Given the universally accepted and often lamented decline in the standard of West Australian football since the formation of the West Coast Eagles and later the Fremantle Dockers, it’s a breath of fresh air to hear a star of a great era of the WAFL give high praise to a local league match.But that was the case when we caught up with former Swan Districts triple premiership player, Joe Lawson.  When we asked the tough full back about the best games he’d seen, he said: “Few seasons ago, Swans and East Perth.”“That was one of the best I’ve seen,” he went on to say. “The long kicking and foot passing were exemplary, and I even noticed a few dropkicks.  There were some very good players out there, including Natanui. ”   And it flew in the face of Joe’s opinion on the football exhibited on the big stage of the AFL. “We have to change our thinking on the game,”he said. “ It’s not football, it’s handball and run.”Joe Lawson was one of Swan Districts finest fullbacks, a life member of the club, and represented Western Australia.  Named in the club’s official “Team of the Century” at full back, he played 235 games for the black and whites, most of them in the key defensive position. He was a tough, uncompromising, close checking player, who was happy to use spoiling tactics to great effect in an era of top quality opposition full forwards. The understanding between Lawson and Swans and State back pocket player Colin Maynard  developed into a great defensive partnership between the two, and together they formed one of the best last lines of defence in West Australian football.But the unassuming Lawson pays tribute to those he played against. “They were all great players, those I played on.” And he had a lot of respect for them.  He tells the story about the high flier John Gerovich, who in one particular encounter was having a torrid day, much to the relief of Joe. “Gero wasn’t going too well, and had only touched the ball twice in the first half”.  Brian Gray was clobbered and left the ground. Maynard went into the centre, and the nineteenth man came on and lined up in the back pocket, where he immediately started mouthing off at the South forward.Joe sidled up to the new arrival, and advised him to shut his mouth. “I was going ok on a bloody good player, and the last thing I needed was for him to get fired up about some personal abuse,” he recalled. Sadly, the back pocket man was on a roll, and increased the verbal lashing. Next thing, the ball came down high, accommodating the bread and butter Gero fly, but as all eyes were heavenbound, a crunch was heard and the back pocket player was on his back, eventually to be carted off. On the rebuke from Lawson, the South goalsneak replied:”I don’t mind being beaten, but I can’t take foul mouthed  &*#$% !”Not that Joe was averse to a bit of rough stuff himself.He recalls one occasion early in his career, when he was playing at full forward for Swans. The Swans centre half forward  was getting a severe buffeting from the East Fremantle centre half back, and he was visibly being  intimidated out of the game.  Lawson swapped positions, and, when greeted with an inquiry as to what he was doing there, informed the Old East defender that he was there to do to him what he’d been doing to his mate.  That signalled an end to the biffo for a while.Joe Lawson played with Bassendean Juniors for three years , and then another two years in the Metropolitan Junior Competition. He didn’t have any real ambition to play league football at that time, but when one of his mates indicated he was playing at Swan Districts, Joe decided to check it out.  At that time Lawson reckoned he was a forward, but the Swans seconds already had a full forward who was going alright, so Joe lined up on a half back flank and was named in the best players.He played fourteen games with the seconds the following year, but it was in a game during a trip by the club to Victoria, that the young Lawson was put to full forward by coach Frank Sparrow. He grabbed a couple of goals, and later made his debut in the league side as a forward. In one match, field umpire Vic French made the comment to coach Sparrow:”Yer’ve got a couple of likely looking lads down there, why not kick it to ‘em rather than trying to do it yerself.”  Lawson’s career as a forward didn’t last very long. Swan Districts former star full forward Ted Holdsworth claims the credit for the brainwave of sending the young tyro forward to the back line. It was probably the aggressive style of play and the use of the body that  Holdsworth saw in Lawson that suggested he had the hallmarks of a top defender. The move was an inspiration, and a star custodian was born. He made the position his own, through the lean years of the late fifties to the legendary triple premierships of the early sixties.  Fairest and Best at Swans in 1958, he was a dominant player in the first two premierships.  Thoughout his career Lawson was a player who trained exactly the way he played, an attitude that pleased coach Haydn Bunton, but was received a little less appreciatively by some of the forwards on training nights at Bassendean.   On retiring, Lawson became players representative on the Swan Districts committee. He goes to some home games these days, but, as with some of his old team mates, golfsticks  have replaced footy boots.When asked about best players, Joe Lawson was adamant. “All those I played on were hard to beat and all those I played with were brilliant”, he remarked.  A former Carpenter and Joiner, he was persuaded to go into Life Insurance after leaving football, and he hasn’t looked back, retiring a few years ago as Regional Manager with National Mutual  T& G.When not on the golf course, he is enjoying his retirement with wife Irene, doing a bit of travelling and just enjoying life, although he is finding the greens of Rosehill and Marangaroo  no less demanding than outwitting a high flying full forward.