The East Perth combination of the mid and late fifties, one of the best to grace the WANFL stage, was notable for the many stars in it's ranks, with Farmer, Langdon,McGill, Seal, Kennedy, Bull, Watts, Hawke, Kilmurray, Washbourne just a few of the big names. An integral part of their success, however, was a man who went through his league career without an F.D. Book Medal to his name.  Tom Everett was an outstanding centreman in an era of outstanding centremen. With every league side boasting a star in the pivot, such as Sorrell, Amaranti, Marinko, Clune, Todd, Parentich, and Armstrong, it was always a hard day at the office on a Saturday afternoon. Recruited from Wembley Athletic Club juniors, where he was runner up to an Association fairest and best award to Dave Browning, who went on to play with Perth, Everett was lured by East Perth's George Sweetapple after the 1952 season for “ a suit of clothes and a guarantee of five league games.”  The five league games came up five weeks into the 1953 season, and he went on to play 112 more with the Royals, without ever taking part in a reserves match, before, during, or after his league career at East Perth.   Debuting for Western Australia in the centre at the MCG in 1955, Everett went on to play for his State on ten occasions, including the 1956 Perth Carnival.  Tommy Everett was a tough character of the game, who, despite liking nothing better than getting into a stouch and giving as much or more than he received, never got reported. “I was threatened plenty of times by the umps, but I never saw the inside of the Tribunal room,” he laughed. Not extremely quick, he relied on his ability to read the play to great effect, and was at his best when the ball hit the ground. On a wet day he was almost unstoppable.  With the advent of Jack Sheedy from East Fremantle as coach, Everett became one of the leaders in the side's rejuvenation as a football force, with a scintillating 1956 season, being equal runner up with Perth's Reg Zeuner to team mate “Polly” Farmer for the Sandover Medal, plus a premiership, in what was to be the first of three in four years for the club, and two for Everett.  Repeating the premiership win two years later, the cheers had only begun to die down when East Fremantle, who were still in shock from the defection of Sheedy, enjoyed sweet revenge by enticing Everett to Moss Street as captain coach, much to the dismay of the Royals. “Like many others in those days, the opportunity of a few dollars to be made was hard to resist at a time when there wasn't much in the way of money around,” he explained. On his three seasons at East Fremantle as mentor, he reflected: “I thought I'd like coaching, but I found myself telling the players to do things that I didn't particularly want to do either. It wasn't really my caper.” After a further fifty five games at East Fremantle, Everett, experiencing increasing trouble with his knees, retired from league football. He was quickly snapped up by the Daily News, becoming a controversial, tongue in cheek football writer, previewing the weekend games in entertaining style, and commenting on the issues of the day.   He held a high regard for South Fremantle's John Todd as an opponent, while his respect for Farmer was obvious. “What impressed me most about Polly was his ability to bring other players into the game,” he said.  Neither of Tom and June Everett's sons played league,both playing College football, but one of the Everett's two girls, Kelly, was a top netballer. A  member of the Western  Australian Golf Club, Tom enjoyed the company of several old teammates on the lavish greens, including Kevin McGill and Laurie Kennedy, and was a keen attendee of East Perth Club Reunions.  In 2006,Tom Everett was selected in an East Perth Football Club Team of the Century, a deserved recognition for an outstanding player in an outstanding team.