Ruckman - Graham 'Polly' Farmer (East Perth, Geelong, West Perth - vice-captain)

There have been more highly decorated individuals in the history of the game and arguably more gifted all round performers (though not too many of them) but in terms of impact, style and influence one is hard pressed to think of anyone to equal the East Perth, Geelong and West Perth great. As a ruckman during the 1950s and 1960s Farmer was unexcelled, with not even compatriot Jack Clarke or Victorian superstar John Nicholls being capable of living with him when he was fit and focused.  Moreover, with his innovative and incomparably effective use of handball - often over prodigious distances - Farmer almost single-handedly revolutionised the sport.  When you superimpose over all of this a resolute, almost regal demeanour and an unremitting dedication to succeed - albeit without any of the egocentricity all too often associated with such traits - then Farmer's right to be considered a bona fide legend of the game becomes irresistible.

He made his league debut with East Perth in 1953 but it was twelve months before he settled down to become a regular.  By 1955 he was recognised as one of the most effective knock ruckmen in Western Australia, earning state selection for the first time, and running second to South Fremantle's John Todd in the Sandover Medal voting.  At the end of the year he signed for Richmond, and actually crossed to Victoria in order to prepare for the 1956 season with the Tigers.  However, East Perth refused to clear him, and he was forced to return home.  

Graham Farmer's 1956 season was the stuff of legend.  While representing Western Australia at the Perth carnival he won both the Simpson Medal as his state's best in the win over South Australia, and the Tassie Medal as the top player of the series.  Needless to say, All Australian selection also followed.  Later in the year, he won the first of three Sandover Medals (one of which was awarded retrospectively), and helped the Royals to a grand final victory over South Fremantle.  In nine seasons with East Perth Farmer would win the club's fairest and best award no fewer than seven times, besides enjoying premiership success on three occasions.  He won further Simpson Medals while representing Western Australia against the VFL at the 1958 Melbourne carnival, and after East Perth's 1959 grand final defeat of Subiaco.  He continued to represent Western Australia regularly, securing All Australian selection in both 1958 and 1961.  At the 1961 Brisbane carnival he helped his state to an unexpected but wholly meritorious series win.

When Graham Farmer's contract with East Perth expired at the end of the 1961 season he advised the club that he would be moving to Victoria to play with Geelong.  The Royals agreed, on condition that the Cats pay them the then unprecedented fee of £2,000 ($4,000) in order to procure his services.  After witnessing Farmer's stellar form in the club's five pre-season matches, the Geelong hierarchy had no hesitation in agreeing to East Perth's terms.

Farmer's six season stint with Geelong was not all plain sailing, but there were nevertheless numerous highlights, including participation in a premiership team in 1963, representing the VFL, winning two consecutive club best and fairest awards, and captaining the Cats for three seasons.  With plenty of football still left in his legs he returned to Western Australia at the end of a 1967 season that had seen Geelong narrowly lose the grand final against Richmond.  To many people's surprise, however, he did not resume with his former club, East Perth, but accepted the job of playing coach at arch-rivals West Perth.  In four seasons with the Cardinals he oversaw two premierships - both secured with grand final victories over his former club - and added a club fairest and best award in 1969 to boot.  When he retired at the end of the 1971 season, the WANFL organised an eight club interstate 'premiers carnival' (reviewed here) to commemorate and celebrate his playing career.

That playing career saw Farmer play a total 356 club games -176 with East Perth, 101 for Geelong, and 79 for West Perth.  In the interstate arena he played 31 times for Western Australia, including games at four interstate carnival series, and 5 times for the VFL.  While representing his home state at the 1969 Adelaide carnival he won his fourth Simpson Medal.

Graham Farmer's coaching career was less auspicious, but still had its noteworthy moments.  Besides leading West Perth to the 1969 and 1971 WANFL premierships, in October 1977 he was at the helm of Western Australia's team for the first ever state of origin match, in which the sandgropers trounced Victoria 23.13 (151) to 8.9 (57) at Subiaco.  From 1973 to 1975 he coached Geelong with scant success, and although he managed to get East Perth into the finals in both of his seasons (1976-7) in charge he was unable to deliver the premiership the club's fans craved.  Such comparative failures are of scant account, however, when viewed in the context of a two decade playing career that made Graham 'Polly' Farmer, in the view of many, the greatest individual exponent of the sport of Australian football ever known. 

[For details of Graham Farmer's 1956 Tassie Medal win, click here.]

Ruck-rover - Brian Peake (East Fremantle, Geelong, Perth - captain) 

Peake truly began to blossom as a player in 1973 when he made his interstate debut, and in the following season's winning grand final he was many observers' choice as best afield, although the Simpson Medal was split between team mate Gibellini and Pretty of Perth.

Quick, tough, aggressive, and displaying tremendous endurance, Brian Peake was a dominant force for East Fremantle throughout the 1970s, winning the club's fairest and best award an incredible 5 times in succession between 1976 and 1980, as well as a Sandover Medal in 1977.  He was a prominent contributor to the club's 1979 grand final defeat of arch rivals South Fremantle, and his performances for Western Australia were also of the highest order.  In one game against Victoria in 1978 he had 23 kicks compared to 2 by his illustrious opponent, dual Brownlow Medallist Keith Greig.  At the 1979 State of Origin Carnival in Perth Peake skippered the Western Australians to victory and was rewarded with a Tassie Medal and captaincy of the All Australian team.  He was also named an All Australian after the 1980 Adelaide Carnival.

Persuaded by these achievements that Peake was the finest footballer in the land Geelong officials enticed him to Kardinia Park in 1981 where he would play 66 games over the next 4 seasons.

Peake returned home in 1985 with plenty of football left in him, and immediately helped the Sharks to their 1st flag since 1979.  The following year he was again chosen as skipper of the All Australian team after leading the Sandgropers to their 6th national title.  A 6th Lynn Medal as East Fremantle's club champion in 1987 was the icing on the cake towards the end of a remarkable career, which ultimately finished in 1990 with a brief 10 game stint with Perth.

[For details of Brian Peake's 1979 Tassie Medal win, click here.]

Rover - Barry Cable (Perth, North Melbourne, East Perth)

Cable duly added a North Melbourne best and fairest award to his list of achievements, besides running 4th in the Brownlow, while Lou Richards went on doing what he did best, and most entertainingly - shooting himself repeatedly in the foot. 

The contention that Cable lacked pace was not without some justification.  Certainly he was slower than some of the other great rovers of the time, like Bill Walker, Bob Skilton and Keith Doncon.  However, what he lacked in pace he more than made up for in other areas.  Few players in the history of the game have matched Cable's uncanny ability for being where the ball was.  Moreover, his disposal skills by hand and foot were nothing short of impeccable.  Small wonder he attracted the attention of umpires - for the right reason, when Sandover or Brownlow votes were being allocated.

On returning home to Perth in 1971 Cable carried on more or less where he had left off, winning yet another club best and fairest award.  Two years later he did it again, and added a 3rd Sandover for good measure.

As far as Barry Cable was concerned, there was only one major ambition remaining, and he needed to return to Victoria, and North Melbourne, in order to achieve it.  That ambition, needless to say, was involvement in a VFL premiership, and in his 2nd stint at Arden Street he managed this not once, but twice, in 1975 and 1977.

Returning home once more in 1978 Cable surprised many observers by accepting an offer to coach East Perth.  Yet again, however, it proved to be an informed decision as, after a tentative start to his coaching career, he took the Royals to the 1978 grand final, where they duly won a titanic tussle against, of all teams, Cable's old club, Perth.  Seriously inconvenienced as he was by a strained leg muscle and a broken bone in the hand, Cable's experience and calmness were nevertheless vital during a tempestuous final term in which East Perth had to hang on for dear life, eventually scraping home by just 2 points.

Cable played on for one further season, eventually retiring after 384 senior club games (225 for Perth, 116 for North Melbourne, and 43 with East Perth).  For the majority of his career he had been a genuine superstar, and if the game over its history has seen any finer rovers it would be hard to imagine them being countable on the fingers of more than one hand.

Barry Cable was catapulted back into the headlines as a sixty-three year old in July 2007 when the Western Australian Football Commission decided to retrospectively award him a Simpson Medal for his performance in Western Australia's defeat of Victoria in the inaugural state of origin match at Subiaco Oval in 1977.  The decision served to reinforce Cable's status as one of the all time great players in football history as it meant that he had now won the award a record five times.

[For details of Barry Cable's 1966 Tassie Medal win, click here.]