1980 WAFL Grand Final
| 1980 WAFL Grand Final | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
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| Date | 27 September 1980 | ||||
| Stadium | Subiaco Oval | ||||
| Attendance | 46,208 | ||||
| Accolades | |||||
| Simpson Medal | Maurice Rioli (South Fremantle) | ||||
The 1980 WAFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the South Fremantle Football Club and the Swan Districts Football Club, on 27 September 1980 at Subiaco Oval, to determine the premier team of the West Australian Football League (WAFL) for the 1980 season. South Fremantle won the game by 58 points, 23.18 (156) to 15.8 (98), with Maurice Rioli of South Fremantle winning the Simpson Medal as best on ground.
Swan Districts were the dominant team in the first half of the season, winning 13 games straight. Their winning run ended in Round 14 when they lost to South Fremantle at their home ground, Bassendean Oval by 19 points. They would only lose two more home and away season games for the year, to East Perth in round 16 and to South Fremantle in the final round.
South Fremantle's season started with player turmoil, with Collingwood's ruckman Derek Shaw getting a Supreme Court injunction to enable him to play for South Fremantle without a clearance. However, South's centre half-back Joe McKay failed in his Supreme Court bid to be cleared to East Perth.Stephen Michael was also enticed to move to Geelong but rejected their offer. After a loss to East Perth in round 6, coach Mal Brown resigned due to his perception that his personality was affecting the umpiring and the "unreceptive attitude of the players to my advice". He withdrew his resignation the following week. South would lose that week to Swan Districts, but would then only lose one more game for the year, winning 12 in a row to finish the regular season in second place, one game behind Swans.
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