The 1981 WAFL season was the 97th season of the
West Australian 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 ...
in its various incarnations. The season opened on 11 April and concluded on 3 October with the
1981 WAFL Grand Final between Claremont and South Fremantle. It was the last WAFL season to begin in April and end in October; from 1982 the league shifted the schedule of the season forward by a week and in later years by another.
The 1981 WAFL season is famous because of its prodigious scoring, chiefly by premiers Claremont and runners-up South Fremantle. The Claremont trio of
Warren Ralph
Warren James Ralph (born 25 February 1959) is a former Australian rules footballer who played during the 1980s with great success as a full-forward for Claremont in the WAFL and with lesser success in the VFL and SANFL.
Ralph began his care ...
, and brothers
Jimmy and
Phil Krakouer broke numerous records related to scoring in single matches and seasons. (It was to be the Krakouer brothers' last season at Claremont, before a move to
North Melbourne
North Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Melbourne local government area. North Melbourne recorded a population of 14,953 at ...
, where they introduced an attacking style of football to the
VFL.) During 1981, the
1979
Events
January
* January 1
** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the '' International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the '' Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the so ...
record score by Swan Districts was broken twice, with the last round record by South Fremantle still remaining as the highest score in senior WAFL history. The average score of 123 points per team per game is the highest in WAFL history and as much as ten points higher than the VFL/AFL maximum
during 1982, whilst tailender Perth set the unenviable record of conceding 157 points per match,
allowing under 100 only on a very wet day against East Perth.
Home-and-away season
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Round 4
Round 5
Round 6
Round 7
Round 8
Round 9
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 series
First semi-final
Second semi-final
Preliminary final
Grand Final
References
External links
Official WAFL website{{WAFL seasons
West Australian Football League seasons
WAFL