Malcolm Walter Atwell (born 5 March 1937) is a former Australian rules football player and coach. He played for

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 Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...

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 i ...

in the

West 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).

Playing career

Atwell was a tough, hard hitting footballer and spent most of his time as either a defender or in the ruck. He started his career in 1958 at East Perth and played in their premiership team that season as well as the next. After 162 games with East Perth, he transferred to Perth where he played 76 games. After making his interstate debut in 1960, Atwell represented his state in both the

1961 Brisbane Carnival The 1961 Brisbane Carnival was the 15th edition of the Australian National Football Carnival, an Australian rules football interstate competition. It was the last carnival to be held in Queensland. It was one of the most competitive carnivals to ...

and 1966 Hobart Carnivals. In all he made 17 interstate appearances and coached his state at the

1969 Adelaide Carnival The 1969 Adelaide Carnival was the 17th edition of the Australian National Football Carnival, an Australian rules football interstate competition. Four teams competed in the carnival, South Australia, the Victorian Football League, Tasmania and ...

Coaching career

He had a highly successful stint as Perth coach and was later named as the coach of Perth's official

Team of the Century In team sport, team of the century and team of the decade are hypothetical best teams over a given time period. For the century team, it can be either 100 years, or for a century (always the 20th). Similarly the team of the decade can be for 10 ...

. From 1966 to 1969 he was captain-coach of

and led them to premierships in 1966, 1967 and 1968. He remained coach for the 1970 and 1971 seasons but retired as a player. The following year he joined South Fremantle as non-playing coach and spent two seasons in the role.

Footnotes

References

* 1937 births Living people Australian rules footballers from Western Australia East Perth Football Club players Perth Football Club players Perth Football Club coaches South Fremantle Football Club coaches Perth Football Club administrators West Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees {{AFL-bio-1930s-stub