TOPIC:

Did South beat and lose to every other club in the same season? Made the grand final, too, in the end.

Just had a look Ark South Finished 
14wins +7 losses and 3rd on the ladder.
Lost to 6 sides , Claremont twise.
East Fremantle didn't beat South in 1981.
Claremont had a great season and an amazing 4 weeks
Round 16 defeated Perth by 161 points
Round 17 defeated Subiaco by 99 points
Round 18 defeated East Perth by 101 points
Round 19 defeated West Perth by 135 points.

gtr: thanks mate-- I knew Subi and the PFC had beaten them.

yes GTR has gotten it right
1981 was the most remarkable scoring year in Australian Football - all manner of records were broken and then reset including the highest score in senior football in WA (broken twice - by Claremont and then South Fremantle) and the total points scored in  a season
Claremont had 5 players alone kick over 50 goals 
We'll never see another scoring year like it in history

Some of the big scores from 1981
R2  SD 38-21 v Perth
R8  SD 31-14 v Perth
R10 WP 37-17 v East Fremantle
R11 SF  30-18 v  Perth
R12 CMT 30-19 v West Perth
R13. CMT 30-17 v East Fremantle
R17 CMT 39-20 v Perth
R19 CMT. 35-15 v West Perth
R20  SF 40-18 v West Perth
There was also 15 games where both sides scored over 20 goals each in a match.
The smallest crowd was 3,928 EFv Perth round 19
Only Round 9+11 had no attendance over 10,000.Probably wet weekends.
Round 2 Easter weekend the 4 attendances where 13,053.....14,827....10,859......9167
327,000 attendance to Wafl 1981 Matches
146,000 attended the Finals matches
Average Wafl crowd in 1981 was 8,904 per game.Down on the late 1960's to mid 70's crowds but shows you we can't get 8904 to 5 Wafl weekend matches today.

the sharks got within three goals of South in one game

Seen that Arc round 2 in front of 14,827 fans in a shootout match.Would of been great to be at that game 

Unfortunately AR, GTR & Southy the standard of WAFL League footy in 1981 vs 2022 is like comparing gold & gravel.
In 1981 the WAFL had some of the all time greats of WA Football running around at EVERY club- 

CL- Moss, J.Krakouer, P.Krakouer, Ralph, Malaxos, Blackwell, Panizza, Daniels etc
SF- Michael. Rioli, Hardie, Carter, Monteath,McKay, Vigona, Campbell, Barrett etc
SD- P.Narkle, K.Narkle, Richardson, Beasley, Melrose, Neesham, Boucher, Nowotny, Baker etc
EP- Otway, Ironmonger, Edwards, Kickett, Campbell, Michalcyzk, Turner, Hayes, Dimmer etc
SU- Buckenara, N.Taylor, B.Taylor, Keene, D.Lamb, P.Lamb, Valli, Douge etc
WP- Fong, Menaglio, B.Duckworth, J.Duckworth, Stasinowsky, Gibbs, Bewick etc
EF- Peake, Judge, Sewell, Taylor, Cassidy, Browning, Ellis, Green, Lester-Smith etc
PE- Johnson, Cousins, Cook, W.Simms, D.Simms, McGuire, Baynes etc 

The reality is there is just nowhere near that sort of talent running around in the WAFL anymore and if they do show that ability they are whisked away off to the afl.
But having witnessed it first hand the goalscoring power in the forward lines was exquisite to watch.
Some guys on their own back then were kicking more a game than most sides could manage a game this year unbelievably!

Very true BH, some stellar names for a stellar comp.....though 80/81 were years most EF fans would want to forget....think the players were still celebrating that 79 win...SF, Cl and SD were especially exciting teams to watch then.....goals galore.

BH, GTR,FRE-- As you know too many players are ripped out of the competition each year, smething which could be fixed by increasing the draft age a couple of years; matters are not helped by coahes concentrating on tactics rather than the skills of players. When was the last time you saw a player dummy his immediate opponent? Back to 1981, it  is interesting to note, given all the high scorring during the season, nobody booted a century; good full-backs