1. Home-and-away Season
    Round 1  Round 2  Round 3  Round 4  Round 5  Round 6  Round 7  Round 8  Round 9  Round 10 (Foundation Day)  Round 11  Round 12  Round 12  Round 13  Round 15  Round 16  Round 17  Round 18  Round 19   Round 20  Round 21 

2. Ladder

3. Finals
    First Semi Final  Second Semi Final  Preliminary Final  Grand Final 

4. References

5. External links

The 1979 WANFL season was the 95th season of the West Australian National Football League in its various incarnations, and the last of forty-nine (including three under-age wartime seasons) under that moniker.

The season set many records for high scoring due to the still-ongoing drying of Perth’s climate^[1][2] and the new “interchange’ rule. The all-time record aggregate score of 60.18 (378) was set in the third last round between {{WAFL SD}} and {{WAFL Sub}}^[3] and has never been approached since. {{WAFL EF}}^[4] and {{WAFL Cla}}^[5] also set records for highest senior score during the season, the former of which still stands. However, the overall average score of 112.52 points per team per game was not nearly so high as in the following few years under the ‘WAFL’ moniker.

A major highlight of the 1979 season was the all-time record attendance for local West Australian football of 52,781 in the Grand Final,^[6] beating narrowly the previous record of 52,322 set in the 1975 decider.^[7]

The 1979 season was a critical turning point in the fortunes of many WANFL clubs. Perth, who had been a powerhouse ever since the end of World War II, winning six premierships and playing in the finals during twenty-four of the preceding thirty-two seasons, underwent a long-term decline that has seen the play in the finals since only in 1986, 1991 and 1997, and take the wooden spoon on seven occasions as opposed to none between 1936 and 1980. With the loss of a number of veterans and major coaching problems which culminated in the resignation of newcomer Percy Johnson for former premiership mentor Graham Campbell, West Perth, also a power club of the WANFL during the third-of-a-century before 1979, declined to their worst record since 1939 with only four wins. The Cardinals (latterly the Falcons) were to remain battlers until the middle 1990s when they moved to Arena Joondalup. On the other hand, the 1979 season saw {{WAFL Cla}} and {{WAFL SD}} begin revivals after years near the bottom of the ladder that would see them dominate the competition during the 1980s.

Home-and-away Season

Round 1

• West Perth produce a brilliant third quarter burst to win after looking out of the match at half-time.^[8]}}

Round 2

Round 3

• East Perth record their biggest win in open-age WANFL football, narrowly beating their 147-point win over Claremont^[10]
• Perth coach Ken Armstrong complains about the tactics of rival John Todd after Ron Boucher shatters the jaw of key Demon ruckman and former Simpson Medallist Wim Rosbender without any penalty.^[11]
• With Phil Krakouer kicking eight goals including Claremont’s first five, and West Perth’s forward line decrepit, the Cardinals enter a severe crisis with a number of injuries.^[12]}}

Round 4

Round 5

Round 6

• Injured ruck-rover Gerard Neesham shows courage to lead a final Swan fightback in a fluctuating match.^[15]}}

Round 7

• Archie Duda returns for his first game to combine with Paul Arnold for eleven goals and complement a dominating midfield performance by the previously uncertain reigning premiers.^[17]}}

Round 8

• Swan Districts lose despite a 9.10 (64) second quarter and kick their highest losing score until 1982^[19]
• The return of defender John Dimmer and Dennis Blair allows a still-understrength Subiaco to drop the aging Cardinals to last position.^[20]}}

Round 9

• West Perth’s worst loss, beating 112 points against Perth from 1977.
• The Cardinals’ biggest loss at Leederville Oval, beating 89 points against Swan Districts on 12 July 1965
• The club sacked its coach the following Monday in favour of old mentor Campbell.}}

Round 10 (Foundation Day)

Round 11

• Despite a comfortable win with Ray Bauskis kicking a career-best 13.4 (82), South Fremantle coach Mal Brown becomes very upset at a “gutless” final quarter where South kicks only 2.0 (12) to Subiaco’s 7.8 (50).^[24]
• An unexpected move of brilliant rover-forward Phil Krakouer to defence shuts out the young Swan Districts centreline after Swans get within eight points of the Tigers. Krakouer has an amazing 32 kicks and eight handballs.^[25]}}

Round 12

• East Perth consolidate their place in the top four with a convincing wet-weather repeat of the 1978 Grand Final.^[28]}}

Round 12

• Rod Alderton, West Perth’s leading goalkicker in 1978, kicks three of seven last-quarter goals in a twenty-minute burst to pip an inaccurate Swan Districts who had led all day but just failed with a late comeback.^[30]}}

Round 13

• Moss returns to the ruck to drive Claremont form 31 points down at half-time to a superb win, with Jimmy Krakouer superb in support.^[32]
• East Perth kick 3.1 to 2.3 into the breeze to deny Cardinals a third straight victory.}}

Round 15

• Claremont show that the traditional “college boy” tag^[34] with a fighting win – again led by Moss and the Krakouers – after East Perth score 9.3 (57) with the wind in the third quarter.^[35]}}

Round 16

Round 17

Round 18

• Old Easts had only three goalkickers (Thomson 6, Taylor 5, Buhagiar 2).}}

Round 19

• Aggregate score at East Fremantle third highest on record, with eight more scoring shots than at Bassendean. Taylor kicked nine for Old Easts.^[39]
• Barry Cable plays his 400th senior game and celebrates with a win over his former club.}}

Round 20

• Subiaco’s failure to hold on in an exceptional quality game against Claremont assures that team of the double chance and the Lions of the wooden spoon.^[42]}}

Round 21

• Injuries to Noel Carter and Basil Campbell show up the jitters that had derailed several recent South Fremantle premiership attempts.^[44]}}

Ladder

Finals

First Semi Final

Second Semi Final

Preliminary Final

• Claremont’s attempt to improve its forward line by displacing Old Easts’ Doug Green fails.^[49]}}

Grand Final

References

External links

• Official WAFL website
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20160305140922/http://australianfootball.com/seasons/season/WAFL/1979 Australian Football: WANFL Season 1979]

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