When Karl Bearman was transferred in his employment to Perth, the former Tasmanian rover knocked on the doors of two clubs before settling on East Perth, the main reason for his choice being that the other two weren't interested.  “The late Subiaco player, Rod Newton, invited me to try out with his club, but when I ventured there, no one wanted to know me,” he recalled. “I journeyed across the river to Lathlain, and it was the same story over there. I finally paid a visit to Perth Oval, where I had a run with the boys at training. Hec Strempel invited me upstairs, made me an offer, and I became a Royal.” A goalkicking rover who was an adept disposer of the ball with both feet, the fast and elusive Bearman should certainly have been welcomed with open arms at Subiaco or Perth, who weren't in a position at the time to knock back talent.  Although he probably couldn't have gone to a club richer in roving riches than East Perth, who boasted the on ball services of Kevin McGill and Paul Seal, he went on to play a hundred and eleven league games and kick a hundred and seventy nine goals. It must have given him plenty of satisfaction when, in his final season in 1966, he booted eight straight in a game against Subiaco and followed up with six against Perth.  From Glenorchy, Tasmania, Karl Bearman played two seasons of league football in Tasmania before moving to Western Australia. “Best thing I ever did,” he said. “Plenty of sun, surf, and girls in bikinis.” He was also a fair cricketer, and played first grade in the Apple Isle, before making a fleeting impression at Nedlands in a lower grade pennant game, taking the last six wickets in the opposition's first innings after coming on as a change bowler, then grabbing the first half dozen in the second innings, for a return of twelve for seventy seven. Making his East Perth debut in 1961, he played twelve out of the Royals twenty four games that year. With Seal an absentee for the last home and away game, Bearman kicked three goals from a wing, earning himself three votes as best player, with “Polly” Farmer awarded two. The following week, with Seal back, Bearman played reserves and was named best  again, earning himself a spot as nineteenth man in the second semi final side, in which East Perth ran away with a forty eight point win over Swan Districts.  A sore knee in the week leading up to the grand final saw coach Jack Sheedy unwilling to take a chance, and Bearman played in the reserves grand final, which they won, while Swan Districts made history with an upset twenty four point victory over the Royals in the league decider.  From the 1962 season, Bearman missed only one league game with East Perth, and that was because of the flu. He topped the club goalkicking list twice in his six seasons at Perth Oval.  At the top of his form in the 1966 season, the twenty seven year old surprised the club and it's supporters when he accepted a captain coaching job at Dudinin, in the Corrigin League. “It wasn't a time of big money in football, and I had to think about my family and future,” he said. “Keith Doncon, who hailed from Wickepin, did the groundwork for me, and actually helped with some coaching at times during the week when I was unable to get there.”   Runners up in his first year in the chair, Dudinin won the flag in the last of Bearman's four years at the club.  In 1971, he took on the playing coach position at Beverley, where his side lost the grand final to Quairading, after beating them in the second semi. Returning to East Perth, Bearman coached the colts for three seasons.. Bearman lauded the abilities of three opposition rovers: Haydn Bunton, Billy Walker, and Barry Cable. “They were brilliant ballgetters,” he said. He only played one season with Farmer, but was full of superlatives for Derek Chadwick and Kevin Murray as best he'd played with.  Karl Bearman is a lawn bowler, and played first division at Bayswater Bowling Club. He and wife Carol spend as much time with as they can manage with their grandchildren, in between travel to their favourite destination, Bali, where they have paid about twenty visits, as well as Japan.  For Karl Bearman it was certainly third time lucky in his attempts to play league football in Western Australia. He carved himself a niche at East Perth, playing with some of the best players of the era, and was a favourite of supporters with his strong roving performances and canny work around the goals.