League football has been littered over the years with stories of potential never being realised due to constant injury problems. East Perth have had their share of hard luck stories ending the careers of champions prematurely. Don Langdon, Derek Chadwick, and Keith Doncon are three examples of stars who were cut down in their mid twenties. Brent Levitzke never reached the heights of those three, but injuries throughout his career never allowed the opportunity to fullfill the early predictions made about him as a junior. In six years at the Royals, Levitzke managed just fifty one league appearances.  Coached at Bedford juniors by Grant Dorrington, where he played in the midfield, mentored at Wesley College by former league umpire Frank “Smokey” Woods, where he was a centre half forward, and monitored by East Perth coach Mal Brown, big things were expected of Levitzke.  In what was to be a virtual preview of things to come for Brent, he injured an ankle in the under eighteens when he was on the brink of playing with East Perth. Brown kept him out of the game for twelve months, giving him ample recovery time before launching the youngster onto the big stage. After playing a few games with the thirds, he finally debuted for the Royals in 1973, as a nineteen year old. “I remember it well,” he said. “I was on a half forward flank, against Lyndsay McGuiness, of West Perth, and he was a tough opponent. It didn't get any easier the next game either, when we played Perth, and I had Colin Lofts sitting on my shoulder.” It was quite a thrill for the youngster to wear the number twenty two that his idol, Derek Chadwick, had worn previously with great distinction.  The six foot one Levitzke was a mobile player, who could play in a key forward position, but was better suited to a flank, where his pace and marking ability made him a tough ask to match up on. He was adept as a goalkicker, and provided his side with an extra goalkicking option.  A cartilege operation put him back on the sidelines for an extended period in 1974. In 1976, with a relatively  injury-free run , he showed some of the form the club had been looking for, and was high up in the fairest and best voting for the F.D. Book Medal, but frustration returned the following year when an injury to the other knee saw the removal of the remaining cartilage.  Levitzke returned in sparkling style in 1978, leading the fairest and best count after a third of the season, when the gods frowned on him again, this time doing a hamstring.  To rub salt into the wounds, the time out  cost him a spot in East Perth's premiership win over Perth that year, although he was a member of the   reserves side that completed the double.  A teacher, Brent enrolled in a course for teaching deaf children in Adelaide, so he signed with West Torrens in 1979, where he played under coach Neil Kerley. “It was an enjoyable year, where the only injury didn't result in any time off, but was nonetheless painful,” he told us. “I lost my mouthguard when opposed to John Duckworth, and he lined me up but fortunately missed, but the relief was only temporary, because one of his mates did the job.”      1980 started like the season from Hell for Levitzke.  Returning home from Adelaide, he found himself on the outer with East Perth coach, Barry Cable, and when Subiaco coach Peter Burton rang with an offer to join his club, he accepted. Which didn't have a happy ending either.  Levitzke was one of several players recruited to the Maroons that season, with another East Perth player on the wrong side of Cable, Archie Duda, and South Fremantle's Peter Lewington among the others. When upheaval in the club caused the resignation of Burton, the new regime came in with another broom, and the new recruits weren't part of the plans.   Another phone call, this time from ex East Perth teammate,Bradley Smith, then in the coaching chair at East Fremantle, saw  Levitzke join Smith and another old teammate in Ian Thomson, and he played the rest of the year at Moss Street.  In 1981, thinking it was time to look after the future of his young family, Levitzke accepted the coaching position at South Suburban side, Maddington, making the finals in his first year, as well as winning the club fairest and best award. Retiring after the 1982 season, he was enticed back to Maddington midway through 1983 by new coach, Ken Deards, and he stayed there for a further four years.  A career in Masters Football followed, with the Vic Park Pigs. Levitzke coached juniors for some years, as well as the Wesley College first eighteen, and was a State selector for the under sixteens for seven years, including four as chairman.  He is also a recruiter for the Sydney Swans. Asked who his toughest opponent was, he came up with a teammate.  “Ross Glendinning,” was the reply. “When Polly Farmer coached East Perth, he would always have a scratch game on the Thursday night. I consistently copped Glendinning, and he was the complete package as a footballer. Of the opposition blokes I played on, Doug Green(East Fremantle), Joe McKay(South), Stan Nowotny(Swans), Colin Lofts(Perth), and John Dimmer(Subiaco) were the toughest of a tough lot.  Glendinning, Phil Kelly, and Peter Spencer were the best I played with.” These days, Brent plays as much golf as he can fit in, but enjoys the family times with wife, Vicki, son, Ryan, and daughter, Kristen. He is proud of their achievements, Ryan being one of the leading racecallers in Western Australia, his dulcet tones heard at Greyhound Racing and Thoroughbred races around the State.  Brent Levitzke suffered more than his share of injury throughout his career, and there is no doubt that the potential was never able to be realised. But he doesn't dwell on it or fret about what may have been. “I had a good career, played at a few clubs, met some great people. I have no regrets about anything out of my control,” he said. “Just to play with those I played with and against  was a privilege.” To underline those thoughts, he finished our chat with an anecdote about an “injury situation.” “I was hellbent on getting myself fit for the 1976 grand final,” he said. “During the week leading up to the big day, I had painkillers injected. On the Thursday, my leg went to sleep, I couldn't feel anything below the knee. In the afternoon, a crowd of a few thousand turned up at Perth Oval to watch us train. I got out there for a run, and immediately fell backside over cranium. It was most embarrassing” “President, Harry Atlas, reckoned he'd fix me up.” “He put me in baths of hot and cold water alternately about half a dozen times, but the only effect it had on me was to get me slightly burnt.”  “Fortunately, everything was back to normal by Friday when I passed a fitness test, but it was a traumatic experience.”