1981 WAFL season

• Impressive commitment and skilful coaching by Moss dispel the expectation South Fremantle would be invincible in 1981.^[2]
• Bill Valli, who played no pre-season football, takes Subiaco from 55 points down at quarter-time to four points down with ten minutes to go.^[3]

• Swan Districts just fail to equal their 1979 record score, but equal the record for most scoring shots.^[5] It did beat Perth's previous biggest loss in the 1959 First Semi-Final by 33 points^[6]
• The dominance of Buckenara and Neil Taylor ensures Subiaco run over Claremont into the breeze in the last quarter.^[7]

East Fremantle’s unusual policy of playing four roving forwards gives Old Easts an open forward line that completely outplays the Cardinals, as shown by a match total of ninety-three effective handballs to West Perth's fifty.^[8]

Six third quarter goals by Demon flanker Doug Simms brings the match to life despite the Demons being thrashed for the fourth successive week and finishing with a percentage of 49.87.^[9]

East Perth’s gamble to rely on bold attacking play fails as Swan Districts win the toss with a stiff easterly and later dominate the final quarter against this breeze.^[10]

• Perth put on 12.6 (78) to 1.2 (8) in 29 minutes around half-time to defeat Subiaco for the fourteenth straight meeting after the Lions led by 22 points with the wind. Alan Johnson dominates in the centre and Subiaco’s weakness in key forward positions is too great a handicap.^[11]
• The WAFL’s first Sunday match since 1976, despite a first wet football day,^[12] proves a great success, with Stephen Michael’s superb ruckwork winning a tight game for the Bulldogs.^[13]

Led by Les Fong in this 150th match, West Perth, despite a serious knee injury to John Duckworth, come back from 32 points down during the third quarter to win a thriller over their rivals.^[14]

• The absence of Les Fong and Cory Bewick from the forward line allows Swans defender Craig Holden to dominate West Perth’s attack. Backed up by a magnificent effort in atrocious conditions upfield (led by Neesham and Blackaby) Swans hold West Perth to the lowest score of the season.^[15]
• Maurice Rioli’s wet-weather skill and a better-suited forward line for the wet conditions – with Hardie and Monteath kicking four goals each – allows South Fremantle to come from ten points down early in the last quarter to a twenty-point win.^[16]

• Gary Buckenara kicks six magnificent goals but a poor second quarter denies Subiaco an upset despite scoring the first six goals of the match.^[17]
• After a wet-weather debacle the previous week, West Perth’s attack led by former Footscray full-forward Phil Bradmore, achieves a club record score^[18] and winning margin^[19] (equalled and broken in 1987).
• At one point, West Perth kicked 16.6 (102) without East Fremantle scoring.^[20]

• In heavy rain, Perth at one point lead South Fremantle 8.5 (53) to 7.6 (48) before the Bulldogs kick 23.12 (150) to 2.6 (18) for the rest of the game.^[21]
• In tough conditions, aided by two superb “wrong-foot” kicks from Jager and Menaglio, West Perth come back from 26 points down to win a thriller.^[22]

With young Laurie Keene kicking nine goals, Subiaco make a charge for fourth place against the struggling Royals, for whom no one does much in attack against Mitch Fussell’s speed.^[23]

Subiaco lose full-back Fussell with a compound left leg fracture and this loss combined with their on-field loss to South Fremantle ends the Lions hopes of a finals berth.^[25]

• In another superb pressure match, Claremont claim top position by kicking 3.1 (19) to 2.5 (17) against the win after scores were level early in the final quarter.^[26]
• A brilliant 10 goals without a miss in the last quarter in “unsettled” weather gives West Perth a superb triumph and allows them to hold fourth place.^[27]
• In a lacklustre game in changeable weather, East Perth come from behind to stay in the battle for fourth position and tailender East Fremantle are luck a $2000 bet was turned down.^[28]

West Perth suffer another big loss to Swan Districts and again fall out of the four. The Cardinals do not goal between the five-minute mark of the opening quarter and the twenty-minute mark of the second as Swans’ waves of speed move down the field to produce eleven of their own.^[29]

An unfashionable but brilliant centreline and the move of John Hayes to full-forward where he kicks 7.1 (43) allows East Perth to beat finals rival West Perth and move a game plus percentage clear inside the four.^[30]

• East Perth’s Grant Campbell gives a classic display to lead his team to a 40-point lead at quarter-time before Bulldog ruckman Michael is equally brilliant in a belated charge.^[31]
• Swan Districts kick 26.13 (169) to 7.7 (49) after quarter-time as the refusal of Subiaco’s Neil Taylor to man Phil Narkle allows the latter and his brother to create havoc as Subiaco coach Ken Armstrong makes the mistake of using Douge in the centre.^[32]
• Claremont kick their highest score,^[33] and the highest in the WAFL to that point, to thrash the Demons who kick only 3.5 (23) after half-time.

• The brilliance of the Krakouer brothers slightly weakens East Perth’s hold on fourth position as the Royals score only 3.12 (30) to 20.18 (138) after quarter-time despite Ralph kicking only a single goal.^[34]
• Without champion Buckenara and arguable “rookie of the year” Ray Reeves, Subiaco settle West Perth’s fate for 1981 as they seize the game at the start with Bill Valli returning with great effect.^[35]

• Four opening goals in as many minutes stuns Swans, who suffer their sixth loss in eight matches against South since the start of 1980. Ruckman Michael and half-back Simon Outhwaite dominate for the Bulldogs.^[36]
• With their win, East Fremantle makes sure Perth would finish bottom of the WA(N)FL ladder for the first time since 1935.
• East Perth seal the four with a skilful burst after the seventeen-minute mark of the last quarter, in the process showing the lack of class and anticipation in Subiaco’s key forwards.^[37]
• Claremont became the only WAFL team to win three consecutive games by over 100 points.^[38]

East Fremantle kick only 1.9 (15) in dry (but windy) conditions after quarter-time, not goalling in the second or third quarters — a first in the WA(N)FL since Subiaco in Round 11 of 1976. Their wasteful short-kicking game allows the Tigers to recover from Old Easts’ ferocious tacking in the first quarter.^[39]

• South Fremantle set a still-standing record for the highest score in the WAFL, beating Claremont’s record from Round 17. The Bulldogs become the first team to lead by 100 points at half-time in open-age WA(N)FL football.^[40]
• Despite the early loss of Phil Krakouer and a 35-point deficit midway through the third quarter, Claremont overcome a strong Swan Districts defence for a twelfth stright victory in front of a record Claremont Oval crowd via brilliant running and handball.^[41]

Despite a heavy knock, Bruce Monteath kicks 6.2 (38) of 6.4 (40) to avoid a potential upset by the Royals. He had no recollection of equalling the WA(N)FL record of nine goals in a final.^[42]

A wayward Claremont win with surprising ease owing to Swan Districts’ roving weakness in windy conditions combined with the overlooked power of Claremont’s defence.^[43]

South Fremantle gain the opportunity to defend their 1980 premiership with a brilliant twenty-goal second half after being sixteen points behind late in the second quarter. Rover Noel Carter rivals his last-round eleven-goal display and Monteath is again superb – this time at centre half-forward.^[44]