{xtypo_dropcap}T{/xtypo_dropcap}he beginning of Brad Collard's career at South Fremantle was anything but promising.

“You've got no skills, mate, you'd be better off somewhere else,” were the jarring words from coach Mal Brown on one of the Quairading recruit's first training nights at Fremantle Oval.

“It was a bit of a rocket at the time,” recalled Brad when we spoke with him recently. “But with a lot of hard work and perseverence, I was able to convince him otherwise, and to his credit he changed his opinion.”

Much to the dismay of his father, Cliff snr, who played league football with East Perth in the late sixties, Brad and brothers Cliff and Derek were always going to play at South Fremantle.

Growing up deep in Perth Football Club's territory, that ambition wasn't going to prove an easy task, especially as the three boys all showed promise. As juniors, it was Derek and Cliff, rather than Brad, who won the awards. All were selected in Perth District combined sides. Local schoolteacher, Gary Taylor, was a friend of former South president Terry Dean, and he kept a close eye on the young brothers.

The family moved to Fremantle, but, being tied to Perth, the boys had to reside there for eighteen months before becoming eligible to play with the Bulldogs. While Derek made the Teal Cup side, Brad went to Kwinana, where he played with the seniors. “Kwinana coach, Tony Morley, was a great mentor,” Collard said. “ He told me what to expect at League level, the areas of my game that needed improvement, and impressed on me the importance of hard work.”

In 1983 Collard lined up with the rampaging South Fremantle colts team, coached by Don Haddow, as a rover, and was part of the side's second premiership which made it two in a row, a sequence that would blow out to five before it ended.

After his initial admonishment from league coach Mal Brown, Collard made his debut midway through the 1984 season, against Swan Districts. “That opened my eyes,” he recalled. “I was playing on blokes like Bill Skwirowski and Tom Mullooly, and they were all tough customers.”

At the end of the season he was named best first year player for South.

Reunited with his colts coach when Haddow was appointed in 1985, Brad was used mainly as an on baller and rover, where he was a serviceable player without being a standout, a knee injury in a match at Perth Oval sending him to the sidelines for a considerable period.

It was during Stan Magro's reign as coach in 1987 that Collard was moved to a wing, a position that suited his competitive style of play. Brad’s leadership qualities were recognised when he was appointed captain, a position he relinquished with the return to the club of Maurice Rioli in 1988, but again held from1990 to 1992.

A team oriented player, Brad Collard was a tough competitor who never liked being beaten. By his own admission, he wasn't the most gifted of footballers, but he was one who made the most of what he had. At 175 cms and 75 kgs, he was of short, stocky build, a reliable mark, and had good disposal, which he used to good effect as a linkman with the Bulldogs.

Brad and his brothers never tasted Premiership glory at league level, but on two occasions against Claremont in 89 and East Fremantle in 92 they got close but fell agonisingly short on that special day in September.

The premiership losses were major disappointments for Brad , however playing his one and only state game in 1990 against South Australia in Adelaide with brother Cliff was a compensation. In a close encounter won by the home side, both were among their State's best players, Cliff starring in a back pocket, and Brad taking the honours over former Adelaide Crows player Simon Tregenza.

The form continued the following year, when Brad won the W J Hughes Medal as fairest and best for South Fremantle. In 1992 Brad went to Darwin during the off season and played with Maurice Rioli-coached Waratahs, where he played six games and was then selected for the Northern Territory side that played Hawthorn. 

Collard trained with the West Coast Eagles in the early nineties. “I put myself to the sword, and trained my guts out,”he said. But his age plus a perceived knee problem were hurdles too big, and he wasn't successful in gaining a berth in the squad.

After an injury-interrupted 1994 season, followed by an attempted pre season the following year, Brad called it quits. The thirty year old had represented South Fremantle on 202 occasions, and his State once. He was a life member of the club, an honour that was later to be reciprocated by the WAFL.

Brad Collard finally celebrated a premiership as an assistant coach to John Todd in 1997, continuing in the role in 1998, and was again in the coaching team under John Dimmer when the Bulldogs took the 2005 flag. He also was at Perth in a similar capacity during Stan Magro's reign as coach.

Brad nominated West Perth defender Wayne Dayman, who we tragically lost some years ago, as his toughest opponent. “They were all hard, but Wayne is one who sticks in mind,” he said. Noel Carter and Maurice Rioli were his picks as the best he'd played with. “I learnt a lot from both Noel and Maurice in my early years,” he added.

He paid homage to his Dad, Cliff snr, who followed him and helped throughout his career, despite misgivings about the Bloodstained Angels jumper.

Collard's experience, football knowledge, and people skills are now being utilised by the highly acclaimed Clontarf Foundation , where he is Director of the Gilmore College Football Academy at Gilmore College in Kwinana. 

“The Clontarf Football Academies operate in partnership with the Colleges and football is the vehicle that we use to attract young Indigenous men to school. Once we have them within our program at College we expect all students to continue to work hard with their school work and work hard within our Football Academies, which runs along similar values to that of a football club,” Collard said. 

“Mentoring and modelling with all the boys at College is the crucial component to our work from day to day.”  Brad went on to say: “Our work is very challenging, however it is very rewarding as over time we have seen many positive changes in lots of our students and it is very rewarding when this occurs.”     

Brad enjoys the home life with wife Jennifer and their four girls, following their sporting careers with great interest . He likes a round of golf when he can catch up with a few ex teammates, and is often to be seen  on the outer at Fremantle Oval whenever there is a South home game.

Brad Collard was a great servant of the South Fremantle Football Club, during a testing period for the club.He is now involved in an exceedingly worthwhile venture that will not only produce some star footballers for all clubs, but is also giving many of those young men opportunities in life that they would otherwise not had an opportunity to enjoy.

CLIFF  AND DEREK COLLARD

When the Collard brothers moved to the Fremantle area to serve out the residential qualifying  period of eighteen months to enable them to play with South Fremantle, it was Derek and Cliff who were the stars of the family.

Cliff played State schoolboys football, while both represented Western Australia in the Teal Cup, with Derek also playing under sixteen cricket for the State. “Derek was the main reason for us coming to the city,”the modest Cliff said. “Brad and I just tagged along.” In one of the vagaries of football, it was the latter two who had the most When the Collard brothers moved to the Fremantle area to serve out the residential qualifying success of the three.

Cliff Collard played at Cockburn Junior Football Club on arriving at Fremantle. “A bloke called Peter Hardingham, who was my coach at Cockburn, had a big influence on my career,” he recalled. At South Fremantle, Cliff and Derek played under the coaching of Don Haddow, who coached them to two premierships in the colts, and Stan Magro, who was in charge of the reserves, winning a further two flags there, Derek as a rover, and Cliff as a defender.

After two seasons in the reserves, where he was a most consistent performer who seemed desperately unlucky not to be playing in the league side, the appointment of Magro in 1988 as senior coach signalled the start of a league career for Cliff Collard. “Stan changed the style of play at South,” he recalled. “I fitted the mould of the players he wanted.” Collard became a regular in a back pocket or at half back over the next seven years, with the occasional run in the centre “when we were in strife, and that was often.” 

In the meantime, Derek was struggling with numerous hamstring injuries that had a marked effect on his game, and he was to manage only seventy-odd games with South Fremantle, before following Magro to East Perth in later years.

1990 was a big year for the brothers, who both represented Western Australia, but in particular Cliff, who won the W J Hughes Medal, as South Fremantle's fairest and best, an award that Brad won the following season. Cliff also won the Fremantle Herald best player award in 1990. In 1993 Cliff was appointed Vice Captain under the leadership of Captain Wally Matera.    

Cliff Collard was a player who placed a huge reliance on hard ball gets, and was a dependable backman, with ballhandling skills that enabled him to outsmart many a clever forward. His determined approach and ability to use both sides of his body more than made up for his lack of size, and he was seldom beaten in one on one contests.

Derek's strengths lay in his skilfull roving, mainly around the goals. An in and under player, he was unable to realise the potential he showed as a junior, mainly because of frustrating injuries cropping up on too many occasions. 

Cliff's form tapered in 1995, and he retired at the end of that season, having played 172 games with the Bulldogs and earning life membership at the port. He still had plenty to offer, though, and spent the next three years at Corrigin, being part of a premiership in 1998. He returned to home territory in 2000, winning a flag and a fairest and best with the C grade East Fremantle Amateur side.

Recent years have been spent in the AFL Masters competition with the Fremantle Phantoms.

Derek Kickett and Kevin Mitchell were two players he found difficult to play on. “You learn from good players,” he said, “and I learnt a lot from them,”while he gave Maurice Rioli top votes as best he'd played with.

Cliff Collard leads a busy but happy life.

“I am heavily involved with my work at the Drug and Alcohol Office,” he said. “It's a passion of mine to try to do something about the alcohol and other drug problems, especially with the young indigenous people, and it does involve a bit of travelling when supporting communities.” Cliff is still involved with the SFFC  NAIDOC committee. 

When not working (and when South aren't playing), Cliff likes to spend time with wife Jane and children Joshua and Amber, following their football, cricket and basketball.

Cliff Collard was a diminutive, determined defender, who represented his State with distinction. Although Derek was hampered throughout his career, the Collard brothers made a fine contribution to the South Fremantle Football Club, and are continuing to make contributions with their work in the community.