Australian Football

West Perth

The Western Australian Football Association, precursor of today’s Western Australian Football League, was formed in 1885, with three founder member clubs: Rovers, Victorians and Fremantle, which finished in that order. Of these clubs, only Victorians - direct antecedent of West Perth - still exists.

Formed on 2nd May 1885 at the Criterion Hotel in Perth, the club which for most of its history boasted the proud and distinctive nickname of ‘the Cardinals’ has enjoyed an unbroken association with Western Australian’s premier football competition that has yielded nineteen premierships - a total bettered only by East Fremantle - and produced countless highlights, records and noteworthy achievements.

Despite the dramatic changes which football has seen in recent years, the ongoing contribution made to the game by clubs like West Perth remains significant; indeed, the health and vitality of the West Perths, Subiacos, Norwoods, South Adelaides, Morningsides and North Shores of the football world remains a crucial index of the sport’s overall well being. The WAFA’s inaugural season in 1885 saw Victorians successful in 2 out of 6 matches played, with another being drawn, enabling them to finish in second place, three points behind premiers Rovers.[1] Further second place finishes followed in 1886 and 1887 before a drop to third in 1888. In 1889 the club merged with West Australian FC and became known as Metropolitans but suffered a dip in form, finishing last, a result repeated in 1890. In 1891, the WAFA began its gradual evolution towards being a district-based competition, with East Perth[2] and Centrals entering the fray, and Metropolitans changing their name to West Perth. (That, at any rate, is one view; an alternative perception is that Metropolitans disbanded and the newly formed West Perth Football Club provided a home for its players.)

With 8 wins and a draw from 12 matches, West Perth got closer to a premiership than ever before in 1891, finishing just 2 points behind premiers Rovers. The side went even closer the following year, a drawn match with Rovers effectively robbing it of the chance to play off for the premiership against Fremantle. Football itself was suffering at this time, however, as a mixture of economic hardship and negative media coverage produced alarming declines in both attendances and participation. In 1893 and 1894 only three clubs contested the WAFA premiership: Fremantle, West Perth and Rovers, with Rovers only really being there to make up the meagre numbers.

"a marked recovery in football’s fortunes"

A combination of factors led to a marked recovery in football’s fortunes during the mid- to late 1890s. Chief among these was the migration west, ostensibly in pursuit of gold, of large numbers of top quality eastern states footballers. West Perth’s emergence as a genuine force reflected this development: in 1895 the side finished last of four, with just 2 wins from 14 games; the following year brought modest improvement - third place on the ladder, with a 5-11 record; and in 1897, when “good contemporary judges believed the teams from West Perth and Fremantle .... to have been superior to those fielded by leading clubs in Melbourne”)[3], the side went through the entire season unbeaten (seven wins and five draws) to achieve its first ever premiership. The 1899 season brought a reduction in the number of players per team from twenty to eighteen, a change which West Perth clearly found to their liking as, with 14 wins from 16 matches, the club secured its second flag.

West Perth’s next premiership in 1905 came after the WAFA had introduced a finals system whereby the top four clubs at the end of the home and away matches played two semi finals and a final, with the team that had finished the season at the head of the ladder (the ‘minor premier’) having the right of challenge if beaten in either match. West Perth, as minor premier in 1905, needed to call on this right of challenge against East Fremantle, which had won the final having earlier comprehensively beaten the Cardinals, 5.5 (35) to 0.4 (4), in a semi final played at the WACA. The challenge final took place at Fremantle Oval in front of a then record crowd of roughly 6,000, with West Perth losing – or so it appeared – by a solitary point. However, ten minutes after the game had finished, following a conference between the goal umpires and scorers, an additional behind was conferred on West Perth, making the result a draw. West Perth won a torrid, tempestuous replay at North Fremantle Oval by 4 points, leaving Old Easts supporters to lament their ‘ill fortune’.

The Cardinals dropped to third place in 1906 in what became that year, following the admission of East Perth and Midland Junction, an eight-club competition. West Perth teams over the course of the next few seasons were competitive, but lacked the all round strength of East Fremantle and, later, East Perth. In 1911, however, the side made a credible stab at the premiership. Bill Kessell, who played for the Cardinals between 1910 and 1915, recalls that, as the team was “making headway towards the premiership”, the unprecedented step was taken of appointing a coach in the unlikely person of umpiring great Ivo Crapp. However, endorsing the fact that it was a somewhat “free and easy” existence for footballers in those days, this proved to be “only a temporary measure” that would not be repeated for some time.[4] In any case, it was unsuccessful: West Perth was humiliated in the premiership deciding match against East Fremantle to the tune of 51 points.

West Perth contested six out of ten finals series during the 1920s, but the decade really belonged chiefly to East Perth and East Fremantle, which won five and four flags, respectively. The Cardinals’ main successes during this period were individual ones, as three of the club’s players - Harold Boyd in 1922, Jim Gosnell two years later, and Jim Craig in 1927 - won Sandover Medals, with Gosnell also finishing as runner up on two occasions. Together, these three players constituted arguably the greatest half back line in Western Australian football history, but even they were unable to provide the necessary impetus to break West Perth’s premiership drought.

In 1932, with a number of promising youngsters emerging, the West Perth committee took the drastic step of appointing a Victorian, Jack Cashman from Fitzroy, as captain-coach of the senior side. According to Harold Boyd, Cashman was “a big, tall ruckman” who was “very forceful on the ground” and represented “a decided asset” to the club, as much for his playing ability as his inspirational qualities and football know-how.[5] Under Cashman, efforts to secure that elusive premiership redoubled and, playing a tough, resilient brand of football, the side put in its best home and away performance for a decade in qualifying for the finals in second place with 12 wins and a draw from 18 games before sweeping straight into the grand final on the strength of a morale-boosting 18 point victory over minor premiers East Fremantle. In the grand final, West Perth struggled for three quarters to see off the challenge of surprise opponents East Perth, which had upset Old Easts by 8 points the previous week. At three quarter time the margin in West Perth’s favour was just 5 points, but an imperious last term performance saw the Cardinals add 6.2 to no score to win with deceptive comfort by 44 points, 18.9 (117) to 11.8 (74). In addition to being one-sided - at least in the end - the grand final was extremely rough, with many players on both sides sustaining injuries.

West Perth again qualified for the second semi final in 1933, only to bow out of premiership contention in straight sets against East Fremantle (by 21 points) and Subiaco (by 25 points).

Johnny Leonard stepped into Cashman’s shoes as (non-playing) coach in 1934, with Don Marinko as captain, and the pair enjoyed immediate success. After being thrashed by 54 points by East Fremantle in the second semi final, the team recovered well to defeat Victoria Park (by which name Perth, in a bid to improve its fortunes, was known in 1934 and ‘35) 9.14 (68) to 4.9 (33) in the preliminary final, and Old Easts 11.7 (73) to 5.9 (39) before a crowd of 10,464 in the premiership decider at Perth Oval.

"we are not squealers"

That dominance continued in 1935 when, for the first and, to date, only time in history, the club was successful in procuring consecutive flags. The triumph was not achieved without a hiccup: in the second semi final, Subiaco scored a 16 point win, despite having four fewer scoring shots.

“We are disappointed, but we are not squealers,” conceded Cardinals president Alec Breckler after the game. “Our hope is that we will meet you in a fortnight.”[6]

Breckler’s wish was duly granted, although West Perth again kicked inaccurately (27 scoring shots to 15), making needlessly hard work of seeing off arch rivals East Perth by 7 points in the preliminary final. Whether Johnny Leonard had his charges concentrating on goal kicking practice in the week leading up to the grand final is unknown but, whatever the reason, West Perth displayed almost unerring accuracy when it counted most in convincingly overturning the second semi final result against the Maroons and winning by 23 points, 11.8 (74) to 7.9 (51).

Jack Beveridge, who earlier in the season had been the cause of 4 lost match points for the Cardinals after taking the field for them against Subiaco before his eligibility vis-à-vis residence requirements had been confirmed, was in supreme form for the victors, perhaps fuelled by a sense of vengeance. In a prototype ruck-roving role, he complemented Don Marinko’s ruck supremacy, "always opening up the play and using handball with admirable effectiveness".[7]

The Cardinals dominated affairs from the start, and led at every change by 10, 18 and 16 points. In addition to their dominant ruck division, they possessed formidable key position forwards in Norm McDiarmid and Ted Tyson, and redoubtable half backs such as Ted 'Checker' O'Keefe and Max Tetley; as a consequence, they controlled matters virtually all over the ground, and most of the 19,154 spectators present would probably have anticipated a sustained period of red and blue success. Sadly, however, as so often during their history, the Cardinals failed to build on their dominance. With Jack Cashman back at the coaching helm in 1936 the side managed just 9 wins from 20 games to miss the finals altogether, and indeed the remainder of the 1930s would prove to be a dire time for the club, with another fifth place finish (under Leonard) in 1937 being followed by consecutive wooden spoons in 1938 and 1939 (with Max Tetley as captain-coach), the latter involving just 1 win for the season.

With Tetley still in charge, albeit now in only an off field capacity, in 1940 the Cardinals improved significantly, winning 11 out of 20 matches to narrowly miss the four. 'Checker' O'Keefe's Sandover win was a highlight of the year.

In 1941, former East Fremantle captain-coach Ross Hutchinson took over West Perth’s coaching reins, but as East Fremantle refused to clear him he was forced to undertake his duties in a purely non-playing capacity. Nevertheless, he inspired his new team to immediate success as, in the finals, the Cardinals overcame his old side 11.7 (73) to 5.18 (48) in the second semi final, and 14.14 (98) to 10.17 (77) in what would prove to be the last authentic senior grand final for four years. Stan ‘Pops’ Heal, “totally efficient in a non-glamorous way, but a top class performer always” achieved the remarkable feat of playing in premiership teams in two different states (Melbourne in the VFL as well as West Perth) in the same season.[8]

Between 1942 and 1944, an under age competition replaced the seniors, but premierships and Sandover Medals won during those years are nevertheless accorded official status. West Perth contested the finals in all three under age seasons, winning the premiership in 1942 with a 51 point grand final defeat of Claremont, and bowing out at the first hurdle in both 1943 and 1944. Joe Brooker was coach of the Cardinals’ under-age teams, and he remained at the helm when full scale league football resumed in 1945, steering the side to a creditable third place finish.

If you accept the contention that South Fremantle’s credentials during the first decade after world war two were unsurpassed, then West Perth’s achievements - seven grand final appearances between 1945 and 1955 for two flags - seem altogether more impressive.

In 1946 Ross Hutchinson, who had served with enormous distinction in the RAAF during the war, was now also available to the club as player. Replacing Brooker as coach, he welded the talented group of players at his disposal into a premiership-challenging combination. Unfortunately, 1946 was the year in which East Fremantle, under Jerry Dolan, remained unbeaten, with the Cardinals the only side capable of putting up a realistic challenge. In the second semi final, “as great a fight as had ever been waged on a West Australian football field with its evenness, and terrific pace” (9), West Perth seemed on the verge of victory, only to succumb by 4 points after a soccered goal from Old Easts with less than half a minute remaining.

The gap in quality between the top two and the rest was emphasised in the preliminary final when the Cardinals romped past Subiaco in a low scoring game to the tune of 49 points.

If observers had been exhilarated and enthralled by the second semi final, the premiership decider, watched by a crowd of 24,841 which included the recently arrived English cricket touring party, was, if anything, even more memorable. The contest throughout was tense, fiery and tough, and played at breakneck pace. West Perth enjoyed the better of the opening exchanges, and at quarter time led 4.2 to 1.4. Thereafter it was a neck and neck tussle, with East Fremantle leading by 2 points at half time, and 4 points at the final change. The fact that Old Easts would be coming home with the aid of a stiff breeze seemed to tip the odds firmly in their favour.

West Perth, however, was not beaten. For the Cardinals, Pola broke through with marvellous dash and goaled, Loughridge, Heal and Kingsbury carried all before them and another goal sent West Perth’s stocks to a premium.

The atmosphere was tense as East Fremantle saw victory slipping. With an overhead shot, Prince goaled, and the club drank reviving blood. It was left to the midget, McDonald, to decide the issue in East Fremantle’s favour.

Hitherto, he had not been sighted among the Goliaths afield, but at the crisis his accurate shooting told - three shots, three goals, one of them a football gem.

West Perth tried hard, but its last grand throw came too late and at the end of a hectic struggle, the scores were: East Fremantle 11.13; West Perth 10.13.(10)

In 1947 Ross Hutchinson, after only one season in the role for which he had originally been earmarked, that of captain-coach, requested and received a clearance to South Fremantle, where he would become the primary architect of that club’s rise to power, beginning that very season. Hutchinson’s place as playing coach of West Perth was taken by champion wingman Stan Heal who quickly emphasised that his on field performances would not in any way suffer in light of his joint responsibilities by winning the club’s 1947 best and fairest award as well as polling well (13 votes) in the Sandover Medal. Heal’s team mates also performed with credit as the Cardinals battled their way through to a second successive grand final, this time with Ross Hutchinson’s red and whites.

Kicking with the aid of a typically substantial Subiaco Oval breeze in the opening term, West Perth dominated the play completely, generating sufficient scoring opportunities to put the game out of the opposition’s reach. However, an eventual return of just 3 goals from a dozen scoring shots was tantamount to providing South Fremantle with a life line, one which they gratefully seized by virtue of a 7.1 to 1.1 second term which saw the scoreboard at the main break reading: South Fremantle 8.2 (50); West Perth 4.10 (34).

The Cardinals came out firing after half time, but again squandered numerous excellent scoring opportunities in adding 5.5 to 0.4 to change ends for the last time 17 points to the good, but would this be enough?

It very nearly was, and West Perth supporters of long standing will tell you, without the need for any prompting, that according to all the rules of equity and fairness it ought to have been. Unfortunately, according to the rules of football as understood by umpire Cronin, things were somewhat less straight forward:

Early in the last quarter (West Perth half forward) Jack Larcombe marked ... and quickly passed to Alvin Whittle, who goaled on the run. But West Perth’s jubilation was turned to consternation when Cronin, who had seen a fight develop behind the play, blew his whistle, called the ball back to the scene of the fracas, disallowed the goal and bounced the ball. If allowed, the goal would have increased West Perth’s lead to 23 points and would have given their players the heart to make even more Herculean efforts. (11)

As it was, the South Fremantle players re-grouped and, inspired by a livewire performance on a half forward flank from Ross Hutchinson, gradually clawed their way back into the game before edging in towards the end and holding on to secure a 15 point win that scarcely reflected the balance of the play. As the men in red and white jumpers celebrated with their ecstatic supporters:

... one could not help feeling sorry for West Perth. The players had refused to believe that South Fremantle were all powerful, and by careful planning had re-organised the team, which played far above its semi final form. “We beat ourselves” was a common expression in the West Perth rooms, meaning that a preponderance of behinds, especially in the first quarter, in addition to the many shots which went out of bounds, reflected the disastrous inaccuracy of the forwards. (12)

West Perth managed an all too rare minor premiership in 1948, but South Fremantle proved too good in both the second semi final (8 points) and grand final (24 points).

things fall into place

Things finally fell into place in 1949 when the Cardinals were blessed with a team of rare all round talent, including one of Western Australian football’s greatest ever full backs, Ray Schofield, past and future Sandover Medallists in the shape of John Loughridge (1946) and Fred Buttsworth (1951), one of the game’s greatest ever wingman in Stan ‘Pops’ Heal, courageous rover Dougie Lind, and a man who would go on to top the century of goals on four consecutive occasions from 1951 to 1954, Ray Scott.

With West Perth and South Fremantle still, by popular consensus, the teams to beat, a record qualifying round crowd of 26,740 turned up at Subiaco Oval for their Foundation Day clash on 6th June. The red and whites emerged victorious on that occasion, by 4 points, but in 1949 it would be the Cardinals who would have the last laugh, while to most people’s surprise South Fremantle did not even feature in the grand final. That honour went to Perth which, having vanquished the southerners in emphatic fashion 22.12 (144) to 13.13 (91) in the preliminary final, fronted up against West Perth on grand final day, to almost unanimous public acclaim, chasing their first flag since 1907.

Not that the Stan Heal coached Cardinals were, even for a moment, to be deflected from their mission by the sentimental favouritism enjoyed by their opponents. As Heal later recalled, “That was the year that I instilled more handball into the side, because the game was speeding up.”[13]

Utilising speedsters such as Doug Lind, John Loughridge, Tony Yaksich, and Heal himself, the Cardinals eventually ran Perth ragged, while their cohesive teamwork and inspired use of handball had their opponents chasing shadows well before the end. Perth kept in touch on the scoreboard until the last change, but in the final quarter the dams burst and West Perth did more or less as they liked, adding 5.6 to 2.2 to win in the end by 30 points, 16.13 (109) to 12.7 (79). Cardinals centre half back John Larcombe’s reward for a formidable all round performance was the Simpson Medal, while his partners on the half back line, Len Harman and Ken Bracken, were also prominent. With forwards Ray Scott, Fred Buttsworth and Ken Ashdown contributing 10 goals between them, and ruckman Norm Lamb combining superbly with rover Doug Lind, West Perth had controlling influences all over the ground, with perhaps the only surprise being that the eventual margin of victory was not greater.

Perth achieved revenge over the Cardinals in the following season’s preliminary final, winning 11.19 (85) to 9.13 (67), a result which left West Perth in the wilderness on grand final day for the first time since 1945. However, the side bounced back the following year in eminently satisfying fashion. After a poor start to the season, it recovered well to clinch second spot with 64 points, ahead of Perth (56 points) and East Fremantle (40 points), going into the finals. It then lost the second semi final to minor premiers South Fremantle by 9 points, but won well the following week, 12.15 (87) to 6.11 (47), against Perth. In the grand final, despite being without the services of ‘Pops’ Heal, who had broken his ankle, West Perth, with half forward Don ‘Mary’ Porter, full back Ray Schofield, wingman Vic Fisher, and back pocket player Wally Price especially prominent, held on to overcome a fast finishing South Fremantle by 3 points in the closest grand final since the 1938 drawn game between Claremont and East Fremantle. With just moments to go in the match, South Fremantle forced the ball forward into the goal square and a frenetic melee ensued before Price, showing great presence of mind despite the heavy traffic, managed to gain possession and clear the ball out of danger with a thumping kick. This proved to be South Fremantle’s last attacking thrust of the game. The grand final Simpson Medal went to Don Porter, topping off what had been a marvellous all round season for the club, with both the Sandover and the Simpson Medal for state game against VFL being won by Fred Buttsworth. In addition, Ray Scott with 127 goals during the qualifying rounds and a further 14 in the finals was the season’s top goal kicker.

West Perth should have made it two flags in succession in 1952. After downing South Fremantle by 15 points in the second semi final it seemed to have the premiership in its grasp when, a fortnight later, it led the same opponent 8.6 (54) to 3.6 (24) at half time in the ‘big one’. However, inexplicably, the experienced, finals hardened West Perth players fell in a heap in the second half, allowing Clive Lewington’s red and whites to run them off the park. South Fremantle eventually won by 21 points, after kicking 9.13 to 2.4 during the last two quarters of the game.

Astonishingly, when South Fremantle and West Perth confronted one another in the following season’s grand final the half time scoreboard once again read 8.6 (54) to 3.6 (24), but on this occasion it was the southerners who were in the ascendancy and, unlike the Cardinals of the previous year, they were in no mood to relinquish control, eventually winning by 59 points.

The 1954 season saw West Perth establishing a record never likely to be equalled by playing off in the second semi final for the tenth year in a row. However, on this occasion it was unable to take the next step: it lost a low scoring second semi final to East Fremantle by 12 points, and then kicked itself out of contention in the preliminary final against South Fremantle, registering 9.23 (77) to the southerners’ 15.11 (101).

The remainder of the 1950s saw the Cardinals, for the first time in over a decade, rejoining the chasing pack, finishing fourth in 1955, fifth in 1956, fourth again in ‘57 and ‘58, and fifth in 1959, a season rendered noteworthy for ruckman Brian Foley’s Sandover Medal win. Foley’s success was widely celebrated, and not just at Leederville, as “a fitting win for one of the game’s most respected players, a man who, through sheer hard work and determination, lifted himself from an awkward reserves player to be one of the great ruck men”.[14]

Foley was again to the fore in 1960 when, in an evenly contested season, West Perth topped the ladder after the minor round with 13 wins and 3 draws from 21 matches, 2 points clear of both East Perth and South Fremantle, with East Fremantle a further 4 points adrift in fourth place. East Perth were, in Foley’s words, “the gun team of the late ‘50s and early ‘60s”,[15] but in 1960 at least the Cardinals proved to have their measure. They defeated the Royals by 24 points in the second semi final, and then a fortnight later overcame a slow start to add 8.7 to 1.2 in a match-winning second quarter burst, eventually easing home by 32 points. Brian Foley, who booted three majors, added the Simpson Medal to his ’59 Sandover, full forward Ross Ayre bagged seven goals, and half back flanker Ray Marinko, full back John Towner, and ruck-rover Ross Kelly were among many notable contributors to what was an even, all round team performance of the highest class.

"the players were not too rapt"

In retrospect, the process which gradually saw West Perth re-emerge as a bona fide premiership contender can be seen to have started with the appointment as coach in 1965 of Bob Spargo, whose emphasis on the development of young players had the effect of bringing the club kicking and screaming into the modern football era, where ‘prop and kick’ gave way to pace, finely honed teamwork, and intuitively precise disposal by hand and foot. However, when during the 1967 season Spargo let it be known that he would be stepping down as coach at the end of the year, few football supporters, and least of all those of a red and blue persuasion, could have guessed the identity of the man who, over the course of the next couple of seasons, would transform Spargo’s carefully constructed framework into a finished article of the most compellingly impressive kind.

The fact that Spargo had announced his intentions so early gave the Cardinals committee plenty of time to hunt down the ideal replacement. Speculation in the media, needless to say, was rife, with West Perth’s 1960 premiership centre half back and dual best and fairest winner Brian France rapidly emerging as favourite, although as the year went on another name, that of Geelong and former East Perth ruckman Graham ‘Polly’ Farmer, who was known to be keen to return home to the west in 1968, also began to feature prominently in the conjecture. When Farmer it was who eventually got the nod, many diehard Cardinals members and supporters were aghast, as were most of the players. Mel Whinnen recalled:

“West Perth had never liked East Perth that much, there was no love lost. And all of a sudden we have an East Perth coach. Certainly for a while in 1968 all the players wondered. Until ‘Polly’ was able to generate the respect a coach must get, the players were not too rapt.”[16]

According to Farmer, the team he inherited was “very strong” but “went to water” in the finals,[17] when it lost to eventual premier Perth by 27 points in the second semi, and East Perth by3 points, despite a strong last quarter come back, in the preliminary final. The embarrassment generated by these capitulations was an important spur to the side’s eventual premiership triumph the following year.

Under Farmer, West Perth developed a fast, open, play-on brand of football similar in style to that produced by Geelong in the VFL, or Sturt in South Australia. The club’s training regime maximised physical fitness, endeavoured to habituate players to the sorts of psychological pressure and physical duress they could anticipate during matches, and inculcated in them the importance of making the best possible decision, from a range of alternatives, whenever they gained possession of the ball. As Farmer himself remarked:

“My basis of football was to develop a natural habit, where people automatically responded in the correct manner. The first commitment is always to get the ball; it’s what you do with the ball after that that will decide how far you take it down the field. If there were five or six variables to make a play, they had to pick the right one ... The basis of my training was always to give it to a footballer who was moving down the field. We were giving them the ball as they were moving down the field.” [18]

With Perth and East Perth also producing exhilarating brands of football, crowds flocked to WANFL grounds in unprecedented numbers. In June, a record attendance for a qualifying round match away from Subiaco Oval, 26,670, turned up to see West Perth, thanks to a last term which yielded five goals to nil, overcome ladder leaders East Perth 16.15 (111) to 12.9 (81).

After securing second spot on the ladder going into the finals, West Perth put in a ruthless performance against flag favourites East Perth in front of a record second semi final crowd of 35,740. Cardinals captain-coach ‘Polly’ Farmer showed he harboured no sentimental feelings towards his old club as he comprehensively flattened Royals All Australian rover Keith Doncon at one point, while John Wynne swiftly followed suit by dishing out similar treatment to Hans Verstegen. West Perth raced to a substantial early lead before coasting to victory by 26 points, 12.11 (83) to 7.15 (57).

For the grand final re-match between the sides, a record crowd of 51,385 crammed into Subiaco Oval, keenly anticipating further fireworks, only to be treated instead to a performance of untouchable virtuosity by the Cardinals, who did virtually as they pleased in racking up a 21.21 (147) to 10.14 (74) win. West Perth’s final goal of the match exemplified both their superiority, and their Farmer-inspired style of play. Picking up the ball just ahead of left centre wing, Cardinals half forward flanker Stephen Smeath raced off towards goal. Despite looking as though he had only just learnt how to bounce the ball, he managed to do so successfully three times before cutting sharply in field and snapping truly across his body from twenty metres out directly in front. It was reminiscent of Ray Gabelich’s famous solo run and goal for Collingwood in the 1964 VFL grand final against Melbourne, except that it was executed at roughly three times the pace.

Bill Dempsey, whose parents had travelled down from Darwin to watch the match, fittingly won the Simpson Medal after marking virtually everything that came his way, while centreman Mel Whinnen, seven-goal full forward Laurie Richards, ruckman Norm Knell, wingman Alan Watling, and the captain-coach himself were among many other Cardinals players to shine.

West Perth struggled for consistency in 1970 and a tally of 10 wins was only good enough for sixth place.

drop kicks to drop punts

Prior to the start of the 1971 season West Perth picked up three key players from Victoria in the shape of full forward Phil Smith, 1969 All Australian centre half back Peter Steward, and tenacious back pocket Leon O’Dwyer. After a less than convincing start to the year, coach Farmer deliberately modified the team’s playing style, dispensing with the fluid attacking approach which had so spectacularly yielded a premiership two years earlier, and replacing it with the same kind of robust, intensely physical, overtly negative style, featuring an open forward line and an embryonic form of ‘flooding’, that was being used with such success at the time by Hawthorn in the VFL. As the players gradually grew accustomed to this modified approach, improvement was steady and concerted, with a 16.14 (110) to 9.11 (65) last round victory away to East Fremantle ultimately securing second spot on the ladder going into the finals.

Unlike 1969, however, this time ‘round the Cardinals would have to do things the hard way: they lost a tight, low scoring second semi final to East Perth by 10 points - the fourth successive occasion during the year that they had lost to the Royals - and then survived a late scare in the following week’s preliminary final when East Fremantle’s Gary Fenner missed an eminently kickable goal scoring chance in the final minute to leave West Perth victors by 3 points. Pumped up and consummately focused for ‘Polly’ Farmer‘s last ever league game, the Cardinals then found probably their best form for the season in upsetting the warmly favoured Royals, 14.17 (101) to 9.15 (69) in the premiership decider. Right from the outset, East Perth had no answer to West Perth’s aggression and pace, and although the final margin of victory was considerably smaller than in 1969, in a way it was every bit as convincing.

Graham Farmer put in a formidable last league performance to be many observers’ choice as best afield. However, the Simpson Medal went to rover Steve Sheridan, with Bill Dempsey, Peter Steward, Alan Watling and Barry McAuliffe also earning mentions in dispatches.

A comparison between the 1969 and 1971 grand finals, played in similar weather conditions between the same teams, affords fairly stark evidence of the speed with which the game was evolving. For example, in 1969 the drop kick was still the kick of choice approximately 50% of the time, whereas just two years later, although still very occasionally resorted to by some of the older players, it had been almost entirely superseded by the drop punt.[19]

With Peter Steward replacing Farmer as captain-coach in 1972 the Cardinals managed to scrape into the finals with just 9 wins, the poorest return by a finalist since 1953, but they were unable to get past Perth in the first semi final.

Former Melbourne player and Central District coach Dennis Jones took over from Steward in 1973 as West Perth qualified for the finals in second place, before scoring a comfortable 18 point victory over Subiaco in the second semi final. It was West Perth’s fourth consecutive win over Subi for the year but, alas, things went comprehensively awry when the teams next confronted one another on grand final day, and the Cardinals succumbed by 32 points after a low scoring war of attrition.

After a nightmare 1974 season which produced only half a dozen wins and the club’s first wooden spoon since 1939, Dennis Jones departed to be replaced in the coaching hot seat by former Fitzroy player Graham Campbell. In a dramatic turn around the side clinched the minor premiership with a 14-7 record, and qualified for the grand final with ease with a 20.22 (142) to 8.16 (64) second semi final annihilation of Swan Districts, a result rendered all the more remarkable by virtue of the fact that, at the teams’ previous meeting just three weeks earlier, Swans had scored a thumping 105 point victory. A grand final record crowd of 52,322 turned up to see West Perth collide with South Fremantle in what turned out to be the most one-sided WANFL premiership play-off ever. Cardinals half forward Barry Day kicked 7 last quarter goals for a match total of 8 as West Perth stormed to victory by 104 points, 23.17 (155) to 7.9 (51). Evergreen centreman Mel Whinnen earned the Simpson Medal after a performance of measureless class, while his fellow veteran Bill Dempsey was similarly superb. On a day when it was impossible to find a poor West Perth player, ruck-rover Alan Watling, wingman Stuart Hillier, rover Shane Sheridan, and half back flanker Ross Prunster all stood out, as did Day during the processional last quarter which saw the Cardinals add 10.5 to their opponents’ solitary behind.

The 1976 season saw the introduction of an NFL organised competition in which twelve leading clubs from football’s three major states competed. West Perth was among three entrants from Western Australia, but failed to qualify for the semi finals after losses to Hawthorn and Sturt. Impressed by the concept, but jealous of sharing it, the VFL clubs withdrew in 1977 and implemented their own rival competition, thereby setting in motion a train of events which would ultimately lead to the VFL persuading itself, and almost everyone else, that it, and it alone, had the right to determine football’s destiny on the national stage. WANFL clubs, including West Perth, continued to participate in the NFL series in 1977, but the following year, either selling their souls, or accepting the inevitable (depending on your viewpoint), they withdrew, and elected instead to buy into an infinitesimal (and ever-shrinking) share of the VFL dream. Meanwhile, back at Leederville, Graham Campbell remained at the helm for three further seasons, steering his charges to the finals each time, but he proved unable to get them past the preliminary final.

a barren time for West Perth

The 1980s proved to be a barren time for West Perth, and in fact it was the only decade since the introduction of the Page-McIntyre finals system in 1931 that the club failed to secure at least one premiership. Indeed, following its 1975 premiership the side did not again grace Subiaco Oval on grand final day until 1993, by which time the whole infrastructure of Western Australian football had changed dramatically, and forever.[20] Of perhaps equal significance, at least as far as West Perth was concerned, the club's essential identity had been irrevocably changed - some would say compromised - by the decision to replace its uniquely resonant nickname of ‘the Cardinals’ with a trite and vacuous Americanism. However, it was as ‘the Falcons’ that West Perth took to the field against Claremont in the 1993 grand final, losing by 30 points, and it was under the same nickname that the club dispensed with another integral element in its tradition the following year by relocating to the Arena Joondalup.

It would probably be reasonable to suggest that this relocation was not universally popular. Ardent West Perth supporter Kieran James summed up one of many elements in what might be termed the traditionalist viewpoint:

.... Arena Joondalup remains a totally foreign place to me. Arena Joondalup feels very different from the traditional WAFL grounds because it has no seating around the perimeter of the ground and the grandstand is literally one side wall of the adjacent, gigantic, multi-sports complex rather than the main focus in and of itself. The grandstand is not open to the public, making the oval, or should we say the 'arena', very much in tune with the elitist spirit of modern corporate football.[21]

Conversely, there was a 'progressive' view, as espoused, for instance, by West Perth official club historian Brian Atkinson, who felt that the relocation would potentially prove of considerable benefit in providing the club with a much improved recruiting zone when compared to the original zone based around Leederville. What cannot be denied is that, in the two  decades after relocating, West Perth enjoyed substantially more premiership success than it managed in the previous two decades, although whether the relocation was directly responsible for this improvement is, of course, impossible to verify.

a "long awaited return to pre-eminence"

Following the grand final loss of 1993 the side reached the preliminary final the next season before, in 1995, with John Dimmer at the helm, making their long awaited return to pre-eminence. In truth, a flag looked somewhat less than probable when West Perth finished the minor round 6 wins behind a rampant Subiaco side, only to forcibly demonstrate that finals football is an altogether different affair from the weekly grind of the qualifying rounds. When second semi final opponents the Falcons and the Lions had previously met at Joondalup in round twenty the game had developed into the highlight of the qualifying rounds, with the visitors ultimately emerging victorious by just 3 points, 22.11 (143) to 21.14 (140), after a classic, ‘80s style shoot out. Those hoping for another high quality encounter on second semi final day were not disappointed as the teams went goal for goal all afternoon; at lemon time, both sides had 13.9 (87) on the board, and when the siren sounded to end the game the Falcons had just managed to edge home by the barest margin, 16.12 (108) to 16.11 (107).

A fortnight later on grand final day, in front of a largely pro-West Perth crowd of 30,712, the same two sides met once again, and immediately made known their intentions by engaging in a huge, all-in brawl before the opening bounce. Once the football got underway it, too, was characterised by considerable venom and ferocity, but the longer the game wore on the more it became apparent that, on this occasion, in contrast to the teams’ two previous meetings, the intensely focused, immensely pumped up Falcons had nearly all the answers. By half time they had edged out to a 25 point advantage, and in the second half, with Wodonga recruit and eventual Simpson Medallist Darren Harris in inspirational form, it was only really a question of how great the final margin of victory would be. As a well-endowed male streaker trundled onto the ground to herald the final siren, the scoreboard showed West Perth conclusively victorious by 56 points, 21.11 (137) to 12.9 (81). Harris, who managed an amazing 40 possessions, was joined on the Falcons best player list by full back Paul Mifka, who kept Subiaco danger man Jason Heatley, who had booted 10 goals in the second semi final, to just one major this time, half back flankers Todd Curley and Ashley Blurton, and the on ball pair of Rob Malone and Brendan Logan.

The inevitable West Perth premiership hangover saw the side tipped out of the finals at the first hurdle in 1996, before dropping to sixth place in 1997.

The 1998 season brought considerable improvement, with the Falcons managing 16 wins from 20 minor round games to qualify for the finals in second place – which was where they ultimately finished, after failing to get past East Fremantle in either the second semi final or grand final. As often seems to happen, however, the following season brought more than ample recompense. After finishing second on the ladder once more (this time with a 17-3 record) the Falcons fell just short of minor premiers South Fremantle in a fiercely fought second semi final. The Bulldogs won 13.13 (91) to 10.16 (76), but when the Falcons overwhelmed Subiaco by 65 points in the following week’s preliminary final there were many who fancied their chances of turning the tables on the southerners on grand final day.

In front of 25,473 spectators West Perth began the grand final strongly to open up a 21 point lead at the first change. However, over the course of the next two quarters the Bulldogs gradually clawed their way back, and when the teams changed ends for the last time they were only 10 points in arrears, and a repeat of their 5.0 to 3.4 second term performance would be enough to secure them the flag. The Falcons had other ideas though, and with players like Christian Kelly, Todd Curley, Kim Rigoll, Brendan Fewster and Clayton Lassock standing tall, they totally dominated the last quarter, adding 3.4 to 1.1 to win by 25 points. Ruck-rover Kelly top scored with 4 goals, and was awarded the Simpson Medal, the eighth time a player from West Perth had been so honoured on grand final day.[22]

After missing the finals in both 2000 and 2001, West Perth bounced back to reach another grand final in 2002, this time against arch rivals East Perth. However, after kicking the opening goal of the game three minutes in, the Falcons lost their way, and the first change saw them more than 5 goals adrift. Then, just as in 1998 against East Fremantle, a preponderance of unforced skill errors, perhaps partly attributable to the ball having become greasy following quarter time rain, undermined efforts to get back into the game, and towards the end of the second term East Perth re-assumed control to go into the long break a virtually unassailable 44 points to the good.[23] When the Royals comfortably withstood West Perth’s frenzied opening to the third quarter before nonchalantly notching the first couple of goals of the second half, any token doubts as to the ultimate destiny of the 2002 premiership disappeared. The Falcons finally claimed their second major of the game sixteen minutes into the third term, but the achievement by then was of purely academic interest. East Perth eventually ran out winners by 10 straight goals, 15.14 (104) to 5.14 (44).

With the bitter taste of defeat still on their tongues, the Falcons approached their 2003 premiership campaign like the archetypal ‘men on a mission’, surviving a second semi final loss against Subiaco to return on grand final day a fortnight later stronger, more focused and possessing greater resilience, to reverse the decision in convincing style, 13.9 (87) to 9.10 (64).

As has frequently been observed in this entry, West Perth have all too frequently displayed a disturbingly lemming-like tendency immediately to self destruct once a pinnacle of success has been reached. Consequently, it would probably be realistic to infer that, in 2004, Falcons fans would not have been in the least bit surprised with their team’s comparatively meagre return of just 9 wins from 20 matches, good enough for only seventh place in the premiership table. The 2005 season saw slight improvement - an 11-9 record clinching fifth spot on the ladder - but while the side was as good as any other on its day, a lack of consistency ultimately caused its finals challenge to be derailed. It was a similar story in 2006, although the ease with which Claremont ended the Falcons’ season in the elimination final was rather troubling. The Tigers romped home by 86 points, suggesting that much work still needed to be done before the side could again be considered a realistic premiership proposition.

The 2007 season did nothing to dispel this impression as the Falcons narrowly failed to reach the finals after winning half their games. But a year later, despite managing only one win and a draw more than in 2008, they qualified for the finals in second place. It was a false dawn, however, as they bowed out of the flag race in straight sets at the hands of Subiaco and Swan Districts.

A year later they again made the finals but their involvement lasted only a week as they went down by 37 points to Swan Districts in the first semi final. In 2010 the Falcons managed a creditable 11 wins from their 20 home and away matches but failed to qualify for the finals on percentage. There was measurable improvement in 2011, but an excellent home and away season was not capitalised upon with the Falcons bowing out of the flag race in consecutive weeks at the hands of Claremont and Subiaco.

West Perth missed the finals in 2012 before bouncing back in telling fashion the following year. Second after the minor round, the Falcons overcame minor premiers Claremont by 4 points in the second semi final. Scores were West Perth 11.21 (87); Claremont 12.11 (83). It was West Perth’s first victory in a major round match since the 2003 grand final, and more was to follow. Grand final opposition came in the shape of arch rivals East Perth, with the match attracting a respectable crowd, by recent standards at any rate, of 20,008. (The attendance might well have been some 10,000 or so higher had it not been such a rainy afternoon.)

The game was closely and quite fiercely contested for three quarters, at the end of which the Falcons led by 11 points. However, in the final term West Perth “simply had too much spirit, intensity and run” [24] and pulled away to achieve a convincing victory by 49 points, 20.11 (131) to 12.10 (82). The win gave West Perth their nineteenth senior grade flag, a record only surpassed by East Fremantle with twenty-nine.

Since their 2013 premiership triumph the Falcons have experienced mixed fortunes. They failed to qualify for the 2014 finals but the following year got as far as another grand final. Opposed by Subiaco, they kept in touch on the scoreboard until quarter time but were then overrun, the Lions eventually winning by 11 goals, 21.10 (136) to 10.10 (70). West Perth again reached the finals in 2016 but crashed out of the flag race with "straight sets" losses to South Fremantle and eventual premiers Peel Thunder. In 2017 the Falcons' premiership bid was ended at the elimination final stage by Swan Districts while a year later they made it through to a grand final meeting with Subiaco, only to crash to a 

Possibly the main news during the 2016 season was the intimation that the club was about to change its name from West Perth to Joondalup Falcons - something which had been mooted several times ever since the club had relocated to Arena Joondalup in 1994. In June 2016 Falcons number one ticket holder Basil Zempilas suggested that the club was under some pressure from the Joondalup Council to “at least (have) a conversation about a name change”.[25]  Ultimately, however, the club decided against altering its name as a direct result of which the local council indicated that it would no longer provide the club with an estimated $40,000 in sponsorship funds each year.[26]

West Perth Football Club president Brett Raponi said the decision was made “to keep the club’s history intact”.

“A cost-benefit analysis had shown there are no tangible benefits to be gained from adopting a new name,” Mr Raponi said.

“Any name change would have required the approval of members in any case. The board has decided not to proceed to that stage.

“Further, the club received representations from several of its most prominent players and supporters who were all in favour of retaining the name the club has used since 1891.”[27]

It is hard to deny the notion that a club exists primarily for the benefit of its members and supporters - its stakeholders, if you will - who therefore have the right to help shape its identity and destiny. Increasingly, however, a club’s fortunes are dependent on forces outside its control, not least the policies and machinations of the AFL. Already the very structure of the WAFL has been fundamentally altered by the decision to allow the state’s two AFL clubs to have affiliates in the shape of East Perth (West Coast) and Peel Thunder (Fremantle). Anyone who thinks this was just a cosmetic exercise would do well to talk to any of the thousands of people who have voted with their feet by no longer attending WAFL matches. [28]