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In 1951 West Perth held on to win an exciting grand final, holding out a surging South Fremantle with the wind at their backs to prevail by three points. Stars of the tense last seconds were defenders Ray Schofield and Wally Price, who repelled the Bulldog attacks time and time again.

 

The performances of Schofield and Price left a huge impression on sixteen year old Syd Dufall, who listened to the game at his home in Boulder. And when the Dufall family received a visit from Ray Schofield inviting the teenager to Leederville Oval the following year it didn't take much persuasion to get him there.

 

It was a dream come true for a twenty five year old Dufall when he lined up for the Cardinals in the 1960 grand final. “It was fantastic,” Syd said. “There I was, a kid from the country, playing in a grand final for West Perth, after listening to the sensational win nine years before.”

 

For Dufall it hadn't been an easy progression.

 

Big things were predicted for the Boulder City junior when he arrived at Leederville in 1953. The winner of three club fairest and best awards in succession, the centreman had tied with Essendon-bound Alec Epis as best player in the Goldfields junior competition the previous season.

 

Small in stature (five foot nine and a half), but genuinely fast and a good kick, Dufall was selected in the West Perth league side on three occasions in 1953, but only took the field in the last quarter each time. After showing up in pre season games the following season, a kick to the stomach in the last scratch match of 1954 was a huge setback. “I got a boot just under the ribs,” he said. “It took me three years to recover. It played havoc with my nervous system, causing vomiting during games. When I went into National Service in 1954 I suffered from seasickness, which wasn't ideal in the Navy, and that was attributed to the blow I received in the stomach.”

 

It took until the 1956 season for Syd to recover full fitness, and he became a regular in the Cardinals side from the opening round of fixtures. But the boy from Boulder took a while to get to know the quality of the opposition. In his first encounter with 1955 premiers, Perth, he did well on a half forward flank before moving to the wing after a team mate left the ground, again contributing well. He had no idea his opponents were State star Terry Moriarty and State captain Keith Harper.

 

Moriarty came off second best in another encounter in a later season, when Dufall took heed of some advice from team mate, Tony Yaksich. “Listen here,” he told Syd. “Terry will always stick a fist out as you tackle him. When he does, grab it, you may give away a free, but he won't do it again.”

 

True to Tony's word, he did push out his fist, I grabbed hold of it, but the trouble was I was in full stride and turning, and he was stationary,” Syd explained. “The result was that Moriarty went flying backwards in midair. Umpire Freddy Woods pinged me for slinging, but Terry never did it again.”

 

Syd enjoyed playing against Perth, grabbing a gift goal on another occasion when Demons backman Neville Beard miskicked to him in the centre one day. “I turned around and gave it a roost, with the resulting kick bouncing through the unguarded goalposts,” he recalled. “As I went back, Paddy Dalton commented: “arse,” and I retorted “I won't show you again.”

 

The 1951 premiership was a great win for West Perth, but the 1960 success, their first grand final appearance since losing two in a row immediately after 51, was no less memorable. It was to bring to an end the dominance of East Perth, who still had an imposing line up. West Perth had put the writing on the wall with a twenty four point win over the Royals in the second semi final, with Dufall contributing four goals from the half forward flank.

 

Coach Arthur Olliver told Dufall: “Sheedy will make sure you are a target after that performance. But you won't be there. When the ball comes forward, you go the other way.” The idea was to take 1958 Simpson Medallist Ned Bull out of the game, and it worked. Bull was ineffectual, West Perth won the flag, and Dufall, while not a large possession getter over the match, was presented with the coaches trophy.

 

Ironically, West Perth played East Perth five times in 1960, winning four and drawing one.

 

Dufall laments the fact that West Perth didn't go on to more premiership wins in the early sixties. “We had a terrific side, it should have been the start of an era, but it was to be another thirteen years before the club reached another grand final,” he said.

 

Syd Dufall went on to play a hundred and fifty games by the end of 1964. The bad luck he experienced in the pre season of 1954 came back to haunt him a decade later. A heavy clash in the last scratch match before the 1965 season caused the displacement of five discs in his back. As if that wasn't bad enough, when he attempted jogging soon after, he pulled a hamstring. “After that, it was always in the back of my mind that the back or hammy would go, so I lost all confidence at the time,” he recalled. “I also had a small family and work commitments, so I decided to give the game away.”

 

The decision was vindicated three years later, when, attempting a comeback with Great Southern club Cranbrook, Dufall's hamstring was torn from knee to buttock.

 

Syd was generous in his praise of all those he played with at West Perth, and said he was privileged to wear the red and blue. “We had some great times over the years,” he remarked.

 

Including the gambling night at Leederville, when a phone call alerted us to the impending visit from the constabulary. We all cleaned the place up, stashed the money into a bag, and gave it to one of our number with the instructions to get out of the place pronto. When the police arrived we were all sitting around with matches and cards in front of us. Just as they were about to leave, a faint sound of “help,” similar to a cat's meeow, came across the room. On investigating, the frame of a man appeared in the torchlight, stuck in the barbed wire fence near Loftus Street, still clutching the bag of cash.”

 

 

He recalled the time a West Perth player travelled to Fremantle Oval on the back of a mate's motor cycle. Feeling a bit peckish, the passenger decided to grab a pie in Claremont. On continuing the journey, he said to his mate: “this %$$# pie stinks! So, doing a u turn they retraced their journey back to the pie shop, where the girl behind the counter agreed. “It sure does smell a bit off.” “Off!” he said. “It's not only off, it's halfway up the straight!”

 

Syd told the story of the game against East Fremantle, when Ray Sorrell fell in front of him. “I jumped over his inert body and continued the contest. After the game I was castigated by the coach for not taking the opportunity to fill the star player in. I replied that I don't play the game like that, for which I got dropped for a week.”

 

Dufall nominated two East Perth players, Ned Bull and Brian Ray, as hardest to beat, while of the many good players he played with, Mel Whinnen and Bill Dempsey were standouts, as well as Eddie Wylde. “I used to always cop Eddie at training one on ones, and he was a great player.”

 

Syd had a simple philosophy on attitude in football.

 

You have to go out there thinking you won't get beaten,” he said. “Even if they get the edge early, just stick with it. The ball will eventually bounce your way. No matter who the opposition is you can beat them.”

 

An importer and exporter in his working life, he was involved in the initial promotion of Timex watches in this State. “We took one to the Manager of Bairds and demonstrated it's toughness by slamming it against a wall,” he said. “They did a commercial showing Brian Sarre dropkicking a football eighty metres with a watch taped to it.”

 

I went back to the Victorian suppliers with an order of 500 with a further 500 in reserve. They couldn't believe it. Bairds sold 2,500 in the first week. “And we don't even sell watches,” stammered an incredulous Bairds manager.

 

 

 

Syd Dufall overcame a slow start to become an integral part of an outstanding West Perth combination that probably should have achieved more in the sixties, but their heartstopping win in 1960 will be remembered as one of the tightest grand final finishes ever. A tough competitor, he was a favourite of the club and it's supporters.

 

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