The 1997 Westar Rules Grand Final was an

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

game contested between the

South Fremantle Football Club South Fremantle Football Club is an Australian rules football club based in Fremantle, Western Australia. The club plays in the Western Australian Football League (WAFL) and the WAFL Women's (WAFLW), commonly going by the nickname the ''Bulldogs ...

and the

East Fremantle Football Club The East Fremantle Football Club, nicknamed the Sharks, is an Australian rules football club playing in the West Australian Football League (WAFL) and WAFL Women's (WAFLW). The team's home ground is East Fremantle Oval. East Fremantle are the ...

, on 21 September 1997 at

Subiaco Oval Subiaco Oval (; nicknamed Subi) was a sports stadium in Perth, Western Australia, located in the suburb of Subiaco. It was opened in 1908 and closed in 2017 after the completion of the new Perth Stadium in Burswood. Subiaco Oval was the high ...

, to determine the premier team of the

Westar Rules 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 ...

(known previously and since as the West Australian Football League, WAFL) for the 1997 season. South Fremantle won the game by 6 points, 13.7 (85) to 11.13 (79), with

David Hynes David Thomas Hynes (born 31 March 1967) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the West Coast Eagles and Fremantle Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL) between 1991 and 1997. Hynes started his career at South ...

of South Fremantle winning the

Simpson Medal The Simpson Medal is an individual prize awarded for Australian rules football in Western Australia. The medal has been donated by Dr Fred Simpson and family since 1945. Simpson Medals are currently awarded to the following players: *The best pla ...

best on ground In team sport, a player of the match or man of the match or woman of the match award is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chosen from the winn ...

Season summary

The season started with the introduction of a ninth team, the

Peel Thunder Football Club The Peel Thunder Football Club is an Australian rules football club playing in the West Australian Football League (WAFL) and WAFL Women's (WAFLW). The team is based in Mandurah, Western Australia, with their home ground being Rushton Park. The ...

. They were the first new team admitted to the league for over 60 years. The league also was rebranded from the West Australian Football League to Westar Rules. A new prize was also created to be given to the premiership winning team, the Drivesafe Cup. South Fremantle finished the

home and away season In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of Se ...

on top of the ladder, a game and a half ahead of East Fremantle, who were celebrating their 100th season in the league, and

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

, with

East Perth East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sunrise, Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from ...

finishing in fourth position.

Swan Districts The Swan Districts Football Club, nicknamed the Swans, is an Australian rules football club playing in the West Australian Football League (WAFL) and WAFL Women's (WAFLW). The club is based at Bassendean Oval, in Bassendean, an eastern suburb ...

started the season with six wins, but faded in the second half of the season to miss the finals, along with the 1996 Premiers, Claremont who finished second last. Peel struggled to compete with the more established teams, winning only one game for the season, against the reigning premiers Claremont by 3 points in Round 7. In the finals, Perth easily beat East Perth in the First Semi Final. In the Second Semi Final, East Fremantle upset South Fremantle by 10 points with Damian Condon keeping South's key forward

Jon Dorotich Jonathan Michael Dorotich (born 27 April 1962) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Carlton Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL) and for the South Fremantle Football Club in the West Australian Football Le ...

to only one goal. South Fremantle bounced back in the preliminary final, beating Perth by 37 points. The main individual awards for the season were dominated by South Fremantle's veteran

, who won most of the media awards and the

Bernie Naylor Medal The Bernie Naylor Medal is an Australian rules football award which is given to the leading goalkicker at the end of each home and away season in the West Australian Football League. It is named after South Fremantle full-forward Bernie Naylor. Be ...

as the leading goalkicker. East Perth's

Brady Anderson Brady Kevin Anderson (born January 18, 1964) is an American former baseball outfielder and executive who played 15 seasons in Major League Baseball (1988–2002) for the Boston Red Sox, Baltimore Orioles and Cleveland Indians. He spent the majori ...

won the

Sandover Medal The Sandover Medal is an Australian rules football award, given annually since 1921 to the fairest and best player in the West Australian Football League. The award was donated by Alfred Sandover M.B.E., a prominent Perth hardware merchant and be ...

with 30 votes, 3 votes ahead of East Fremantle's Haydon Kilmartin and South Fremantle's

Stephen Pears Stephen Pears (born 22 January 1962) is an English former footballer. Born in Brandon, County Durham, he played as a goalkeeper for Manchester United, Middlesbrough, Liverpool and Hartlepool United in a career spanning 20 years. Career Stephen ...

Dean Rioli Dean Rioli (born 20 May 1978) is a former Australian rules football player who spent his whole professional career with the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League. The nephew of Maurice Rioli, the Richmond Football Club c ...

won the rising star award.

Grand final

The

derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...

grand final was the third in nineteen years, with East Fremantle winning in both

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 song ...

and

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

. In 1997, the teams had met four times, with each team winning twice; South won the first of the season and in the final round of the season, East Fremantle won the Foundation Day derby and the Second Semi Final. East Fremantle was in front for most of the match, leading by 15, 16 and 17 points at the quarter-time, half-time and three quarter-time breaks. Adrian Bromage was East Fremantle's best player, with over twenty possessions in the first half. David Hart, playing in his last game of senior football, however was able to negate him in the second half. In South's forward line, Damian Condon again held

to a single goal and

Peter Sumich Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

injured his thigh in the opening quarter and was unable to take any further part in the game. The turning point came with only minutes to go when

Warren Campbell Warren Campbell (born 19 October 1974) is a former Australian rules footballer for North Melbourne in the Australian Football League (AFL), South Fremantle in the West Australian Football League (WAFL) and St Mary's in the Northern Territory ...

was involved in two critical plays. He chased and tackled Rhett Bowden, causing the ball to spill to

who kicked his fourth goal of the game. Campbell then took a mark approximately 70 metres from goal, too far out to score, but Scott Spalding collided into him after he had completed the mark. The umpire awarded a

50-metre penalty In the sport of Australian Rules Football, Australian rules football, the 50-metre penalty is applied by umpires to a number of different infractions when a Free kick (Australian rules football), free kick or Mark (Australian football), mark has ...

and Campbell kicked the goal to put South Fremantle in front. Defender Peter Kelly then took a brave mark in front of the East Fremantle goal to prevent them from scoring with seconds left to play. It was South Fremantle's eleventh premiership, 17 years after their previous win. Their coach,

John Todd John Todd or Tod may refer to: Clergy *John Todd (abolitionist) (1818–1894), preacher and 'conductor' on the Underground Railroad * John Todd (author) (1800–1873), American minister and author * John Todd (bishop), Anglican bishop in the early ...

was the Swan Districts coach in 1980 who lost to South. Todd's win made him only the second person to coach three teams to WAFL premierships, matching the performance of

Ross Hutchinson Sir Ross Hutchinson, DFC (10 September 1914 – 19 December 1999) was an Australian rules footballer, coach and politician. He played for and coached East Fremantle, West Perth and South Fremantle in the West Australian National Football Leag ...

and his six premierships as a coach set a new record. Two of the 1997 South Fremantle team are sons of 1980 players;

Clem Michael Clem Anthony Michael (born 16 July 1976) is a former Australian Rules football player in the Australian Football League for the Fremantle Football Club from 1998 to 2000. The son of WAFL legend Stephen Michael, Clem was drafted by Fremantle i ...

is the son of

Stephen Michael Stephen Albert Michael (born 15 March 1956) is a former Australian rules footballer. More recently, Stephen is the patron of the Stephen Michael Foundation, supporting disengaged, at-risk and disadvantaged youth across Western Australia. Playin ...

and

is the son of

Basil Campbell Basil Gerard Campbell (born 2 August 1956) is a former Australian rules football player of indigenous background who played for the St Mary's Football Club in the Northern Territory Football League (NTFL) and South Fremantle Football Club in the ...

, and

is the nephew of

Maurice Rioli Maurice Joseph Rioli Sr. (1 September 195725 December 2010) was an Australian rules footballer who represented St Mary's Football Club in the Northern Territory Football League (NTFL), in the West Australian Football League (WAFL) and in th ...

who won the

in 1980.

Match

Teams

References

{{WAFL Grand Finals West Australian Football League Grand Finals WAFL