EAST FREMANTLE - Part Three: 1980 to 2007 

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The Old East yo-yo syndrome quickly reasserted itself in 1980 as the club endured one of its worst ever senior campaigns, finishing 7th with just 5 wins from 21 starts.  Things were not quick to improve either as the side went on to miss the finals in both 1981 (7th again - 5 wins and 16 losses) and 1982 (for 6th place with 8 wins, 13 losses).  

In 1983 the Western Australian club with arguably the richest tradition of all took the drastic measure of divorcing itself to some extent from that tradition by adopting a new emblem, that of the arch predator of the sea, the shark.  It was felt by the newly expanded club board that the introduction of this emblem would render the club more attractive to potential sponsors at a time when the sponsorship dollar was becoming increasingly critical to achieving and maintaining success.  It was probably entirely coincidental, but in 1983 the side's on field performances improved sufficiently to enable participation in the major round for the first time since the premiership year of 1979.  There was to be no return to premiership glory, however: in the 1st semi final reigning and eventual back to back premiers Swan Districts emphasised that the Sharks still had something of a mountain to scale by winning easily by 59 points.

A year later and it was once again the Swans who were responsible for ending East Fremantle's bid for the flag, but on this occasion it was on the final Saturday of the season.  The Sharks had performed consistently well for most of the 1984 season to finish the home and away rounds in 2nd spot, a single win behind the Swans.  They then astounded most observers by going straight into the grand final with a 15.12 (102) to 10.16 (76) 2nd semi final win.  The premiership seemed there for the taking.  However, when the big day arrived, with Swan Districts predictably again providing the opposition, many of the younger East Fremantle players froze; by quarter time, the match was as good as over, with Swans having surged to a 10.7 (67) to 0.3 lead.  Even in the 2nd term, when the Sharks fought back determinedly to get to within a couple of straight kicks, it was clear that the finals hardened men from Bassendean held too much in reserve.  After half time they again kicked clear and although East Fremantle ultimately managed to equal their tally of a fortnight previously, on this occasion it left them 6 goals adrift, Swan Districts winning 20.18 (138) to 15.12 (102).  

Despite the disappointment of a losing grand final there was considerable optimism at East Fremantle Oval as the team prepared for the 1985 season.  It was widely believed that the squad of players at the club was the strongest for many years, and that with the inevitable honing of skills that a further season's experience would bring, coupled with the insatiable hunger brought about by going so close in 1984, the Sharks would prove to be well nigh unbeatable in 1985, and so in fact it proved.  Indeed, after opening the season with a 79 point mauling of their previous season's nemesis East Fremantle remained unbeaten until round 13 when West Perth edged home by 2 points.  The side lost on only 3 further occasions all year, with 2 of those defeats coming in the final 2 rounds of the season after the minor premiership had been clinched.

The finals did not prove to be quite the cakewalk expected, however.  Subiaco, which had lowered its colours to the Sharks in 2 out of 3 meetings during the minor round (see footnote 11), provided stern opposition in both the 2nd semi final, which it lost by 12 points, and grand final, when both sides had 27 scoring shots and the margin was just 5 points.  Midway through the final quarter of the grand final East Fremantle enjoyed a comfortable lead only for the Lions, if the pun can be excused, to come roaring home; with the scores at 15.12 (102) to 14.13 (97) in the Sharks' favour and the ball on the Subiaco forward lines the siren sounded.  Best players for the victors were Clinton Browning, Murray Wrensted and Colin Waterson, but the Simpson Medal went to Brian Taylor of Subiaco.  (A comprehensive, goal by goal account of this grand final can be found in the GREAT GAMES section.)

The Lions had ample revenge over the Sharks in 1986 winning an anti climactic grand final by 69 points, this after the Sharks had triumphed with deceptive ease in the 2nd semi final, winning 20.13 (133) to 12.11 (83).

The seeping alterations to the football landscape which had been occurring since the 1960s suddenly burgeoned into a full scale cataclysm in 1987 with the admission of West Coast and Brisbane to an expanded VFL.  At a stroke, the WAFL competition was denuded of more than forty of its best players, with East Fremantle, which lost no fewer than fourteen members of its 1986 squad (see footnote 12), among the worst affected.  Despite this, the Sharks ran a creditable 3rd in 1987, as indeed they did in 1988 and 1989.  The 1989 season saw Brian Peake, who in the minds of some was the greatest player the game has seen, play his 300th WAFL match for East Fremantle.  Peake, who also spent four seasons with Geelong, was certainly a highly decorated player, winning six Lynn Medals, a Sandover, and the 1979 Tassie Medal, as well as making 22 interstate appearances for Western Australia, gaining selection in three All Australian teams, and playing in three East Fremantle premiership teams.  In 1990 he moved to Perth where he played a further 10 games for a career total of more than 400.

The Sharks' fortunes declined somewhat in 1990 (4th) while in 1991, for the first time ever, not one of East Fremantle's three sides (seniors, reserves and colts) qualified for finals participation.  Things could hardly have been more different a year later, though, as all three sides made it through to the September action, with both the seniors and the colts ultimately going top.  As far as the senior side was concerned the 24 point 'derby' grand final victory over South Fremantle was a testimony to the judicious (pun intended) coaching of Ken Judge, who comprehensively won the strategic battle of wits with his opposite number, Malcolm Brown.  In the 2nd semi final a fortnight earlier the Bulldogs running brigade had been in irrepressible form, but on this occasion Judge firmly and decisively seized the initiative from the start by instructing players like Steven Bilcich and Clayton Anderson to suppress their own game and apply themselves single mindedly to the task of quelling the effectiveness of their immediate opponents.  Anderson succeeded to the extent of restricting his direct opponent Mark Collins to just a couple of kicks to three quarter time, while Bilcich, who was commissioned to mind Wally Matera, did so effective a job that he was most people's choice as best afield (see footnote 13).  After a closely fought first three quarters which ended with South Fremantle a single goal to the good the Sharks, with the aid of a fairly stiff breeze, added 5.3 to 0.3 in the final term to win with deceptive comfort, 12.19 (91) to 9.13 (67).

Two years later East Fremantle would win yet another flag, but this time there would be no comfort about it, deceptive or otherwise.  After qualifying for the finals in 3rd spot it proved necessary to negotiate three tough fixtures in order to secure involvement in the grand final.  First, West Perth were overcome by 28 points in the qualifying final, only for flag favourites Claremont to put a proverbial spanner in the works the following week in the 2nd semi.  The Tigers won with some ease, 17.13 (115) to 11.2 (68), and looked odds on to win the premiership.  Not that East Fremantle even looked likely to be contesting the premiership at half time of the preliminary final a week later against the Falcons.  West Perth had had winners all over the ground and led by 36 points, 9.15 (69) to 5.3 (33); only a slight waywardness in front of goal on the part of certain Falcon forwards had kept East Freo in the game, albeit tenuously.  In the 3rd term though the game began to change as the Shark midfielders started to get a run on.  At the final change West Perth still led, but the margin was down to 13 points and it seemed clear that the momentum was with the easterners.  Perhaps predictably, the last quarter was one way traffic, East Fremantle adding 6.3 to 0.3 to win with a comfort that, at half time, would have been almost impossible to imagine.

East Fremantle's domination of the 1998 Westar Rules (see footnote 14) season was consummate. Having qualified for the finals in pole position, with only 2 losses for the year, the side went on to reach the grand final almost effortlessly after a 53 point 2nd semi final defeat of West Perth in which the Falcons were restricted to just 3.17 (35). When the Sharks and Falcons met again on grand final day it was a similar story, albeit after West Perth had firmly thrown down the gauntlet late in the 2nd term. At that stage East Fremantle, having looked comfortable early on, were reeling after the loss of 3 players with debilitating injuries; the Falcons failed to press home their advantage, however, and an 11 point deficit at half time was as close as they got. The final siren saw East Fremantle 43 points to the good, 20.10 (130) to West Perth's 13.9 (87).  The Simpson Medal went to Sharks on baller Adrian Bromage, with other significant contributions coming from skipper Steve Bilcich, centre half forward Scott Spalding, and wingman Gary Dhurrkay.

During the period 1991 to 2000 the Sharks were Western Australian football's most successful club with five grand final appearances for three flags, and an overall success rate of 61.4%.  Despite this - or, rather, because of factors outside the club's control - attendances at East Fremantle Oval plummeted, from an average in 1991 of 4,430 per game, to significantly less than half of that a decade later.  On a perversely positive note, since the arrival on the scene of the West Coast Eagles East Fremantle has probably produced as many AFL draftees as any other club in the land, and the battle hardened club hierarchy seem under few illusions as to the harsh realities of life for those who inhabit what might be called 'Australian football's second tier'.  If being a regular and reliable contributor to the AFL treadmill constitutes a somewhat less auspicious vocation than a club of East Fremantle's pedigree warrants, it nevertheless at least represents a valid survival mechanism at a time when 'survival' has very much become a watchword for virtually every sporting organisation in the land.

As far as on-field performances go, the twenty-first century has, to date, been far from auspicious, with the club failing to qualify for the finals every season since 2002, and even succumbing to the rare, if not quite unique, indignity of wooden spoons in 2004 and 2006.  Restoring the club to what many would argue is its rightful place at the forefront of the West Australian game is going to be far from easy, but the Sharks have faced stiffer challenges over the years, and triumphed, and it would surprise no one to see them challenging seriously for premierships again with in the next two or three seasons, particularly in the wake of a much improved 2007 campaign that produced a 9-11 win/loss record and an extremely healthy percentage, good enough for 6th place on the ladder.

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Footnotes

11.  Subiaco's win came in the final home and away fixture of the year when East Fremantle were, by common consent, relaxing.  Earlier, when the stakes were arguably higher, the Sharks had won by 97 points in round 7, and 71 points in round 14.  Finals football is an altogether different affair, however.  Back to Main Text

12.  Not all of these departing players joined West Coast, but the Eagles were nevertheless by some measure the single biggest source of the 'player drain', as indeed they would continue to be, season in, season out, for some considerable time.  Back to Main Text

13.  Not the Simpson Medal voting panel's though.  They plumped for evergreen Shark ruckman Clinton Browning - not that any members of the blue and white fraternity really cared much either way.  Back to Main Text

14.  The brief change of the competition's name from Western Australian Football League to Westar Rules was an ill-conceived attempt to update the local game for a supposedly more discerning, sophisticated clientele.  Hardly anyone was fooled.  Back to Main Text