WESTERN AUSTRALIAN TEAM OF THE 20TH CENTURY

Half Back Line

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Right Half Back Flank - Denis Marshall (Claremont & Geelong)

Denis Marshall was one of those rare footballers who exhibit genuine mastery of all the skills of the game.  Quick and tough, Marshall kicked impeccably with both feet, was a superb exponent of handball, and was an excellent, and prolific, mark taker.

After making his League debut with Claremont in 1958 as a 17 year old Marshall quickly blossomed into a polished and versatile performer.  In 1958 he won the first of 5 club best and fairest awards (5 with Claremont, 1 with Geelong) and was selected to represent Western Australia for the first time.  He would go on to play a total of 23 interstate matches, 15 for his home state, and 8 for the VFL.  In 1961 he was a member of Western Australia's historic Brisbane Carnival winning side.

Marshall was enticed to Geelong in 1964, ironically in the same year that his old club won its first flag for 24 years.  After being forced to miss the opening 6 games of the 1964 season while allegations of financial irregularities connected with his recruitment were investigated Marshall took to VFL football like the proverbial duck to water.  Playing initially on the half back line and later in the centre he proved himself a consummately skilled and resilient performer, regularly earning selection for the 'Big V' and, in 1966, being named in the All Australian team selected after that year's Hobart Carnival.  In 1967 he played well for Geelong in the Cats' losing grand final against Richmond, despite being discomfited by a knock received early in the game.

The 1968 season saw Marshall at his peak.  Despite being moved all over the ground by coach Peter Pianto he ran 2nd in that year's Brownlow to South Melbourne's Bob Skilton; he also took more marks than any other player in the VFL.

In 1969, after a prolonged clearance wrangle, Marshall returned home to Claremont, where he played out the remainder of his 15 season, 259 game League career.  His last ever appearance came in Claremont's losing 1972 grand final team, meaning that, sadly, he never had the satisfaction of playing in a premiership-winning combination.

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Centre Half Back - Wally Buttsworth (West Perth & Essendon)

Wally Buttsworth's senior football career began with West Perth in 1935.  Named as 19th man in the Cardinals' flag-winning team that year his career blossomed over the next couple of seasons when he became a regular Western Australian interstate representative and, in 1937, won West Perth's club champion award.

In 1938 Buttsworth headed east to Essendon but was forced to stand out of football for a season awaiting a clearance.  He made his VFL debut in 1939 and soon established himself as one of the key cogs in an Essendon machine which was tuning up to become the dominant force in Victorian football for much of the ensuing decade.

Three times an Essendon best and fairest award winner, Buttsworth was a formidable, resolute defender who was rarely beaten.  Whilst rugged to the point of ferocity in his overall approach, there were nevertheless aspects of his play, such as his high marking and exemplary drop kicking, which brought to mind contrasting adjectives like 'graceful' and 'elegant'.

Buttsworth was at his best in important games and his name featured prominently among the best players in all but 1 of the 6 VFL grand finals in which he participated.

Brother Fred was an equally accomplished footballer who stayed with West Perth for most of his career, winning the 1951 Sandover Medal. He joined his brother briefly at Windy Hill while stationed in Melbourne during the war.

Both of the Buttsworth brothers were also highly proficient cricketers, representing Western Australia.

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Left Half Back Flank - Frank 'Scranno' Jenkins (South Fremantle)

Over the years Western Australia has arguably produced more of what, for want of a better expression, might be termed 'football artists' than any other state or territory.  Players like Farmer, Walker, Michael, Peake, Cable, Marshall, Matera, Hunter and Jackson have elevated the pure skills associated with the greatest of games to unparalleled pinnacles.

Frank Jenkins of South Fremantle, by contrast, epitomised qualities more traditionally associated with Victoria Park or Glenferrie Oval on a cold, wet, windy afternoon in late July.  Put simply, he was tough.  In 150 games for the red and whites and numerous others for his state it is doubtful if he ever took a backward step.  Every successful team needs players of Jenkins' ilk and it is arguable that South Fremantle's spectacular achievements of the immediate post World War Two period would not have been possible without the contribution of this unspectacular, somewhat dour, but remorselessly effective defender.

Named at centre half back in South Fremantle's 1947 and 1948 premiership winning teams, Jenkins was high on the best player lists both times.  Arguably, however, he was at his best when the chips were down, and it is perhaps significant that his Sandover Medal (1937) and three club fairest and best awards were won during the immediate pre-war period, when South Fremantle was not the force it would later become.  Jenkins also finished runner-up in the Sandover Medal in this era, to Haydn Bunton in 1938.

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