“ It was the 1973 preliminary final, I was playing on Stephen Heal and had been going alright. He wasn’t particularly quick, and in a tight game I gave him a bit of latitude on the wing late in the last quarter. I remember Metropolis getting the ball on the opposing wing and kicking it perfectly to Heal running towards half forward flank, who took it in his fingertips and kicked a drop kick goal from fifty metres as I was just getting my hand on him.”  “That was the winning goal and I felt pretty bad. I remember Brownie crying as we walked off the ground. I was eighteen at the time and felt shocking.” Football can be a cruel game, and one miscalculation against a clever opponent such as Heal can sour what had been a good debut season for Kevin McGinnity.  The eighteen year old wingman had played every game since making his debut early in the season, after winning the fairest and best award for the East Perth thirds in 1972.  “I was on the bench for two games before starting on the ground against Perth,” Kevin recalled. “Down to play on Greg Brehaut, a daunting assignment, he was off with an injury, which made life a little easier for me, and I must have gone alright.”  East Perth turned the tables on East Fremantle in the first semi final of that year. After being beaten 17.19 to 9.12 in the last of the home and away games, they almost reversed the scores a week later with a 17.19 to 9.18 win.  At six foot, “I did play one game at centre half back,” McGinnity was tall for a wingman, but his pace, coupled with a height advantage over most opponents, made him a hard customer to match.  The State junior 1500 metres champion of 1971 showed plenty of evidence of that on the football field. Just as he was making a name for himself, Kevin began to experience the cursed hamstring problems, and was never able to completely shake them. “I was told on several occasions that I was in line for State selection, but each time I copped another one,” he ruefully recalled.     It was in 1974 that Ray Giblett arrived back at East Perth via Broken Hill and brought some new ideas. “Probably the game against Subiaco was the most eventful, as Peter Featherby had killed us earlier in the year and Gibbo played John Hayes on Featherby,” Kevin said. “ From memory, Subi was about six goals up at quarter time, while Featherby was burning. I had told Gary Martin in the lead up that I wouldn’t mind playing on Featherby, so  Marty told Gibbo”.  “At quarter time Gibbo put me on Featherby and told me he didn’t want him getting a touch. He also told  Gary Gillespie to dump Neil Randall to the ground every time he got a touch. The whole team took Gibbo’s instructions to heart and it got very physical. We completely turned the game around, and the Subi supporters were incensed with the treatment handed out.” “ I remember being slagged on as I left the game, and the Sunday/Monday papers were all over the brutality we showed. I think Featherby only had a handful of touches for the rest of the game and subsequent to that game I thought it might have been the earliest tagging role in WA.” Losing semi finalists in 1975, the Royals made the grand final a year later, but were beaten by Perth. McGinnity was part of the losing side, but when East Perth had their revenge over the Demons two years later in one of the great grand finals, he was missing. Injury kept him on the sidelines throughout 1978, and he decided to retire. Coach Barry Cable asked McGinnity to return the following season, and he played the season before an injury suffered before the last game of the season saw him finally call it quits.  Kevin captain coached West Coast Amateurs for three years before finishing his playing days at Bayswater, where brothers Mick and Graeme played.  He was later involved with junior football when son Patrick played at Marist. Patrick has certainly inherited more than a few of his father’s genes, and proved to be a valued player at the West Coast Eagles.  A busy man these days with the Legal Practice Board as an accountant, Kevin enjoys a game of golf on a Sunday morning at Wembley, is happily married to Delys, and, apart from Patrick, has two daughters, Kelly and Katherine. Kelly is a middle distance runner, who ran in the final of the 800 metre Nationals, while Katherine is a netballer. Delys has an allegiance to West Perth. Her father, Alvin Whittle, was a premiership player with the club in 1949, and played a hundred and eight league games.  East Fremantle players Brian Peake and Michael Jez were the pair that McGinnity had the most trouble with, while he made the observation that there were so many good players at East Perth it wouldn’t be fair to pick any out.  Kevin spoke of one of the many injuries suffered by the gutsy and brilliant Peter Spencer. “I was at close quarters when Peter Spencer had his jaw broken and teeth knocked out by a Swans defender. “Spanner” was running into the goal square with the flight of the ball and got flattened by the bloke coming in the other direction. It was a real bad hit, but to be frank Spanner left himself open, and was so courageous it was only a matter of time before something like that happened.” “I also remember playing a game at Claremont in shocking weather. I was playing on Dalton Gooding, who I knew from accounting studies. Dalton wore glasses in games, and he was having a terrible time. I remember telling him to just follow me around… which he did.”Kevin McGinnity played just fifty nine games over eight seasons. He doesn’t dwell on his bad run, preferring to concentrate on the privilege he had to play the game with so many great team mates and opponents, and how fortunate he is to be able to enjoy watching son Patrick play on the big stage today. “Good memories,” he said.