separate identity to Perth and Fremantle, though the train line made it accessible to both, while the newly formed Subiaco Municipal Council saw football as essential to the health of the district and an ideal promotional vehicle for civic development.

It helped that Henry Daglish was simultaneously State premier, Subiaco mayor and club president.

He was possessed of robust powers of persuasion, assets that he employed to their fullest to see off a 1906 expulsion move before winning council support to develop the site that would soon become known as Subiaco Oval.

Crowd at EF v SD grand final

Like other WAFL clubs experienced later in the century, the establishment of a permanent base soon led to remarkable success, with Subiaco winning three premierships in four seasons from 1912. Another was added in 1924 as the club welcomed the arrival of the player who would contend with Bunton as the greatest of the club’s first half-century — Johnny Leonard.

Bancroft could not separate them as players but had a soft spot for Leonard, no surprise given that it was to watch his hero in action that prompted the seven-year-old to climb into Subiaco Oval.

The fig tree might be long gone but generations of children have followed Bancroft’s lead by flocking to Subiaco Oval with stars in their eyes and football in their hearts.

[This article was first published by John Townsend for The West Australian at the following link: https://thewest.com.au/news/perth/subiaco-every-kids-field-of-dreams-ng-b88607857z]

First semi-final 1985 – West Perth versus Swan Districts, Subiaco Oval, 31 August (Subiaco Oval), by Kieran James:

ARTICLE: West Perth earned a rematch against Swan Districts in the 1985 first semi-final played on 31 August 1985 at Subiaco Oval. In those days there was a grassed northern bank at the city-end and there was concrete terracing all along the Roberts Road or eastern side of the ground. These were the general admission ticket areas back then. In that era, for every final apart from the grand final, there was no need to pre-book tickets at Subiaco Oval unless you wanted grandstand seating. In those days semi-finals would attract between 20,000 and 35,000 people and the oval itself could accommodate close to 50,000. Nowadays grand finals struggle to attract even the type of crowds that semi-finals attracted in the WAFL’s Golden Era.

In the newspapers leading up to the game the media columnists were split fairly evenly in terms of which team they thought would win the game. Swan Districts’ Garry Sidebottom was widely and correctly perceived to be the wild-card who, on a good day, could single-handedly destroy West Perth up forward[1] which is exactly what happened. West Perth also suffered from Menaglio being out injured[2]; Duckworth not having recovered from an absence caused by the after-effects of swallowing a fish bone[3]; and, although Comerford, Fong, and Michalczyk did play, they were well below their bests as a result of carrying niggling injuries into the game from the qualifying rounds[4]. Swans’ tough centreman Tony Solin had also been expected to miss the game on the Monday of the lead-up week[5] but he returned to play a very strong game. Rogers and the veteran Murnane missed the last qualifying game versus a lacklustre Claremont, but Murnane was expected to return for the semi-final and be able to slot in well to replace the injured Menaglio.[6] As it turned out Murnane did play but he was not listed in any commentator’s best-players list. Meanwhile, Rogers’ match statistics of one mark, zero kicks, and two effective handballs suggest that he was still incapacitated.

On first semi-final day, 1985, Mike B. and I took an early morning bus from Booragoon to the city-centre and then the train to West Leederville station. The West Perth cheer squad had arranged to meet at the Subiaco Road entrance gates, in the north-east corner of the ground, rather than at the more crowded Roberts Road gates in the south-east corner. Group members had planned beforehand to get tickets on the day and to be first in the gates when they opened which must have been fixed at about 8am or 9am. The cheer squad members needed to be early to claim a seat immediately behind the fence on the two rows of wooden seats in front of the grassed bank. Mike C. and Pete C. were ahead of Mike B. and me in line when we arrived. Mike and Pete were carrying their red-and-blue flags and wearing their long-sleeve West Perth replica jerseys. I can’t recall if they already had their tickets and were waiting for Mike B. and me outside the line or whether they were simply there already ahead of us in the queue. We all obtained our general admission tickets quickly and we (others may have been there too by then) were near the front of the waiting crowd when the gates opened.

The general admission tickets entitled you access to the grassed northern bank and to the concrete terracing but not to the grandstands. As was the practice in that era, our cheer squad members sprinted up and then down the grassed bank when the gates opened and claimed a section of seats directly behind the fence, sufficient to accommodate the core 15 people we were expecting for the game. The early arrivals claimed around eight spots on each of the first two wooden seat rows as had been agreed by everyone the week before at the final home-and-away game. The cheer squad sat in the north-east corner of the ground, directly behind the fence, in around the same place as Perth supporters placed a “Chris Mitsopoulos” fence banner during the 1977 grand final.[7]

Cheer squad members settled down to a long day of watching the early colts and reserves games which, coincidentally, all involved West Perth. The regular core group members all arrived, one by one and in twos and threes, and were offered seats in the group’s new “reserved” section. The crowd in the grassed banked area built up steadily throughout the day. By starting time for the main game most people seated on the grassed bank had given way to people standing up. In that era the bars and the food stands were located right at the top of the grassed bank at the city-end. No group member drank beer at games which, in hindsight, is somewhat surprising as several people were 18-years-old by August 1985.

Cheer squad members planned to enjoy the day; again there was a carnival atmosphere, but the group had been metaphorically sobered up by the recent encounter with the Swan Districts’ fans at Bassendean Oval so people were careful to avoid trouble. It was always uncertain which team the bulk of the crowd nearest you would support at finals games and, if you arrived at the ground very early, you might later find yourself surrounded by opposition supporters. Therefore, it was wiser to restrain your behaviour before the start of the main game.

We had all had previous experiences of West Perth losing final round matches. The team had entered the final four, but not made the grand final, in 1976, 1977, and 1978, and again in 1982 in Dennis Cometti’s first year of coaching. Group members were mostly too young to have properly experienced the 1975 premiership win; on this day in 1985 the core group, excluding Ben, Rob, Tony, Half, Mario, and Thommo Junior, ranged in age from 15 to 19 so in 1975 this core group would have been aged from five to nine. Group members had learned not to have high hopes of West Perth come finals’ time. To be honest people all expected a loss but we would have loved a win. In the end West Perth was duly defeated by Swan Districts in the first semi-final of 1985, 24.14 (158) to 19.12 (126) in front of an official attendance of 26,508 people.[8] The team had not been humiliated but I do remember clearly that the result was never in serious doubt this day. The result did not surprise the cheer squad members as all of us were West Perth fans of the drought era (to use Brian Atkinson’s term)!

Garry Sidebottom was unbeatable with his nine goals, the equal record highest score by any footballer in a WAFL final round match. Dawson writes that: “[Swans’ rover Barry] Kimberley played the kick behind the play role to perfection when West Perth had the breeze, ensuring Swans path to the preliminary final”[9]. West Perth’s losing score of 19 goals was commendable and, according to Atkinson, on most days would have been good enough to win the game.[10]

A look at the scoring records suggest that West Perth in 1985 suffered from the lack of a regular full-forward with the club’s on-ball and half-forward-line running players bobbing up to kick much of the team’s scores. Mark Stephens (27 games, 1982, 1984-86[11]) was named in The West Australian newspaper to play full-forward in the first semi-final but he kicked no goals or points and may not even have played. Top scorers for the day for West Perth were centre-half-forward Phil Bradmore with 4.1 and Derek Kickett with 4.1. Running players were the only other West Perth men to kick more than one goal with the remaining multiple goal scorers being Darren Bewick 3.1, Corry Bewick 2.2, Les Fong 2.2, and Peter Murnane 2.0. Incredibly no recognized full-forward was recruited by West Perth for the 1986 season and West Perth fans had to endure the ignominy of watching West Perth reject Mick Rea perform splendidly for Perth in both 1985 and 1986 playing as a conventional lead-mark-kick full-forward. On first semi-final day 1985, the presence of full-forward Sidebottom and Swans’ mental toughness honed by years of successful finals’ campaigns were clearly the two main differences between the teams.

In the end, Swan Districts failed to progress further beyond the preliminary final in 1985, and Ron Alexander’s East Fremantle defeated Haydn Bunton Junior’s Subiaco by a mere five points in the grand final. I watched the grand final not with the cheer squad but with my father and grandfather seated in the middle-tier of the three-tier grandstand at the western-end of Subiaco Oval (following a family tradition rather than a cheer squad tradition this time around). I can remember walking back to our car after the game, heading back into Subiaco proper, and we stopped a few times to let my grandfather take short rests sitting on little brick walls and similar. After West Perth had been eliminated, we all understood that the cheer squad’s duties and commitments were over for the year.

West Perth Football Club (continued)

Ironically, to pour salt into the wounds, West Perth defeated eventual premiers East Fremantle two out of three times in the 1985 home-and-away rounds. None of the cheer squad members would have regarded East Fremantle as clear favourites had West Perth gone on to encounter the Sharks in the 1985 grand final. West Perth probably had the Moss Street-based club’s measure. Football is made up of vagaries, trivia, and ironies such as this. In fact, from 1976-86, the pre-West Coast Eagles part of the drought era, West Perth generally had a strong record against the eventual premiers. Most West Perth supporters believed that the team could beat anyone on its day, throughout the drought era, with the possible exception of the 1979 season. However, from 1976 through to 1985, West Perth was always choked or outplayed or outmuscled in those final round matches it did manage to play in. It might have been a nerves problem and /or a matter of self-belief. West Perth was up against highly professional and disciplined teams coached by legendary and expert WAFL coaches including Ken Armstrong (Perth); Mal Brown (South Fremantle and Perth); Haydn Bunton Junior (Subiaco); and John Todd (Swan Districts).

Those hardcore West Perth supporters of the drought era were not foolish enough to fail to see a pattern at work. The team clearly ran on enthusiasm, confidence, emotion, and passion during those years. Whereas most other clubs started slowly under a new coach only to reach first the finals, then to lose a grand final, and then finally to win one, West Perth peaked in the first year of a new coach and then the trend was downhill until the next new coach was brought in! As examples of the normal course of events at other clubs, Perth lost in 1974 but won in 1976 and 1977; East Perth lost in 1976 but won in 1978; South Fremantle lost in 1979 but won in 1980; Swans lost in 1980 only to win in 1982, 1983, and 1984; East Fremantle lost in 1977 but won in 1979 and later lost in 1984 but won in 1985; whilst Subiaco lost in 1985 but won in 1986. Later on VFL/AFL club West Coast, famously, lost in 1991 but won in 1992 and 1994. The principle even applied to pre-drought West Perth when it lost in 1973 but won in 1975. It was certainly true, in that era, that “you had to lose a grand final before you could win one” and this adage became wise advice in Western Australia not only for football but for life in general. Dawson also, referencing this period in WAFL history, refers to what he terms “an old football adage”, i.e. “you must lose one to understand what is needed to win one”.[12]

However, departing from the normal pattern at the other WAFL clubs, West Perth won in 1975 in Graham Campbell’s first year; reached the finals in 1982 in Dennis Cometti’s first year; and reached the finals again in John Wynne’s first year in 1985. However, West Perth failed to make the finals in Cometti’s second and third years (1983 and 1984); and again in Wynne’s second year (1986). Even in the immediate post-West Coast era the club made the finals under George Michalczyk in his first season in 1989 only to be wooden-spooners for his next two seasons.[13] The theory that this constituted a unique West Perth pattern was a fairly convincing one although, in all of the years, there were a host of other factors that no doubt could also be used to explain the various rises and falls. It seems that the West Perth playing group became enthusiastic under a new coach but then became bored and lackadaisical by the coach’s second year. It didn’t seem to be a very mature response to the outside observer.

[This article is taken from Chapter 4 (pages 142-147) of the book Goodbye Leederville Oval: History of West Perth Cheer Squad 1984-86 by Kieran James which can be bought at Lulu.com or Amazon.]

[1] Christian, G. (1985a), “Swans prepare for an early blitz”, The West Australian, 30 August, pp. 191-2; Stocks, G. (1985b), “A driving force ...”, The West Australian, 31 August, p. 192.

[2] Christian, ““Swans prepare for an early blitz”.

[3] Ibid.

[4] Ibid.

[5] Ibid.

[6] Ibid.

[7] See the 1977 WAFL grand final DVD which is available from the Perth Football Club main office or at the merchandise store at Lathlain Park on match days.

[8] Atkinson, It’s a Grand Old Flag, p. 335.

[9] Dawson, John Todd, p. 221.

[10] Brian Atkinson, personal interview, 8 July 2011.

[11] Atkinson, It’s a Grand Old Flag, p. 375.

[12] Dawson, John Todd, p. 183.

[13] Brian Atkinson, personal interview, 8 July 2011.

Port Adelaide Magpies supporters @ Foxtel Cup match versus Claremont, 16 July 2011 @ Subiaco Oval (attendance: around 1,000).

Round 11, 1976: West Perth 14.17 (101) d Subiaco 4.6 (30) (includes Facebook comments)

During the premiership drought years of the late-1970s and 1980s West Perth could beat anyone on sunny winter's days like this one at Leederville Oval with the passionate home crowd roaring their support. However, the club found it very hard to win at venues like Bassendean Oval and the two Fremantle grounds even in years such as 1976-78, 1982, and 1985 when it made the finals.

Memories of my first WAFL match? It was Round 11 1976 (Saturday 19 June). West Perth had won the 1975 premiership under the coaching of former Fitzroy rover Graham Campbell but to many people's surprise West Perth was won 3 and lost 7 after 10 rounds in 1976. However, the team's good percentage of 91.43% suggested it might have been unlucky. Final football was looking unlikely unless WP improved quickly and started winning games. I was 7-years-old and my father took me to Leederville Oval for Round 11, WP v Subiaco (of course that was a WP home game in those days). It was a terrible day with non-stop heavy rain. We were able to get a seat behind the fence in front of the tin shed in the north-west corner of the ground (see the second picture below). People helped us squeeze in there because I was just a young fellow. We ended up talking to the mother of the then WP back-pocket player Ian Kent (or at least a close female relative of Ian Kent). Due to the rain we left at half-time but I was hooked on WAFL football. Final score: West Perth 14.17 (101) d Subiaco 4.6 (30), attendance 5,175 (sourced from WAFL official website). This day was the start of a WP resurgence and the club made the final four at season's end. However, Perth won the 1976 premiership after comfortably beating WP in the first semi-final. I remember this day in Round 11 the colourful WP jumpers standing out in front of the grey and depressing background. Attendance of the round: 16,785 at Perth Oval to see East Perth easily beat Claremont [by Kieran James, 2 June 2016, first posted in "Say NO to any AFL Clubs in the WAFL" Facebook group.].

This post generated the following Facebook comments (all comments used with permission):

Adrian Gibson (Perth supporter): Such a good memory you have for someone who was so young at the time and the year 1976 was one of the best for me with Perth winning the flag but I was surprised how West Perth was going that year after the way they thrashed South Freo the year before [1975 Grand Final].

Kieran James: I did a bit of research and from 1975-89 WP performed well in their first year with a new coach and then performance declined in each case (Campbell in 1975-77, Percy Johnson in 1978-mid 1979, Cometti in 1982-84, Wynne in 1985-86, and Michalczyk in 1989-91).

Adrian Gibson: Wow you did do your research, I never thought of that but now I’m thinking about it looking at those names you are so right. With coaches at Perth we just start bad and go downhill after that.

Kieran James: I was talking about West Perth but Perth may have been the same. Another interesting fact is the trainload of players who travelled between P and WP in those years. I think P did best out of the trades in total but it was close.

Adrian Gibson: It was strange they did get rid of Campbell so soon after that flag. I remember a couple of games at Lathlain Park when we played West Perth. The first was 73: Barry Cable was on fire, we were in front 4.4 to 1.4, then he got injured and they just ran over the top of us. I also remember another game when a car went a bit fast in the car park and hit me on the leg. They took me to the West Perth change rooms to see if I was OK. I remember being a wide eyed kid of about 12 or 13 and I saw Polly Farmer, Mel Whinnen, and Bill Dempsey up so close it blew me away.

Tin shed and Tech School beyond, Leederville Oval, July 2011

Kieran James: Great memories you shared there. Campbell stayed until end of 77, I don’t know why he left; maybe his family missed Melbourne. I don’t think he was pushed out. WP made finals every year from 1975-77 under Campbell and then in 1978 under Percy Johnson. Johnson was fired mid-season 1979, and Campbell replaced him and stayed until the end of 1981. However, Campbell could only walk on water once and the club missed finals from 1979-81.

Adrian Gibson: I even think I may be wrong but I thought he coached Fitzroy in the VFL at one stage.

Kieran James: Yes he did and they won a night flag under him I think [yes, 1978]. He also coached Glenelg in 1963-84 and ex-West Perth player Ross Gibbs was part of that team.

Adrian Gibson: Yes Ross Gibbs, I remember him; he was such a great mark for someone his size. Now his son plays for Carlton and it makes me feel old lol. I know Leederville was a very hard place to win at. We used to leave there with a 10 goal hiding no matter how good a side we had.

Kieran James: Yes, WP could beat anyone on a sunny day at Leederville, with the crowd behind them, ladder placings didn’t matter, but away from home they were often shocking especially at Bassendean and both Fremantle grounds.

Adrian Gibson: Yes, it was hard for most teams at those grounds. My best mate was an East Perth supporter so we used to go to the footy in turns one week his team and then mine. I also used to do the scoreboard at Lathlain which was fun. Home ground advantage used to be a lot stronger in those days and the West Perth Cheer Squad used to be very loud.

View from Can Bar @ Lathlain Park, P v SD, 2/7/2011

Kieran James: Adrian, who was P’s greatest rival then and how was WP viewed? My memory is WP and P were on fairly friendly terms. … The drawn WP v P game in Round 1, 1986 was a big match. WP had high hopes of doing well in 1986 but Perth was emerging fast under Browny [Mal Brown] and you took over from us in the final four that year (we made it in 1985).

Adrian Gibson: I think East Perth was our greatest rival. I mean we beat them in four grand finals; they were the Collingwood of the WAFL. They lost 66, 67, and 68 to us; 69 and 71 to you; and then 76 to us and they only won in 72 and 78 (which still hurts also). I wasn’t very fond of South Freo either.

Kieran James: And the 78 win was due to Ian Miller and Barry Cable switching sides and Murray Couper and John Quartermaine being out of the Perth team. Those EP defeats were very enjoyable.

Adrian Gibson: Yes and when we kicked with the wind that day [1978 grand final versus EP], it poured down and when they kicked with it there was no rain at all. Miller wanted to come back to Perth but they were so up themselves and had just won the flag so they said they didn’t need him. That made me so angry, I thought it would bite them in the backside which it did. He played really well that day; Buzz [Peter Bosustow] nearly got us over the line but we really missed Couper and Quartermaine that day.

Discussion turned to the 1982 Final Round Series as West Perth supporter Andrew Henryon joined the chat.

Andrew Henryon (West Perth supporter): East Fremantle and Claremont have always been our nemesis. As [John] Dimmer used to say: “If we can win at Shark Park, we can win the GF!” We should’ve won the flag in 1982.

Can Bar crowd, Lathlain Park, P v SD, 2/7/2011

Adrian Gibson: Yes, I remember 82. I thought it would be Claremont and West Perth in the grand final but Swans came from nowhere to win it. [Dennis] Cometti had a good side that year.

Kieran James: And West Perth found Claremont hard to beat but did well against Swans from 1982-84 so it was unfortunate we met Claremont in the preliminary final. In fact in Swans’ premiership years [1982-84] we won 5 out of the 9 home-and-away games against them. [Note: Doubters can verify the accuracy of this statement by checking the old results year by year at the WAFL’s official website.] I remember the 82 preliminary final, watching it from the middle-tier of the three-tier stand and seeing Ray Holden being outclassed by Warren Ralph. I had high hopes in 1985 too; we were good against East Fremantle that year but we didn’t meet them in the finals.

Andrew Henryon: The David Palm suspension from the 1982 1^st semi-final thrashing of East Perth did not help. Shame because 1982 was our year and it got away, like what happened to the Dockers in 2013.

We went on to a discussion of the 1985 final round series:

Kieran James: East Fremantle was our nemesis in every year except for 1985 when WP beat EF in two out of the three home-and-away games including the last minute Subiaco Oval win when the late Chris Mainwaring missed at the end. (In the video on YouTube I can be seen at 2:53-54 congratulating the West Perth players after the siren, I was a tall and skinny 16-year-old guy, black hair, light-blueish check flannel shirt, jeans, and WP jumper tied around the waist.)

Andrew Henryon: The Mainwaring miss. … We were never a chance in 85 under John Wynne, I’m not going there.

Can Bar Crowd, Lathlain Park, P v SD, 2/7/2011

Kieran James: As a young fan I remember having hope in 85 but of course was unaware of any goings on at the club. 1986 was a huge disappointment.

Then there was some mention of 1978, another year that got away for both Perth and West Perth.

Andrew Henryon: Have a look at the 1978 home-and-away. In Round 21 EP 5^th to 2^nd, WP 2^nd to 4^th after EP beat us in round 21 at Leedy in front of 24000! Real bizarre events and EP came from nowhere to win the flag. Unbelievable destiny!

Adrian Gibson: Yes, I remember that last game in 78. East Perth was on a winning streak of 7 or 9 games or something and had to win to make the four and the other results went their way and they ended up 2^nd and played us in the 2^nd semi-final but the crowd was so amazing at that game.

Kieran James: It was too bad that Perth came so close to repeating their hat-trick of flags exactly one decade later but failed (66-67-68 and nearly 76-77-78).

[A special thanks to Adrian Gibson and Andrew Henryon for their kind permission in allowing me to share their comments here. We should write down our memories of the WAFL Golden Era while there are still some of us left. Someone who was 6-years-old when the West Coast Eagles was formed will be 35-years-old today. People of this age and below have no personal memory of the pre-Eagles environment in Western Australia. If people don’t care about the WAFL Golden Era today there may come a time when they will care again.]

1986 Preliminary Final - Subiaco Lions 26.12 (168) d Perth Demons 15.7 (97), Subiaco Oval.

1986 Preliminary Final - Subiaco Lions v Perth Demons, Subiaco Oval.

Mark Zanotti (S), bogan till die.

This match, as with the last few rounds of the recently concluded 2013 WAFL season, was the disappointment that long-suffering Perth Demons’ fans have come to expect every year since 1978. As that most excellent of football journalists, the late Geoff Christian, wrote in his match report (full texts for both his match reports are reproduced below taken from the following Monday’s West Australian), the 1986 home-and-away season had shown that ladder leaders Subiaco and East Fremantle were a class above all the other teams and third-placed Perth was one clear step below the leaders but above fourth-placed Claremont. The 1986 final round results surprised no-one and confirmed most people’s prior expectations with Perth comfortably defeating Claremont in the first semi-final and then Subiaco easily outclassing Perth in the preliminary final. The only interest and twist in the tale was Subiaco losing to East Fremantle in the second semi-final but then reversing this result in the Grand Final two weeks later.

In my view Malcolm Gregory Brown’s great unheralded and forgotten coaching achievement (he is best remembered today for his coaching efforts at South Fremantle) was bringing Perth Demons to a very creditable third position in 1986 after the club had been perennial cellar-dwellers in the early-1980s. Subiaco and East Fremantle in 1985 and 1986 were A-class teams, both VFL/AFL standard teams (in my opinion), and two of the best teams to have ever played in the WAFL. Subiaco lost by less than a goal to Hawthorn in the 1986 end-of-season challenge match which certainly proves the Subiaco team of 1986 as being of VFL/AFL final-five standard. The inaugural 1987 West Coast Eagles’ team was basically an East Fremantle-Subiaco combined team with bit players from the other clubs put into minor positions to make up the numbers. In a year without two such obvious A-class teams Brown may have even achieved another premiership with the Perth Demons contingent he had at his disposal in 1986. Let us look at Perth’s record prior to the 1986 season (facts from WAFL Online): 1979 8 wins 13 losses, sixth; 1980 7-14, sixth; 1981 3-18, eighth (this year was when the rot really set in); 1982 3-18, seventh; 1983 4-17, seventh; 1984 5-16 eighth (this year was one of the most even competitions in WAFL history with only nine wins separating first from last at year-end); and 1985 6-15, seventh (this year was Brown’s first year as coach). The improvement in Brown’s first year is clear (one more win than in 1984 and three more wins than in 1982). Geoff Christian pointed out that Perth’s improvement could be traced back to the last two home-and-away games of the 1985 season when Perth beat Claremont and then Swan Districts. Further improvement was noted by all, including opposition fans, in the opening game of the 1986 season when Perth drew against the previous year’s first semi-finalists West Perth on a hot March Saturday at Lathlain Park.

Why do I rate Brown’s coaching performance so highly here? One reason is that when you look back at Perth’s 1986 team from the vantage point of 2013 it seems amazing that the club even made it to third position. The team had eight to ten extremely good players but even out of that eight to ten few ever played any VFL/ AFL football. Without doing any formal research (which might prove me wrong) I believe only six players ever played VFL/AFL – Adrian Barich, Robbie Wiley, Allan Montgomery, Earl Spalding, Mick Rea, and Brett Yorgey. Rea only played three games at VFL/AFL club Melbourne before he shifted to the west so we can count it as effectively just five players. The 1986 team was clearly not as good as the 1976-77 premiership team which had included the first-rate roving combination of Robbie Wiley and Chris Mitsopoulos; the brilliant “team-within-a-team” in defence which predated by 20 years anything West Coast’s defence achieved in the 1990s; and the four North Melbourne recruits received in exchange for Barry Cable. Furthermore, the 1976-77 Perth spearhead Murray Couper was a better full-forward, at least from a technical standpoint, than Mick Rea, despite Rea’s outstanding goalkicking efforts in 1985 and 1986. Yes, Wiley was still at Perth in 1986 but the slim speedy teenager with the long flowing light-brown hair of 1976-77 had been replaced by a slower but craftier aging veteran whose hair-line was by 1986 rapidly receding. Geoff Christian and Ken Casellas still named Wiley as the best Perth player but, like Brian Peake or cricketers Michael Holding and Dennis Lillee, the craftiness and guile of the mature versions still could not be compared with the energy and brilliance of the youthful versions. Christian refers to Wiley winning eight fairest-and-best awards from his eight years at the club. This was and is a remarkable achievement from one of the best footballers of the second half of the twentieth century but it means that Perth had not been able to replace him with equally as capable young players. In fact, Perth had had few worthwhile recruits to speak of between 1979 and 1984 (go on, name some). However, the club did receive good service from those players it received from its many exchanges with West Perth during the era. I would estimate that as many as ten players travelled between these two clubs between 1975 and 1986.        

If we look at Perth’s team it relied very much on its eight or ten very good players, including the late Chris “Stazza” Stasinowsky (the 1986 preliminary final was his last ever WAFL game – tragically he committed suicide in 1988), Joe Santostefano (a player who was brilliant to watch, a real Brian Peake type player who should have gone on even further in his football career than what he actually achieved); Wayne Ryder; Earl Spalding; Bryan Cousins; Kim Fancote; and Brett Yorgey. Cousins and Wiley, whilst still brilliant, were both past their peaks, and Ryder was still very young. The Perth ruck of Ian Newman and John Gavranich was very weak compared to Subiaco’s future West Coast Eagles’ combination of Laurie Keene and Phil Scott, probably the best 1-2 ruck combination to ever play in the WAFL. Overall, even while reading the team line-ups in the year 2013, the Subiaco team appears far stronger than the Perth side. This is why Brown’s coaching achievement in 1985-86 with Perth must be highlighted. He brought average players, such as Mick Rea and John Gavranich (both ex-West Perth) to achieve some success and the same comment applies to Ian Newman. Brown brought veteran Stephen Mount and established footballer Stazza over from South Fremantle, two very handy acquisitions and their arrival at Perth was probably because of Brown’s influence. Clearly Perth’s line-up also included eight or ten no-name players who probably played “above themselves” in 1986 because Brown believed in them and encouraged them in his inimitable style. To paraphrase the Bible, if Mal Brown (or John Todd) was for you then who could be against you?

If we look at Subiaco’s team we reach a different conclusion: this was one of the greatest teams ever assembled in the history of the WAFL and of course Haydn Bunton Junior deserves much credit for putting this team together. Subiaco had also been a very mediocre performer, fighting Perth in epic contests for the wooden-spoon, in the late-1970s and early-1980s. The star names in the Subiaco team are still well-known today and need no introduction from me here. Many would go on to great careers at West Coast or at other VFL/AFL clubs. However, if we look at the team closely we can see it was really an excellent mixture of a few players left over from the bad days (Neil Taylor and Phil Lamb); a few local emerging talents (Andrew Macnish, Mark Zanotti, Dwayne Lamb, Todd Breman, Karl Langdon, and Warren Dean); a few veterans returning from the VFL/AFL (the brilliant Peter Featherby, the Subiaco equivalent of Robbie Wiley,  especially); and a few of those journeymen surprise-packets which have so often popped up in WAFL premiership sides over the years such as forward-pocket player Stephen Sells recruited from, of all places, the then VFA (now VFL). Although not a star or legend, Sells made a solid contribution to the 1986 Subiaco premiership team.

Mark Zanotti was selected as best Subiaco player by all four newspaper columnists (and it very rarely happens in football that you get unanimity among four judges as to the best player). I remember watching Zanotti play for Subiaco and West Coast, on TV and at the grounds, and he was one of the most exciting footballers you would ever hope to see. The primary mental image I have is of him going for long solo runs out of defence at Subiaco Oval, his long black hair flowing behind him – a remarkable sight. He looked like a classic heavy-metal fan or bogan of that era; you half expected him to drop his cigarette packet out of his front pocket during one of his solo runs, go back to pick it up off the ground, and then dispose of the ball without anyone getting near him! He was very fast and agile for a somewhat bulky player and he rarely lost his footing or messed up a bounce of the ball. It was totally appropriate that he ended up playing out his career with the ultimate working-class battlers club, Fitzroy, in its last-ever VFL/AFL decade. Zanotti’s Wikipedia page says he later moved to London where he was involved in pioneering Aussie Rules with London Gryphons. He would have been a scary proposition for anyone who had attempted to pass him by through the narrow doors of an East London pub!

Andrew Macnish was also a very skilled footballer – very thin physically but very speedy and nimble as well as being courageous and highly skilled. I remember his brilliant mark on Justin Madden’s shoulders (that is 183 cm. or more above the ground) at the city end half-forward flank in front of the concrete terracing at a Tuesday afternoon state-of-origin match (probably 1986 but it could have been any year from 1984-88, I was at all those games). Both Zanotti and Macnish probably never achieved, in hindsight, the greatness they should have achieved and both names are largely forgotten today. Macnish, whose time in the VFL/AFL was beset with injuries, managed only 20 games for West Coast and three for Geelong. Far less talented players than Macnish have played more West Coast senior games. Off the field, his Wikipedia page reports that Macnish was CEO at the Shire of Bridgetown from 1998 - 2003, CEO at Busselton from 2003-2010 and is now CEO at Dewatech (January 2011 – present). I would rank both Zanotti and Macnish in the top 20 players I have ever seen play.

            One of the main reasons Perth was not able to defeat Subiaco this day in 1986 was that Subiaco’s attack was nearly unbeatable –Todd Breman was an excellent old-school lead-and-mark full-forward; Keene and/or Scott could also be successfully played at full-forward; Sells unobtrusively could kick four goals a game from the forward pocket, and Dean would add another four goals from centre-half-forward. Breman, Dean, Sells, and Keene kicked 18 goals between them this day and the match was won right there. For Perth, Rea only managed four and Stazza kicked four. However, Santostefano could not post even a point and Wiley managed only two goals. To win Rea needed to kick eight and the other three names mentioned plus Barich needed to add another ten or twelve between them. This was possible but it didn’t happen this day. Earl Spalding’s total of 1.1 from centre-half-forward was also disappointing. Overall, Perth tried extremely hard, as it always does, but Subiaco was a class above in talent and goal-scoring capacity. Perth had needed a new young “Robbie Wiley” to emerge from the south-eastern suburbs but that hadn’t happened (or he didn’t get off the train at Victoria Park station en route to Lathlain Park!) Perth lacked the overall consistency and capability to progress beyond third placing in this year (1986) when the top two clubs were both remarkably strong.

Robbie Wiley (P)

Can Perth offer any excuses for the loss? No. In the 1978 season full-forward Murray Couper and key defender John Quartermaine missed the Grand Final. Perth was only defeated by two points to East Perth in this match making the Lathlain-based club very unlucky as Quartermaine and Couper combined were definitely worth more to Perth than two solitary points. However, this preliminary final day, all the big names were present for Perth. Adrian Barich had a relatively quiet day (only two of the four newspaper judges listed him in their top-six for Perth) while neither Stazza nor Santostefano played to their normal high standards with no judge rating either player in Perth’s top-six. Lastly, we should perhaps mention the free-kick count: 38 going to Subiaco versus 17 going to Perth. Was Perth too aggressive this day? Christian makes no comment on it in his match report. The only other possible reason for the divergent free-kick tallies is that the umpires were too harsh on Perth [by Jack Frost, 27 September 2013].

Likely line-ups:

(Source: The West Australian, Saturday, 13 September 1986, p. 186)

Subiaco FC

Backs: Crutchfield, Brown, Willet

Half-backs: Wilkinson, Zanotti, P Lamb

Centres: Dargie, O’Loughlin, Carpenter

Half-forwards: Georgiades, Dean, Macnish

Forwards: Sells, Breman, N Taylor

Ruck: Keene, Featherby, D Lamb

Interchange (from): Scott, Lee, Langdon

In: Wilkinson, Lee, Langdon

Out: B Taylor (thigh), Sparks (suspended).

Perth FC

Backs: Cousins, Garbin, Whittington

Half-backs: Yorgey, Montgomery, Smith

Centres: Santostefano, Wiley, Barich

Half-forwards: Fancote, Spalding, Bogaards

Forwards: Ryder, Rea, Stasinowsky

Ruck: Newman, Lucas, Watson

Interchange (from): Gavranich, Mount, Lally

In: Mount, Lally

Out: McCracken

Match results – Saturday, 13 September 1986, Subiaco Oval

Subiaco FC 4.5 10.6 20.8 9.6 26.12 (168) d Perth FC 3.1 5.5 9.6 15.7 (97)

Scorers: S: Breman 5.3, Dean 5.2, Keene 4.1, Sells 4.1, Georgiades 2.2, Macnish 2.2, Scott 2.0, N Taylor 2.0, Featherby 0.1.

P: Rea 4.0, Stasinowsky 4.0, Yorgey 2.1, Wiley 2.0, Fancote 1.2, Spalding 1.1, Ryder 1.0, Cousins 0.1, Watson 0.1, Forced 0.1.

[Note: Chris Stasinowsky’s match statistics in his last ever WAFL game: 6 marks, 6 kicks, 5 effective kicks, and 9 effective handballs.]

(Source: The West Australian, Monday, 15 September 1986, p. 96)

Weather: Fine, moderate south-westerly winds.

(Source: The West Australian, Monday, 15 September 1986, p. 96)

Attendance: 23,503 (from WAFL Online)

Free-kicks: S: 14, 10, 10, 4 – 38.

P: 3, 4, 9, 1 – 17.

Team rankings: Geoff Christian: S: M Zanotti 1, P Scott 2, P Lamb 3, A Macnish 4, G O’Loughlin 5, M Crutchfield 6.

P: R Wiley 1, B Yorgey 2, S Mount 3, A Barich 4, M Garbin 5, R Bogaards 6.

Ken Casellas: M Zanotti 1, P Scott 2, G O’Loughlin 3, C Brown 4, P Lamb 5, P Featherby 6

P: R Wiley 1, B Cousins 2, M Watson 3, S Mount 4, R Bogaards 5, B Yorgey 6

Gary Stocks: S: M Zanotti 1, G O’Loughlin 2, P Scott 3, C Brown 4, P Featherby 5, M Crutchfield 6.

P: B Yorgey 1, R Wiley 2, M Watson 3, B Cousins 4, K Fancote 5, S Mount 6.

David Marsh: S: M Zanotti 1, G O’Loughlin 2, P Featherby 3, P Lamb 4, C Brown 5, A Macnish 6.

P: B Yorgey 1, K Fancote 2, R Wiley 3, B Cousins 4, A Barich 5, M Watson 6.

(Source: The West Australian, Monday, 15 September 1986, p. 96)

Coach’s Comment:

Mal Brown (Perth):

“It was just not our day. Subiaco had a point to prove and they did. All I said to my players at three-quarter time was ‘Don’t capitulate’. They didn’t and I reckon we can look back at the last 12 months with a great deal of satisfaction. The only sadness for us on Saturday was over Allan Montgomery, who received a broken wrist. He made a great return to WA football this year”.

(Source: Geoff Christian (1986), “Perth can close with a smile”, The West Australian, Monday, 15 September 1986, p. 97)

Complete original match report #1 (full-text):

By the late GEOFF CHRISTIAN:

“Perth’s 1986 football season ended one week short of the grand final but at the same time marked the beginning of a new era for a club that has come back strongly after having been out of business since 1978.

“Perth are now considering a move back to their traditional home at the WACA Ground next year as coach Mal Brown ponders his future and wonders if there is (for him) football life after 40.

“Brown celebrates his 40^th birthday on October 16 and by then he will have [to] decide whether to complete the final year of his three-year contract with Perth or be like an old soldier and merely fade away.

“WA’s entry into a national competition would have a significant bearing on Brown’s decision.

“He was in no mood to talk about his future after Saturday’s 71-point loss to Subiaco but more inclined to reflect on what has happened at Lathlain Park since he took over as coach for the 1985 season.

“It has been a success story for a club that faced financial disaster a year ago but has clawed its way back, if not into the black then into a position where the future is more assured.

“The success can be traced back to the second-last game of 1985 when Perth beat Claremont and then followed that win with another over Swan Districts a week later.

“Those two wins marked the start of the revival. This year Perth won 121/2 qualifying games and the first semi-final in the first season they have won more games than they have lost since 1978.

“There is no doubt Perth were the third-strongest side in league football this year – well below pacesetters East Fremantle and Subiaco and well above Claremont, who finished fourth.

“Perth’s pre-match confidence ran high, believing they could beat Subiaco and create the first East Fremantle-Perth grand final since 1977.

“But the task was beyond Perth and that was obvious, if not from the start then certainly by half-time.

“‘It was just not our day’, Brown said. ‘Subiaco had a point to prove and they did.

“‘All I said to my players at three-quarter time was “Don’t capitulate”. They didn’t and I reckon we can look back at the last 12 months with a great deal of satisfaction.

“‘The only sadness for us on Saturday was over Allan Montgomery, who received a broken wrist. He made a great return to WA football this year’ [the Mal Brown quote ends here].

“On Saturday, Perth could not match Subiaco’s capacity on the ball and the ability of the Lions to create scoring chances. Nor could they match Subiaco’s goalkicking efficiency after quarter-time, which produced 22.7 in the next three terms.

“Despite the second-quarter loss of [Allan] Montgomery, the Perth defence played solidly, quality efforts coming from Stephen Mount at centre-half-back and full-back Mick Garbin.

“The Perth defence has been rebuilt this year and [has] developed into a solid unit in which Bryan Cousins [has] played a leading role.

“Captain Robert Wiley, Perth’s best player on Saturday, continues to maintain a high standard of football and leadership. He looks set to win the club’s fairest-and-best award for a record eighth time – in his eighth season with the club.

“Full-forward Mick Rea retained his [WAFL] goalkicking crown and became the first Perth player to win the award twice. In 1985 he kicked 100 goals; this year he managed 90 of which 23.3 were kicked against Subiaco.

Centre-half-forward Earl Spalding and flanker Wayne Ryder were losers on Saturday but their football this season has helped turn Perth into winners. They are young forwards with their best football still to come.

“That also applies to ruckman Ian Newman, who will not forget the 1986 final round quickly. He graduated from the school of hard knocks after receiving painful lessons from Geoff Miles in the first semi-final and Phil Scott on Saturday” [full-text].

(Source: Geoff Christian (1986), “Perth can close with a smile”, The West Australian, Monday, 15 September 1986, p. 97)

Complete original match report #2 (full-text):

By the late GEOFF CHRISTIAN:

“Subiaco should take another long hard look backwards to the composition of their 1985 final-round side in a bid to go forward in the grand final against East Fremantle at Subiaco Oval next Saturday.

“That observation became apparent when watching Subiaco go part of the way to restoring their football fortunes – and the balance of their team – in the preliminary final against Perth on Saturday.

“Subiaco borrowed a page out of their 1985 selection manual in choosing the team that beat Perth by 71 points – 26.12 to 15.7 – in the preliminary final at Subiaco Oval on Saturday.

“Moves from that page included switching Michael Crutchfield to full-back, using Phil Scott as the No. 1 ruckman and making full use of Laurie Keene’s size and skill as a goalkicker.

“The moves all worked as well as could be expected.

“Crutchfield played effectively against Mick Rea and on that form is the automatic choice to oppose Darren Bennett next Saturday. Scott came back to near his best form with a relentless display of power in the ruck and Keene accepted manfully a change in roles, which helped the overall balance of the side – the attack in particular.

“The Lions should now turn to the page with the centreline and read that Phil Lamb and Andrew Macnish were their wingmen in the 1985 grand final.

“Then the selectors should have a look at the first-half statistics of their wingmen in the first half of the [preliminary] final against Perth.

“Those figures reveal that Greg Carpenter, Ian Dargie and Mick Lee, who shared the wing work in the first hour for Subiaco [JF note: quarters were then 25 minutes plus time-on of around 5 minutes so 30 minutes per quarter or 1 hour per half], had a combined total of only 10 kicks, two marks and two handpasses.

“That level of contribution is simply not good enough and indicates a serious lack of involvement from the wingmen when the going was at its fastest on Saturday.

“Certainly, a repeat of these figures in the first hour of the grand final would create considerable problems for Subiaco against an East Fremantle side that dominated the midfield in the second semi-final.

“Subiaco have used the new combination of Carpenter and Dargie on the wings for most of the season, but the time has come for an urgent review.

“The [Phil] Lamb-[Andrew] Macnish combination has appeal. Lamb has a solid defensive component in his game and Macnish has the speed and brilliance to succeed at Subiaco Oval.

“Both were in sharp form against Perth on Saturday. Lamb was suspended in a back-pocket opposed to will o’the wisp forward Wayne Ryder and Macnish was dashingly effective as a free-running half-forward.

“Subiaco could be loath to move Lamb because he helped form an outstanding full-back unit with Crutchfield and Clinton Brown, who played impressively in a pocket.

“But Macnish still has to survive a tribunal hearing tomorrow evening before he is eligible for the grand final.

“Macnish was reported by field umpire Ken O’Driscoll for allegedly having struck Perth’s Bryan Cousins in the third quarter on Saturday.

“It was a minor offence and one that should not have been brought to the attention of the tribunal.

“The penalty for Macnish’s late tackle on Cousins should have been a free-kick – nothing more, nothing less. Macnish had been tackled high twice in the preceding 10min. and received free-kicks. Those tackles were no more deserving of a report than Macnish’s on Cousins.

“Subiaco’s willingness to switch Phil Lamb to a wing could depend to a large degree on the fitness of defender-rover Brian Taylor, who did not play on Saturday because of a strained thigh muscle.

“There is every indication Taylor should be fit for next Saturday and if that is so he would be certain to come into the side.

“The size of Subiaco’s score [against Perth] has little (if any) bearing on the prospects of Subiaco’s upsetting East Fremantle for the premiership next Saturday.

“It was a re-assuring victory for Subiaco, a timely show of spirit in the face of little adversity and a performance that should help restore morale and confidence.

“Perth simply did not have the midfield skill or the explosive power and pace to recreate the situation Subiaco faced and could not handle in the second semi-final a week earlier.

“Subiaco should closely examine the composition of their attack for a battle against a strong and hard-hitting East Fremantle defence.

“Keene is needed to play in the forward lines for most of the time. He was the full-forward last year and should be used in tandem with Todd Breman next Saturday” [full-text].

 (Source: Geoff Christian (1986), “Subiaco must do bit of thinking”, The West Australian, Monday, 15 September 1986, p. 100) [archival research by Jack Frost].