The 1969 WANFL season was the 85th season of the
Western Australian National Football League
The West Australian Football League (WAFL) is an Australian rules football league based in Perth, Western Australia. The league currently consists of ten teams, which play each other in a 20-round season usually lasting from March to September, ...
. It saw continued dominance by the three Perth clubs and Subiaco, who occupied the top half of the ladder constantly from the fourth round onwards, and finished four games clear of the other four clubs, who were all in a “rebuilding” mode with varying success – late in the season both Swan Districts and Claremont fielded some of the youngest teams in the competition's history, whilst the Tigers, who fielded thirteen first-year players
[ Todd, John; ‘Lewis Makes Bright Return’; '' The West Australian'', 16 June 1969, p. 32] including
Graham Moss, Russell Reynolds and
Bruce Duperouzel,
[Casellas, Ken; ‘Marshall Aims to Rebuild’; ''The West Australian'', 12 May 1969, p. 40] began disastrously but four wins in five games paved the way to impressive record from 1970 to 1972. Among the top four, Perth failed to achieve a fourth consecutive premiership that at one point looked very much in their grasp due to the overwork of
Barry Cable which robbed him of some brilliance,
[Todd, John; ‘Hard Work Dulls Cable’; ''The West Australian'', 19 May 1969, p. 32] early-season injuries to key players Iseger and Page
[Casellas, Ken; ‘Perth Must Take Stock’ ''The West Australian'', 28 April 1969, p. 36] and a couple of surprising losses to lower clubs, whilst East Perth, who won consistently without being impressive for most of the season, failed for the fourth time in as many seasons in the Grand Final, this time to West Perth and in a much more decisive manner than any of their Perth defeats.
The league's popularity, aided by the driest football season in Perth since 1940, and a new
$500,000 grandstand at Subiaco Oval, reached a high not to be surpassed. East Perth attracted an average of over twelve thousand spectators to each home match,
[East, Alan (editor); ''The Royals: 100 Years of Tradition – A History of the East Perth Football Club''; pp. 145-150] including an all-time record WANFL home-and-away attendance against West Perth on the Saturday before
Foundation Day
Foundation Day is a designated date on which celebrations mark the founding of a nation, state or a creation of a military unit. This day is for countries that came into existence without the of gaining independence. The term overlaps with nation ...
.
Home-and-away season
Round 1 (Easter weekend)
Round 2
Round 3
Round 4
Round 5
Round 6
Round 7
Round 8
Round 9 (Foundation Day)
Round 10
Round 11
Round 12
Round 13
Round 14
Round 15
Round 16
Round 17
Round 18
Round 19
Round 20
Round 21
Ladder
Finals
First semi-final
Second semi-final
Preliminary final
Grand Final
Notes
Four consecutive premiership in the WA(N)FL was last achieved by East Fremantle between 1928 and 1931, and the sole previous occurrences were by Old Easts between 1908 and 1911 and East Perth (five consecutive) between 1919 and 1923. ''No'' WANFL/WAFL/Westar Rules club since 1970 has achieved four consecutive premierships.
Austin Robertson junior was held ''goalless'' on only five occasions in his 269 games in the WANFL and VFL ( in 1966 with South Melbourne), which occurred in 1962, 1963, 1965 and twice during his final 1974 season. He had not been held to one goal since his goalless Round 15, 1965 game with South Fremantle.
Subiaco did play in the 1943 second-semi when league football was restricted to players under nineteen years of age as of 1 October.
References
External links
Official WAFL websiteWestern Australian National Football League (WANFL), 1969
{{WAFL seasons
West Australian Football League seasons
WANFL