Australian Football

Kevin Caton began his senior football career with Darwin, playing on the wing in that club's losing 1983-84 Grand Final side. In 1984 he joined Swan Districts, which at the time was one of the strongest club sides in Australia, having won both of the previous two WAFL premierships convincingly. Coached by former South Fremantle champion John Todd, Swans played an ebullient, aggressive, attacking style of football to which Caton, "a tall and talented wingman or half forward who has patches of brilliance and can be a match winner on his day"¹, was soon making a significant contribution. When the club went 'three in a row' in 1984, Caton was a member of the team which overran East Fremantle in the Grand Final. The following season he represented Western Australia against South Australia at Subiaco.

Caton continued to give Swan Districts strong service over the next couple of seasons. In 1987 he topped the club's goal kicking list with 47 goals, and at the end of the year was drafted by West Coast. Unfortunately for Caton, the Eagles were blessed with a proliferation of players of his type - medium sized speedsters with good all round skills - and he managed just a single game for the season. In 1989, he found himself at Fitzroy, where he managed another 9 senior games, before being traded to Brisbane the following season for the last 8 games of his AFL career.

Returning to Swan Districts in 1992 he performed strongly, gaining selection in the Western Australian state league team which lost narrowly to South Australia at Football Park, and topping the WAFL goal kicking list with 51 majors for the year. He carried on with Swans for another couple of seasons, taking his final career total of WAFL games to 118.

Author - John Devaney