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In August,1957, Tony Bellos was playing with Hellenics in the Sunday League, his mind firmly set on the coming finals, for which his side had already qualified. The nineteen year old centreman had been in dominating form, and his performance on this day, in front of the usual followers of the two clubs, was no exception. Among the crowd was coach of the reigning WANFL premiers, Jack Sheedy. As Bellos headed for the showers, he wouldn't have had an inkling of how his life would change in the next few days. When Sheedy introduced himself and issued an invitation to train with East Perth the following Tuesday night at Perth Oval he was flattered but had no illusions. After joining the Royals at training that week, Bellos was floored when his name was on the East Perth league list for the match against Subiaco. “I don't think it sunk in until I was actually out on the ground,” he recalled.  “I pulled out of the East Perth side the following week because Hellenics were in a semi final,” he said. “Hellenics lost, and thinking back, maybe it was just as well. I might not have got back into East Perth's team if I'd been away longer.”  Bellos went on to play with East Perth in the 1957 grand final, which they lost to East Fremantle by four points. It was an explosive and unexpected start to a career which had a span of only seven years, but was one of achievement.   A very quick, elusive left footer, Tony Bellos was never dropped from the side throughout his 123 game career, in which he played in five grand finals, and was part of two premierships.  With State player Tommy Everett in the centre, Bellos had to be content to play on a half forward flank, which he did with success. The blow of the departure of Everett to East Fremantle before the 1959 season was softened by the presence of a readymade replacement in Bellos, and he showed his liking for the switch with a blistering start to the year. There were plenty of top centremen running around in every side at the time, but Tony impressed enough to be chosen in the West Australian touring party to play in Victoria, Tasmania, and South Australia. In June, 1959, Tony Bellos made his State debut against Victoria, in Melbourne. “It wasn't the ideal game to make your debut in,” he recalled. “We were completely outclassed, scoring only three goals and losing by 176 points in a massacre. My game? I started on a half forward flank, opposed to Kevin Murray. Never got a kick there, so was moved to a wing on Thorold Merrett. No change. Next move was to a half back flank, where I thought it must get easier. Looked around, and there were Bobby Skilton and Allen Aylett taking turns to rest on me.”   On Ron Barassi: “In those days there were no mouthpieces, and Barassi had lost five teeth. I was speeding after the ball when out of the corner of my eye I noticed the rapidly approaching Barassi, who looked like a prehistoric serpent with the two fangs protruding. It was with great fortitude and not a little good luck that I managed to punch the ball away. It was a fearsome sight.” After a seventy one point win over Tasmania on  Wednesday, WA  went to Adelaide Oval on the Saturday to face South Australia. Bellos, rested from the Tasmanian match, lined up in the centre. He commented: “It was certainly a wake up call for me as to how tough interstate football really can be.  After the Victorian game, I thought things couldn't get any worse. But it was just about to, in the shape of three time Margarey Medallist, Lindsay Head. I tried hard, but he was a very good player, and had the wood over me.” Bellos continued to play well for East Perth, and was runner up to the champ, “Polly” Farmer for East Perth's fairest and best award in a premiership year.  With the advent of the sixties, the fortunes of the Royals changed, as some of the old guard retired. Bellos was newly married and was looking to improve his business as a butcher in Northbridge, so he decided to call it a day after the 1963 season.  Interviewing the effusive Tony Bellos was a lesson in humility and humour at one's own expense, as can be seen by his above anecdotes.  His refreshingly candid stories were a pleasure to hear, and I'm sure our readers will enjoy us sharing them. Bellos said: “The late and great Austin Robertson snr wrote in the “Daily News” after I'd played only a couple of games that watching Tony Bellos play was like watching the legendary Melbourne player Keith Shea play. Until he kicks....” Asked who his hardest opponent was, Tony gave credit to the tactics of Subiaco's Peter Amaranti, but declared West Perth's Don Marinko(who later joined East Perth) as the hardest to beat and illustrated his opinion with a  story. “I was playing on Don in the 1960 grand final. He sidled up to me at the first bounce and said,”Hey, Butch, don't run too far, just stay in the middle, I can't catch you, you know that.” I protestingly replied, “Sorry, Don, it's a bloody grand final, my coach would have my cojunes, I can't do that.” “So I ran my guts out and collected a zillion kicks. Don got only about ten, all of which went directly to Ross Ayre's chest, and it's history that Ayre got nine and we lost.” “On teammates, there was only one to pick although I played with many great players. “Polly” Farmer.  He could dictate play like no other. To illustrate this, one year the Daily News had a competition where their footy reporter would give votes(3,2,1) each week of a qualifying round(seven games) and the first player who polled nine in a round would collect 100 pounds.  In those days we were getting about  twelve quid a game, so a hundred was a sizeable amount.” “Approaching the last week of this particular round, I was holding sway on eight and just needed one vote in the last game.  During the week I pulled Polly's coatsleeve and said, “Can you do anything to help me win?” Pol said,”What's in it for me?”  I offered him twenty and he said “Fine, leave it with me.” “Saturday came around, and Polly pulled me aside. “I'll be opposed to Clarke, you'll have Sorrell. When I fly with Clarkey, you start running.”  “True to his word, up went the ball, up went Farmer and Clarke, in midflight Polly took the ball out of the air and handpassed it to where he told me to be. Straight down the throat of the forwards went my pass.  This happened continually in the first quarter. Commentators at quarter time had Farmer 1, Bellos 2. Curl the mo. I was mentally spending my eighty already.” “Early in the second quarter Polly left the ground injured, not to return. I was devastated. But picking up the pieces, I put in a good effort I thought, and hoped it might be worth the one vote. Out came the Daily News and an East Freo player got 3, another one 2, and our first gamer, Derek Chadwick, received one.” “Chatting later with football writer, Geoff Christian, who awarded the votes, he explained that it was tight between Derek and myself for the third vote but because it was Chaddy's first game, he gave it to him.” “Which was fair enough, but the purpose of the story was to show the class of Farmer, being able to dictate how he was going to play against a formidable opponent in Jack Clarke.”  A final anecdote to share concerns a clash with Claremont at Claremont Oval. Tony said: “I was on a half back flank on a great player in Lorne Cook. He was burning, and took several early speccies over me. A guy in the grandstand mouthed, “Get back to the fish and chip shop, Bellos!” This continued every time Cookey did anything, and the guy in the stand was getting louder and louder. By the last quarter, the Greek temperament was starting to show. It happened one more time. “You're a d...head, Bellos!” That was it. Over the fence I went, with Paul Seal closing fast to stop me. Luckily Seal was faster than me on this occasion, and his headlock resolved the situation.”     Tony Bellos's time on the football stage was all too short for a player of his abilities, but from chatting with him there is no doubt that he extracted the utmost enjoyment from the time he had.  He was one of the quickest centremen around, at a time of class centremen, and the punt at Inglewood Oval by Jack Sheedy was more than validated. 

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