OPINION: "My Western Australian State Team, 1976-86, excluding players who played VFL/AFL", by Kieran James (revised version, 14/4/2015)

Malcolm Gregory "Mal" Brown - my choice as WA state team coach. A controversial choice as state coach of my team ahead of John Todd and Haydn Bunton Junior but I want excitement and flamboyance!

My Western Australian State Team, 1976-86, excluding players who played VFL/AFL

Ron Boucher in his glory years!

Backs: Steve Curtis (EP / Port Adelaide), Tom Mullooly (SD), Ross Gibbs (WP / Glenelg)

Half-backs: Stephen Green (EF), Joe McKay (SF), Ross Prunster (P / WP)

Centres: Darrell Panizza (C / Woodville), Mel Whinnen (WP), Keith Narkle (SD)

Half-forwards: Chris Stasinowsky (WP / SF / P / South Adelaide), Brian Adamson (WP / Norwood), Stephen Sells (S / West Geelong (VFA))

Forwards: Ed Blackaby (SD), Ray Bauskis (SF), Stephen Michael (SF)

Followers: Ron Boucher (SD), Peter Menaglio (WP), Les Fong (WP)

Interchange: Phil Lamb (S), Benny Vigona (SF), Joe Santostefano (P), Stan Nowotny (SD), Neil Taylor (S), George Michalczyk (EP / WP).

Coach: Mal Brown (SF / P)

Captain: TBA!

Comments:

This is the team I posted to the "Lost WAFL" Facebook group last year. I received a huge amount of (mostly) constructive feedback. As a result I made two changes to the original team. I replaced Doug Green at centre-half-back (because he had played for Sydney Swans) with Joe McKay whom I shifted from the half-back-flank. I then added Doug Green's unrelated namesake from East Fremantle Stephen Green into the team at half-back-flank to take McKay's former position. I also carelessly omitted Benny Vigona (South Fremantle) from the original team which was just an oversight and in no way deliberate. I have kept Mel Whinnen (West Perth) in the centre and added Vigona as first interchange. As Mel was in his second last season by 1976, if he tired out he could be replaced by Vigona in my make-believe fantasy match.

Ross Gibbs (WP / Glenelg)

As my team aroused much discussion and even hostility when it was first posted I will explain again that it is my personal favourite team and not a literal "best" team in any sort of objective sense. I chose players based on flair and class, as I wanted it to be a team I would want to watch (on a fine Saturday afternoon whilst standing on the old concrete terraces on the Roberts Road wing at Subiaco Oval). There is an emphasis on showy players who were mired by inconsistency and arguably never achieved their best form for more than a few matches at a time. The late Chris Stasinowsky (RIP) and Joe Santostefano would fit into this category. On their day both were brilliant players to watch. Ross Gibbs is perhaps the most "unknown" of my chosen players from a Western Australian fan's perspective. However, he clearly proved himself by any objective standards by being a member of Glenelg's strong 1985-86 premiership teams in that pre-AFL era in South Australia[1]. Interestingly, the coach of Glenelg in 1983-84 was none other than Graham Campbell who earlier had coached Gibbs at West Perth[2]. Campbell's unsuccessful second stint at West Perth proved indeed that he could walk on water only once!

The picture that speaks a thousand words

Furthermore, it is obvious that West Perth gets more than its fair share of players in my team and I copped some flak over this (great to see old WAFL rivalries rekindled although obviously the true "enemies" of WAFL football clubs today are the WAFC and AFL.) How can I justify (sorry, I mean explain) myself here? Firstly, I wanted to be honest to myself and being a West Perth supporter during this era I knew West Perth players better than those of other clubs. Secondly, I believe West Perth had some genuine stars in this era (especially Peter Menaglio and Les Fong) who failed to get the respect and recognition they deserved during those years when Perth (1976-78), South Fremantle (1979-81), Claremont (1981-83), Swan Districts (1980-84), East Fremantle (1977-79 and 1984-86), and Subiaco (1985-86) were the pacesetters. I would have chosen Phil Bradmore at centre-half-forward over Brian Adamson but the former opened his career with a handful of games at Footscray (VFL/AFL). Thirdly, West Perth was always competitive and at times brilliant during the 1976-86 period, especially on warm sunny days at its then home ground Leederville Oval. It finished in the top four in 1976-78 and then finished third in 1982 and fourth in 1985. The club was able to beat Swan Districts five times out of nine in home-and-away games during Swans' triple-premiership years of 1982-84, which was a truly remarkable but unheralded feat. I did some archival research on this and found that West Perth had the strange record of beating the eventual premiers two or three times out of three in the majority of years 1976-86[3]. However, it often suffered horrific defeats at the hands of lowly-placed teams when the team was not motivated enough.

Ross Gibbs in young days at WP c 1982

A few other comments should be made here. I was only seven-years-old in 1976 and so my knowledge of players from the 1970s, as compared to the 1980s, was probably weak and superficial. Therefore, for that era, I stuck closely to players who generally made state teams on a consistent basis during those years such as Steve Curtis (East Perth), Joe McKay (South Fremantle), Ray Bauskis (South Fremantle), and Stephen Green (East Fremantle). I also gave considerable weight to objective statistics such as Ray Bauskis' excellent goal-kicking tallies.

Perth supporter Gavin Caudle argued on "Lost WAFL" that my team should have included more players from the 1976-78 East Perth and Perth grand final teams. These two clubs contested both the 1976 and 1978 Grand Finals. This is a good comment. Chris Mitsopoulos (Perth) was unlucky to miss out by a whisker from the support rovers Ed Blackaby (Swan Districts) and Neil Taylor (Subiaco). Perth's famed "team-within-a-team" in defence in 1976-78 deserves the greatest respect and commendation. However, arguably, it worked best as a unit with its whole being far more than the sum of its parts. I am unsure whether Lofts and/or Inman and/or Day and/or Quartermaine would have been better than any or all of my selected team. However, full marks to Perth's defence from that era and I wish I could find a way to include them. I did include Ross Prunster, who (like so many players of that era) lined up at various times for both Perth and West Perth. As for East Perth's 1978 premiership team, I regard it as over-rated as it won by a meager two points on a rainy day when Murray Couper and John Quartermaine were both absent from Perth's line-up. Also, East Perth's best players all played in the VFl/AFL at some point such as Barry Cable, Ian Miller, Wayne Otway, Ross Glendinning, and Kevin Bryant. Steve Curtis (EP) was a part of some fearsome and legendary Port Adelaide Magpies teams and I did include him in his customary back-pocket position. I can remember standing up on the concrete terraces at Alberton Oval in the pouring rain watching Port Adelaide play Central District. That game was played on Monday 21 May 1984 and Curtis was in Port's team that day [see match report on this website]. Archie Duda (East Perth) and Murray Couper (Perth) were both narrowly beaten for the full-forward position in my team by Ray Bauskis and deserve honourable mentions. 

A surprise choice, Stephen Sells

As for coach, I guess the obvious choice was John Todd (or Haydn Bunton Junior or Ken Armstrong perhaps) but I do respect Browny for what he achieved at SF and also at Perth when he brought a basket-case team up from last in 1984 (the year prior to his taking over the coaching job) to finish third in 1986. In my opinion, this was the last great coaching feat of the pre-AFL era in WA football. (This is another feat largely forgotten today since even at the time it was overshadowed by the hype associated with the formation of West Coast in late-1986 / early-1987.) Because it is MY team I will annoy people still further by picking Browny over Todd. After all I want excitement and controversy! I am sure that Stazza (back from the dead), Stephen Michael, and Benny Vigona in particular will appreciate Browny's position at the helm. Please comment further on this team. As moderator I will approve all comments except for the abusive and the spam! If you are still upset please send me your own team and I promise to publish it here (email: Kieran.JKames@uws.ac.uk) [by Kieran James, 14 April 2015].

A literary classic, search for it on eBay

Notes: [1]. Ross Gibbs played 97 games for West Perth from 1979-83 and 253 games for Glenelg from 1984-94. He was inducted into the Glenelg Hall of Fame in 2006.
[2] Wikipedia lists Graham Cambpell's VFL and SANFL coaching record as follows: Fitzroy (1974) 0 wins, 3 losses; Fitzroy (1978) 8 wins, 14 losses; and Glenelg (1983-84) 27 wins, 20 losses. He coached West Perth from 1975-77 and mid-season 1979-end of 1981.
[3] West Perth often defeated the eventual premier team twice in a season during home-and-away rounds, including Perth in 1977 (two wins), East Perth in 1978 (two wins), Swan Districts in 1982 (two wins) and 1984 (two wins), and East Fremantle in 1985 (two wins). If anyone is interested to do some internet research all of these facts can be checked in the "Fixtures & Results" section of the WAFL Online (WAFL official website). Once you are inside "Fixtures  Results", simply use the pull-down menu to choose the season(s) you want to access. This remains a strong record for the West Perth teams of that era but it is also clearly a case of potential unfulfilled. In some of those final-rounds from 1976-86 you had the classic "paper-scissors-rock" scenario (for example, Team A can beat Team B which can beat Team C which can beat Team D but Team D can beat Team A). For example, in 1982, West Perth could usually beat Swan Districts but had a lot of trouble with Claremont whereas Swans could beat Claremont. Also, in 1985, Swan Districts could beat West Perth and we saw that both East Fremantle and Subiaco were very likely to beat Swans. However, interestingly, West Perth could be expected to beat East Fremantle. Furthermore, West Perth could usually beat East Fremantle but failed badly against Subiaco, yet the victors in the East Fremantle-Subiaco contests were always very hard to predict. Such paper-scissors-rock scenarios only added to the high drama which the WAFL supporters enjoyed in this era.

WA State Team 1983. Photo courtesy Lost WAFL Facebook group.

The legendary Ron Boucher (SD) pictured here in 2009 when he was working for Busselton Council. Our West Perth cheer squad had a verbal confrontation with Ron at the Round 14, 1984 match at the northern end goals at Leederville Oval [see match report on this website]. 

South Fremantle's aboriginal greats. Left to Right: Benny Vigona, Willie Roe, and Maurice Rioli (RIP).

South Fremantle's 1984 Hong Kong tour (courtesy Lost WAFL).