First semi-final, 1985 - Swan Districts FC 24.14 (158) d West Perth FC 19.12 (126), Subiaco Oval

West Perth 1985 team (photo courtesy Lost WAFL Facebook page)

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. Those 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. 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 GLory Days. In the newspapers leading up to the game the media columnists were split fairly evenly in terms of who 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 (Christian, 1985a; Stocks, 1985b) which is exactly what did happen. West Perth also suffered from Peter Menaglio being out injured (Christian, 1985b); John Duckworth not having recovered from an absence caused by the after-effects of swallowing a fish bone (Christian, 1985b); and, although Graeme Comerford, Les Fong, and George Michalczyk played, they were well below their bests as a result of carrying niggling injuries into the game from the qualifying rounds (Christian, 1985b). Swans’ tough centreman Tony Solin had also been presumed to miss the game on the Monday of the lead-up week (Christian, 1985b) but returned to play a very strong game. Kim Rogers and the veteran Peter 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 Peter Menaglio (Christian, 1985b). As it turned out Murnane did play but was in no commentator’s best-players list whilst 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 the West Leederville station. We [West Perth FC cheer squad 1984-86] had arranged to meet at the Subiaco Road entrance gates, in the north-west corner of the ground, rather than at the more crowded Roberts Road gates in the north-east corner. We 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. We needed to be early to claim a seat immediately behind the fence on the three rows of wooden seats in front of the grassed bank. Mike and Pete C. were ahead of us in the line with their red-and-blue flags and West Perth replica jerseys. I can’t recall if they already had their tickets and were waiting for us outside the queue or whether they were simply there already ahead of us in the queue. We all obtained the general admission tickets quickly and the four of us at least (others may have been there) were near the front 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, we sprinted down the grassed bank when the gates opened and claimed a section of seats directly behind the fence, sufficient to accommodate the core fifteen members we usually had. We claimed around six spots on each of the first two wooden seat rows as had been agreed by everyone at the final qualifying game the week before. We were seated in the north-west corner of the ground, directly behind the fence, in around the same place as Perth fans placed a “Chris Mitsopoulos” fence banner during the 1977 WAFL Grand Final (see the 1977 Grand Final DVD available from Perth Football Club or at the merchandise store at Lathlain Park on WAFL match days).

We settled down to a long day of watching the early Colts and Reserves games which, coincidentally, all involved West Perth. Our regular core members all arrived, one by one and in twos and threes, and were offered seats in our “reserved” section. The crowd in the grassed banked area built up steadily throughout the day. By starting time of the main game most of the 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 up at the top of the grassed bank. None of us was a drinker which, in hindsight, is somewhat surprising as several of us were eighteen- or nineteen-years-old by August of 1985.

We were going to enjoy the day; again there was a carnival atmosphere, but we had been metaphorically sobered up by the recent encounter with the Swan Districts’ fans at Bassendean Oval so were careful to avoid trouble. It was always uncertain which team the bulk of the crowd would support in finals games and, if you had arrived at the ground very early, you did not want to later find yourself surrounded by opposition supporters. We had all had 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 as coach. We were all too young to have properly experienced the 1975 premiership win; this day in 1985 our core group, excluding Ben, Tony, "Half" [Michael], Mario, and "Thommo Junior" [Thommo's younger brother], ranged in age from fifteen to nineteen so in 1975 this core group would have been aged from five to nine. We learned not to have high hopes of West Perth come finals’ time. To be totally honest we 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 supporters (Atkinson, 2008, p. 335). We had not been humiliated but I do remember clearly that the result had never been seriously in doubt. The result did not surprise us at all as we were the West Perth fans of the drought era! Garry Sidebottom was unbeatable with his nine goals, the equal record highest score by any footballer in a WAFL final round match. Dawson (2004, p. 221) 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”. Our losing score of nineteen goals was commendable and, according to Atkinson, on most days would have been good enough to win the game (Brian Atkinson, personal conversation, 8 July 2011). 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 our scores. Mark Stephens (27 games, 1982, 1984-86; Atkinson, 2008, p. 375) 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 the West Perth club 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. The presence of full-forward Sidebottom and Swans’ mental toughness honed by years of successful finals’ campaigns were the clearly the two main differences between the teams.

In the end, Swan Districts failed to progress beyond the preliminary final in that year of 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 southern end of Subiaco Oval. After West Perth had been eliminated, it was understood that the cheer squad’s duties and commitments were over for the year. I can remember the three of us walking back to the car after the game, heading back into Subiaco proper, and stopping occasionally to let my grandfather take a short rest.

Ironically, to pour salt into the wound, West Perth defeated the eventual premiers East Fremantle two out of three times in the 1985 qualifying rounds. None of our group would have regarded East Fremantle as clear favourites had we played them in the Grand Final. We probably had their measure. Football is made up of vagaries, trivia, and ironies such as this. In fact, from 1976 to 1986, the pre-West Coast Eagles part of the drought era, West Perth generally had a strong record against the eventual premiers. As we believed, West Perth could beat anyone on its day, throughout the drought era, with the possible exception of 1979. However, from 1976 through to 1985, we were always choked or outplayed or outmuscled in those final round matches we did happen to play in. It might have been a nerves problem and/or a matter of self-belief. We were up against highly professional and disciplined teams coached by the likes of such legendary coaches as 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, 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. For example, 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 almost became wise advice in Western Australia not only in football but in life in general. Dawson (2004, p. 183) also, referencing this period in WAFL history, refers to what he terms “an old football adage”, i.e. “you must lose one [a grand final] to understand what is needed to win one”. However, 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, it failed to make the finals in 1983 and 1984 and again in Wynne’s second year in 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 the next two seasons under him (Brian Atkinson, personal conversation, 8 July 2011). The theory that this constituted a pattern was a fairly convincing one although, in all of the years, there were other factors that also could have been used to explain the various rises and falls. It seems that the playing group became enthusiastic under a new coach but then became bored and lackadaisical by that coach’s second year. It didn’t seem to be a very mature response to the outside observer [by Kieran James, 3 January 2012].

         1985 First Semi-final – Swan Districts v West Perth, Subiaco Oval.

Likely line-ups

(Source: The West Australian, Saturday, 31 August, 1985, p. 191)

West Perth FC

Backs: Munns, Comerford, Evans

Half-backs: Warwick, C Nelson, Mugavin

Centres: Mifka, Bell, D Bewick

Half-forwards: Murnane. Bradmore, Fong

Forwards: Chaplin, Stephens, Kickett

Ruck: Rogers, Laidley, C Bewick

Interchange: Gastev, A Nelson, N Fong, Turley

Swan Districts FC

Backs: Hetherington, Mullooly, Ware

Half-backs: Fogarty, Sartori, Skwirowski

Centres: Allen, Solin, Penny

Half-forwards: Hutton, Rance, Holmes

Forwards: Caton, Sidebottom, Kimberley

Ruck: Johns, Langsford, Taylor

Interchange: Ahmat, Holtzman, Outridge, Richardson, Maher

Selections:

GEOFF CHRISTIAN: Swan Districts

KEN CASELLAS: West Perth

DAVID MARSH: Swan Districts

GARY STOCKS: West Perth

TIM GOSSAGE: West Perth

MAL BROWN (PERTH COACH): Swan Districts

GRAHAM MOSS (CLAREMONT COACH): West Perth

Other WAFL coaches’ predictions:

MAL BROWN (PERTH COACH): “West Perth’s biggest asset is their pace and Peter Menaglio will be a loss in that regard. In addition, Peter Murnane and George Michalczyk are under an injury cloud and that could see them struggle to maintain pressure midfield.

“If West Perth had all their little men fit I think they would win. But Swan Districts get players like Jon Fogarty, Kevin Taylor, Tom Mullooly and Joe Ahmat back for this game and that must give them a boost.

“On the other hand, West Perth have a lot of young players who will be playing in their first final. I think that who ever wins the game will play in the grand final”.

GRAHAM MOSS (CLAREMONT COACH): “Swans have lost that bit of toughness which helped them cut out running players in recent years and I think they will have problems curbing the West Perth midfield players.

“Phil Bradmore has been in exceptional form at centre-half-forward and he complements the work of the smaller players.

“If West Perth have any problems they appear to be in defence where they will have to check players like Garry Sidebottom, Murray Rance and Brett Hutton [i.e. Brent Hutton].

“It will be important for Graeme Comerford and company to bring the ball to the ground and allow some of the smaller players to clear it.

“On their day West Perth are a very good side and if they get their tails up early they will be hard to beat. But I do not think they are as good as Subiaco or East Fremantle”.

(Source: The West Australian, Saturday, 31 August, 1985, p. 191)

Match results - Saturday, 31 August, 1985, Subiaco Oval

Swan Districts FC 7.3 12.6 17.8 24.14 (158) d West Perth FC 4.3 9.7 14.8 19.12 (126)

Scorers: SD: Sidebottom 9.1, Taylor 5.2, Holmes 5.1, Caton 3.1, Allen 1.1, Rance 1.0, Langsford 0.2, Ahmat, Hetherington, Ware, Solin 0.1, Forced 0.2.

WP: Bradmore 4.1, Kickett 4.1, D Bewick 3.1, C Bewick, Fong 2.2, Murnane 2.0, Chaplin 1.0, Gastev 1.0, Mifka, E vans, Munns 0.1, Forced 0.2.
Official attendance: 26,508 (from WAFL Online)

Weather: Fine.

Team rankings GEOFF CHRISTIAN:

SD: G Sidebottom 1, W Skwirowski 2, B Kimberley 3, M Johns 4, K Taylor 5, A Solin 6.

WP: P Bradmore 1, R Munns 2, D Bewick 3, P Mifka 4, B Bell 5, C Bewick 6.

KEN CASELLAS

SD: M Johns 1, G Sidebottom 2, K Taylor 3, A Solin 4, D Holmes 5, W Skwirowski 6.

WP: P Bradmore 1, C Bewick 2, D Bewick 3, R Munns 4, P Mifka 5, D Laidley 6.

DAVID MARSH

SD: G Sidebottom 1, B Kimberley 2, K Taylor 3, W Skwirowski 4, A Solin 5, M Johns 6.

WP: P Bradmore 1, R Munns 2, D Bewick 3, P Mifka 4, B Bell 5, C Bewick 6.

GARY STOCKS

SD: G Sidebottom 1, B Kimberley 2, W Skwirowski 3, A Solin 4, D Holmes 5, M Johns 6

WP: P Bradmore 1, D Bewick 2, R Munns 3, P Mifka 4, C Bewick 5, B Bell 6.

(Source: The West Australian, Monday 2 September, 1985, p. 73)

Selected match statistics (The West Australian, Monday 2 September, 1985, p. 73):

SD: G Sidebottom 5 marks-14 kicks-2 effective handballs; A Solin 3-18-12; B Kimberley 5-19-9; K Taylor 3-15-11.

WP: P Bradmore 8-18-3; C Bewick 3-20-4; D Bewick 2-19-4; R Munns 8-6-12; P Mifka 6-17-5; K Rogers 1-0-2; L Fong 8-16-8; J Gastev 7-13-4; P Murnane 4-9-2; D Laidley 2-15-2.


To watch a five-minute section of this 1985 match on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-X3c3FhEjg

Coach’s Comment:

John Wynne (WP): “I don’t think you can be pleased with a losing effort, but it does hold us in good stead for next year”.

Source: Gary Stocks (1985), “Disappointing end for Kim Rogers”, The West Australian, Monday, 2 September, p. 72.

Garry Sidebottom Comment: “Kicking goals is my business, so when our other players work like they did today, it makes my job easier”

(Source: David Marsh (1985), “Sidey’s personal goal”, The West Australian, Monday, 2 September, p. 73)

Media quotes re Phil Bradmore’s performance:
“In Saturday’s match against Swan Districts, Bradmore capped off his most successful season in league football with another outstanding performance at centre-half-forward.

“He almost single-handedly kept the Falcons in the game in the first three quarters and he finished with eight marks, 18 kicks and three effective handpasses – and a suspected broken hand”.

Bradmore’s game was the “best performance of his career”.

Bradmore “has developed into one of the game’s most colourful characters.”

(Source: Gary Stocks (1985), “Bradmore proves his point”, The West Australian, Monday, 2 September, p. 72)

Match analysis

Quotes from the late GEOFF CHRISTIAN:

“The performances in all three grades have left West Perth with a strong foundation from which to build their 1986 campaign.

“...it was to West Perth’s credit that they managed 19.12 and retained a chance of winning until early in the final quarter.

“The performance was a testimony to the Falcons’ spirit of 1985.

“Bradmore received a meagre tally of 14 [Sandover] medal votes, a classic case of where the work done by a player during a season was undervalued.

“West Perth held an edge across the centreline.

Bradmore was “the best man afield” in the opinion of some.

“[Darren] Bewick confirmed that he is one of the game’s most exciting first year players.

Ross Munns was the “least experienced defender” but “most effective”.

“Full-back [Graeme] Comerford battled gamely against the in-form Sidebottom who could do little, if anything wrong. In that mood Sidebottom would kick goals, no matter [who] the opponent [was].

(Source: Geoff Christian (1985), “Falcons are on the right track”, The West Australian, Monday, 2 September, p. 72) [archival research by Kieran James].

The late GEOFF CHRISTIAN (1934-98) was a remarkable sports-writer who wrote in an excellent, masterful, and charming prose style that few could duplicate today. He could make a Round 13 match between the two bottom-placed clubs played in pouring rain in front of 4,000 people sound as important, exciting, and earth-shattering as the Russian Revolution or the Arab Spring! His genuine enthusiasm for the WAFL and later for West Coast Eagles was authentic, genuine, and infectious. I love the descriptions, still in place in 1984, of the VFL, SANFL, and WAFL all as “league football” and, by implication, worthy to be called tier-one status [brief bio by Jack Frost].

Read about the 1985 WAFL Grand Final East Fremantle v Subiaco at:

http://www.fullpointsfooty.net/sharks_sink_subi.htm