It's the nature of the game of football that the most spectacular players and playmakers are remembered for their exploits by fans and followers alike. Most of them starred in premiership sides, won medals, played State football, and were continually in the spotlight.

But there have been many who did their job unheralded in the backline negating danger forwards and went through their careers relatively unnoticed by critics and fans alike, never being recognised on Sandover Medal night or considered for State honours.

East Fremantle defender Roger Crouch was one of those.

Crouch was a staunch full back for the blue and whites in the late seventies and early eighties, playing seventy eight games. A member of the 1979 premiership side, he was also at the club during one of it's rare lean periods, between 1980 and 1983, when they struggled.

A no-frills, tough, hard at it defender, Crouch had only one aim when donning the blue and white: putting as much distance between his opponent and the ball as he could. When you look at the forwards he played on week after week you appreciate the job he did. Simon Beasley, Peter Bosustow, Ray Bauskis, Bob Beecroft, Warren Ralph, Mark Olsen, Paul Arnold, Archie Duda and Murray Couper were among those greeting him every Saturday afternoon, yet his success rate as a negating full back was high.

Roger Crouch played his junior football at East Fremantle at centre half forward.

He readily hands plenty of credit to leading juniors coach Don Gabrielson for his career in league football. “Don was a great coach of juniors,” he said. Graduating to the colts in 1975 as a sixteen year old, he came under the guidance of another of East Fremantle's great junior coaches. “Len Anderson was an excellent mentor,” he said. “He had a few rough edges, but enjoyed the respect of all the young blokes.”

Crouch made his league debut early in 1978 as a half back flanker, and immediately got a taste of what was to come. “It was against Perth, and I lined up on Peter Bosustow,”he recalled. “I do remember we won the game.” After playing the first seven games in 1979, a broken foot kept him on the sidelines until round fifteen. Playing the last seven games of the home and away season, Roger was dropped for the first semi final and preliminary final, but a knee injury to Brian Needle opened the door for a spot in the 1979 grand final team.

Although he lowered his colours to South Fremantle's Ray Bauskis in that game, East Fremantle won a memorable game of football, and it proved to be a wild and boisterous night, with players and officials partying late and hard. “With the sun coming up, Merv Cowan went to the President's room. One of the reserves players took the opportunity to go for a spin round East Fremantle Oval, using my car,” Roger said.

“He proceeded to roll the car after about the fourth wheelie, and, with the vehicle on it's roof, concern was held for the state of the driver, but he was OK, the only casualty being my car.”

Although East Fremantle went into the doldrums for several seasons in the period immediately following the 1979 grand final success, Crouch personally enjoyed his best years of football, a shining light at full back.
When he decided to turn his back on league football at the end of the 1983 season at the age of twenty five, it came as a shock to the East Fremantle Football Club and it's fans. “I had been working with former coach Alan Joyce at his business, Industrial Protective Products,” he explained. “Alan returned to Melbourne so I was out of a job. With a young family I decided I had to look after my future so accepted a job at Northampton. It was a tough call to make but I certainly have no regrets about the decision I made.”

After two years at Northampton, Crouch started a football journey that would span the country.

“My sister lived at Port Douglas in Queensland, so I enjoyed a couple of years playing at Trinity Beach in the Cairns Association,” he said. “You would be surprised at the standard of the game up there, about half the players come from Victoria and South Australia.” Coach of Trinity Beach was former West Perth and State back pocket player Leon O'Dwyer.

Returning to Western Australia, Roger captain coached Margaret River in the South West League in 1987, before playing a season at Willeton, coached by former South Fremantle player Don Haddow. In 1989 he went back to Margaret River, where a knee injury ended his career. After a break, he coached Great Northern League club, Brigades, for three years, guiding the team to the preliminary final on each occasion.

In 2001 it was back to the South West, with Busselton appointing Crouch as coach.

After a sixth position finish in his first season at the resort town, the side made the preliminary final in 2002 and 2003, giving him a record of six preliminary finals in seven years.

These days Roger Crouch is a car dealer at Busselton. Anyone who'd like a yarn about the good old days of footy and the chance of a great deal need go no further than Cheap Cars at Busselton. He's a keen fisherman, and is very happy spending his life in the seaside paradise with wife Debbie.

Roger reckoned that East Perth, South Fremantle, and State forward Paul Arnold, on his day, was the toughest of a plethora of top forwards he played on. “If Arnie got one early you knew you were in strife,” he said. Champ Brian Peake unsurprisingly headed the East Fremantle list.

Summing his football days up, Roger touched on the changes he had to make to his game when going to the country.

“My league days at East Fremantle were spent solely as a negating backman, whose only job was to stop an opponent getting a possession,” he said. “On going to a country team, they were looking at me to create the play, as a former league player. It required a big change in philosophy and approach and took some time to adjust to using skills I hadn't practised throughout my career.”

“I certainly don't regret giving up league football at twenty five. We had some wonderful times with some lovely country people.”

Roger Crouch was at full back in a premiership team, but it was the class of his play during the lean years that underlined his value and character. In the years 1980 to 1983, Crouch was a permanent fixture in the East Fremantle best player list, as they struggled through one of their darkest periods. He is remembered as one of the club's tightest checking backmen of the seventies and eighties.