Brisbane Carnival, 1961.The West Australian side played themselves into football folklore by beating Victoria in the final game by the required nine points to win the Carnival. Following a first round two point loss to South Australia, WA beat Tasmania by 101 points, to set themselves up for the last day showdown with the Big V, with the mathematicians giving different winning margins required depending on the scores of both sides. After hitting the front in the final term it was West Perth rover Joe Fanchi who earned the nickname of “Golden Boot” by kicking the goal that won the carnival. There were a good few heroes that day for Western Australia, with both ruckmen( Polly Farmer, East Perth, and Jack Clarke, East Fremantle)  selected in the All Australian team, along with centreman Ray Sorrell(East Fremantle), wingman John Todd(South Fremantle), and centre half back Ray Gabelich(West Perth). Gabelich also won the Simpson Medal.It was to be the only season in West Australian league football for Collingwood ruckman Gabelich, but it wasn’t the only time he carved his name into football’s legendary status.   Three years later, in the 1964 VFL grand final against Melbourne, the big man played a lone hand in putting Collingwood in front in the dying moments with an outstanding fifty metre run resulting in a goal. That Melbourne managed a reply from Neil Crompton to snatch the flag by four points didn’t detract from the pride of place the Gabelich heroics were to hold at Collingwood. Described by Collingwood legend Bob Rose as “a top-class person and a very good footballer”, Ray Gabelich was “discovered” by smart Collingwood talent scouts in 1954,while playing with Mt Hawthorn, and bypassed the WANFL to make his debut for Collingwood against St Kilda in 1955, at the age of 22. A big man, at 193cm and 109kg’s, he was an imposing ruckman with a good pair of hands, which made him adept at any  key position.   Known in Victoria as “The Big Bear”,Gabelich was an important part of Collingwood’s 1958 premiership, and became one of the VFL's leading ruckmen. Runner up for the Copeland Trophy for Collingwood's best player in 1959, he went one better the following year to win it, as well as representing Victoria.Ray Gabelich returned to West Perth for just the one season in 1961, and his selection for Western Australia’s carnival squad as a hard hitting centre half back was an imaginative one which certainly bore fruit. The wet conditions of the Victoria match made him a fearsome obstacle for the Vic forwards, and he was a key component of the success of the WA side. Gabelich spent the summer of 1961-62 playing in the Darwin competition, and in later years described it as  the toughest period of his career. Collingwood welcomed him back in the winter of 1962, and promptly installed him as vice captain.  In 1964, he became captain,  leading  his team to a losing grand final,  but resigned during the 1965 season because of injury problems. He played his last game in the 1966 losing grand final against the Saints, the same team he’d debuted against eleven years and 163 appearances before.  Ray Gabelich is fondly remembered by the Collingwood Football Club and it’s supporters for his career at the Pies.  As a Simpson Medallist in Western Australia’s best  remembered Carnival, he will not be forgotten in WA either.