The advent of zoning into the WANFL in 1971 meant that country players could no longer automatically play for whichever league club they liked.  South Fremantle were allocated the Upper Great Southern and Central Great Southern Leagues, and they have reaped a good harvest of players from that area.In the immediately preceding years, clubs were busy signing young country players with potential, to circumvent the new system, and so it was that Goomalling ruckman Gary Brookes became a Bulldog. It was country coach Kevin Chataway who alerted South Fremantle of the promise the blonde headed big man had been exhibiting in the bush, and, in the market for a partner for the springheeled Fred Seinor, the red and whites were quick to respond.Brookes was quickly utilized by new coach Malcolm Atwell, and he played every game in his debut season. “I don’t really think I should have played in them all, but Mal seemed to have a bit of time for me for some reason,” Gary laughed when Footygoss chatted with him recently.  The teaming of Seinor and Brookes were a shining light in what was a lean couple of seasons for the Bulldogs, before a resurgence in 1975. Brookes was a strongly built ruckman, whose main attributes were his competitiveness and his tapwork  at the stoppages, and he was a team-oriented player, an attribute that was rewarded in his second season, when he was awarded the Warren Medal for best clubman.Because of his relatively short career(63 games),Gary Brookes is one of those “forgotten” players that we are endeavouring to bring to the notice of today’s footy fans, along with the household names of past eras. After a solid initial year with South, Brookes continued to impress over following seasons, but injuries started to dog him, and he copped the nickname of “the ambulance chaser,” because of his propensity  of being on the unavailable list.  At this stage, Brookes had joined the Fire Brigade as he looked for security for his family, and that had a negative effect on his football as well. When Percy Johnson took over the reigns as coach of South Fremantle in 1977, he indicated to Brookes that he was looking for more dedication from the big man, which, due to the demands of his employment, he was unable to provide. Brookes, with a wife and three young children to consider, made the tough decision to put them first, and retired from league football at the age of 26, after only six years.  Former team mate Peter Dougan, who was coaching in the South Suburban League, quickly snapped him up, and Brookes spent the following season at the Gosnells Hawks.  “Different place, same injury strife,” he recalls. “It appeared that everyone was gunning for the bloke from the WAFL.”  Gary told us of one game at Armadale when friends were coming to watch the game but were five minutes late. On arriving, he was nowhere to be seen, and on enquiring as to the whereabouts of Brookesy, they were referred to the Armadale- Kelmscott Hospital.   “ I lasted ten seconds,” he explained. “The ump messed up the first bouncedown, the ball skewed sideways, both myself and Charlie Tenardi went for it, and next thing there’s blood streaming from my broken nose. I’d heard that someone was going to “fix Brookesy up” but I thought I might last a bit longer than ten seconds.” Brookes said he thought his hardest opponents were Ron Boucher(Swans), Mike Fitzpatrick(Subiaco..”a very talented player”), Bob Becu(East Fremantle), and Perth’s John Hardman. Best he’d played with were a couple of champs.  “Maurice Rioli  was a freak, and though I only played with Stephen Michael when he was just starting out, it was all there even then,” he said.Brookes is another ex player who is not a fan of the AFL product. “They are lost in the rules,” he maintains. “ They kick the ball backwards, it’s like tiggy tiggy touchwood these days, it’s as weak as water for physical clashes.”After a heart scare , Gary Brookes retired from the Fire Brigade. These days he is still involved with the past players, enjoys seeing them at get togethers as well as at South matches, and loves a round of golf a couple of times a week. He has no regrets about his shortened career. “I met some great mates who are still great mates and to me that was the best part of the football scene..the good times and good friends,” was his appraisal.