Round 19, 1986 - South Fremantle FC 24.18 (162) d West Perth FC 16.11 (107), Fremantle Oval

Former long-serving player and past President for South Fremantle Football Club, Mr Brian Ciccotosto, Fremantle Oval

SFFC legends: Benny Vigona, Willie Roe, Maurice Rioli

Round 19, 1986 – South Fremantle v West Perth, Fremantle Oval

This Round 19 match at Fremantle Oval was a match West Perth really had to win to secure a final four position, as David Marsh wrote in his match preview in The West Australian on the morning of the game (see below for the full-text of Marsh’s match preview). On paper it did not look a difficult proposition for West Perth to win as the club was sitting on 8 wins, 9 losses, and a draw, with percentage of 89%, compared to South Fremantle’s 5 wins, 13 losses, and 72%. If West Perth could not win games against a rival with such a track record then obviously it had little hope of ending the year successfully even if it did scrape into the final four. South Fremantle was in a rebuilding year with the few older players still hanging around from the premiership year of 1980, such as Benny Vigona, entering their twilight years. One interesting development of the last two years of the WAFL prior to introduction of West Coast Eagles was the surprising resurgence of depleted East Perth and South Fremantle sides which were then, by necessity as much as by choice, filling their senior teams with promising youngsters. These young players had not yet begun to make a huge impression on the scoreboard with these two clubs finishing sixth and seventh in 1986. However, both clubs contained large numbers of promising juniors who would go on to forge successful VFL/AFL careers. This shows the magnificent ability of the WAFL clubs, even at this late stage of the game (one year prior to formation of West Coast), to recreate themselves successfully from within during down years by turning to talented juniors from the country and metropolitan zones. A read through the selected teams of both East Perth and South Fremantle in 1986 shows what great talents were emerging. As David Marsh wrote, SFFC had begun the season extremely poorly but slowly the young team had begun to gel and pick up its self-confidence, playing with the enthusiasm of youth mixed with that indomitable bulldog spirit. Marsh wrote that South Fremantle had inflicted surprise mid-season defeats over eventual premiers Subiaco and eventual third-placed team Perth. South had won two and lost three since Round 13. Another factor counting against West Perth this day was its bad record at Fremantle Oval, traditionally a graveyard for WPFC teams. Marsh wrote that the Falcons had not won at this windswept ground in eight years prior to this match. This means that even in 1982 when West Perth had finished third and in 1985 when West Perth had finished fourth it had been unable to win against South at South’s home ground. Because of these factors, West Perth fans who headed to Fremantle Oval this day in 1986 found it hard to push aside feelings of dread and foreboding.

Mark Bairstow (SF / G)

If we look at South Fremantle’s nominated team, we can see it included a number of brilliant young players who would go on to achieve great success in the VFL/AFL. Starting from the back line and working forwards, this included Peter Sumich at centre-half-back (a first-year player), Mark Bairstow in the centre (a second-year player), Neil “Nicky” Winmar on the half-forward flank (a fourth-year player), John Worsfold as ruck-rover (a first-year player), and Wally Matera as first rover (a fifth-year player). Other players who would not play VFL/AFL but who had great years at Fremantle Oval included Brad Collard on the left wing (a third-year player), Matt Sambrailo at full-forward (a first-year player), Derek Collard in the forward pocket / second rover (a second-year player), and the 1989 Sandover Medallist Craig Edwards as first ruckman (a third-year player). This would have been the beginnings of a new dynasty for South Fremantle had the VFL/AFL not intervened and picked all the best talent out of the side.

By contrast, the West Perth team was largely unchanged from the previous year but just a little older. It had some juniors coming through but not in the same numbers and not with the same quality as those at the port club. West Perth’s best young players included John Gastev, Sean King, Dean Laidley, Paul Mifka, and Craig Turley, all of whom later played for West Coast Eagles. Another promising young player was Darren Bewick, probably the best of the lot, but his success at Essendon probably surprised many who had watched him play in the WAFL. His elder brother Corry returned to West Perth in 1986 and he was one of the best and most consistent players for the club that year. Claremont player Simon Lill was really the only recruit of note to come from another WAFL club in 1986. The East Fremantle premiership player Gavin Wake was a sensational recruit for West Perth in 1987 but his impact was lost in the year when most football fans had turned their attentions from the WAFL to West Coast Eagles. If Wake had come over a year earlier it might have made a big difference as that type of toughness is hard to come by at West Perth (except for ruckmen) and has always had to be imported.

Like the 1985 first semi-final (West Perth versus Swan Districts) this was a demoralizing game to watch for WPFC fans as the result was never in doubt and our club was just overshadowed and outplayed in pretty much all positions without being completely disgraced. West Perth trailed 21.12 to 10.9 at three-quarter time and the game was obviously completely over. The author remembers sitting and watching this game with his friend 16-year-old Pete C. on the concrete terraces on the scoreboard wing at around the half-forward flank position at the city end of the ground. Pete C. and the author were the only remnants remaining of the West Perth cheer squad which had sat behind the northern end goals at Leederville Oval during 1984-85. The group had gradually disintegrated from its peak of 15-20 regulars starting in Round 2 of the 1986 season as people just naturally drifted apart due to life changes and with no-one making the mental effort anymore to keep the group together. The author only met Pete by chance this day. Both Pete and the author were wearing their usual clothes of long-sleeve replica West Perth jumper and jeans. They had a good time chatting as they hadn’t seen each other for a few weeks. Pete’s elder brother Mike was nowhere in sight. After the game Pete C. and the author walked through the Fremantle city streets together and the author thinks Pete took a Number 106 bus or a train back into Perth while he took a different bus to Booragoon. They probably parted at Fremantle train station. The author is writing this commentary 26 years later, on 9 January 2013, and he hasn’t seen Pete since that day at Fremantle Oval near to the close of the 1986 season. As they walked through the Fremantle city streets together, as the dark and the chill started drifting in from the ocean, they were both fairly subdued and disappointed as it looked like their team’s season was over and all the hope of the past two years had come to nothing. The author thinks that another reason for his anxious and melancholic mood was in the realization, pushed to the back of his mind, that his life was changing and it would never be the same again. He was 17-years-old, in the first year of university, and the adult world of responsibilities, choices, careers, and consequences was fast closing in, whilst childhood was at an end. In football terms, there was also massive change at work behind the scenes as the powerbrokers were putting together and planning for the new as yet unnamed super-team which would play in the VFL in 1987. Every genuine football person in Perth knew that the WAFL would never be the same no matter how upbeat the newspapers were. Like the author’s childhood, the old WAFL was slipping away. The days of fourteen thousand plus crowds at the match-of-the-round were never coming back.  

After all the atmosphere and pressure had left the game in the last quarter, West Perth kicked six goals to three but still only managed to close the gap to 55 points. WPFC was now in fifth place, six premiership points adrift of Claremont, and with two games remaining. Most supporters wrote off the club’s chances of reaching the finals series after this game. The top five players on the ground were all South Fremantle players, according to Monday’s The West Australian. These included promising youngsters Wally Matera, Mark Bairstow, Craig Edwards (enjoying his life at Fremantle Oval more than his days as a Royal), and Peter Sumich (this day at centre-half-back), and the old stalwart Warren Mosconi (who had made his league debut as long ago as 1981). The late Geoff Christian in his match report (full-text reproduced below) remarked that there was so much young talent at South Fremantle that aging veterans Benny Vigona and Willie Roe had played in the reserves. Obviously they hadn’t been needed. Christian made the important observation that while South had many brilliant individual players on this day it was their “bulldog spirit” that West Perth just had no hope of matching anywhere south-west of Leederville Oval. Christian wrote in his match report as follows: “South had plenty of other individual stars but it was more the spirit and the team co-operation revealed by this young Bulldogs’ line-up that West Perth found impossible to match for all but the opening 12 minutes”. Neil Winmar (still not yet called “Nicky” by the press) was mentioned in closing by Christian for his excellent 17-kick, four-goal effort in the centre which did not even grant him a spot in his team’s best five players. He had been named on the half-forward flank so even at this young age he was beginning to show his remarkable versatility. Other good players for the Southerners were Matt Sambrailo (5.1) at full-forward and Ross Hutcheson at centre-half-forward. Best players for West Perth were John Gastev, Craig Nelson, Craig Binder, Les Fong, Craig Turley, and Corry Bewick. Surprisingly, one of the best West Perth players in the past three seasons, centre-half-forward Phil Bradmore, was well held by Peter Sumich. Christian stated that Sumich was “a first year player who started the season in attack but looked admirably suited at centre-half-back”.

Dean Laidley, 1984 (courtesy: Lost WAFL)

South had left its run too late and could not play finals although clearly it was now playing football at finals’ standards. By contrast, West Perth showed everybody at the ground that it was far away from being of final round standard even if by good fortune it might just sneak into fourth place. Its recruits were not as good as those at other clubs and its dedication was not what it should have been. The club was relying too much on the heroes of the past few years (such as Phil Bradmore, Les Fong, and Peter Menaglio), and while Corry Bewick had played well all year his advancing age meant he was never going to be anything more than a stopgap. Noel Mugavin was a dependable old warhorse at full-back but he was basically just the last one left standing of the old-guard full-back line which had included at various times Graeme Comerford, Bill Duckworth, John Duckworth, Russell Ellen, Geoff Hendriks, Ray Holden, Ben Jager, and Mick O’Brien. The club had failed to recruit strong new key attacking players (to replace Rod Alderton, Brian Adamson, and Doug Simms and in time Phil Bradmore) nor had it recruited new key defenders (to replace Graeme Comerford, John Duckworth, Geoff Hendriks, Ray Holden, and Noel Mugavin). The fact that ex-WP player Mick Rea had morphed into an excellent full-forward at Perth and was leading the goalkicking list with 80 majors after 19 rounds was particularly irksome for West Perth fans. The WPFC coach John Wynne seemed to lack the ability to consistently bring the best out of former second-string players as Mal Brown was now doing at Perth with Mick Rea. Too many good players had been allowed to slip through the net including not only Mick Rea but also David Hart (South Fremantle) and Derek Kickett (Claremont). The juniors coming through were all running midfielders, a type of player West Perth traditionally had an abundance of. West Perth had no tall juniors who could play in key positions coming through whereas South had Craig Edwards, Matt Sambrailo, and Peter Sumich. No West Perth player this day scored more than three goals. (John Gastev kicked 3.2.) In the Round 13 win over Claremont no West Perth player had kicked more than four goals. These statistics tell an important story.

The absence of any West Perth players in the best five players’ list shows that on the day it was completely outclassed both as individuals and as a unit. The youngsters at the club were too inconsistent and too easily intimidated at hostile away grounds such as Fremantle Oval. The only young players in West Perth’s best six players’ list were John Gastev and Craig Turley. Clearly, Dean Laidley (out with an ankle injury) was sorely missed but the author would not be foolish enough to suggest that his presence might have influenced the result [by Kieran James, this version dated 22 October 2013].

The author (Kieran James) outside Fremantle Oval just before the South Fremantle versus Swan Districts Friday night match on 17 August 2012. He went to the game with Chris Egan and two of his mates and the group enjoyed a few nice beers at the Rosie O'Grady pub just beforehand. That is the great advantage of Friday night Fremantle Oval games - pre-match pub drinks and escaping to the Old Shanghai food court for dinner at halftime!

Inside the bar at Rosie O'Grady's in Fremantle. On a cold winter's night outside is certainly not the place to sit!

Rosie O'Grady's pub is a fantastic sight at night. If you walk left on the street here 60 metres further on you will find yourself at the main gates of the historic Fremantle Oval.

Likely line-ups:

(Source: The West Australian, Saturday, 9 August 1986, p. 187)

South Fremantle FC

Backs: Macdonald, Carter, Maskos

Half-backs: D Wilson, Sumich, Mosconi

Centres: B Collard, Bairstow, Lynch

Half-forwards: Winmar, Hutcheson, Todd

Forwards: Bennett, M Sambrailo, D Collard

Ruck: Edwards, Worsfold, Matera

Interchange: Lockhart, Sims

West Perth FC

Backs: Munns, Mugavin, Barns

Half-backs: Binder, Mifka, Turley

Centres: D Bewick, Bell, King

Half-forwards: Menaglio, Bradmore, Lill

Forwards: Waddell, Foley, Gastev

Ruck: Nelson, Fong, C Bewick

Interchange: Collinge, Martin

In: Waddell, Collinge, Martin

Out: Laidley (ankle), Chaplin (ankle), Bennett

Match preview

By David Marsh:

“Today is D-Day – do-or-die – for West Perth, who have their last chance to stake a claim for a berth in this year’s finals.

“And they could not have a tougher assignment, as they meet giant-killers South Fremantle at Fremantle Oval.

“South have had victories over Subiaco and Perth in the past three weeks. In addition, West Perth have not won at Fremantle Oval for eight years”.

Match results – Saturday, 9 August, 1986, Fremantle Oval

South Fremantle FC 7.5 16.10 21.12 24.18 (162) d West Perth FC 3.5 6.6 10.9 16.11 (107)

Scorers: SF: Edwards 5.3, Matt Sambrailo 5.1, Winmar 4.2, Matera 4.1, D Collard, Bairstow 2.2, Hutcheson, Todd 1.0, B Collard 0.2, Worsfold, Lockhart 0.1, Forced 0.3.

WP: Gastev 3.2, Bradmore 2.1, Fong, King, D Bewick 2.0, C Bewick, Collinge 1.2, Foley, C Nelson 1.1, Menaglio, Lill 0.1. [KJ note: One WP goal seems to be missing from this list.]

(Source: The West Australian, Monday, 11 August 1986, p. 101)

Weather: Fine, light south-westerly breeze.

(Source: The West Australian, Monday, 11 August 1986, p. 101)

Attendance: 5,872 (from WAFL Online)

Free-kicks: SF: 7, 4, 4, 3 – 18.

WP: 4, 5, 4, 1 – 14.

Best players:

WA Footballer of the Year Award:

5 votes Wally Matera (South Fremantle) – A brilliant 22-kick, four-goal display of roving.

4 votes Mark Bairstow (South Fremantle) – Another strong, creative performance at centre where he was under notice from the start.

3 votes Craig Edwards (South Fremantle) – A quality performance in the ruck and when resting in attack. Marked brilliantly and kicked four goals.

2 votes Warren Mosconi (South Fremantle) – A dashing and effective half-back who was outstanding in a solid South defence.

1 vote Peter Sumich (South Fremantle) – A notable performance at centre-half-back against Phil Bradmore.

(Source: The West Australian, Monday, 11 August 1986, p. 100)

Team rankings: SF: W Matera 1, M Bairstow 2, C Edwards 3, W Mosconi 4, P Sumich 5, D Collard 6.

WP: J Gastev 1, C Nelson 2, C Binder 3, L Fong 4, C Turley 5, C Bewick 6.

(Source: The West Australian, Monday, 11 August 1986, p. 100)

	Round 19	WAFL	Table	1986
	Played	Won	Lost	Drawn	%	Points
SUBIACO*	19	15	4	-	134.56	60
EAST FREM**	19	14	5	-	132.29	56
PERTH	19	12	6	1	105.06	50
CLAREMONT	19	10	9	-	119.01	40
West Perth	19	8	10	1	89.54	34
South Frem	19	6	13	-	72.80	24
Swan Dist	19	5	14	-	86.09	20
East Perth	19	5	14	-	82.24	20

(Source: The West Australian, Monday, 11 August 1986, p. 101)

*eventual 1986 WAFL premiers

**eventual 1986 WAFL runners-up

Leading goal-kickers after Round 19 (Top 9 players):

80 – Mick Rea (P)

71 – John Scott (C)

55 – Warren Dean (S), Stephen Sells (S), Colin Waterson (EF)

53 – Brian Peake (EF)

48 – Wayne Ryder (P), Craig Edwards (SF)

41 – Tony Buhagiar (EF)

(Source: The West Australian, Monday, 11 August 1986, p. 101)

Complete match report (full text):

By the late GEOFF CHRISTIAN:

“South Fremantle are at the start of a bright [new] era in league football based on an excellent mix of raw talent and enthusiasm, blended with the right amount of experience.

“That formula was the basis of South’s scintillating 55-point win over West Perth at Fremantle Oval on Saturday, a victory full of merit and one that should help guarantee that the season ends a lot happier than it started for the Bulldogs.

“An indication of the amount of ability available at Fremantle Oval these days can be gauged by the fact that gifted veterans Benny Vigona and Willie Roe were in action in the reserves on Saturday.

“The absence of these brilliant attacking players obviously did not hamper South who kicked their season’s highest score [of] 24.18 and almost kicked the Falcons out of business.

“West Perth arrived at Fremantle Oval on Saturday knowing that victory was a stepping stone into the final four. It was not an easy task on an oval where the ground surface is obviously a big advantage for the home team.

“The Falcons left four hours later without even touching that stepping stone and failed miserably to measure up to the challenge laid down by South.

“The victory was built around superb performances by No. 1 rover Wally Matera (their smallest player), ruckman Craig Edwards (their biggest player) and centreman Mark Bairstow, who fitted neatly in the middle.

“[Wally] Matera has not given a better display of his roving skills. His work at the fall of the ball was classical in style and he made few, if any, handling errors.

“Edwards’ marking and general ruck play was superb and the same could be said of Bairstow whose powerful work in the middle was of the quality West Perth wished they had available to them.

“South had plenty of other individual stars but it was more the spirit and the team co-operation revealed by this young Bulldogs’ line-up that West Perth found impossible to match for all but the opening 12 minutes.

“Everywhere West Perth turned on Saturday they found trouble. On a day dedicated to national dental health week, West Perth simply bit off more than they could chew.

They lacked the bite of the Bulldogs; there was [sic] too many gaps in their play and too many weak spots that obviously were tender to the probe.

“It was not a day when centre-half-forward Phil Bradmore could lead the Falcons out of trouble. He was well held by Peter Sumich, a first year player who started the season in attack but looked admirably suited at centre-half-back.

“There was plenty of defensive support for Sumich, mainly from Warren Mosconi, Gavin Carter and Arthur Maskos.

“Things were no better in defence for West Perth.

“Matt Sambrailo, who started the year for South on a wing, showed natural flair at full-forward when he kicked 5.1 and Barry Hutcheson has the look of a man who knows how to play at centre-half-forward.

“And to add to the woes of the West Perth defence, Neil Winmar [later “Nicky” Winmar] decided to show how well he can play at centre with a 17-kick, four-goal effort”.

(Source: Geoff Christian (1986), “Bulldogs find a formula for success”, The West Australian, Monday, 11 August 1986, p. 100) [archival research by Kieran James].