1983 WAFL season
| 1983 WAFL season | |
|---|---|
| Teams | 8 |
| Premiers |
Swan Districts (5th premiership) |
| Minor premiers |
South Fremantle (9th minor premiership) |
| Matches played | 88 |
| Bernie Naylor Medallist | Warren Ralph (Claremont) |
| Sandover Medallist |
John Ironmonger (East Perth) Bryan Cousins (Perth) |
|
← 1982
1984 →
|
|
The 1983 WAFL season was the 99th season of the West Australian Football League in its various incarnations. The season opened on 31 March and concluded on 17 September with the 1983 WAFL Grand Final contested between Claremont and Swan Districts.
South Fremantle, after a disappointing 1982, and Claremont dominated the competition for most of the year before Swans – after a slow start due to numerous injuries with four losses from eight matches – came home very strongly for a second premiership win in a row. East Perth, with a new coach and required to play fourteen men new to league football, missed the finals for only the second time in eighteen seasons and indeed only the fifth since their dynasty between 1956 and 1961, though a reserves premiership after a drawn preliminary final was partial compensation.
The continuing fall in WAFL attendances despite the growth of Perth’s metropolitan population, loss of many star players to the VFL, and resultant financial difficulties for all clubs, led the government of Brian Burke to undergo a review of the WAFL’s needs, especially club finances and ground leases, but future seasons did not prove the move successful. In an effort to update their images East Fremantle adopted the moniker “Sharks” and West Perth the “Falcons”, and despite considerable scepticism both clubs have retained these nicknames to the present. The blue and whites dominated the pre-season and recovered from a very bad start in the home-and-away rounds to reach fourth position in the last round, but were out of their depths against the top three – who lost only three matches to the remaining five teams all season. The Sharks did win the experimental “Emu Export” lightning carnival held at Subiaco Oval on May 14 and 15, which was regarded by the WAFL as a major flop and never repeated.
For the first time the WAFL allowed six home-and-away matches to be played on Sunday and televised direct to Perth viewers, but attendances at these matches were about half what would have happened otherwise and the WAFL abandoned this for the 1984 season.
East Fremantle take their first title since 1979 in an experimental series regarded as a flop, with the crowd in dry weather less than half that observed in damp conditions the preceding day.
Rain and gloom late in the match seem to produce a lapse among the Perth players, who miss a rare win in a match where for three quarters East Fremantle were lucky to stay in striking distance.
Western Australia win the title of Australian football champions and leave Victoria winless for the first time via a stirring comeback win led by seven-goal Hawthorn star Buckenara.
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