James Francis Conway (14 June 1925 – 28 December 2003) 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 ...

player and coach. The winner of the 1950

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 ...

, Conway played 180 games for in 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, ...

(WANFL) between 1943 and 1956, also representing

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

in 15 interstate matches. In 1964, he was appointed coach of , a position which he held for five years, until 1968. He was inducted into the

West Australian Football Hall of Fame The West Australian Football Hall of Fame was created in 2002 to recognise and enshrine those who have made a significant contribution to Australian rules football in Western Australia. People eligible for inclusion are players, coaches, umpires, ...

in 2009.

Career

Born in

North Fremantle North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' is ...

,Conway, James Francis
– WW2 Nominal Roll. Retrieved 16 January 2012. Conway originally played football for the North Fremantle team in the Ex-Scholars league. He made his debut for in 1943 at the age of 17 in the war-time underage competition, and, as captain, was involved in East Fremantle's premiership in his first year. In August 1944, he enlisted in the

Royal Australian Air Force "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

as a

Leading Aircraftman Leading aircraftman (LAC) or leading aircraftwoman (LACW) is a junior rank in some air forces. It sits between aircraftman and senior aircraftman, and has a NATO rank code of OR-2. The rank badge is a horizontal two-bladed propeller. The ra ...

, and was stationed with the 12 Aircraft Repair Depot until June 1946, when he was discharged. On his return to

, Conway immediately resumed playing with East Fremantle, and again played in a premiership. He made his interstate debut for

in 1947, and the following season was appointed

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

of East Fremantle, a role he would reprise in 1951 and 1956. Playing mainly as a rover, and on occasion at centre half-forward, Conway won both East Fremantle's

best and fairest In Australian sport, the best and fairest award recognises the player(s) adjudged to have had the best performance in a game or over a season for a given sporting club or competition. The awards are sometimes dependent on not receiving a suspensi ...

award, the Lynn Medal, and the

for the best player in the competition in 1950. The following season he kicked 77 goals to be East Fremantle's leading goalkicker. Conway retired in 1956 having played 180 games for East Fremantle, kicking 343 goals, as well as representing Western Australia on 15 occasions, kicking 21 goals. In total, he record 78 Sandover Medal votes over his career. After his retirement, Conway was recruited as captain-coach of Coolamon in country

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, taking over from ex- player

Frank Treasure Francis William "Frank" Treasure, Sr. (10 January 1925 – 9 April 1998) was an Australian rules footballer who played for the South Fremantle Football Club in the Western Australian National Football League (WANFL). He also represented Weste ...

. In 1964, signed Conway as coach, replacing Peter Pianto. After finishing last the previous two seasons, Claremont finished fourth in the regular season for 1964, with 12 wins and nine losses, qualifying for the finals. The club defeated in the opening semi-final, and then went on to defeat in the preliminary final, qualifying for the

grand final Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final (sometimes colloquially abbreviated to "grannie") is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Sy ...

against minor premiers East Fremantle, Conway's old team. In the grand final, Claremont defeated East Fremantle 14.18 (102) to 15.8 (98), to win their first premiership since 1940. Conway spent four more seasons in charge of Claremont, with the club making the finals in 1965 only. He also coached the state team on a number of occasions. In 1997, Conway was included as the rover in East Fremantle's Team of the Century. He was included in the Fremantle Football Hall of Legends in 1998, and inducted into the

in 2009.Hall of Fame Inductees
– wafootball.com.au. Retrieved 16 January 2012.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Conway, Jim 1925 births 2003 deaths Royal Australian Air Force airmen Claremont Football Club coaches East Fremantle Football Club players Royal Australian Air Force personnel of World War II Sandover Medal winners Australian rules footballers from Fremantle West Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees Military personnel from Western Australia