Merv Cowan is a member of the Western Australian Football Hall of Fame and is a legend at the home of the Sharks. The names Merv Cowan and East Fremantle are synonymous.
Yet he was initially a reluctant bearer of the blue and white.
“I played under age football at South Fremantle,” Merv recalled. “ Blokes like Frank Treasure and Eric Eriksson were team mates. On completing three years service with the Navy I wanted to go to Souths but, having lived in the East Fremantle area, I was tied to them, and there was no clearance forthcoming. In the end, Jerry Dolan, who had been my school coach, told me to get down to Moss Street and start playing.”
It was 1946, a year in which Old Easts were invincible. They went through the season undefeated , but prevailed by only six points in a nailbiter against West Perth in the grand final. The young Cowan had to be content in the seconds, a berth in that league combination too tough an assignment. A half forward as a junior, Cowan debuted in 1947 as a backman, where he was to spend most of his career, becoming a regular back pocket player for East Fremantle, with the occasional switch to the centre or half forward.
Cowan was a dependable back pocket player, one of the best in the competition, and was unlucky not to wear a State guernsey. In those days, the WA side would invariably include two full backs, at the expense of a pocket specialist. A club captain and runner up in a Lynn Medal to Vic French, he was to wait until his last season to share in a premiership. The 1957 grand final win over East Perth was Merv’s one hundred and seventy second and last game. He retired at the age of thirty two.
But the Cowan legacy at East Fremantle had just begun.
After two years playing at Bunbury, he joined the committee at East Fremantle, where he served for thirteen years as President, five as Secretary, and twenty two as delegate to the League. He was also a selector. A member of the WAFL Board Of Management for twenty years, he was a prime mover in the formation of the Fremantle Dockers, and was a Board member.
A long serving Town Clerk at East Fremantle Council, he has been honoured by the Council with the naming of Merv Cowan Reserve. The WAFC has named one of the gates at Subiaco Oval after the great man, and East Fremantle has the Merv Cowan Stand. He is a life member of both East Fremantle and the WAFC.
Merv Cowan’s insight into the game was a feature of the ABC’s football summaries on Saturday nights in the late fifties and early sixties.
South Fremantle’s John Todd was Merv’s pick as hardest opponent, while ruckman Jack Clarke was his selection as best team mate.
Merv Cowan is a true legend of Western Australian football.