1927 WAFL season | |
---|---|
Teams | 7 |
Premiers | East Perth 7th premiership |
Minor premiers | East Perth 7th minor premiership |
Sandover Medallist | Jim Craig (West Perth) |
Bernie Naylor Medallist | Bonny Campbell (East Perth) |
Matches played | 67 |
The 1927 WAFL season was the 43rd season of the West Australian Football League. It saw the last premiership of the East Perth dynasty dating back to the end of World War I, as mastermind coach Phil Matson was to be killed in a truck crash the following year [1] and the Royals were to fall to a clear last in 1929 as most of their champions retired. Despite opening their permanent home ground at Claremont Oval, newcomers Claremont-Cottesloe showed little improvement on their debut season and again won only a single game. The most notable change in fortunes was from South Fremantle, who had their first season with more wins than losses since their last premiership in 1917, and extended Matson's Royals in the grand final.
VFL champions Collingwood became the second Victoria club to tour Perth after Fitzroy in 1922, [2] and although an interstate carnival meant they were without several top players, the Magpies performed well enough to win one of their two matches against a representative team from those WAFL players not at the carnival.
Round 1 | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Saturday, 23 April (2:45 pm) | East Perth 18.11 (119) | def. | Claremont-Cottesloe 6.13 (49) | Perth Oval | [3] |
Saturday, 23 April (2:45 pm) | South Fremantle 4.13 (37) | def. | Subiaco 5.5 (35) | Fremantle Oval | [4] |
Saturday, 23 April (2:45 pm) | West Perth 9.10 (64) | def. by | Perth 14.14 (98) | Leederville Oval | [5] |
Bye East Fremantle | |||||
Round 2 | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Saturday, 30 April (2:45 pm) | Subiaco 8.12 (60) | def. | West Perth 7.10 (52) | Subiaco Oval | [6] |
Saturday, 30 April (2:45 pm) | Claremont-Cottesloe 4.12 (36) | def. by | East Fremantle 19.10 (124) | Claremont Oval | [7] |
Saturday, 30 April (2:45 pm) | South Fremantle 9.11 (65) | def. | Perth 8.12 (60) | Fremantle Oval | [8] |
Bye East Perth | |||||
Claremont Oval is opened for WAFL football in the fledgling club’s second season, but the local team is thrashed by a systematic Old Easts combination. |
Round 3 | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Saturday, 7 May (2:45 pm) | East Perth 7.13 (55) | def. | West Perth 7.10 (52) | Perth Oval | [9] |
Saturday, 7 May (2:45 pm) | South Fremantle 12.9 (81) | def. | East Fremantle 4.9 (33) | Fremantle Oval | [10] |
Saturday, 7 May (2:45 pm) | Perth 11.7 (73) | def. | Claremont-Cottesloe 9.6 (60) | WACA | [11] |
Bye Subiaco | |||||
In heavy rain, East Fremantle are unexpectedly thrashed by South Fremantle, with Sol Lawn and Campbell outstanding up forward. |
Round 4 | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Saturday, 14 May (2:45 pm) | Claremont-Cottesloe 16.13 (109) | def. by | Subiaco 16.18 (114) | Claremont Oval | [12] |
Saturday, 14 May (2:45 pm) | West Perth 8.9 (57) | def. by | East Fremantle 13.18 (96) | Leederville Oval | [13] |
Saturday, 14 May (2:45 pm) | South Fremantle 11.12 (78) | def. by | East Perth 13.10 (88) | Fremantle Oval | [14] |
Bye Perth | |||||
For the first time in WAFL history, both teams score 100 points in a match, [15] but Subiaco, coming off the bye, come back to scrape home despite being without key defenders Hamilton and Brophy. [16] |
Round 5 | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wednesday, 18 May (2:45 pm) | East Perth 7.14 (56) | def. by | East Fremantle 15.11 (101) | Perth Oval | [17] |
Wednesday, 18 May (2:45 pm) | South Fremantle 10.16 (76) | def. | West Perth 4.9 (33) | Fremantle Oval | [18] |
Wednesday, 18 May (2:45 pm) | Subiaco 9.13 (67) | def. | Perth 8.9 (57) | Subiaco Oval | [19] |
Bye Claremont-Cottesloe | |||||
Round 6 | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Saturday, 21 May (2:45 pm) | Perth 9.7 (61) | def. | East Perth 8.12 (60) | WACA | [20] |
Saturday, 21 May (2:45 pm) | East Fremantle 10.11 (71) | def. | Subiaco 8.13 (61) | Fremantle Oval | [21] |
Saturday, 21 May (2:45 pm) | West Perth 14.16 (100) | def. | Claremont-Cottesloe 9.5 (59) | Leederville Oval | [22] |
Bye South Fremantle | |||||
Round 7 | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Saturday, 28 May (2:45 pm) | Subiaco 9.7 (61) | def. by | East Perth 9.17 (71) | Subiaco Oval | [23] |
Saturday, 28 May (2:45 pm) | Claremont-Cottesloe 5.8 (38) | def. by | South Fremantle 16.20 (116) | Claremont Oval | [24] |
Saturday, 28 May (2:45 pm) | East Fremantle 7.18 (60) | def. | Perth 8.4 (52) | Fremantle Oval | [25] |
Bye West Perth | |||||
Sol Lawn kicks nine goals for South Fremantle, who are joined by Old Easts on top after Perth score only 1.2 (8) in the second half. |
Round 8 | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Saturday, 4 June (2:45 pm) | Claremont-Cottesloe 8.14 (62) | def. by | East Perth 18.16 (124) | Claremont Oval | [26] |
Saturday, 4 June (2:45 pm) | Perth 11.6 (72) | def. | West Perth 8.6 (54) | WACA | [27] |
Saturday, 4 June (2:45 pm) | Subiaco 7.11 (53) | def. | South Fremantle 6.11 (47) | Subiaco Oval | [28] |
Bye East Fremantle | |||||
In wet conditions, eight goals by Evans gives Perth the game and keeps them within percentage of their first finals berth since 1920. |
Round 9 | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Monday, 6 June (2:45 pm) | East Fremantle 9.20 (74) | def. | Claremont-Cottesloe 6.19 (55) | Fremantle Oval | [29] |
Monday, 6 June (2:45 pm) | Perth 10.8 (68) | def. by | South Fremantle 13.10 (88) | WACA | [30] |
Monday, 6 June (2:45 pm) | West Perth 8.9 (57) | def. by | Subiaco 14.8 (92) | Leederville Oval | [31] |
Bye East Perth | |||||
Round 10 | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Saturday, 11 June (2:45 pm) | Claremont-Cottesloe 5.8 (38) | def. by | Perth 15.17 (107) | Claremont Oval | [32] |
Saturday, 11 June (2:45 pm) | East Fremantle 4.16 (40) | def. by | South Fremantle 9.8 (62) | Fremantle Oval | [33] |
Saturday, 11 June (2:45 pm) | West Perth 14.8 (92) | def. | East Perth 9.12 (66) | Leederville Oval | [34] |
Bye Subiaco | |||||
West Perth, finalists in 1926, return to that season’s form after winning only one of their first eight matches, defeating the reigning premiers in slippery conditions. |
Round 11 | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Saturday, 18 June (2:45 pm) | East Perth 9.6 (60) | def. | South Fremantle 6.9 (45) | Perth Oval | [35] |
Saturday, 18 June (2:45 pm) | East Fremantle 11.11 (77) | def. by | West Perth 12.11 (83) | Fremantle Oval | [36] |
Saturday, 18 June (2:45 pm) | Subiaco 7.15 (57) | def. by | Claremont-Cottesloe 12.7 (79) | Subiaco Oval | [37] |
Bye Perth | |||||
Claremont-Cottesloe, who had surprised Subiaco at their previous meeting only to lose narrowly, win their second WAFL match by making use of a violent wind in the first quarter and holding the Maroons in the second. |
Round 12 | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Saturday, 25 June (2:45 pm) | Perth 9.8 (62) | def. by | Subiaco 11.10 (76) | WACA | [38] |
Saturday, 25 June (2:45 pm) | West Perth 7.13 (55) | def. | South Fremantle 5.6 (36) | Leederville Oval | [39] |
Saturday, 25 June (2:45 pm) | East Fremantle 9.10 (64) | def. by | East Perth 13.9 (87) | Fremantle Oval | [40] |
Bye Claremont-Cottesloe | |||||
With Campbell kicking seven goals, East Perth move to equal top position as the Cardinals continue their revival, defeating a seventeen-man South Fremantle team. |
Round 13 | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Saturday, 2 July (2:45 pm) | Subiaco 10.14 (74) | def. | East Fremantle 10.10 (70) | Subiaco Oval | [41] |
Saturday, 2 July (2:45 pm) | East Perth 11.10 (76) | def. | Perth 9.9 (63) | Perth Oval | [42] |
Saturday, 2 July (2:45 pm) | Claremont-Cottesloe 6.14 (50) | def. by | West Perth 13.8 (86) | Claremont Oval | [43] |
Bye South Fremantle | |||||
Round 14 | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Saturday, 9 July (2:45 pm) | Perth 14.12 (96) | def. | East Fremantle 8.11 (59) | WACA | [44] |
Saturday, 9 July (2:45 pm) | South Fremantle 9.9 (63) | def. | Claremont-Cottesloe 5.5 (35) | Fremantle Oval | [45] |
Saturday, 9 July (2:45 pm) | East Perth 5.13 (43) | def. | Subiaco 5.11 (41) | Perth Oval | [46] |
Bye West Perth | |||||
Following this round, WAFL football was suspended for an interstate match in Adelaide. |
Round 15 | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Saturday, 23 July (2:45 pm) | West Perth 7.11 (53) | def. by | Perth 10.16 (76) | Leederville Oval | [47] |
Saturday, 23 July (2:45 pm) | Claremont-Cottesloe 9.13 (67) | def. by | East Perth 17.19 (121) | Claremont Oval | [48] |
Saturday, 23 July (2:45 pm) | South Fremantle 7.16 (58) | def. | Subiaco 7.9 (51) | Fremantle Oval | [49] |
Bye East Fremantle | |||||
Following Perth’s win over the Cardinals, umpire Les Trotter was attacked physically by an angry spectator who failed to get the better of him, and police were required to break up the fight. The WAFL did not take further actions. [50] |
Round 16 | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Saturday, 30 July (2:45 pm) | East Fremantle 10.12 (72) | def. | Claremont-Cottesloe 8.8 (56) | Fremantle Oval | [51] |
Saturday, 30 July (2:45 pm) | Perth 7.19 (61) | def. | South Fremantle 5.6 (36) | WACA | [52] |
Saturday, 30 July (2:45 pm) | Subiaco 11.13 (79) | def. | West Perth 9.7 (61) | Subiaco Oval | [53] |
Bye East Perth | |||||
In difficult conditions on a wet and boisterous day, regular Maroon ruckman Outridge is a match-winner in attack with seven goals. |
Round 17 | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Saturday, 6 August (2:45 pm) | East Perth 12.11 (83) | def. | West Perth 12.9 (81) | Perth Oval | [54] |
Saturday, 6 August (2:45 pm) | East Fremantle 8.12 (60) | def. | South Fremantle 7.7 (49) | Fremantle Oval | [55] |
Saturday, 6 August (2:45 pm) | Perth 10.15 (75) | def. | Claremont-Cottesloe 10.13 (73) | WACA | [56] |
Bye Subiaco | |||||
|
Round 18 | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Saturday, 13 August (2:45 pm) | East Fremantle 10.12 (72) | def. | West Perth 8.9 (57) | Fremantle Oval | [58] |
Saturday, 13 August (2:45 pm) | East Perth 9.15 (69) | def. | South Fremantle 7.2 (44) | Perth Oval | [59] |
Saturday, 13 August (2:45 pm) | Subiaco 14.13 (97) | def. | Claremont-Cottesloe 9.3 (57) | Subiaco Oval | [60] |
Bye Perth | |||||
With all clubs depleted by Carnival commitments, the standard of play is regarded as poor, but East Perth, without eight regulars but with veterans "Digger" Thomas and Brentnall the best players afield, virtually seal the minor premiership with three rounds to play. [61] |
West Australian Football League v Collingwood | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wednesday, 17 August (2:45 pm) | Western Australia | def. by | Collingwood | Subiaco Oval | [62] |
2.4 (16) 2.7 (19) 5.11 (41) 7.12 (54) | Q1 Q2 Q3 Final | 3.1 (19) 6.6 (42) 7.8 (50) 13.9 (87) | Umpires: Frank Collins | ||
Hopkins 2, Joe Campbell 2, Holt, Gepp, Lawn | Goals | Harry Collier 5, Muir 2, Murphy 2, Beveridge 2, Harris, Makeham | |||
Grigg, Matson, Gepp, Donovan, Donoghue, Piper, Duffy | Best | Harry Collier, Harris, Murphy, Beveridge, Milburn, Makeham, Poulter, Wescott, Romney | |||
Despite the absence of Syd and Gordon Coventry, Collingwood demonstrate their power with a convincing victory in tough conditions. |
West Australian Football League v Collingwood | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Saturday, 22 August (2:45 pm) | Western Australia | def. | Collingwood | Subiaco Oval | [63] |
3.2 (20) 8.6 (54) 9.7 (61) 12.8 (80) | Q1 Q2 Q3 Final | 2.2 (14) 2.4 (16) 7.8 (50) 8.10 (58) | Umpires: Frank Collins | ||
Metherell 9, Steward, Gepp, Campbell | Goals | Ross 2, Rumney 2, Harry Collier 2, Shanahan, Libbis, Beveridge | |||
Holt (best on ground), Duffy, Grigg, Metherell, Matson, Donoghue, Piper | Best | Rumney, Westcott, Wilson, Libbis, Harris, Millburn | |||
The local team, with a number of changes, gains revenge for its mid-week defeat. |
Round 19 | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Saturday, 27 August (2:45 pm) | Perth 6.18 (54) | def. by | Subiaco 14.10 (94) | WACA | [64] |
Saturday, 27 August (2:45 pm) | South Fremantle 9.11 (65) | drew with | West Perth 9.11 (65) | Subiaco Oval | [65] |
Saturday, 27 August (2:45 pm) | East Fremantle 10.10 (70) | def. | East Perth 8.7 (55) | Fremantle Oval | [66] |
Bye Claremont-Cottesloe | |||||
Perth fall from second to fifth with their loss on a waterlogged WACA. [67] |
Round 20 | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Saturday, 3 September (2:45 pm) | Subiaco 11.9 (75) | def. by | East Fremantle 11.10 (76) | Subiaco Oval | [68] |
Saturday, 3 September (2:45 pm) | East Perth 17.10 (112) | def. | Perth 8.10 (58) | Perth Oval | [69] |
Saturday, 3 September (2:45 pm) | West Perth 10.12 (72) | def. | Claremont-Cottesloe 9.10 (64) | Leederville Oval | [70] |
Bye South Fremantle | |||||
East Fremantle’s thrilling fight to hold of Subiaco in front of a large crowd [71] and Perth’s loss virtually seals the top four with South playing Claremont-Cottesloe. |
Round 21 | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Saturday, 10 September (2:45 pm) | Subiaco 11.10 (76) | def. by | East Perth 12.5 (77) | Leederville Oval | [72] |
Saturday, 10 September (2:45 pm) | Claremont-Cottesloe 8.8 (56) | def. by | South Fremantle 13.15 (93) | Claremont Oval | [73] |
Saturday, 10 September (2:45 pm) | East Fremantle 8.16 (64) | def. by | Perth 16.11 (107) | Fremantle Oval | [74] |
Bye West Perth | |||||
Perth’s 10.3 (63) first quarter was the highest in the WAFL to that point and ended the most recent run of over 100 games conceding under 100 points. [75] |
Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | D | PF | PA | PP | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | East Perth (P) | 18 | 14 | 4 | 0 | 1422 | 1165 | 122.1 | 56 |
2 | East Fremantle | 18 | 11 | 7 | 0 | 1283 | 1199 | 107.0 | 44 |
3 | South Fremantle | 18 | 10 | 7 | 1 | 1139 | 960 | 118.6 | 42 |
4 | Subiaco | 18 | 10 | 8 | 0 | 1263 | 1138 | 111.0 | 40 |
5 | Perth | 18 | 10 | 8 | 0 | 1300 | 1199 | 108.4 | 40 |
6 | West Perth | 18 | 6 | 11 | 1 | 1174 | 1276 | 92.0 | 26 |
7 | Claremont-Cottesloe | 18 | 1 | 17 | 0 | 1043 | 1687 | 61.8 | 4 |
First semi-final | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Saturday, 17 September (2:45 pm) | South Fremantle 11.13 (79) | def. | East Fremantle 11.5 (71) | Fremantle Oval (crowd: 7,665) | |
South Fremantle come back to win a high-standard match with four goals in the last sixteen minutes. [76] |
Second semi-final | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Saturday, 24 September (2:45 pm) | East Perth 11.11 (77) | def. | Subiaco 6.15 (51) | Leederville Oval (crowd: 11,049) | |
An eagerly awaited match proves disappointing as East Perth have no trouble winning. [77] |
Final | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Saturday, 1 October (2:45 pm) | East Perth 9.12 (66) | def. by | South Fremantle 12.9 (81) | Subiaco Oval (crowd: 10,854) | |
South Fremantle force a challenge final with their ruck superiority led by the unheralded Sunderland, Fuhrmann and Holt. [78] |
1927 WAFL Grand Final | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Saturday, 8 October (2:45 pm) | East Perth | def. | South Fremantle | Subiaco Oval (crowd: 15,714) | [79] |
3.4 (22) 4.6 (30) 8.8 (56) 10.12 (72) | Q1 Q2 Q3 Final | 1.1 (7) 4.6 (30) 6.8 (44) 7.9 (51) | Umpires: Frank O‘Connor | ||
Bonny Campbell 5, "Digger" Thomas, Western, Owens, Sparrow, Fletcher | Goals | Lawn 3, Staton, McGuiness, Johnny Campbell, Harris | |||
Glew, O‘Meara, Bonny Campbell, Fletcher, Duffy, | Best | McGuiness (best on ground), Johnny Campbell, Fuhrmann, Holt, Mahon | |||
East Perth rebound to win their seventh flag in nine seasons, and the last before Matson’s death and the retirement of longstanding stars ends a dynasty. |
The West Australian Football League 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 April to September, with the top five teams playing off in a finals series, culminating in a Grand Final. The league also runs reserves, colts (under-19) and women's competitions.
The Claremont Football Club, nicknamed Tigers, is an Australian rules football club based in Claremont, Western Australia, that currently plays in the West Australian Football League (WAFL) and WAFL Women's (WAFLW). Its official colours are navy blue and gold. Formed as the "Cottesloe Beach Football Club" in 1906, the club entering the WAFL in 1925 as the "Claremont-Cottesloe Football Club"', changing its name to the present in 1935. Claremont have won 12 senior men's premierships since entering the competition, including most recently the 2011 and 2012 premierships.
Claremont Oval, also known by naming rights sponsorship as Revo Fitness Stadium, is an Australian rules football stadium located in Perth, Western Australia. The stadium, opened in 1905 as "Claremont Recreation Ground", seats 5,000. It is the home of the Claremont Football Club, an Australian rules football club that plays in the Western Australian Football League (WAFL), the state's premier Australian rules competition.
The 1934 WANFL season was the 50th season of the various incarnations of the Western Australian National Football League. Following upon numerous unsuccessful attempts to revive Midland Junction during the 1920s, Bassendean-based Swan Districts were admitted to the competition. The black and whites were more competitive than previous new clubs owing to the presence of a number of players with previous WANFL experience, including Fred Sweetapple from West Perth, captain-coach "Judda" Bee from East Fremantle and Nigel Gorn from South Fremantle, but after five promising campaigns were to endure nineteen open-age seasons without once winning as many matches as they lost.
The 1933 WANFL season was the 49th season of the Western Australian National Football League in its various incarnations. It was the last year of a seven-team senior competition, and saw George Doig, during the second semi-final, become the first player to kick one hundred goals in a season.
The 1932 WANFL season was the 48th season of the Western Australian National Football League. The premiership was won by West Perth for the first time since 1905. The Cardinals’ win ended both a run of four consecutive premierships by East Fremantle, which won its fifth of seven successive minor premierships but lost both finals it played to be eliminated in the preliminary final, and West Perth's longest premiership drought in its history. West Perth's win was highlighted by the success of champion full forward Ted Tyson, who headed the goalkicking with eighty-four goals including a record eight in the Grand Final[a]. Tyson went on to kick an unprecedented 1,203 goals during a twelve-season career with the Cardinals, but their rise from winning only six matches in 1931 was due to the development of second-year defender Max Tetley, the discovery of a third pre-war Cardinal stalwart in Norm McDiarmid,[b] brother of star ruckman Jack, plus further outstanding youngsters Jim Morgan and Bob Dalziell.
The 1931 WANFL season was the 47th season of the Western Australian National Football League and the first under that moniker, having been called the West Australian Football League (WAFL) until 1930.
The 1930 WAFL season was the 46th season of the West Australian Football League in its various incarnations, and the last before it changed its name to the ‘Western Australian National Football League’. The season saw East Fremantle win the premiership for the third consecutive season, marking the second time that the club had achieved the feat; the club was never seriously challenged as the best team except during the interstate break and achieved the unusual feat of being the only club with a percentage of over 100.[a] Jerry Dolan said in retrospect that East Fremantle's 1930 team was the greatest he had ever played in or coached – including even the unbeaten team of 1946.
The 1929 WAFL season was the 45th season of the West Australian Football League in its various incarnations.
The 1935 WANFL season was the 51st season of the Western Australian National Football League. The season saw West Perth win the premiership under the coaching of Johnny Leonard; it was the only time in West Perth's history that it won consecutive premierships, preceding a brief but exceptionally steep decline that saw the Cardinals four years later suffer the equal longest losing streak in WA(N)FL history.
The 1928 WAFL season was the 44th season of the West Australian Football League. The most notable event of the season occurred off the field on Monday, 11 June, when champion East Perth coach Phil Matson was killed in a truck crash at Nedlands after being thrown into a telegraph post. The Royals under the coaching of Paddy Hebbard did manage to reach a challenge final against minor premiers East Fremantle, but were beaten and suffered an abrupt fall to a clear last the following season.
The 1938 WANFL season was the 54th season of the Western Australian National Football League, and saw Claremont, under champion coach Johnny Leonard who had transferred from West Perth, win its first premiership after losing two Grand Finals and drawing the first one this season. The blue and golds were to win the following two premierships before a long period near the foot of the ladder after Claremont Oval was gutted by a fire in 1944.
The 1926 WAFL season was the 42nd season of senior football in Perth, Western Australia.
The 1939 WANFL season was the 55th season of the various incarnations of the Western Australian National Football League. It is best known for West Perth's record losing streak of twenty-seven matches up to the fifteenth round, an ignominy equalled by Peel Thunder in their formative years but never actually beaten. The Cardinals finished with the worst record since Midland Junction lost all twelve games in 1917, and were the first WANFL team with only one victory for twelve seasons. In their only win, champion forward Ted Tyson became the first West Australian to kick over one thousand goals and he just failed to replicate his 1938 feat of leading the goalkicking for a bottom club. Subiaco, despite a second Sandover win from Haydn Bunton won only three matches, and Swan Districts, affected by the loss of star goalkicker Ted Holdsworth to Kalgoorlie, began a long period as a cellar-dweller with a fall to sixth.
The 1925 WAFL season was the 41st season of the West Australian Football League. It was notable as the season where a fully-fledged system of district football was firmly in place after two seasons of planning, with Perth divided into eight zones, one of which was allocated to Claremont in preparation for their entry to senior WAFL ranks for 1926 and another covered the Midland area later to be allocated to Swan Districts. Along with this, the WAFL introduced a reserves competition for players not good enough for their club's league team.
The 1940 WANFL season was the 56th season of the various incarnations of the Western Australian National Football League. It saw Claremont win its third consecutive premiership, but its last before returning to the status of cellar-dweller it occupied during its first decade in the WA(N)FL – between 1943 and 1978 Claremont played finals only five times for one premiership. South Fremantle, after a lean period in the middle 1930s, displaced perennial power clubs East Fremantle and East Perth as the Tigers’ Grand Final opponent, and established some of the basis, in spite of three disastrous wartime under-age seasons, for the club's fabled dynasty after the war.
The 1941 WANFL season was the 57th season of the various incarnations of the Western Australian National Football League. Owing to the drain of players to military service in World War II, the league was forced to suspend the reserves competition until 1946, and ultimately this was to be the last season of senior football in Perth until 1945 as the supply of available players became smaller and smaller and the Japanese military threatened northern Western Australia.
The 1942 WANFL season was the 58th season of the Western Australian National Football League. Whilst the previous two seasons had been increasingly affected by the drift of players to the services, the 1941/1942 off-season saw the Imperial Japanese Navy and air force move into the north of Western Australia, bombing many northwestern settlements.
The 1922 WAFL season was the 38th season of the West Australian Football League. It saw East Perth equal East Fremantle's feat of winning four consecutive premierships, this time against a rejuvenated West Perth team which had a lean period since 1912. Their most notable feat during the season was a record comeback against South Fremantle, but on an August tour of the Eastern States the Royals also defeated SANFL premiers Norwood by the score of 8.20 (68) to 7.10 (52) and runners-up West Adelaide by 11.12 (78) to 7.12 (54), after having lost by a point to St. Kilda two weeks beforehand. A consequence of their trip – hastily planned when Subiaco's tour there was cancelled during July – was that their last round match with wooden-spooner Perth was never played – a cancellation to be repeated the following season.
The 1944 WANFL season was the 60th season of the various incarnations of the Western Australian National Football League. Consequent upon the improved fortunes of the Allies in the Pacific War, the league's decision to restrict football to those under nineteen as of 1 October become somewhat controversial, but the WANFL after much debate during the early weeks of the season decided it would not raise the age limit or even as West Perth suggested allow four 1943 players over the limit to play. This meant that a large number of players who had been mainstays in the 1942 and 1943 seasons were no longer eligible to play, and as in 1943 a number of players still eligible were erratically available due to service in the war.