Phil Clucas was one of the toughest players to represent the East Fremantle Football Club in the seventies and eighties. Yet, in one of the vagaries of the game, he only managed twenty games in two separate stints of league football.  Clucas was a player who wouldn't take any rubbish either on the field or off it. And therein lies a reason as to the length of his career. To say that he and the East Fremantle coach at the time of his debut, John Todd, had a personality clash would be an under statement, and the refusal to take a backward step during a game led him into continual hot water with the Protests and Disputes Board. These were factors that had a huge bearing on his career, which was eventually cruelly ruined by injury just when it appeared that he was carving himself a permanent niche with the Sharks.  There was no doubting the ability of the man. At six foot two he was a strong marking, versatile player who could kick both feet, and was a good ground player, with pace. A true raconteur of the game, Phil Clucas could have made life after football on the after dinner speaking circuit, he is such an entertaining person to chat  with. Not one to reflect on what might have been, he has no regrets, and bears no malice. Phil Clucas's playing days began at Manjimup, where, at the age of twelve, he played for St Joseph's in the under fourteen competition. “My idols in those days were George Spalding and John Turner(coaches of Manjimup Imperials and Southerners respectively),” he told us. When the family moved to Perth, Phil lined up with the under fourteens at Queen's Park.  After another relocation, to Bicton, the young Clucas discovered the Bicton Baths, and they soon replaced football as a major interest, until a man who was to become a mentor to him over a period of many years, Trevor O'Brien, came into his life. “Right from day one, Trevor had an impact on me,”Phil said. “He got me back into footy again, at Melville Amateurs.”  Clucas went from Melville to Attadale, where he captained the under sixteens under coach Eric Barber. In those days he was a rover, and it was as an onballer that he was selected for the combined East Fremantle side. “Eric was a genius,”he said.  Invited to East Fremantle, Clucas played with the Norm Rogers-coached colts, before progressing to the reserves, where Percy Johnson was in charge. “Percy was a great mentor of kids,” he said. “He was not only a good teacher, but also a character. He said to me one day: “I dunno who's the genius, you or me. One day you're a superstar, next day you're nothing. You stick to football, I'll stick to coaching.” Another Johnson gem was an occasion when we were a few behind at three quarter time against Claremont. “East Fremantle are the goodies, they're the baddies. We gotta beat 'em.” On May 29, 1975, Phil Clucas made his league debut, on a half forward flank, against Swan Districts at Bassendean. It didn't take long for him to get into the physical stuff. “I was playing on Mark Foxon, who was a tough nut and would try any tricks he could think of to beat me,” he recalled. “They all worked.” “I was changing on the ball with Gary Gibellini. On one occasion there was a boundary throwin, and with our ruckman Bob Becu nowhere in sight and fancying myself as a ruckman, I decided to contest it with the Swans big men, Greg Frost and Ron Boucher.  Boucher came in on the left and muscled me out of the way, so I let loose with a few jabs into the big man's solar plexus. Next thing, I've been picked up holus bolus, thrown ten metres away from the pack, and all this while I was still running. I must have ended up near the bottom of Greenmount.” “Boucher sauntered over and said: “Come back when you learn a bit more.” I got to know Ron a bit better later on, and he's a lovely bloke.” Another clash the following week, against Claremont, led to a sign of things to come with coach Todd. “In the second quarter, I got cleaned up by  Wayne “Tractor” Reynolds. It was a real mixer, and messed me right up. After coming back to my senses at half time, Toddy labelled me as weak, and I was back in the ressies   for the next game.” During the pre season of 1976, the relationship between player and coach reached breaking point. “After playing in a scratch match, Toddy said to a few of us: “You blokes are in pretty good nick, you can have next Saturday's practice game off.” So we decided to make good use of the weekend and off we went roo shooting near Collie, where a good time was had by all.  At training on the Monday night we had our usual warmups and kick to kick, then the coach asked us where we were on Saturday. On hearing our explanation that we were told we weren't needed, we were informed in most colourful terms of what he thought of us for not turning up to watch. It was the last straw for me. I said I'm outta here, seeya later.” Clucas went to Cockburn, and played over a hundred games in the Sunday League. “I got a few suspensions,” he quipped. Which ruled him out of much in the way of fairest and bests, although he was runner up for Cockburn's award twice. In all, Phil made nineteen trips to the tribunal, the worst by far being a suspension of twenty one weeks.  “It was an unfortunate situation,” he said. “I got whacked from behind in a game against Midland, so I turned around and went bang! And it was on. I got four of them and the ump got in the way and got a clip as well.  Luckily it couldn't be proven that I got the ump or it would have been life.” “And I broke my bloody thumb as well!” Phil denies that he had an uncontrollable temper. “I just stuck up for myself and my mates,” he said.   In 1980, Mal Brown tried to recruit Clucas to South Fremantle. “They were after a centre half back, but East Fremantle, as they had done when I had offers from other clubs, refused to clear me.” It turned out to be a premiership year for South, so Phil had every reason to feel aggrieved. The appointment of Ken Smith as coach of East Fremantle in 1981 saw the return of Phil Clucas to league football. Smith played him at centre half back for the first fifteen games of the season. “Ken was a gun on fitness, and was a top coach,” he remarked. “It was a travesty when he was sacked at the end of that year, but he could take some credit for the premiership under Ron Alexander because of the fitness regime he put in place while there.” It was in round fifteen that Clucas copped the blow that led to the end of his football career, just as it was blossoming. “I don't know what happened, I woke up in hospital,” he said. “I think Gary Armstrong got a week or two over it, but I ended up with bruising on the brain, which resulted in my balance mechanism going askew.” “After playing a few times in 1982, I had to give it away. I was sick after training, and it just wasn't worth it” Clucas coached Cockburn in 1984 and 85, reaching a preliminary final, before calling it a day. Phil served for eleven years as president of Willagee Juniors, and, as his son, Matthew, became involved in the game, coached and assisted in his football development. It could be said that the success of Matthew Clucas is an indication of what could have been for Phil, given different circumstances. Matthew went on to play 44 games at East Fremantle and 121 with South, as well as two for Western Australia and eleven for Fremantle, and was labelled by staff and teammates at the Dockers as pound for pound the toughest player at the club. As with most East Fremantle players we have featured, Clucas regards Brian Peake as the best he played with but wouldn't split any of his opponents. “They were all hard to crack.” Phil has always been a horse man, and he still helps at the stables of Lindsey Smith after twenty years of involvement, and has a lot of time for Smith as a trainer. “Lindsey modelled his conditioning of horses on the way footballers are trained,” he said.  Still hard at work on the wharves, he enjoys a punt, and is a family man these days, with wife Beth and daughter Natalie, as well as Matthew, to keep him occupied.  He is an admirer of the man who did his best to keep him on track through his wild days. “I owe a lot to the late Trevor O'Brien. He was a Rock of Gibralter for me not only in my footy, but life in general, pointing me in the right direction.  Another bloke who did his best was Ernie Cooley, who sat on the Protests and Disputes.”     Phil Clucas was to many a wasted talent. There is no doubt that a personality clash set his football career back, and his misdemeanors on the field weren't a help in resurrecting it.  But Phil was a character of  football. At a time when we bemoan the sanitisation of our game it's a breath of fresh air to chat to someone like Phil Clucas.