1969 WANFL season

1969 WAFL season
Teams8
PremiersWest Perth
13th premiership
Minor premiersEast Perth
12th minor premiership
Sandover MedallistMal Brown (East Perth)
Bernie Naylor MedallistAustin Robertson, Jr. (Subiaco)
Attendance
Matches played88
Total attendance878,901 (9,988 per match)
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The 1969 WANFL season was the 85th season of the Western Australian National Football League. It saw continued dominance by the three Perth clubs and Subiaco, who occupied the top half of the ladder constantly from the fourth round onwards, and finished four games clear of the other four clubs, who were all in a “rebuilding” mode with varying success – late in the season both Swan Districts and Claremont fielded some of the youngest teams in the competition's history, whilst the Tigers, who fielded thirteen first-year players[1] including Graham Moss, Russell Reynolds and Bruce Duperouzel,[2] began disastrously but four wins in five games paved the way to impressive record from 1970 to 1972. Among the top four, Perth failed to achieve a fourth consecutive premiership[a] that at one point looked very much in their grasp due to the overwork of Barry Cable which robbed him of some brilliance,[3] early-season injuries to key players Iseger and Page[4] and a couple of surprising losses to lower clubs, whilst East Perth, who won consistently without being impressive for most of the season, failed for the fourth time in as many seasons in the Grand Final, this time to West Perth and in a much more decisive manner than any of their Perth defeats.

The league's popularity, aided by the driest football season in Perth since 1940,[5] and a new $500,000 grandstand at Subiaco Oval,[6] reached a high not to be surpassed. East Perth attracted an average of over twelve thousand spectators to each home match,[7] including an all-time record WANFL home-and-away attendance against West Perth on the Saturday before Foundation Day.

  1. ^ Todd, John; ‘Lewis Makes Bright Return’; The West Australian, 16 June 1969, p. 32
  2. ^ Casellas, Ken; ‘Marshall Aims to Rebuild’; The West Australian, 12 May 1969, p. 40
  3. ^ Todd, John; ‘Hard Work Dulls Cable’; The West Australian, 19 May 1969, p. 32
  4. ^ Casellas, Ken; ‘Perth Must Take Stock’ The West Australian, 28 April 1969, p. 36
  5. ^ Perth Regional Office (009034) annual rainfall
  6. ^ See Farmer, Barry; ‘Scalping Not Considered by the League’; The West Australian, 1 July 1969, p. 21
  7. ^ East, Alan (editor); The Royals: 100 Years of Tradition – A History of the East Perth Football Club; pp. 145-150