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East Fremantle supporters over the years have been fortunate enough to witness a plethora of players with the mantle of champion, legend, or star. There have been so many to don the blue and white that anything less than a book would be insufficient to name them.

 

Some may not be familiar to some people, depending on ages and eras.

 

A player whose name would be well known by any Shark worth their salt is one who played around a quarter of a century ago, managed just seventy six games of league football, and never took the field for his State.

 

East Fremantle and Western Australian football never saw the best of Harry Neesham.

 

A shattered ankle received while serving as a National Service soldier in Vietnam effectively killed his career before it had barely started. Although he eventually returned to the game, his playing career was effectively over at the age of twenty four.

 

Conjecture is always just that : conjecture, but Harry Neesham had shown enough in two seasons of league football before being conscripted to suggest that he could have become a dominating player in Western Australian football had things on the world stage been different.

 

Neesham was the essential team man, a busy organiser on the field, who was always at the bottom of the pack. With exemplary work ethic, he was a coach's dream.

 

Starting with the Attadale juniors, where he was coached by East Fremantle rover Ray “Oscar” Howard and then with Applecross where he won his first Premiership, Neesham made a stunning impact at Moss Street. At seventeen in his first season with East Fremantle he was a colts premiership player, the following year he won the Walton Medal, awarded to the colts fairest and best, despite missing three months with a broken scaphoid bone.

 

Playing in the league side the following season, Neesham missed the first game of the season, and made his debut as a ruck/rover in round two, before being moved into the centre. He went on to win the Lynn Medal as best player, also taking the Caris Medal as best first year player in the WANFL. Neesham was to be awarded a Henry Jeffrey Medal as best reserves player in 1969, becoming the only East Fremantle player to win medals in each of the top three grades.

 

East Fremantle had lost the previous two grand finals, both to Swan Districts, but were sent out favourites to beat Claremont in 1964. Claremont had scraped into the finals after being last in 1963, and, with a seven point lead at the twenty six minute mark, the bue and whites looked to have done enough. It's now folklore how eventual Simpson Medallist Norm Rogers, after having held Claremont forward, Ian Brewer all day, succumbed to cramp in the dying moments, and Brewer sank two goals to get the Tigers up.

 

Immediately after the siren went, umpire Ray Montgomery turned to me and said, “congratulations.” Even he had thought we'd won,” Harry said. “At the start of the last quarter, Irwin Lewis(father of Chris), who had been on the bench for three quarters, sidled up to me, and I knew I was alive for the final thirty minutes. He ran me into the ground.”

 

Neesham played just eleven games for East Fremantle in the 1965 home and away season, before being drafted into National Service. “I had been signed by Geelong, but it wasn't to be. As part of the Army, I was selected to do officer training in Sydney.”

 

When East Fremantle qualified for the finals, it took some behind the scenes manouvering to get permission from the Army for Harry to play. And that was just the beginning. “ I hadn't played football for eleven weeks, I caught a seven o'clock flight on Saturday morning in Sydney, which landed at Melbourne and Adelaide, arriving in Perth at ten past midday,” he recalled. “It was straight from the airport to Subiaco Oval, where I had a shower and rubdown before running out onto the ground.”

 

In the first semi final, Neesham was in the best two on the ground as East Fremantle beat West Perth.

 

The procedure was repeated for the preliminary final, when Harry was again among the best when revenge was obtained against Claremont.

 

The Army initially rejected the request for Neesham to repeat the trip to Perth a week later for the grand final, but intervention by the Minister for Defence, a Western Australian, at the last minute, cleared the way for him to take his place. “I got the first kick of the match, then Ken Bagley proceeded to give me a lesson,” he said. “We came back after looking gonners and won the game. I was back on the plane at ten the next morning.”

 

In the pre season of 1966, Neesham played with Sydney team, Newtown, and the club was successful in winning their first ever flag. Called to Vietnam soon after, Harry's tour of duty was ended by a smashed ankle, and he returned to civilian life.

 

Back at East Fremantle in 1967, the twenty two year old found that his ankle was affecting his game, and he played only thirty five games in the four years between 1967 and 1970, winning the reserves fairest and best in 1969. He managed to come under the notice of State selectors though, being selected for Western Australia in 1968 for the game against South Australia in Adelaide, but a clash on the eve of the game with Perth player, Greg Brehaut, resulted in a dislocated jaw, ruling him out.

 

It was at that time that he decided to branch out to the coaching side of the game. Beginning with the Mount Pleasant under sixteens in 1967 , Harry moved toEast Fremantle's combined under eighteen side, who were successful in 1968.

 

Graduating to East Fremantle colts, who won the 1969 premiership, Neesham then became playing coach of East Fremantle reserves, who also won a flag, but he was only there for the opening eight games. The sacking of Eric Sarich as league coach saw Neesham approached to replace him.

 

In 1971, Neesham answered an SOS to give former team mate Laurie Watson a hand as coach of Bolgart, where he played for two seasons, before taking the reins at CBC Old Boys, who were considered unlucky to lose to Wembley in the grand final after playing the third quarter with seventeen men. “Our ruckman was sent off at the start of the third quarter and was only replaced by our 20th man at the start of the last quarter,” was the rueful comment.

 

It was in 1975 that Harry Neesham was appointed State Amateur coach. He immediately cast his net far and wide in the multi layered competition, searching for talent, with success. Gary Buckenara was an unknown playing in C Grade when he was picked for a State side under the auspices of Neesham. In 1980, Harry became the first coach of a WA Amateur Team to topple Victoria. “We had no ex league players in that side, and a six foot two ruckman, while they were sprinkled with former VFL players,” he said.

 

When brother Gerard became coach of Claremont, Harry threw in his lot with him, and the partnership continued until the little general went to Fremantle.

 

Harry Neesham's water polo achievements are impressive.

 

A senior premiership player at the tender age of thirteen, the first of twenty six flags he shared in all grades from A to F and Masters .He also won Association fairest and bests in B,C, and D grades. He was a gold medallist at the Australian Masters Games and a Silver medallist at the World Masters Games in 2008. He was awarded the Beaurepaire Trophy for services to Water Polo and elected a life member of both the Melville Water Polo Club and the Western Water Polo Association.

 

Neesham could just as easily have become a star at Rugby. Selected in the Army Rugby team, he admits to having a liking for the game. He also holds the record time for the obstacle course at Kunungra Jungle Training Centre in Queensland.

 

The Chief Executive Officer at the Workers Compensation and Rehabilitation Commission, where he was employed for twenty three years, Harry Neesham is a retired man these days. His sporting ability has been well and truly passed on to his three boys and two girls, who have all represented Western Australia at Water Polo, with two of them playing for Australia. For good measure, Harry and Kathleen Neesham already have had a grandchild representing their country at the sport.

 

Harry is still a busy man, and is a tireless worker for charity. A volunteer with Charity Link, which is a fund raiser for a host of Charities, he is also on the board of the Clontarf Foundation. He has only recently retired from the Melville Water Polo Club committee. In his spare time, he enjoys some travel with Kathleen.

 

Hardest player to beat in Harry's estimation was Claremont centreman, Kevin Clune. “Kevin was the toughest physically of a tough lot,” he said, while going for East Fremantle legend and cousin , Con Regan, as best he'd played with. Harry recalled his third league game, when he tackled Mal Atwell in a match against East Perth. “Mal got up and said: “I'll bloodywell kill you.” I believed him, and mentioned it to Con at the break. “No, he bloody won't,” said Con, and straight away went to coach Bob Johnson, asking that Frank (Boxer) Coulson be sent to full back so Con could front Atwell. Con said to Mal: “You touch any of our kids and you settle with me.” “Don't worry,” was the reply from Mal. “The kid's ok.”

 

Harry also shared this yarn from a Derby. “South wingman Frank Legena was my brother in law,” he said. “There were no stops out in those games, and on one occasion I was at the bottom of the pack, when I heard a familiar voice yell: “out here, Harry.” I got the ball out to the voice, only to see Frank race downfield, bounce the ball twice, and kick at goal. Usually a good kick, he fortunately missed that one. I went over to him and said: “brother in law or not, try that on again and I'll put you through the fence.”

 

He didn't.

 

Harry Neesham is a household name in two sports. A loyal one club man in each of his chosen fields, the time he has put into both is immense. As a player at East Fremantle, he was a contributor to three premierships, and his work coaching juniors is immeasurable. His contribution to Water Polo is no less regarded. The mantle of sporting star fits well.  

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