FREMANTLE - Part One: 1868 to 1985
Affiliated: AFL 1995-present
Club Address: Level One, Wesley Way, 16 Market Street, Fremantle 6160
Postal Address: P.O. Box 381, Fremantle 6160
Home Ground: Subiaco Oval
Formed: 1994
Colours: Purple, white, red and green
Emblem: Dockers
AFL Premierships: Nil (Highest position: 4th in 2006)
Brownlow Medallists: Nil
AFL All Australians: Matthew Pavlich 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007 & 2008; Peter Bell 2003; Paul Hasleby 2003; Aaron Sandilands 2008 & 2009 (10 total)
Fremantle's 'Hall of Legends': Click here
Highest Score: 28.12 (180) vs. Collingwood 10.8 (68) at Subiaco Oval in round 7 2005
Most Games: 238 by Shane Parker 1995-2007 (correct to the start of the 2009 season)
Record Home Attendance (Home and Away Rounds): 42,213 at Subiaco Oval in round 6 2006: Fremantle 12.16 (88); West Coast 12.11 (83)
Record Finals Attendance: 42,770 for the 1st elimination final on 5 September 2003 at Subiaco Oval: Essendon 15.11 (101); Fremantle 8.9 (57)
Overall Success Rate 1995-2009: 38.9%
| MINI-BIOGRAPHIES: | Ben Allan Craig Callaghan Scott Chisholm Gary Dhurrkay Adrian Fletcher Tony Modra Gerard Neesham |
Without the draft concessions enjoyed by their near neighbours West Coast almost a decade before, Fremantle's early years in the 'big time' proved to be significantly less noteworthy, and overall it would probably be fair to suggest that they have not yet been able to do justice to the rich traditions of Fremantle football as exemplified over the years by 'Old Easts' (later the Sharks) and the red and whites (latterly the Bulldogs). Indeed, had a merged East and South Fremantle been able to participate in the VFL at almost any time since its inception there is little doubt that premiership cups would have been heading west across the Nullarbor well before the Eagles' eventual breakthrough in 1992.
Hypotheses aside, however, the story of football in Fremantle dates back at least as far as1868, when a match is recorded as taking place between the Town of Fremantle and the Western Australian Temperance and Recreation Society. Although there is no record as to the type of football played on this occasion, it can be reliably assumed that it was not the game known at the time as 'Victorian Rules'. Indeed, for most of the first two decades during which organised football is known to have been played in the Perth-Fremantle area it was the English game of rugby that was favoured, with the indigenous code only gradually, indeed almost imperceptibly, finding favour.
By 1882 a total of five clubs in the Perth-Fremantle region were acknowledged as having senior status, and of these only one club, Unions, preferred the Australian, or 'bouncing', game. However, when the Western Australian Football Association was formed only three years later, its member clubs all agreed that matches should be played according to the Victorian-orientated rules of the Adelaide and Suburban Football Association, with just a few minor modifications being agreed to address local conditions. It appears that, during the intervening time, press and public dissatisfaction with the rugby code as a spectacle had mounted, while the number of influential individuals involved in the various football clubs who openly favoured Victorian Rules had risen rapidly. One such individual was the inaugural captain of the Fremantle Football Club, Bill Bateman, who had been to school at Prince Alfred College in Adelaide, "one of the cradles of the Australian game" (see footnote 1).
The first WAFA premiership was initially contested by four clubs: Rovers (precursors of the Perth Football Club), Victorians and Perth High School, all of which were Perth-based, plus Fremantle. However, Perth High School withdrew after only a couple of matches.
In 1886, a second Fremantle-based side, Unions, brought the number of clubs in the competition back to four. Bateman's Fremantle swept all before it this year, winning all 7 matches contested, most by huge margins. At season's end a representative game was arranged between 'Combined Perth' and 'Combined Fremantle', with the former winning 2.3 to 1.9 (behinds not counting in the score at this stage, of course). Such 'test matches', as they later became known, would, during the pre-World War One period of the twentieth century, become an important feature in each year's Western Australian football calendar.
In 1887, for reasons which remain unclear, the all conquering Fremantle side went into mothballs, leaving Unions as the port settlement's sole standard bearers. Three years later, Unions decided to adopt the same name as their predecessors, "because of the district" (see footnote 2). By this stage the club was, by some measure, the competition's strongest, winning flags in 1888 and 1889 as Unions, and again in 1890 as Fremantle. It would almost certainly have made it four in a row in 1891 had it not been for a rather untoward sequence of events. Football by this stage was being marred by acts of premeditated violence, both on and off the field of play, and was losing popularity as a result, as well as attracting the same kind of press criticism that rugby had had to endure in the 1880s. Things really came to a head during the 1891 season when, with Fremantle unbeaten and seemingly comfortably on course to retain the premiership, Rovers threw a controversial and ultimately disabling spanner into the works, downing the ladder leaders 1.3 to 0.7 after the umpire, Mr. Croft - a former Rovers player, no less - had repeatedly appeared to favour them. The match was played in Fremantle and, perhaps predictably, the majority of the spectators were far from overjoyed:
The game between Rovers and Fremantle at Fremantle Park witnessed one of the most disorderly scenes that have ever occurred on the football field in this colony, and but for the presence of Constable Bonner, who was on mounted duty on the ground, serious injury would have been inflicted on the umpire, Mr. Croft.
As soon as the game had ended, a disorderly mob of larrikins, including many elderly men, surrounded the pavilion and asserted that the umpire had behaved with partiality and harshness towards the Fremantle team and had been unusually liberal towards the Rovers.
They yelled and shouted for the umpire, the din at times being deafening, and as each member of the Rovers came down the stairs he was hooted and hustled by the large crowd.
The president of the association, Mr. James, appeared (he was wearing a Rovers cap) and was mobbed.
The umpire next made his appearance and this was the signal for a general rush towards him, someone on the pavilion throwing a bucket of water on him as he emerged from the stairs.
The leaders of the crowd then threw him against the wall and a general rush was attempted to stem the onslaught.
Matters were beginning to look serious when Constable Bonner charged the mob, but his efforts at first were unsuccessful. Knox, Wehrstedt and Bateman, members of the Fremantle club, got beside Mr. Croft and at great risk succeeded in holding back some of the more impetuous spirits.
The umpire got away from the wall while mounted troopers held the crowd back. In this way, Mr. Croft got out of the Park, followed by the yells and jeers and sarcastic comments of the barrackers.
The mob, seeing that the Fremantle footballers were discouraging the hostile exhibition, gradually desisted from their unseemly behaviour. (See footnote 3)
The defeat in itself was by no means disastrous, and when Fremantle duly won its next 2 matches to consolidate its position at the head of the ladder there appeared to be no reason why expectations of a fourth consecutive premiership should not be realised. However, irritation still rankled among the club's officials and players, and it was decided that, as a protest, the club's final 3 games of the season should be forfeited. It is not clear precisely what the players and officials felt might be gained by this move, but intense feelings and logical actions rarely go hand in hand; the upshot was that Fremantle plummeted to 3rd place on the ladder, with arch rivals Rovers being handed the flag. The reaction of umpire Croft is not known, but might readily be imagined.
Australia during the 1890s underwent its worst economic depression to date, with many inhabitants of the eastern states heading west in pursuit of fortune on the goldfields of Kalgoorlie and Coolgardie. Inevitably, some of these itinerants were footballers, and when the search for gold proved fruitless, as it did for many, a fair number of them gravitated further west, to the coastal settlements of Perth and Fremantle. One gratifying consequence of this was that the standard of football being played in the WAFA improved, while there was also a corresponding decline in on field violence. Perhaps the most famous eastern state footballer to head west was Albert Thurgood of Essendon, who was arguably the finest player of his era. Known as 'Albert the Great', Thurgood spent three and a bit seasons at Fremantle, topping the Association goal kicking list in 1895 (53 goals), 1896 (57) and 1897 (27). Other prominent eastern states footballers such as Tom Wilson (ex North Melbourne), Dave 'Dolly' Christy (ex Melbourne), and the former South Melbourne pair of Harry Duggan and Dug Irvine made Fremantle the dominant team in the colony, and arguably the whole of Australia, for much of the 1890s. Between 1892 and 1896 the side won five successive flags and managed an overall success rate of 78.9%. It won again in 1898, but economic problems which had been simmering for some time came to a head the following season, which proved to be the club's last. In addition, several of Fremantle's more noteworthy players, including Wilson and Christy, had been founder members in 1898 of a new club based at the port, East Fremantle, which in due course would take over Fremantle's status as the leading team in the colony.
East Fremantle broke through for its first premiership in 1900, a season which also saw South Fremantle admitted to the competition, as well as the resumption of 'test' matches between Combined Fremantle and Combined Perth representative sides. Combined Fremantle emerged triumphant on this occasion by the substantial margin for the time of 55 points, 12.12 (84) to 3.11 (29) (see footnote 4).
Besides these 'test' matches, the Fremantle sides would join together on at least one further occasion. While the 1924 Hobart Carnival was taking place, the North Adelaide and Essendon Football Clubs visited Western Australia, and East Fremantle and South Fremantle combined forces to meet them. Against a weak North Adelaide side which would eventually finish 6th in the SANFL the Fremantle combination scored a narrow win, but reigning VFL premiers Essendon proved much too strong. Despite inaccuracy in front of goal, the 'Same Old' won by 49 points.
Following the admission to the WAFA of North Fremantle in 1901, 50% of the clubs in the competition were located at the port. Playing initially in red, white and blue, and later in black and white, the northerners enjoyed only minimal success during their fifteen season tenure at the top level. East Fremantle and South Fremantle, however, would go on to forge one of the greatest and most intense rivalries in Australian sport; known as 'Fremantle Derbies', their confrontations frequently produced the competition's highest attendances for the year, not to mention some of the best - and most bruising - football. The all time record attendance for a football match in Western Australia was set at the Fremantle Derby grand final of 1979, when 52,781 spectators turned up. This was just one of ten premiership-deciding matches between the clubs during the course of the twentieth century (see footnote 5).
Action from a Fremantle Derby match at Fremantle Oval in 1910. East Fremantle won on this occasion, 8.11 (59) to South Fremantle's 1.8 (14). Both sides shared Fremantle Oval at this time.
In the period between Australia's emergence into nationhood in 1901 and the onset of World War One thirteen years later, Australian football had probably its best opportunity ever to transcend the straitjackets of parochialism and self interest which have stymied its development for much of its history. The spirit of nationalism which swept the country had a pronounced and legible effect on most sports, including football, where, for an all too brief time, there was a general and genuine desire to look beyond state boundaries and interpret the game in a national context. Alongside a fruitful and generally altruistic cross-fertilisation of ideas, the comparative lack of restrictions over player movement meant that the spread of talent between the three major football states was, by 1910 or '11, more even than it had ever been before, or would ever subsequently be.
Interstate tours by clubs became a regular feature of the football calendar during this period, as players and officials sought to affirm their own and their club's identities and significance within a national framework, whilst simultaneously fuelling their nascent sense of patriotism by means of the establishment of links with fellow countrymen in other parts of the vast, enthralling landscape that they were gradually learning to think of as 'home'. Visits to Western Australia by club sides from South Australia and Victoria were eagerly anticipated during this period, and matches against these teams often attracted attendances in excess of those for WANFL finals matches.
In 1909, as reigning League and state premiers, the East Fremantle Football Club undertook its first interstate tour, visiting Broken Hill, where two matches were played, and Melbourne for a game against a VFL combination. The series in Broken Hill was squared, with many of the East Fremantle players expressing disquiet over the standard of the umpiring, but in Melbourne the side truly showed its pedigree, losing only narrowly (10.12 to 12.8) against a team containing a proliferation of household names (see footnote 6).
Of course, the travelling was not all in one direction. In 1910, a Port Adelaide team described by East Fremantle legend Dolph Heinrichs half a century later as "the best club 18 that has visited WA" (see footnote 7) attracted huge interest when it journeyed across the Nullarbor. As reigning premiers, East Fremantle was given the honour of challenging the visitors, and after a splendid match went under by just 12 points. Some idea of just how good a performance this was can be gauged from the fact that, at Fremantle Oval a few days later, Port Adelaide overcame a virtual state side by 5 points in a game that yielded a record gate for Australian football in Western Australia up to that point.
The 1910 season also saw South Fremantle venturing interstate for the first time and sustaining a narrow loss against Fitzroy in the only game played. Two years later, it was East Fremantle's turn to visit Victoria and take on both the Maroons and the Melbourne weather, the latter of which was at its uncongenial worst; needless to say, the match was lost, as was a game against West Torrens at the Adelaide Oval. Such interstate tours had less to do with winning games than winning friends, however, as well as reinforcing loyalty and camaraderie within the club. The links established between East Fremantle and Port Adelaide over the years, for instance, might be said to have contributed in no small measure to the rare, indeed almost unique, mutual rapport and respect which currently exists at AFL level between the Dockers and the Power (see footnote 8).
The 1912 season saw all three Fremantle teams participating in the finals for only the second (and, ultimately the last) time, but it was Subiaco which lifted the flag. Up to this point, East Fremantle, with premierships in 1900, 1902-3-4, 1906, and 1908-9-10-11 had been by some measure 'cock-o-the-port', a status that was emphasised with a 5.13 (43) to 3.6 (24) challenge final defeat of the Maroons in 1914. South Fremantle's moment was coming, however. In 1916 and 1917 the red and whites won consecutive flags, the taste of victory being rendered all the sweeter by virtue of the fact that the grand final opposition on both occasions was provided by their local rivals.
South Fremantle was also the first of the two clubs to provide a Sandover Medallist, with centreman Jack Rocchi taking the honours in 1928. By this stage, however, Old Easts had comprehensively re-established themselves as Western Australia's premier team, with players like Lin Richards, 'Bub' Jarvis, 'Dinny' Coffey and Clarrie Reynolds propelling them to four successive flags between 1928 and 1931. The blue and whites won further pennants in 1933 and 1937, and were the dominant force in Western Australian football in the immediate post-World War Two phase. Indeed, East Fremantle's 1946 side was the only club in any of the three major football states ever to go through an entire post-war season unbeaten, although West Perth, with 4 and 6 point losses in the finals, came fairly close to upsetting the proverbial apple cart.
Between 1947 and 1954 it was South Fremantle's turn to dominate, and rarely can a team have done so with such consummate and unremitting energy, vigour and style; the red and whites won premierships in 1947 and '48, 1950, and from 1952 to 1954, besides finishing runners up (by 3 points) to West Perth in 1951. During this period the club gained an Australia-wide reputation for excellence, with Collingwood coach Phonse Kyne declaring, after watching his side lower its colours to the red and whites:
"We all know South Fremantle would hold their own in Victorian football. They......have some mighty fine players and have nothing to learn about system, pace and kicking - the main requirements of a first-class side." (See footnote 9)
Prominent among these "mighty fine players" were livewire rover Steve Marsh, indestructible defender Frank 'Scranno' Jenkins, evergreen ruckman Jack 'Corp' Reilly, Bradmanesque full forward Bernie Naylor, and deceptively casual, but highly effective, half back flanker Frank Treasure.
East Fremantle's record of at least one premiership in every decade of the club's existence continued with flags in 1965, 1974, 1979, 1985, 1992 and 1994. South Fremantle meanwhile proved somewhat less successful, even succumbing to the indignity of the wooden spoon on several occasions. However, it did also prove successful in winning three further flags before the turn of the century, in 1970, 1980 and 1997. By the time of the last of these successes, though, neither South Fremantle or their century long rivals could any longer lay claim to being Fremantle's premier side, and within a couple of years there were even rumours that the unthinkable was being contemplated: a Bulldogs-Sharks merger.
The emergence on the scene of the Fremantle Dockers had, to a certain extent, already effected, if not quite a merger, then at least a unification of purpose, together with a heightened sense of shared traditions and values. The Dockers, from the start, were keen to enmesh themselves in the fabric of local football history by, for example, the establishment in 1995 of a 'Hall of Legends' which recognised and celebrated the contributions made to football in Fremantle by a range of former East Fremantle and South Fremantle identities. The inaugural inductees were East Fremantle's Jack Clarke, George Doig and Jack Sheedy, and the South Fremantle trio of Clive Lewington, Steve Marsh and Stephen Michael. New additions to the 'Hall of Legends' have continued to be made since each year.
Speculation as to 'what might have been' is a notoriously idle pastime, but had a combined Fremantle side been able to participate in some kind of national football competition at virtually any time during the twentieth century, it is hard to resist the belief that it would have been extremely successful. Take a look, for example, at this hypothetical 'best of' combination, which is probably only one of several of more or less equivalent standard that could have been selected from the exhaustive range of talent available:
All Time Great Pre-Dockers Fremantle Team
(All images are clickable.)
| Backs: | Jack
Reilly (South Fremantle)
Jack Reilly senior's playing career spanned World War Two and he was a key figure in South Fremantle's legendary 1947 and 1948 premiership teams. Nicknamed 'Corp', "Reilly was a ruckman who was smaller than most of the opposing followers of his day, but he more than made up for those disadvantages by his ruggedness and unlimited stamina" (see footnote 10). A club fairest and best winner in 1945, Reilly represented the state 10 times. He played 204 club games. |
Con
Regan (East Fremantle)
Con Regan was a tremendously accomplished and versatile footballer for East Fremantle over 261 games. Besides being one of the game's all time great full backs, he could hold down a key attacking role with almost equal aplomb, and indeed topped the Old East goal kicking list in 1955 with 65 goals. Con Regan represented his state on 7 occasions and was a member of East Fremantle's 1957 and 1965 premiership sides. |
Brad
Hardie (South Fremantle)
Prior to the VFL's evolution into a quasi-national competition and the Brownlow Medal's consequent elevation in status, the highest individual award open to players was the Tassie Medal. Brad Hardie won this illustrious honour on 2 occasions, the only player to do so. Admittedly, by the time of Hardie's successes (1984 and 1986) the award had been devalued somewhat in that its recipient was adjudged on the basis of a maximum of 2 games, rather than 3 or 4 as in the days of the single city carnival (see footnote 11). Nevertheless, the fact that Hardie also won a Brownlow when he went to Footscray effectively erases any question marks over his pedigree. Although he probably played his best football in a back pocket, Hardie was equally adept near the goal front. He was a key member of South Fremantle's 1980 premiership team, and a regular interstate representative. |
|
| Half Backs: | Frank
Jenkins (South Fremantle)
There have been few more resolute or determined footballers than Frank 'Scranno' Jenkins. Despite his relentlessly physical approach, he was more than capable of catching the umpire's eye, and won a Sandover Medal in 1937. He was also awarded a Simpson Medal after playing for WA against Essendon in 1947, 1 of 9 appearances he made for his state. A triple club champion, Jenkins was at centre half back in the red and whites' 1947 and 1948 premiership teams. |
Carlisle
Jarvis (East Fremantle)
Nicknamed 'Bub', Jarvis enjoyed an illustrious 12 season League career with Old Easts during which he gained almost universal recognition as Western Australia's premier defender. A Lynn Medallist in 1934, his last full season, he was runner up in the Sandover Medal the same year. In the highly informed view of Dolph Heinrichs, Jarvis was "beyond any doubt (East Fremantle's) greatest defender" (see footnote 12). A key member of 7 blue and white premiership teams, Jarvis surprisingly only represented the state on 8 occasions, in large part because of his reluctance to travel interstate. He also suffered several debilitating injuries, one of which barred him from selection for the 1927 Melbourne carnival (although it is quite likely that he would have refused to go in any case). |
Frank
Treasure (South Fremantle)
Ultra reliable and utterly unflappable, Frank Treasure senior played 254 games for South Fremantle, including all 6 of the club's victorious grand finals between 1947 and 1954. Noted as a half back flank specialist, he was also an accomplished centreman when the need arose. Club captain in 1954 and 1955 (his last season), Treasure's "relaxed style earned him the humorous-affectionate nickname of 'Loafer', but many opponents found to their cost that his sometimes leisurely attitude cloaked a precision of movement" (see footnote 13). Frank Treasure was runner up in the Sandover Medal count of 1951, a rare achievement for a defender. |
|
| Centres: | Clive
Lewington (South Fremantle)
1947 Sandover Medallist Clive Lewington had few peers as a centreline player during the half a dozen or so seasons after World War Two. A triple club champion, Lewington also coached South Fremantle to 4 of the 6 premierships achieved during the halcyon 1947-1954 era, the first of these while still a player. In a war-interrupted career, Lewington managed only 5 interstate appearances, but among these were the Hobart carnival matches of 1947. |
William
Truscott (East Fremantle)
If you include games played in the goldfields competition, which at the time Truscott played in it (early 20th century) was irrefutably of League standard, William 'Nipper' Truscott played well over 400 games. According to Dolph Heinrichs, "Truscott was the finest centreman of them all. His great merit was his disposal of the ball. The writer cannot remember Truscott ever punting a ball, always it was a drop kick, stabbed with the name of the recipient on it.......Truscott possessed a long, easy stride, which made him faster than he appeared, and he was a master of ground play.....Truscott played the game as it should be played; with skill, and scrupulous fairness." (See footnote 14) |
Ray
Sorrell (East Fremantle & South Fremantle)
During his 177 game league career Sorrell was regarded as one of, if not the, best centremen in Australia. Essendon's Jack Clarke, for example, rated Sorrell as his toughest opponent: "He was fast, strong, intelligent in both attack and defence, elusive and a powerful kick. I've played against him three times, and.....haven't beaten him once." (See footnote 15) Besides winning the 1963 Sandover Medal and being awarded a retrospective one for 1961, Sorrell was twice adjudged East Fremantle's fairest and best player. Twice a Simpson Medallist, he represented WA 18 times and made the 1958 and 1961 All Australian teams. In 1964 South Fremantle recruited Sorrell as its captain-coach, paying what, for the time, was the outrageously extravagant sum of £1,250 for the privilege. It was less than a sound investment as South finished 7th and 8th in Sorrell's two seasons in charge. He later returned briefly to Old Easts, where he finished his playing career, claiming that he had never been fully accepted or made to feel welcome by the red and white fraternity. |
|
| Half Forwards: | John
Todd (South Fremantle)
Few players have exploded onto the football scene as sensationally as did John Todd in 1955 when, as a 17 year old, he not only represented the state and won South Fremantle's fairest and best award, he became the youngest ever winner of the Sandover Medal. South Australian legend Bob Quinn, after witnessing Todd's debut at interstate level against South Australia, ventured the opinion that the youngster "was the most complete footballer for his age that he had seen" (see footnote 16). Todd sustained a serious knee injury against East Perth in round 7 1956. The road to recovery was long and hard, but after several aborted comeback attempts he finally returned to something approaching his best late in the 1958 season, a year which saw him again receive the red and whites' premier individual award. The following year, aged just 21, he took over as South Fremantle coach, but stood down after just 1 year. He would later eke out a reputation for himself as one of WA football's finest ever coaches. Injuries continued to beset Todd for most of the remaining half a dozen seasons of his career (he stood out of football completely in 1965). In 1961, however, he enjoyed a comparatively injury free run, and 3 of his 13 interstate appearances for WA were at that year's Brisbane carnival, from which the sandgropers emerged victorious. Todd's excellent form during the carnival, in which he played mostly on the wing, was rewarded with All Australian selection. He rounded the season off in gratifying fashion by winning his 3rd South Fremantle best and fairest award. But for injury, John Todd would surely have achieved much more as a player. Nevertheless, he accomplished more in 132 League games than many players do in twice that number. |
George
Prince (East Fremantle)
"Born to be a footballer, George Prince was probably the most versatile player to wear either a blue and white guernsey or the state colours. Equally at home in the ruck, at centre half forward or in goals, he was a champion wherever he played." (See footnote 17) A Lynn Medallist in 1947, Prince played 226 games for Old Easts, and represented WA on 8 occasions. He was a member of East Fremantle's 1945 and 1946 premiership teams. |
Jack
Sheedy (East Fremantle) - captain
Jack Sheedy's name was synonymous with that of the East Fremantle Football Club throughout his 13 season, 210 game career there. His departure to coach East Perth in 1956 remains difficult to swallow for many Old East supporters of long standing. A Lynn Medallist on a record 4 occasions (including once during the under age, wartime years) Sheedy represented his state 22 times. A further 122 games with the Royals gave him a career total of 332, which at the time of his retirement in 1962 was claimed to be an Australian record. Always a colourful, controversial character, Sheedy fronted up to the WA Protests and Disputes Board no fewer than 13 times during his career, more often than not incurring a suspension. However, it is arguably for his football artistry and inspirational leadership qualities that he is best remembered. |
|
| Forwards: | Stephen
Michael (South Fremantle)
"Few would dispute that Stephen Michael was one of the best players produced in WA. His consistency, all round brilliance and endurance made him a player of his time." (See footnote 18) Runner up in the 1979 Sandover Medal, Michael went on to win the award in each of the next 2 seasons. He also won a Tassie Medal in 1983, but during the close season at the end of the year he was accidentally shot in the knee during a hunting trip. The injury did not finish his career, but did seriously undermine his form. After struggling on for 2 further seasons he announced his retirement. At his best, Stephen Michael was probably as close as footballers come to the 'complete package'. Although not tall (189cm) for a ruckman his leaping ability was such that he seldom found himself at a disadvantage against opponents with greater each. Meanwhile, he had such sublime ground skills and tremendous agility that he could take on, and beat, the best 'smalls' in the game, too. His 5 club champion awards and 17 interstate appearances during an 11 season WA(N)FL career provide additional evidence of his quality. |
George
Doig (East Fremantle)
One of the greatest full forwards ever to have played the game, Doig accumulated 1,111 goals for East Fremantle between 1933 and 1941, as well as a handful of games (including the grand final) in 1945. He topped the WANFL goal kicking list on 6 occasions. According to Dolph Heinrichs, "He was as fine a ground player as he was a high mark, and he led out at a tremendous pace. His turning was frequently the despair of opposing backs. On the move, he seldom failed to goal and his ratio of goals to behinds must have been 4:1. As a screw shot with his left foot his deadliness has never been approached. Game to the core, he was as fair in his methods and as unselfish as any player who ever donned a guernsey." (See footnote 19)
|
Jim
Conway (East Fremantle)
1950 Sandover Medallist Jim Conway was a highly skilled, elusive, goal kicking rover who represented Old East on 180 occasions. Besides winning a Lynn Medal in the same year as his Sandover, he twice topped the club's goal kicking list (his 77 goals in 1951 being especially meritorious), and represented WA in the interstate arena 15 times. After one particularly dazzling display it was noted: "East Perth had as much chance of bottling up Conway as a cat would have of catching an asbestos mouse through a furnace at the East Perth powerhouse." (See footnote 20) |
|
| 1st Ruck: | Jack
Clarke (East Fremantle)
Known as 'Stork' (for reasons which the above photo makes amply clear), Jack Clarke's greatness is succinctly summarised by the fact that he was the only player in history to gain selection in 4 All Australian teams. His battles with fellow all time great ruckman Graham 'Polly' Farmer of East Perth were legendary. An automatic state selection for much of his 11 season, 206 game League career, Clarke represented WA 25 times. He was 3 times voted East Fremantle's champion player, and won a Sandover Medal in 1957. "No all time great WA team would be complete without Jack 'Stork' Clarke. For his size (6' 4", 193cm) Clarke was agile and confident. He was clever as a knock ruckman and his reliability in the air was equally complimented (sic.) with accurate kicking and precise handball to position." (See footnote 21) |
Brian
Peake (East Fremantle)
Six time Lynn Medallist Brian Peake would have to rate as one of the finest and most complete footballers to have played anywhere since World War Two. A triple premiership player, Peake enjoyed a glittering career during which he garnered many awards, including a Sandover Medal in 1977 and a Tassie Medal 2 years later. He played interstate football for WA on 22 occasions, and was a member of the 1979, 1980 and 1986 All Australian teams, being selected as captain twice. Copious energy and stamina coupled with great skill were his primary attributes. He could play almost anywhere, but was best suited to an on ball or centreline role owing to his propensity to run hard all day. Peake played for Geelong between 1981 and 1984, but did not often produce his best form largely because he was frequently played in static positions rather than given free rein to display his abundant talent in a running role.
|
Steve
Marsh (South Fremantle)
Originally intending to play with Old Easts, Steve Marsh ended up signing for their local arch rivals instead. That was in 1945. Twelve years later, Marsh finally made the move to East Fremantle Oval, but by that time he had carved out a reputation for himself as one of the greatest players ever to don the red and white South Fremantle jumper. In his 12 season, 226 game career at South he won the club's fairest and best award a record 4 times, was a perennial WA state representative (21 games, including several as captain), won the 1952 Sandover Medal and a 1953 Simpson Medal after his team's grand final annihilation of West Perth, and was selected in the inaugural All Australian team after the 1953 Adelaide carnival. Such a summary tells only part of the story, however. Those who saw Marsh play recall "his example, his will to win, and his leadership" which "provided a constant source of inspiration to less talented teammates". Moreover, "Marsh's courage, his willingness to risk injury, his speed around the packs, his position play, his elusiveness and his accurate disposal were all attributes he owned to the highest degree" (see footnote 22). |
|
| Interchange: | Albert
Thurgood (Fremantle)
'Albert the Great', as he was known, was an all round football champion of the highest order, who was 3 times selected as Victoria's Champion of the Colony. In WA, he played both on the Goldfields and, more extensively, with Fremantle. During his stint with the latter he topped the WAFA goal kicking list on 3 consecutive occasions between 1895 and 1897, helping the side the premierships in the first 2 of those years. "Tall and magnificently built, Thurgood could play in any position on the ground and was extraordinarily fast. It was said that he could run 100 yards in even time. His high marking was superb, his high marking robust, and he was said to be as nimble and agile as a hare. Like a true champion he rarely had an off day and he could kick brilliantly with every type of kick imaginable." (See footnote 23) |
Bernie
Naylor (South Fremantle)
WA football has seen numerous talented spearheads, but few if any better than South Fremantle's Bernie Naylor who, in a 10 season, 194 game League career booted 1,064 goals, adding a further 45 in 16 interstate matches. According to Frank Harrison and Jack Lee, however, he achieved all this despite failing to receive any indulgence from the men in white: "Naylor (was) a scrupulously fair player who suffered from the umpires' delusion that full forwards were there to be buffeted and knocked down and around, and therefore were not entitled to free kicks. In one of his prolific ten seasons he kicked his 100th goal of the year with his first free kick." (See footnote 24) Club champion in 1953, Naylor bagged 8 goals in that season's winning grand final against West Perth, adding another 7 the following year when arch rivals Old Easts were the victims. "Naylor was not a spectacular high mark in the style of his talented successor, John Gerovich. He was sure enough, but most of his marks were taken safely on his chest.....His long, spiral punts were a joy for.....supporters to behold, and everyone who loved football admired his skill and amazing ability." (See footnote 25) |
David
Christy (Fremantle & East Fremantle)
A stalwart of East Fremantle's early years, David 'Dolly' Christy was the club's first player to be recognised by the AFL in its 'Hall of Fame'. The Victorian-born Christy, "that marvellous specimen of perennial youth" (see footnote 26), played senior football for 27 years. Equally at home on a half forward flank or as a follower, he was prominent among East Fremantle's best players time and time again throughout the early 1900s. In the view of Dolph Heinrichs, who played alongside Christy on many occasions, "He (Christy) was a very great player, comparable with any of the football giants who have worn the Blue and White. In physique he was slightly below the average height, but weighed about 13 stone. He was tremendously strong in the back muscles and in the arm and shoulders, and it was almost impossible to unbalance him.......His great value was his ability to force his way out of a pack with the ball by sheer strength and tenacity, and particularly if the position was in front of goal, where he was a fine snapshot. He lived for football. On the field he was dour and seldom spoke and there was no joy in the game if the match wasn't won." (See footnote 27) |
|
| Interchange: | Phil
Matson (North Fremantle)
Perhaps best remembered as the coach of East Perth's legendary 1919-20-21-22-23 premiership sides, South Australian Matson was also a superlative player, worthy of inclusion in almost any Australian football hall of fame on the basis of that activity alone. Matson spent just 1 season, 1911, with North Fremantle, but his form that year was superb, and he was a prominent contributor to the side's powerful challenge to eventual premiers Old Easts. The 1911 season proved to be an Indian summer for North Fremantle, but Matson went on to even greater things. As a player, Matson "could handle the ball with a sureness that was remarkable, his high marking was phenomenal, he was a good kick over long and short distances alike, and although he played the game with unrestrained vigour, his methods were never questioned" (see footnote 28). In addition, "he was capable of playing almost anywhere on the field......He possessed stamina as well as explosive pace and was blessed with a 'football brain' without equal. Quite simply, Matson was a gloriously gifted sportsman" (see footnote 29). |
Coach: | John
'Jerry' Dolan (East Fremantle)
Arguably the doyen of WA football coaches, Jerry Dolan combined tactical astuteness with motivational qualities of the highest order. During a sterling career as a player, he coached Old Easts to a premiership in 1933 before doing the same in an off field role with East Perth in 1936. Returning 'home' to East Fremantle in 1941 he coached the blue and whites to further flags in 1943 (under age), 1945 and 1946. The 1945 and 1946 sides won an astonishing 35 matches in succession. In 1947, Dolan coached Western Australia to a famous victory over the Big V at the Hobart carnival. |
|
Where now?
or
or
Footnotes
1. The Footballers by Geoff Christian, page 6. Return to Main Text
2. Ibid, page 10. Return to Main Text
3. Ibid, page 12. This is an allegedly contemporary report of the incident. However, the source is unspecified. Return to Main Text
4. Behinds had been counted in the score in Western Australia from 1898, one season after the innovation was first introduced in Victoria and South Australia. Return to Main Text
5. The complete list is as follows:
| Fremantle Derby Premiership Deciding Matches 1900 to 1997 | ||||||||||
| Year | Winning Team | G | B | Pts | Losing Team | G | B | Pts | Crowd | Simpson Medal |
| 1914 | East Fremantle | 5 | 13 | 43 | South Fremantle | 3 | 6 | 24 | Unknown | - |
| 1916 | South Fremantle | 7 | 12 | 54 | East Fremantle | 5 | 5 | 35 | Unknown | - |
| 1917 | South Fremantle | 6 | 5 | 41 | East Fremantle | 3 | 8 | 26 | Unknown | - |
| 1929 | East Fremantle | 8 | 22 | 70 | South Fremantle | 5 | 9 | 39 | 10,729 | - |
| 1930 | East Fremantle | 12 | 15 | 87 | South Fremantle | 9 | 11 | 65 | 7,654 | - |
| 1945 | East Fremantle | 12 | 15 | 87 | South Fremantle | 7 | 9 | 51 | 19,507 | A.Ebbs (EF) |
| 1954 | South Fremantle | 21 | 14 | 140 | East Fremantle | 9 | 8 | 62 | 36,098 | C.Tyson (SF) |
| 1979 | East Fremantle | 21 | 19 | 145 | South Fremantle | 16 | 16 | 112 | 52,781 | K.Taylor (EF) |
| 1992 | East Fremantle | 12 | 19 | 91 | South Fremantle | 9 | 13 | 67 | 30,130 | C.Browning (EF) |
| 1997 | South Fremantle | 13 | 7 | 85 | East Fremantle | 11 | 13 | 79 | 32,371 | D.Hynes (SF) |
Note: In 1900, East Fremantle won the premiership, with South Fremantle second. However, no finals matches were played, as the premiership at this time was still awarded to the team with the best overall record during the home and away season. Return to Main Text
6. These included: Jim Sharp of Fitzroy, who was renowned as the finest defender in the VFL; Collingwood's champion full forward, Walter 'Dick' Lee, who had topped the VFL goal kicking list in each of the previous 3 seasons, and would go on to do so in total on 10 occasions (including 1 shared); brilliant Carlton centreman Rod McGregor; and Melbourne's dashing forward Vince Couttie. Return to Main Text
7. Celebrating 100 Years of Tradition by Jack Lee, page 65. Port Adelaide would later defeat Collingwood for the club championship of Australia, highlighting the evenness of standard in the game at the top level at this time. Return to Main Text
8. East Fremantle and Port Adelaide continued to meet one another fairly frequently until the 1950s. Return to Main Text
9. The South Fremantle Story 1900-1975 Volume 1 by Frank Harrison and Jack Lee, page 81. Return to Main Text
10. The South Fremantle Story 1900-1975 Volume 2 by Frank Harrison and Jack Lee, page 11. Return to Main Text
11. The award was further devalued by virtue of the fact that, for South Australia and Western Australia, the rules governing player selection varied depending on which state was providing the opposition. Return to Main Text
12. Lee, op cit., page 177. Return to Main Text
13. The South Fremantle Story 1900-1975 Volume 2 by Frank Harrison and Jack Lee, page 139. Return to Main Text
14. Lee, op cit., page 131. Return to Main Text
15. High Mark edited by Jack Pollard, page 68. Return to Main Text
16. Football Greats of Western Australia Volume One by Anthony James, page 62. Return to Main Text
17. Lee, op cit, page 219. Return to Main Text
18. James, op cit., page 48. Return to Main Text
19. Lee, op cit., page 194. Return to Main Text
20. Ibid., page 227. Return to Main Text
21. James, op cit., page 20. Return to Main Text
22. The South Fremantle Story 1900-1975 Volume 2 by Frank Harrison and Jack Lee, page 136. Return to Main Text
23. The Encyclopedia of League Footballers by Jim Main and Russell Holmesby, page 436. Return to Main Text
24. The South Fremantle Story 1900-1975 Volume 2 by Frank Harrison and Jack Lee, page 115. Return to Main Text
25. Ibid., pages 115 and 119. Return to Main Text
26. Christian, op cit., page 16. Return to Main Text
27. Jack Lee, op cit., page 45. Return to Main Text
28. The Royals 1906-1976 by Matthew Glossop, page 24. Return to Main Text
29. Diehards 1896-1945 by Ken Spillman, pages 53-4. Return to Main Text