Don Haddow had the pedigree to become a league footballer, it was just a matter of which Fremantle club he’d play for.Father Bill Haddow was a premiership full back for East Fremantle, who played on Bernie Naylor in that champion’s first appearance, holding him to three goals, and played sixty three league games. Don’s grandparents were both life members of the Bulldogs, and uncle Ernie Grose was a ruckman in South’s golden years, playing 125 games and figuring in the 1953 premiership. It was Grose  who laid the groundwork for the young Haddow’s pathway to Fremantle Oval.Many a Saturday afternoon was spent with Uncle Ernie at a South game, and, being in the Bulldogs zone, his future as a Bulldog became a formality.  A slow developer, Haddow didn’t set the world on fire as a junior. “I played my first game on a wing, and was a passenger, I didn’t know what was going on,” he laughed. Perseverance from Willagee coach Chum Chamberlain eventually paid off, and Don went to South Fremantle thirds in 1968. Don Haddow’s career lasted twelve seasons, a time span that would usually produce two hundred plus games.  Compare his 168 appearances in that time to Gary Scott’s 255 in thirteen years, Stephen Michael’s 243 in eleven, and Marty Atkins’s 266 in fifteen, it’s apparent that there was a big gap. Haddow effectively had two football lives. His best football was played in the 1970 premiership year, when he fielded enquiries from Carlton, St Kilda, and Footscray, but injury that not only saw him miss several seasons as a regular, but robbed him of the main ingredient to his early prominence as a dashing midfielder, the ability to take a high flying grab and the elusive clearing run from a contest, forced him to change his game.And to his credit, he did, stationed at full forward in the 1980 premiership side, as the only member of South’s 1970 team to take part in both flags.The arrival of Hassa Mann in 1969, with some new ideas, saw the birth of Don Haddow the league footballer.  “He saw me as a six foot wingman,” Don said. “My first league game was just like my first under age game, and in the same position.” Mann saw something in the youngster and Haddow received a tough initiation year against some top wingmen. As Mann’s older legs tired, he moved to the forward line in 1970, and Haddow took over in the middle. “I wasn’t a natural centreman,” he admitted. “I played more of a tagging role, and let the other bloke, who was usually the star player of the opposition, lead me to the ball.” Whatever tactics he used worked, and, with Frank Legena and Peter Troode on the wings, the centreline of Souths was a major contribution to a premiership win over Perth. Haddow was considered unlucky in some quarters not to be awarded the Simpson Medal for his grand final domination of Sandover Medallist of that year, Pat Dalton. The high of 1970 was sobered early the next season by a bout with what was later to be known as osteo pubis, which he was unable to shake for two years, after which a blow in the back damaging two vertebrae was a further setback, with repercussions that were to change Don’s whole approach to the game.Reinvented as a half back in 1975, Haddow showed  resolve and determination to change his approach and succeed in defence, to the extent of being chosen in the Daily News WAFL Team of the Year. He continued his form through the finals series, and was one of the few South players who could hold their head high after a record grand final loss to West Perth. A volatile player who never took a backward step, Don was reported during his sides’s loss to East Fremantle in the 1979 grand final, the only time in his career that his name went into the umpire’s book. “I pleaded insanity and got off,” he joked. Booked for striking Graham Kickett, a heavy beard growth over the six stitches in the East Fremantle player’s jaw prevented the damage being truly exhibited, and Haddow was found not guilty.Don Haddow called it quits after sharing in a memorable 1980 grand final, at the age of thirty, later lining up with ex team mate Gary Greer-coached Willeton, but didn’t enjoy it. He went down the coaching path in outstanding fashion, taking the colts side from last in 1981 to two consecutive premierships in 1982 and 83, then improving the reserves from third last to second the following year.  1985 wasn’t a great year to be appointed league coach of South Fremantle. It was a year they lost a number of stars, including Stephen Michael, and the club struggled. After two seasons at the helm of the Bulldogs, another coaching stint at Willeton rounded off Haddow’s involvement with football.Football wasn’t the only sport in the Haddow blood. His aunt Laura, Ernie Grose’s sister, was a State Champion bowler, and so Don joined his father at North Fremantle Bowling Club, but later took up golf(“should have done it much earlier”). He is now to be found attempting to master the course at Melville Glades.  Haddow still looks after his fitness, and is a regular member of Bike Victoria, a self-funded community organisation, dedicated to getting more people cycling more often. He has also notched up four marathons, with a best time of two hours fifty four minutes.Don began his working career at Landgate at the same time as his started with South Fremantle, and forty three years later is still there. He and wife Carol have two girls and a boy, and enjoy travel. He gives Barry Cable his nomination as toughest opponent. “There are many ways to get on top of your opponent and Barry knew them all,” he said. “He wasn’t just a fancy player, he was tough and clever.” Stephen Michael was unsurprisingly best team mate. “Stephen could win a match off his own bat, his reliability was a feature.”Don Haddow served South Fremantle well, a driving force behind the 1970 premiership and beating the odds to be there again in 1980.  His tenacity in overcoming setbacks was a lesson to young players everywhere.