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I think the 2 Perth premiership eras were based around a champion rover and a very strong side overall. Cable in the 60s and Wiley in the 70s were the outstanding players but the rest were not what you would call champions. Shields, Brehaut and Page in the 60s, and Cook, Gibellini and Johnson in the 70s were very good players but the majority of the those sides were just very consistent hard nosed footballers who became very hard to beat. Perth have never had a champion ruckman since Merv McIntosh in the 50s so their premiership successes in the 60s and 70s were based on outstanding rovers and not ruckmen.

Cess: thanks for that as usual. I think your right about Merv M being your last star ruckman. Do you think Wayne Sims would have been a star had he not got injurred?

Yes Ark, I think he could have gone on to be a star ruckman in the WAFL if not for serious injuries which ended his career basically. He certainly showed enough skill in '81 and '82 to suggest we had a top ruckman.

ArkRoyal wrote: SH -- thanks very much for your post

It would have been great to see Cable's long drop kicks, as you know they had been coached out of the game by the time I had started to watch Aussie rules. I think the measure of Cable was highlighted later on too, when during the Malcolm Blight crisis, they made Barry coach to make certain Blight stayed at the club.

Walker, I think, would have relished playing in Victoria because packs were more common and he would have been in his element. Talking about Walker being an expert 'on staying on your feet', SH, do you find it a wee bit strange that, in our time, players are almost encouragged to do the opposite and 'go to ground'?

Some of the coaching defies football logic.

Did Robertson kick 15.11 on the final day in 1968? Was it Bunton and Blackmore whom kicked the ball to him? The whole history shows, once again, what a strong competition the WANFL was back then. Those, three, as you know SH, were three of the best players to ever represent the Lions, and despite all their efforts we could only finish fourth.

I always enjoy reading and replying to your posts.

I honestly cannot remember Robertson's haul of 15 that year, but I believe you're correct with Bunton and Blakemore feeding him pass after pass. However, I wouldn't be surprised if Bob Kitchin - not sure if that's the correct spelling - contributed to a few of Robertson's goals that day, for he had a beautiful stab pass. I do remember, however, Peter Downey holding Robertson to a handful of goals at Bassendean at around that time.

It was a bit deja vu for the maroons (actually, a shade of burgundy in those days) in those years - four fourths in a row under Bunton? He never got much credit for Subi's 1973 flag, but I thought he laid the foundation while Smith applied the wallpaper. Thankfully Bunton collected a few after his return in 1984.

Ocker talks about the 15 goals a bit in this video:

I was there, and saw every one of them, and Bunton was back-passing frequently - more so than Blakemore, who as a traditional centreman in those days, would not have strayed far from the (notional) centre square.

One thing I noticed from the video - Robertson's opponent that day was the hard-headed, and hard nut Trevor Sprigg. Spriggy obviously got a towelling, but I think it is him who was the first EF player to congratulate Ocker.