1961 was a great year for Western Australian football. The heroic Brisbane Carnival win has become folklore, it was the first year of  the Swan Districts hat trick of premierships, and a centre half back from Perth defied the odds to claim the Sandover Medal.Neville Beard joined a select group of defenders to win the coveted award, including George Bailey(Perth), Frank “Scranno” Jenkins(South Fremantle), Sammy Clarke(Claremont), and Fred Buttsworth(West Perth). It was all the more meritorious because of the strength of Western Australian football at the time, with every side having top class midfielders and ruckmen, who consistently dominate Sandover Medal voting.   Beard tied with champion East Fremantle centreman Ray Sorrell, winning on a countback, with Sorrell later being awarded a retrospective medal, and as a result the two stars became lifelong friends.   Beard had almost been a part of the Brisbane triumph, having been selected in the Carnival squad, but injury forced his withdrawal from the team, although he received some consolation when he represented the State the following year.   Neville Beard had a relatively brief career by most standards, his 128 game career ending in 1963. Spinal trouble, which had dogged him throughout his six year span at Lathlain, brought a premature end to his playing days. But, rather than rue what might have been, Beard was philosophical about it when we caught up with him recently. “ That injury actually first happened in my debut game.  I could just as easily have had my football career end right there, so I can’t really complain,” he remarked.A private man, Neville Beard was loath to discuss his own career, preferring to talk about his teammates at Perth, and the many friends he accumulated over the years among those he played against. “My highlights in football were the friendships I made, and still enjoy,” he said.  But it would be fair to say that one of his biggest inspirations throughout his career was his father.Bert “Bluey” Beard was a ruckman at South Fremantle and had played a mere eleven games at the Port when he was plucked out of the WANFL, along with Subiaco stars Brighton Diggins  and Billy Faul by the newly appointed South Melbourne coach, former Western Australian legend, Johnny Leonard, in 1932. He helped propel the Victorian club to it’s first finals campaign in a decade, culminating in a premiership in 1933. “Bluey” Beard went on to play 36 games with South Melbourne, finishing his career at Fitzroy.    “Bluey” was Neville’s biggest supporter, and it was he who got into Perth coach Bob Hicks’s ear about giving his son a go at centre half back. Neville had been playing as a ruck/defender, with an occasional stint at full forward, and the club was short of a key half back to replace the long time stalwart and dependable Bert Wansbrough. “Bluey” considered that his son had all the attributes needed for the position. The move was a success, and Neville Beard proceeded to prove the old man right.A product of the Victoria Park Metropolitan Juniors, Beard played in the Temperance League in his formative years, debuting for the Demons at the age of nineteen. A penetrating left foot kick, he was a very strong and dependable overhead mark, and standing at six foot one, his agility was a good plus for the defensive position.Neville brought out a couple of “forgotten” names when asked about hardest opponents and best team mates. Frank “Rooster” Johnson, from South Fremantle, was a tough opponent, and the ruckman from Pemberton, who gave Perth great service, Tommy Davis, received accolades as a top team mate, along with Bill Leuzzi, but he added, “there were plenty more.”  On today’s game, Neville commented: “Like some, don’t like some. Don’t like the focus on handball, or the lack of high marking. Do like the strength, athleticism, and pace of today’s players, and the fact that they are able to play anywhere on the ground. But as a spectacle, the game leaves a lot to be desired.”A former policeman, Neville Beard is now retired, and enjoying life by the sea with his wife, Josephine. The legacy of the injury that spelt the end of his football career is still ever present, and he has had many operations. “I was six foot one when I played footy, now I am five foot eleven,” he joked. He still manages to stay active, though, and enjoys doing woodwork, canoeing, as well as voluntary work for the local hospital.Neville Beard may be shorter now than he was in his heyday but he can still stand tall as a member of an elite group of centre half backs to win a Sandover Medal.