From The Victorian Football League 76th Annual Report 1972North Adelaide (S.A.N.F.L.) won the title as 'Australia's Champion Team' by defeating Carlton (V.F.L.) by one point in a tense and exciting game.  After appearing to be in a winning position at the last interval, Carlton tired badly and failed to take advantage of a strong wind advantage.North Adelaide thoroughly deserved their victory, but may have been fortunate to meet a Carlton which had lost many players through injury after a strenuous match against East Perth (W.A.N.F.L.) on the previous days match. One of those wearing the East Perth blue and black in that previous day’s match was defender Ken Deards.“It was a rough and tough affair,” said Deards. “The biffo was on early and we weren’t taking a backward step. Browny was the bloke who was most conspicuous, taking half the opposition on, but I reckon I started the ball rolling by cleaning Chandler up.  We softened them  and they ran out of puff against North.”“The South Australians were quick to invite us back to share in the celebrations.”It was 1972, a memorable year for Deards, who had been one of the Royals best in a grand final victory over East Fremantle.  The back pocket player  had just come off an impressive 1971, when he was selected in the State squad. “When they picked the final side to play in Adelaide I was out, because Brownie reckoned I had a suspect shoulder,” Ken said. “They got done by seventeen points, I stayed home and got best on ground according to the papers in a 27.16 to 12.8 win over West Perth, and I let Brownie know about it when they got back.”“I spoke too soon, because the shoulder went before the next game and I ended up missing a month.” Brown had demonstrated his insight into the game by moving Deards into defence at the beginning of the 1970 season.  “We have to fit you in somewhere, and there’s no vacancies on the ball, so have a go at the backline,” was his explanation. Deards was an immediate success in the role, providing dash and flair from a half back flank to complement the solidarity of centre half back Ken McAullay, and was the obvious choice as back pocket heir to Dobbie Graham when the star defender retired after the 1971 season. Ken Deards’s involvement with East Perth began when his family moved house from Highgate to Lathlain Park in 1968.Showing potential as a rover with Highgate juniors, Deards was rushed into the Royals fourths to tie him to the club, with the idea of him continuing his junior football at Perth, but unable to play senior football anywhere but East Perth. Deards played the opening game of the season in the fourths, and stayed at Perth Oval, graduating to thirds after four games.  It was a great year for the youngster, with the Ray Pages-Oliver coached side taking the premiership.  Such was his progression, he made his league debut for East Perth on Anzac Day the following year, when selected to rove against the West Perth trio of Bill Valli, Craige Baker, and John Nykyforak. After the exhilarating premiership year of 1972, things went downhill for Ken.A bad ankle injury saw him on the sidelines for the entire 1973 season, and in 1975, after eighty one games with the Royals, Deards went to South Australia. “Footy wasn’t the main reason for going,” he said. “I had a few mates over there, and wanted to check a bit of the country out. One of them, John Hayes, got me to West Adelaide.” A fractured cheekbone followed by a hamstring injury wasn’t a great start for Ken in his odyssey, but he ended up playing out the year as a half back.Another old team mate, Steven Fowles, talked Deards in to transferring to Woodville, where he was  playing in the centre before a knee injury forced his return to the sidelines. Back in the West, Ken joined Phil Haughan as assistant coach at Sunday League club South Perth for two years, before a one year stint coaching  Maddington. A plasterer, Ken Deards is retired these days, and exhibiting the legacies of his football days. “Everything works except the hip, shoulder, knee and ankles,” he joked. He used to play a bit of golf, but now confines his interest to racehorses, having had an involvement with a few over the years. “Bill Walker was the hardest to catch, with Bill Valli next, while for East Perth Johnny Burns, Richard Michalczyk  and Browny were bloody good players,” he said.Ken Deards was a Royal through and through, a great team man, and a very good back pocket specialist who  played a big part in an East Perth premiership.