{xtypo_dropcap}D{/xtypo_dropcap}arrell Panizza was a long time servant of the Claremont Football Club who amassed a Tigers record 274 games over a period of sixteen years, and coached them to a premiership.

Yet his junior days were far from settled. Starting as an eight year old at Kirup, he played with Boyanup at twelve, Marist Brothers at Bunbury when he was fourteen(also representing Boyanup- Capel- Dardanup ), then Bindoon Boarding School, and finally at fifteen and sixteen playing with Albany Royals. As an eleven year old the young Panizza showed his potential as the winner of the 1970 South West Fairest and Best trophy for the age group.

At sixteen he was at Aquinas College in Perth. “I was asked to leave,” Panizza laughed. “I liked a good time and they didn’t approve.”

In 1976, at the age of seventeen, Darrell Panizza was a member of the Albany Royals league side. It was Claremont coach Malcolm Brown who saw the ability Panizza possessed, and he was at Claremont Oval in 1978, where he played with the colts, and was a strong contributor to the flag they won that year, part of five in a row for the young Tigers.

Promoted to the league team for the pre season Escort Cup in 1979, he got his first taste of the big time with a reality check, lining up on Robert Flower in the encounter with Melbourne. “It was daunting,”he recalls, “but I got a bit of help from Jimmy and Phil.” After alternating between the Claremont league and reserves side that season, Graham Moss started Panizza on a wing in 1980, the position he was to hold for a hundred and sixty games.

Darrell Panizza was prominent in a strong Claremont side that played in three consecutive grand finals. They were reaping the rewards of a dominant colts team, and were the benchmark club of the WANFL. The likes of Panizza, Moss, Ralph, the Krakouers, Blackwell, Shaw, Daniels, Harper, Aitken, Mitchell, and Thorne formed an outstanding combination. In a State game in 1982, Blackwell, Daniels, and Panizza formed an All Claremont centreline for Western Australia.

Panizza won the club’s fairest and best trophy in 1986, then stunned Claremont by accepting an offer from South Australian club, Woodville. “It was at the time the West Coast Eagles were formed, and I wasn’t in the frame. I had been told that West Australian football would change as a result of the new local side joining the VFL, so, together with a few others in the same boat, I had to consider my future. The offer was a good one,” was the explanation from Darrell.

Wasting no time in showing his wares in South Australia, he completed the rare double of two fairest and bests in consecutive years in different States. “We managed to win a night premiership at Woodville, the only cup they ever got to put in the cupboard,” Darrell laughed. “In my first year there we were coached by Malcolm Blight, then the four time Margarey Medal winner, Russell Ebert, took over. In the context of my later career, it was time well spent.”

After three years and seventy five games at Woodville, Panizza returned to the Tigers in 1990. The personnel had changed in the three years of his absence, with the AFL plundering the stars, but the new coach, Gerard Neesham , was inspirational, and Panizza found a new lease of life in a new position.

“Gerard said ‘You’re older and slower. The wing is out.  The only spot left is in the backline. Your choice,” Panizza recalled.

So to the backline Darrell went. And he was a revelation in the new role.  The five foot eleven winger made it look easy at centre half back, and another Neesham move paid off, although, as he recalls: “playing on six foot six blokes like Jason Ball was a hard day.” He collected two more fairest and bests in 1991 and 92, and captained the Tigers to a flag in 1993.

In 1995, Panizza was appointed playing coach of the Claremont Football Club. “I’d been lucky enough to play under some great coaches..Browny, Moss, Blight, Ebert, and Neesham, and I felt confident I could transfer that to my own advantage,” Darrell said. After several games, he found that combining the two roles was too much, and made the decision to concentrate on coaching, thereby bringing to an end a long and distinguished playing career.

But a new career was under way, and winning the 1996 premiership in only his second season as coach was a wonderful start, rewarded by being appointed State coach in 1997.

In 1998, the prodigal son returned to the Albany Royals as coach, a position he still holds eleven years later. He guided the Royals to seven premierships, six  in consecutive years being a record for the local league. He is also heavily involved with junior football in the Albany area, being a key mover with the Great Southern Development Squad for twenty year olds and younger.

A Sales Representative in his earlier years, as well as running his own business, Signlite, these days Darrell works with Wesfarmers Insurance in Albany. He manages to find time for his horseracing interests, and keeping tabs on his five kids.

Panizza named Phil Narkle, Nicky Winmar, Robert Flower, and Robert Diperdiemenico as his hardest opponents, and listed Jimmy and Phil Krakouer, Ken Hunter, Wayne Blackwell, and Warren Ralph, as best he’d played with.

Darrell Panizza’s football career is ongoing, thirty years after debuting with Claremont. His personal achievements are many, including a record number of games(274) by a Claremont player, 336 at the top level(including six for Western Australia), fairest and best three times for Claremont plus one with Woodville, league premiership coach, State coach, coach of the Royals six in a row, and a three time Claremont premiership player.

Darrell Panizza was recently deservedly inducted into the Western Australian Football Hall Of Fame, an honour to put the seal on a great career, as player, coach, and developer of young talent.