It was Richmond coach Tom Hafey who was responsible for Gerald Bett’s first trip West.“I had been at the Tigers for three years, pigeon holed as a half back flanker, and with Francis Bourke and Kevin Morris starring in a very strong Richmond combination, was finding it hard to get into the side,” Betts recalled.Aware of the difficulties fitting him in at Richmond, and also aware that the promising youngster could be lost to a weaker VFL club in the search for a regular spot, Hafey recommended a sojourn in another State for Betts to gain experience in a strong competition.   With the Tigers chasing Perth’s Rob Wiley and East Perth’s Peter Spencer, the obvious options were Perth and East Perth. Former Geelong and East Perth champion “Polly” Farmer was one of Betts’s boyhood idols, so he went to the Royals. Ironically, the two clubs fought it out for the 1976 grand final, and Gerald was on the losing side. Spencer eventually went to North Melbourne in 1981, while Wiley joined Richmond in 1979. Betts had been noticed from an early age, and the Swan Hill product was impressive in four seasons of junior football while at boarding school at Bendigo before returning home to play senior football at the age of seventeen. By the time he was recruited by Richmond as a nineteen year old, he was already a veteran of three under age and one senior premierships, the last of those with Swan Hill in 1972.  Recruited by Richmond in 1973, he played half a season in the under nineteens before spending the remainder of the year with the premiership winning reserves side, capping it off with a best on ground performance in the grand final. A tight defender, Betts was a reliable mark with the ability at just under six foot two to match it with the smalls as well as the talls. He had a dream debut in a dominant Richmond side that compiled a record winning score against Fitzroy in 1974, playing on a half back flank, and stayed in the side for another four games, but wasn’t in the twenty two that won that year’s flag. Another five appearances in 1975 led to the move to East Perth.Betts impressed at the Royals in 1976, playing every game and polling well for the Sandover Medal. In the meantime, there were changes afoot in the VFL. Hafey had been sacked at Richmond and was promptly selected by Collingwood as the man to lead them out of the wilderness. Contacted by his old mentor, Gerald Betts returned to Melbourne to don the black and white.  Collingwood went from bottom to a grand final in 1977, playing a drawn grand final, but lost the replay to North Melbourne by twenty seven points. In what was a frustrating season for Betts, a hamstring injury after sixteen games caused him to miss much of the lead up action to the finals, but his previous good form was recognised with selection in both grand final sides, albeit on the bench. A member of the Pies night premiership in 1979, Gerald played twenty four league games over three seasons at Collingwood, and it was a conversation with Collingwood, Claremont, and Perth player Kevin Worthington that saw him back in the West in 1980, but this time at Claremont.  Moved into the full back position at the Tigers, Betts became a key player over three years, playing sixty five games, and was part of the 1981 premiership win over South Fremantle. A dislocated left ankle ruined the 1982 season for Betts, and he retired the following season at the age of thirty. Returning once again to Melbourne, his association with Kevin Sheedy was renewed at Essendon, where he was runner for two seasons, in 1986 and 87. More recently, Betts  has been a mentor for two years at Richmond. These days, Gerald Betts runs a highly successful and well respected estate agency in Albert Park, Melbourne, R T Edgar Real Estate. He is always ready for a chat about footy, so  if you’re in the vicinity, drop in, he may even shout you a coffee.  Regular three km swims plus tennis and golf maintains the fitness that was always evident on the football field. He and wife Susie enjoy life with their six children whenever they can get together, and their favourite destination for a getaway is Noosa, in Queensland.  Hardest to beat: “Brian Peake(East Fremantle), John Hendry(Hawthorn), Simon Beasley(Swan Districts and Footscray) and Stan Nowotny(Swan Districts).”  Phil Carman(“natural ability”), Ian Stewart, Kevin Bartlett, Royce Hart, and Graham Moss were his picks as best team mates.  Gerald Betts was part of a great Richmond combination in the early seventies, played his part in the Collingwood resurgence of 1977, and was part of the memorable drawn grand final of that year. In Western Australia he is remembered by two clubs as a fine player, and one that played a key role in Claremont’s 1981 premiership success.