West Australian (Perth, WA : 1879 - 1954), Monday 28 June 1937, page 8


VICTORY FOR PERTH. Good Kicking in Bad Conditions. On a field which was more than half under water Perth played surprisingly good football on Saturday to defeat South Fremantle by 73 points at the W..C.A. ground. It was by no means a good game -the atrocious weather and the state of the ground and ball precluded any possibility of that--but the winning team managed to exercise reasonable control over the ball and several of its players marked well on the chest and kicked over long distances. The kicking for goal was, in the circumstances, quite good. Southi',Premantle was outplayed after the first quarter, Perth beingisuperior in marking, pace, kicking and position play. The teams were:PERTH.---Bak: Fitzgerald, Love, Williama Half-backs: Wormald, Brown, Baurton. Centres: Trainor, Puddey, H. Davey. Halfforwards: Toohey, Dewar, Grigg. Forwards: Iggo, Cook, Whittaker. Rock: Carrington, Oliphant. Kelfhtley (rover). Nineteenth man: Hetherington (did not play). SOUTH FREMANTLE.-Backs: Pollett, Noble, Lee. Half-backs: Dole, Dodd, Brown. Gentres: Miller, Jenkins, Bradford. HRalf-forwards: Smith, W. Hayward, Prosser. Forwards: Reilly, Poole, Lewington. Buck: Richardson, E. Hayward, Orr (rover). Nineteenth man: Chapman (did not play). EMPfIRE-V. Sparrow. Perth splashed its way forward from the bounce and Gook, after a clever mark, goaled. Mainly because of Toohey's shrewd play, Perth was able to make some pretence at position play in the forward lines but South Premantle-for a time the better team in the water, though, inferior in the alr-bullocked its way f'rward. Smith goaled twice. The conditions were shocking. Players stumbled through wide pools, slipped across patches of mud and fell In attempting to pick up the greasy ball. The scores remained level for over ten minutes while the opposing players plunged about in the lakes of the oval. Quartertime scores were:-Perth, 4.2; South Premantle, 3.3.Showing Showing more enterprise in the second quarter Perth quickly ran to a 21-point, lead, Dewar and Gook goaling in quick' succession. At centre Puddey handled the wet ball skilfully and was the main factor in the team's superiority. In front of goal Gook overcame the deplorable conditions and was always dangerous. The team settled down to a rugged, unspectacular but effective type of play and it steadily progressed, Oliphant taking a conspicuous part, with sure chest marking, strong kicking and sound leading. Perth was completely superior throughout the quarter, scoring 49 points to 8. Half-time scores were:-Perth, 11.9; South Fremantle, 4.5. Lapsing into errors in front: of goal, Perth lost a chance of amassing a huge lead in the third quarter. South Fremantle battled on but met with little success. It's forwards were Uinable to stand up to the vigour and dash of Perth's backs. Poole scored a goal with a snap shot but a long period of scoreless play followed. Toohey dominated the play for Perth, bht several shots at goal went astray, only five points being realised during the quarter which closed with the scores at:--Perth, 11.14; South Fremantle, .5.south south Fremantle, still undaunted, rallied early in the last quarter, winning the ball from the ruck and playing at a fast pace. Poole goaled after a clever mark but Perth opened up the play and, aided by a fairly stiff breeze, regained its seven-goal lead. Sheets of rain almost obliterated ball and players and soon there was six inches of water on some parts of the field. The Perth players wisely kicked the ball as quickly and as hard as possible and half-way through the quarter, when Oliphant goaled, the game was virtually won. South Fremantle played hard to the end but its task was hopeless. Gook reaped a harvest of goals in the closing minutes of play. The final scores were:PERTH. .. .... 17.21 (123pts.) S. FREMANTLE .. .. 7.8 (SOpti.) Scorers.-Perth: Gook, 8.3; Dewar, 3.4; Oliphant, 31; Whittaker, 2.5; Toohey, 1.2; Grigg, 0.2; Keightley, 0.2; Davey, 0.1; Carrington, 0.1. South Fremantle: Poole, 52; Smith, 2.0; Richardson, 0.3; Prosser, 0.2; Relly, 0.1. J. Toohey, the Perth follower, was the outstanding player of the game, handling and kicking the wet ball as if playing under perfect conditions. He dominated the play in every quarter. In the centre Puddey again won and was the mainspring of the team's attacking power. In goal the consistent Love gave excellent service, clearing strongly' and checking the forwards at all times. Oliphant played good football throughout and A. Brown was rugged and effective at half-back, and H Davey did well on the wing, under] conditions ill-suited to him. Gook found devastating form in front of goal Grigg and Keightly roved well. Dewar did a lot of work at centre half-forward. South Fremantle's best player was P. Dodd, who did a great deal of good work in his position at centre half-back and in addition generally "ran" the defence. He was. given able assistance by Pollett, a new recruit, who was at full-back. Despite Puddey's outstanding play, Jenkins, the South Premantle centre-man, was one] of the team's stalwarts. His pace, dash and driving kicks stood out on a welter of ineffective play (largely due to the shocking state of the ground and ball). Poole made full use of limited opportunities in front of goal and Richardson (ruck) and Orr (rover) were prominent on the ball. Prosser did a full share of good work much of which was nullified by the team's general inability to withstand the more certain play of its opponents.