Australian Football

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Key Facts

Full name
Peter Robert Bosustow

Known as
Peter Bosustow

Nickname
The Buzz

Born
27 October 1957 (age 66)

Age at first & last AFL game
First game: 23y 152d
Last game: 25y 297d

Height and weight
Height: 185 cm
Weight: 85 kg

Senior clubs
Perth; Carlton

Jumper numbers
Carlton: 4

Recruited from
Perth (1981); Carlton (1984)

Family links
Bob Bosustow (Father)Tom Allison (Uncle)Brett Allison (Cousin)

Peter Bosustow

ClubLeagueCareer spanGamesGoalsAvgWin %AKIAHBAMKBV
PerthWAFL1975-1980, 1984-1985, 19871333562.68
CarltonV/AFL1981-1983651462.2575%10.885.834.2823
Total1975-1985, 19871985022.54

AFL: 9,211th player to appear, 3,591st most games played, 673rd most goals kickedCarlton: 888th player to appear, 270th most games played, 53rd most goals kicked

A mercurial half forward who has captured the imagination of the Victorian football public with his high flying feats and his incredible goal kicking efforts. Has dominated the VFL mark of the year and goal of the year awards in his three years with Carlton.¹

Probably best remembered for his spectacular aerial feats, Peter Bosustow delighted fans in two states for more than a decade. He joined Perth from Victoria Park and made his league debut in 1975. At first he struggled to hold a regular place in a team that was being moulded by Ken Armstrong into arguably the finest in Western Australia since the previous decade. He was not selected in the team which downed East Perth to claim the 1976 premiership, while a year later he started the grand final clash with East Fremantle on the bench. However, once he established himself he became a lynch-pin of the side, topping its goal kicking list twice, and overall impressing sufficiently to earn selection in Perth's official "Team of the Century". 

A little too inconsistent to poll heavily in fairest and best counts, his peak form was nevertheless almost unmatchable. For instance, his dazzling seven-goal performance for a losing Demons side in the 1978 grand final against East Perth must have come extremely close to earning him a Simpson Medal.

In 1981 the Bosustow 'roadshow' went to Victoria, and in a seemingly fleeting sojourn with Carlton, that produced two flags (in 1981 and 1982), he left an indelible mark on the club and remains to this day one of its favourite sons. His three seasons (65 games) there produced football of the most enigmatic kind, from the heights of mark and goal of the year (both in 1981) to times when 'The Buzz' (as he became known) went completely missing. Described by Jack Dyer as a 'good ordinary player', Bosustow's best tended to overshadow the quieter times, no doubt due to the fact that when he had or was near the ball something interesting was bound to happen.  

He returned to Perth in 1984 and resumed his WAFL career, notwithstanding an attempt at a VFL comeback that was thwarted by injury. He played 133 senior WAFL games for Perth in two stints, 1975 to 1980 and again from 1984 to 1985, and in 1987, in which he booted 356 goals, with a season's high of 75 in 1980. He represented Western Australia eight times, booting 17 goals. 

Author - John Devaney and Adam Cardosi

Footnotes

1. Who’s Who in West Australian Football 1984, page 42.

Sources

Full Points Footy's WA Football Companion, Crème de la Crème

Footnotes

* Behinds calculated from the 1965 season on.
+ Score at the end of extra time.