Premiership Reflections by Brian Dawson: from the 60’s

‘Premiership Reflections’ tells the story of Swan Districts’ eight premiership seasons, with special emphasis on the Grand Final matches, intertwining comments and details from those years with the 2024 reflections of those who were intimately involved: Ken Bagley and Bill Walker 1961-63; John Todd, Graham Melrose and Keith Narkle 1982-84; Peter Hodyl and Brad Shine 1990 and Brian Dawson and Josh Roberts 2010.

Keep reading for a sneak peak from Dawson’s latest work.

The 1961 Grand Final 

(KB is Ken Bagley, BW is Bill Walker)

Swans had all the play in the first five minutes and got the early rewards for playing the ball when Cyril Litterick and Bill Walker goaled from free kicks. When East Perth did go forward, they ran into Ken Bagley (celebrating his 21st birthday on the day), who was ‘impassable’ at centre half back, with 11 marks for the quarter against Don Langdon. Midway through the quarter East Perth managed their first goal from a Ralph Rogerson snap, but Swans were quick to reply with goals (again from free kicks) to Bill Walker and Lindsay Johnston:

(KB) “Lindsay had only just come into the team, but being from Kalgoorlie he was used to getting whacked behind the ear, which is what Mal Atwell loved doing. Having players who could stand up to that sort of physical battering was what Bunt wanted and that’s why Lindsay found his way into the team.”

With control of the ruck contests, Swans went to the quarter time break with a handy 17-point lead, the scores being 4.1 to 1.2. The fast start had materialised and the ‘Farmer plan’ was working well, with Keith Slater well on top.

The start of the second term saw Swans quickly extend their lead. Bill Walker kicked his third goal and then followed up with a neat pass to Keith Watt, who kicked truly for Swans’ sixth goal, to stretch the lead out to 29 points:

(BW) “It was about now that they started to argue with each other.”

The final quarter began with East Perth attacking relentlessly. Paul Seal goaled for the Royals in the first minute and five minutes later Ted Kilmurray put a drop kick through the middle after a bad defensive mistake by Swans. With six minutes played the margin was back to just 17 points. The next eight minutes saw desperate play on both sides, with Swans wasting opportunities to wrap up the game with hurried shots on goal from Bill Walker (twice) and a set shot from Keith Watt realising only minor scores.

Finally, after 15 minutes Bill Walker hit up Keith Watt with a beautiful low pass 35 yards from goal and Swans increased their lead, 15.8 to 10.12. Two minutes later, after John Turnbull kicked forward and got some ‘treatment’ after disposing of the ball, Cyril Litterick took the relayed free kick and calmly slotted through a 55-60 yard drop kick goal. Then, Bill Walker spun out of a pack and kicked towards goal and Keith Slater wrapped up the mark 25 yards out, much to the frustration of Mal Atwell who promptly also gave him some ‘treatment’, resulting in another 15 yard penalty. From the top of the goal square he converted and Swans were 37 points clear:

(KB) “We felt we were home now, the six goal lead with only seven or so minutes to play looked like it was enough, but there was no slacking off… Bunt was everywhere and never stopped urging us on.”

This beautifully presented coffee table history book comes with photos from each premiership year and has a recommended retail price of $50, but pre-order now until 5 September for the special price of $40 and save!
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