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Cesspit wrote: I remember Perth's opening game of 1980. Alan Joyce's first game as coach. Bryan Cousins was back from Geelong, John McGuire from East Perth, and Bosustow at his peak (wafl wise).
We played South at Fremantle oval and dominated the first quarter but couldn't put the score on the board. I think it was something like 4.10 to 1.0 at 1/4 time. The 3 players mentioned were causing South all sorts of headaches. Unfortunately South seemed to wake up after 1/4 time and eventually got right on top and won by about 6 goals. It was an exciting and unexepected start to the season that disappointed overall.

I think South might have got 3 and it was funnily enough a big guy named Chester Mckean / Mackean #19 who caused a heap of grief up deep forward

Late Edit - I went & had a look just out of interest it was Perth 4.12 36 to SF 5.4 34

Southerner wrote:

Cesspit wrote: I remember Perth's opening game of 1980. Alan Joyce's first game as coach. Bryan Cousins was back from Geelong, John McGuire from East Perth, and Bosustow at his peak (wafl wise).
We played South at Fremantle oval and dominated the first quarter but couldn't put the score on the board. I think it was something like 4.10 to 1.0 at 1/4 time. The 3 players mentioned were causing South all sorts of headaches. Unfortunately South seemed to wake up after 1/4 time and eventually got right on top and won by about 6 goals. It was an exciting and unexepected start to the season that disappointed overall.

I think South might have got 3 and it was funnily enough a big guy named Chester Mckean / Mackean #19 who caused a heap of grief up deep forward

Late Edit - I went & had a look just out of interest it was Perth 4.12 36 to SF 5.4 34

It was 4.12 to 1.0 at one stage in the first quarter.

Chester McKean, loved him as a kid.

DG: I think your right about our wins being a fluke. EF strugglled that year through a combination of their playes getting on a bit and internal division. Somehow, we kicked 20.25 without Munro and Buckenara for most of the game, two of our best players. Against WP, we got lucky and finshed on the right side of the scoreboard.

Our closest loss was 18 points to Perth.

ArkRoyal wrote: DG: I think your right about our wins being a fluke. EF strugglled that year through a combination of their playes getting on a bit and internal division. Somehow, we kicked 20.25 without Munro and Buckenara for most of the game, two of our best players. Against WP, we got lucky and finshed on the right side of the scoreboard.

Our closest loss was 18 points to Perth.

Ark other than those game we pretty much got flogged every week with losses averaging around 70pts

One of my fondest memories of a home and away game was Round 6 1980 when Swans played West Perth at Bassendean. This was a top of the table clash as Swans were unbeaten over the first five games and the Cardinals had 4 thumping victories and a narrow loss to South Fremantle to their credit. So West Perth came to Bassendean with a lot of hope. Their supporters came out in droves as well and the result was a club record crowd of 22,350. Hard to believe in today's context but I was there and a part of the jammed in crowd. There was no space anywhere and the atmosphere was fantastic.
After a relatively even first half, Swans led by 22 points at half time. Nobody could see what was coming in the 2nd half though as Swans turned on the after burners and completely obliterated West Perth . Swans kicked 19-10 to WP's 3-2 in the 2nd half to win by 126 points. This West Perth team included such players as Fong,Menaglio, Bewick, Gibbs and other stalwarts, so they were a decent opposition but it was almost as if they were not out there. Swans were a footy machine in that game and I watched the shell shocked West Perth fans heading for the gates as early as 3 quarter time. Just about the best half of footy I have seen in all my years following Swans but they never really got back to that level of performance in 1980.
West Perth also ended up missing finals after their promising start so we really knocked the stuffing out of them that day.

The Swans team who played that day was dripping with class, no wonder they took all before them in the early part of 1980. These 20 players took the field on this particular day.

Tony Solin
Ron Boucher
Craig Holden
Mike Richardson
Keith Narkle
Gordon Casey
Don Langsford
Bill Skwirowski
Stan Nowotny
Graham Melrose
Simon Beasley
Alan Sidebottom
Gerard Neesham
Steve Gillespie
Mike Smith
Jon Fogarty
Don Holmes
Phil Narkle
Ian Williams
Craig Hoyer
Not too many weak links in that team, lots of legends. The 1980 group was arguably the best team ever to represent the club but their only mistake was to peak in May rather than September.

PS credit to Ricks WAFL site for filling in the statistical gaps in my memory of a day 37 years ago.

mikeh: good post

dg: yep -- we did got to within a couple of goals of SD, a fluke if ever there was one in football: it piddlled down with rain, SD would have taken us easy at first, and, in addition, they would have been nervous because they had 20,000 ridding on the game for winning twelve straight. I think 1980 was our weakest side of that disastrous era.

In the lead up to the twelve target evevyone in the footy community was anticipatting when SD might be beaten. Games ten and eleven were against EP and CL, both of whom were up with Swans at three quarter time. I think Todd rates 1980 as his best side, which just goes to show what a good side South had.

While I was wracking the noggin about another subject - West Perth had blooded a very good goalsneak the previous year Chris Stasinowsky , but 1980 saw Stasa mature & become a matchwinner although at the Cardinals there was a couple of games that he was colder than Nun's stare and after a while it steadily pissed Dennis Commetti off to the point where Stasa walked a couple of years later (1982?)

First saw Stasa as a colt late 70's geez he was good - freakish blind turn onto each foot in tight angles

Southener.Stazza was a very good swimmer but chose footy over a chance to represent WA in the Australian trials.He use to train swimmers at Bayswater+Inglewood.Life saving and advanced swimming coaching.Long time ago now but remember he was fiery like he was on the footy field.

Cheers gtr - mate I loved watching the bloke play , just a natural talent & South Fremantle were just shit lucky to see someone like Stasa in red & white.
I was at Subiaco Oval one afternoon and saw him kick 11 goals against Subiaco - most of those came in about a 30 to 40 minute period , brilliant mercurial player
Mal Brown was a bit of a Father figure for Chris - made him into a footballer

gtrxuone wrote: Southener.Stazza was a very good swimmer but chose footy over a chance to represent WA in the Australian trials.He use to train swimmers at Bayswater+Inglewood.Life saving and advanced swimming coaching.Long time ago now but remember he was fiery like he was on the footy field.

gtr....I didn't know Stazza did advanced swimming coaching.....geez he packed a shed load in his short 27 yrs on earth.....played for WP, SF Perth and South Adelaide and coached high level swimming.......obviously he followed Brownie from SF to Perth.....pity he never played in a GF.....got close in 86 from memory