Australian Football

Fast on the lead, strong in the air, and an accurate kick, Simon Beasley was one of the most effective full forwards of the 1980s. He first caught the eye at Swan Districts, where he topped the club's goal kicking list with 97 goals in 1980 and 119 the following year. He crossed to Footscray in 1982, just as Swans were about to embark on a sequence of three successive premierships. The Bulldogs, by contrast, never looked like winning a flag, but Beasley's heroics at the goal front ensured that the club was often in the headlines. 

In 154 VFL games between 1982 and 1989 he booted a club record 575 goals, heading the league ladder with 105 goals in 1985, and topping Footscray's list every season except his last. On three occasions he booted 12 goals in a match, with his success being attributable more to persistence and determination than any innate natural ability. He played four interstate matches for Western Australia, booting 9 goals. In 2002, Simon Beasley was chosen, one presumes almost automatically, at full forward in the Bulldogs' official 'Team of the Century'.

Beasley kicked more V/AFL goals than any other player in the 1980s with 575 goals.

Author - John Devaney with updates by Oliver Gigacz