Australian Football

Ruckman Don Wares was a key member of the superb South Fremantle sides of the late 1940s and early '50s, playing a total of 107 league games for the club, including three winning Grand Finals. He also represented a Western Australian number two state side in 1947. Wares made his senior debut when the WANFL reverted to senior competition after three seasons of under-age football in 1945.

Wares quickly stamped himself as a player of considerable promise by playing 18 of South's 23 matches for the year, including the losing Grand Final against East Fremantle. Thereafter, until his retirement at the conclusion of the 1951 season, only injury prevented him from taking his place in the much-vaunted line-up.

The undoubted highlights of Wares' career were his appearances in the aforementioned victorious Grand Finals, with his performances against West Perth in 1948 and 1950 earning him prominent mention in dispatches. He was also better than serviceable in the 1947 defeat of the Cardinals.

Author - John Devaney