Back to 1984 - John Todd: East Fremantle Were Pretty Easy To Beat.

Published May 1, 2024, 12:37 AM

Clairsy & Lisa’s journey back to 1984 continued this morning with WA football legend John Todd, John told them about his time as the coach of Swan Districts taking the team to a threepeat in 1984, winning the Sandover Medal and how he became the first coach of the West Coast Eagles. 

Lest we've been immersing ourselves in the year nineteen eighty four. This week we have because it turns forty forty, the forty year celebration of so many things, and we've been to TV Land a couple of times, so we thought we'd go to the World of Sport and a man our guest today is an inaugural legend of Western Australian Football Hall of Fame and inducted into the Coaches section of the Australian Football Hall of Fame in two thousand and three. He was a Sandover medallist here in Western Australia, playing for South from Mantle as a teenager, and coach Swan Districts to their third straight Waffle Premiership in nineteen eighty four. The Great John Todd joins us. Toddy, good warning, good.

Morning morning, how lovely to talk to you, nineteen eighty four, the Big Three, Peter. It was September twenty two, nineteen eighty four. What do you remember from that day?

John? We're winning the clock back. We are.

Indeed, we'll never forget forty years. Yeah.

I could tell a lot of lives and you wouldn't know any different.

We wouldn't make it up.

That's what I'm saying. I could make stories up and as we go along. Yeah, eighty four, eighty four long time ago, but that was our third one. And to be quite frank, other those three that we were able to win, I only had eight players left in that third grand sire who played in the three. So it was a good effort by the guys in maybe four tibits to be able to hold up it was.

It was great you beat its Fremantle in that third one. I think you beat eas Freemantle in that third one.

Yeah, were there, They're pretty easy to be.

The Sharks fans were happy with that, Hjohn. The club rooms at best, and in those three nights those three successive years, but especially Naughty four must have been winning the third one. That must have gone off there.

Yeah the first Look, the first one was the one I can remember, mainly because we hadn't won a premiership for nineteen years. And the other all was just so many people you just couldn't visit another person in and also just to see go and then cry and human so happy, and you know, that's an ever lasting memory for me. Eighty four. Look, they're all happy, but I think they took it for granted a bit Successil. Yeah, yes, they weren't crying on in eighty four, So I said, oh, well.

Yeah, John, you mentioned how few players you had from that nineteen eighty three team in the nineteen eighty four team, and as part of it was due to retirement, A lot of it was due to people being pinched.

By the VFL.

Was that a real issue for the Waffle coaches at that time.

As it is, both not so many AFL players they were just starting to move from Western Australia to the AFL. But I had a group of young lads who were coming through and they grabbed their opportunity and you know, when you're young and enthusiastic, it just got nothing to lose years go for it, and that's what they did. I think, as a matter of fact that my memory says be right. I think we kicked ten goals in the first quarter and isman kicked in the second quarter they kicked seven or eight, so at halftime there was only about three goal difference. But it takes a lot of energy to catch up when you're let behind, as is you Mamma were, so we knew that if we fly the pressure, they were going to Wilter at some stage, and that's what they did. Yeah, I think I think we end up winning three or four goals, which which which is enough, don't embarrassed?

Is like a South Fremantle.

A big day. John.

I think about that era of Swan District's footing and you had you know, Keith and Phil Knarkle, you had big bad Ron Boucher and Graham Melrose came back from the from the East and I think one of the great leaders in stand You had some wonderful players out there, Richard, I did.

Yeah, yeah, in earlier days, like going back a few years prior to that, when I first went there. You know, we had to change the culture. The culture working great, and I think my memory serves me right. We won five games out of there first fifty. Wow, wasn't it wasn't a good record early and John Cooper was the president. He knew, he knew what we were trying to do, and the players would always go to him, and I know I always knew that they wouldn't get a hearing really, but I think he's saying was I'll give you two clearance is just in case you lose when going out the Gates.

Forty one thousand people attended that nineteen eighty four Grand Final at Subi Over. That is a huge number. A lot of shall we say, generations younger than us just don't realize how all encompassing that waffle was at that time.

Oh, it was in fifty In eighty two it was over fifty thousands. Well, so, yeah, were huge. When you look at the replays of that era, Yeah, grand Finals you couldn't even know the person into the ground really, but the atmosphere was great and to be quite frank, I looked at a game the other day. They're doing a documentary for the Archillays, and they brought up the eighty two Grand Final and looked to be quite frank The football was tough, was free flowing, the umpires didn't sort of let the players jump on each other and stop the game and just throw it up as they're doing at the moment. And there was more players that were playing their positions, which was good to see. And it was quite enjoyable no matter. That's the first time I've seen that game since I retired or left. It was a bit of an eye out and inform me because the tackling was straight, and you know, I just hope they keep the archives somewhere.

Totally yes, And the game has changed a lot and not a lot of kicking backwards in defense back then, like they're doing so many sports that the defensive way of holding retaining possession as they do now.

Well, I'm not sure the rules. I think they've got to go. Oh my muster has to register to go to night Scull to understand the rules. My memory is, oh sorry, go on, John, Yeah, look, no one, it's a bit sad going to the football. You don't see as much as what you see on television. Yeah, you know, and that's how the game is gone because I run up and down the ground now and you know, it's totally foreign to a lot of oldies, me in particular. And it's the younger generation that are going to grow up with this game and they love it, of course, because that's what they're seeing from day one. And if you can run, well you've got a chance. Yeah. So it's more of a running game than it's a physical game, to be quite frank, very physical because the players don't get much joy. And I'm not sure what we're holding the ball in the back. I'm not sure where that rule went to. I think it's going to heaven that one, because they never pay pay those kicks and they're there all the time, and if they did, I feel that the game would they opened up a little quicker seat of them more jumping on each other and so but still the little the rules have changed, you're just the players. They've got to adapt to it. But I feel for them later on in life because played the sport, you're kind to come out with some some injury that's going to hinder your old age.

And we're learning more about that.

Yeah, it's yeah, it's it's one of those things that you know, they train now extremely hard through the hot weather that we had prior to Christmas, and they really some of these young kids are only nineteen years of age, and you know, it's a bit a bit difficult for them to adjust out of underage football going into you know, AFL. So, yeah, that's why a lot of them have injuries at the present moment, and some of them have been drafted and haven't played the games age yet. Yeah, so I think they're going to take here of some of the players in the early part of pre season more so than later on.

You've had a couple of not so subtle digs at East Fremantle. I dare say it might be because you've played one hundred and thirty two games for South one the Sandover Medal in your very first season as a seventeen year old.

Amazing. Well, this gives me a chance to tell you, tell you how good I was.

I do it. That's what you hear, John, Come on, we'll hand you to trump at.

As a matter of fact, I played one reserves game. I was sixteen years of age and the South Fromanta called me out to play in the Grand Final in nineteen the year before. Yeah fifty four. Yeah, and I had a very good only kicked seam of your goals. But that was the start of my career. Next year, I as a sixteen year old, I started to play so new putting and I was lucky or unlucky for some. But that record my winning at at that age of sixty nine years ago and no one's been able to take that lasting at the.

Moment, phenomenal.

That is quite the thing for the archives.

The things that big families. Yes, yourself, John, we're talking about an era with incredible footballers and if we've been focusing on eighty four, but I think about turning on the telly on a Sunday after Saturday's games and seeing these great personalities John K. Watson, Mel Brown, the Steve Marsh We only lost a month or so ago. Yourself, Gary Harvel would be posting it was a great time in Yeah great, there was a local foot show, but a great time in w a foot He wasn't it.

All these big personalities, Yeah great, And that's what's lacking at the present moment. There's no characters anymore. You're not allowed to be yourself. You know, you can't express yourself on the field otherwise, you know, you get a penalty. Going back in those it was like Boucher, Michael Moss, you know, everyone used to talk about the clash that was coming up. Yeah, Basil Campbell, you know, Morris really you know it was and when you go through that period, like there was four teams who had some great talent and that was issue Man and Cleremont and one district and it was the other one. Yeah, well yeah, yeah, I'm a memory blockout when in nineteen eighty you know, I felt we had our best team and we didn't win, you know, we got knocked out, knocked over by Southree Mantle. And every time I got the south for Mantle, you know, all those ninety and eighty players come up to me and tell me how great they were, how we they beat this, and I think it's a lot of them are still going on their phone so they're playing rebap. Yeah. Well, you know I was fortunate enough to playing seven Grand final and I lost one and that was the Southrey Mantle. And when the boys talked to me, I said, look, I afford to give you one in here.

I'm not a mean man. John.

Well, yes, we could talk.

To you all day, but I'm afraid time does not allow us to. But it has been absolutely a joy to catch up with you and our delve back to nineteen eighty four. Thank you so much for joining us, and thanks for the memories, manch thanks for all the footy memories.

It's great. It's great chat and I wish you well and have a great day.

Thanks you, John, John Todd.

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