The 1971 WANFL season was the 87th season of the various incarnations 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, ...

, and the forty-first (including three wartime under-age seasons) under that moniker. Following half a decade dominated with the exception of two challenges from South Fremantle by the three Perth clubs and Austin Robertson's goalkicking, 1971 saw a changing of the guard, with Perth, in

Mal Atwell Malcolm Walter Atwell (born 5 March 1937) is a former Australian rules football player and coach. He played for East Perth and Perth in the West Australian National Football League (WANFL). Playing career Atwell was a tough, hard hitting foot ...

’s last season as coach, dropping to second from bottom owing to the weakness of their forward line, and Subiaco also fell out of the four after an off-season disrupted by efforts to thwart potential clearances of goal machine Robertson, half-forward George Young, and promising young players Stephen Heal and

Peter Featherby Peter Featherby (born 12 December 1951) is a former Australian rules footballer. He began his senior career with Subiaco Football Club in the West Australian Football League (WAFL), but he also played with two Victorian Football League (VFL) ...

. After a promising season in 1970 and the acquisition of

Colin Tully Colin Alexander Tully (20 May 1945 – 25 September 2020) was an Australian rules footballer who played for Collingwood in the VFL during the late 1960s. Although small in stature, Tully was a long kick of the ball. For example, he goaled wi ...

from Collingwood, John Evans from St. Kilda and 30-possession-per-game rover Ross Parker from VFA club

Prahran Prahran (), also pronounced colloquially as Pran, is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, 5 km south-east of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the City ...

,Collingwood, Ted; ‘Claremont’s Hopes’; ''

The West Australian ''The West Australian'' is the only locally edited daily newspaper published in Perth, Western Australia. It is owned by Seven West Media (SWM), as is the state's other major newspaper, ''The Sunday Times''. It is the second-oldest continuousl ...

'', 27 March 1971, p. 91 Claremont became early favourites for the flag.Lee, Jack; ‘Claremont May Fulfil Early Prediction’; ''The West Australian'', 6 September 1971, p. 51de Mori, Gino; ‘Claremont Again Fall into Error’; ''The West Australian'', 17 May 1971, p. 63 The Tigers faltered later on however, and despite playing finals for only the fourth time since 1942 and the first since 1965, were regarded as disappointing. East Perth, despite a noticeable roving weakness owing to the injury-related retirement of Keith Doncon,Brakey, Dale; ‘Perth Rovers Show Up East Perth Weakness’; ''The West Australian'', 3 May 1971, p. 59 won fifteen of seventeen matches but failed in the Grand Final before rivals West Perth, who after a disappointing 1970 returned to second position and sent champion ruckman “Polly” Farmer out on a high note with his sixth senior premiership and second as their captain-coach. More significantly, East Fremantle, after four disastrous seasons, reached the preliminary final under the coaching of future

Hawthorn Hawthorn or Hawthorns may refer to: Plants * '' Crataegus'' (hawthorn), a large genus of shrubs and trees in the family Rosaceae * ''Rhaphiolepis'' (hawthorn), a genus of about 15 species of evergreen shrubs and small trees in the family Rosace ...

premiership mentor

Alan Joyce Alan Joyce (born 21 October 1942) is a former Australian rules footballer who after playing 49 games for Hawthorn became a premiership winning coach for the club. Originally from Glen Iris, Joyce played in the ruck for Hawthorn, and ultimate ...

and nearly overcame the Cardinals in a heart-stopping preliminary. Although the season did not quite reach the previous season's record average score of 100.76 points per team per game, it did see a record-high losing score and the highest score and greatest winning margin for over a decade.

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

Had Perth won, the last-round match at Claremont Oval would have determined fourth position.

George Doig George Ronald Doig (25 May 1913 – 27 November 2006) was an Australian rules footballer who played for and later coached the East Fremantle Football Club in the Western Australian National Football League (WANFL). A member of the Doig sport ...

(in 1934 to 1937, 1940 and 1941) and

Bernie Naylor Bernard George Andrew Naylor (19 April 1923 – 26 September 1993) was an Australian rules footballer who was one of the most successful full-forwards in the history of the West Australian Football League. The WAFL now awards the leading goalsc ...

(in 1946 to 1948 and 1952 to 1954) previously held the record with six.

References

External links

Official WAFL websiteWestern Australian National Football League (WANFL), 1971
{{WAFL seasons West Australian Football League seasons

WANFL 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 ...