(Indeed, the 1991 introduction of the Adelaide Crows to the VFL/AFL meant that the SANFL was experiencing a similar decline to the WAFL.). 1899 was also the last time Rovers would take part. South Fremantle's Toby McQuilkin had a standout season too to earn his spot in the back six while Eardley and Claremont's Lachlan Martinis are the attacking half-back flankers who were automatic inclusions into the Team of the Year. West Perth rank second with 20 premierships, the most recent in 2022. Fremantle Community Bank Oval Their goal was denied by just two points in a grand final marred by very wet conditions. ESP | After 1972 the competition was more evenly matched with every team winning a grand final over the next 10 years. On Wednesday 12 October 1927, the WAFL was renamed the Western Australian National Football League (WANFL) the "national" concept in the name being adopted by the SANFL, TANFL and other leagues when the Australian Football Council became the Australian National Football Council earlier in the year.[29]. Previous Teams of the Year: 6 (2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021). Swan Districts entered the league in 1934. Roger Hayden is a 2005 premiership player at South Fremantle and played 59 matches all up with the Bulldogs between 2000 and 2009. He was the club's leading goalkicker in 1980 (97 goals - also winning the WAFL's Bernie Naylor Medal), and also 1981 (119 goals - a club record). His body might not have always allowed him to have quite the same influence on a regular basis in 2022, but that's marking him mighty hard because he still was among the elite WAFL players averaging 25.6 touches a game and kicking 20 goals while splitting his time from playing on the ball, on the wing and then up forward as another goalkicking option for the Grand Final bound Tigers. The Australian Football Hall of Fame was established in 1996. In 1934 he kicked 152 goals for the season . This article is about the Australian rules football club. A special committee spent many months selecting those 35 individuals from an initial list of 110 following a broad . [8] Continuing financial losses reached a peak in 1997. They were the inaugural premiers of the competition, defeating Swan Districts in the grand final. The match took place at Marvel Stadium and was attended by 51,052 people. Coach: Leon Cameron. East Fremantle was a foundation member of the WAFL Women's competition in 2019. It would have been based at Northam's Jubilee Oval. With COVID having its impact across the early rounds of the competition for 2022 . Recent AFL players who originated from the Perth Football Club include Lance Franklin, Chance Bateman, Troy Cook, Leon Davis, Darren Glass, Steven Armstrong, Scott Stevens, Damon White, Brennan Stack, Mark Coughlan, Ryan Hargrave, Michael Johnson, Sharrod Wellingham, Chris Mayne and David Myers. Previous Teams of the Year: 6 (2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021). GitHub export from English Wikipedia. The move to regionalisation which saw Unions take on the old Fremantle's name and colours made it difficult for this club that didn't represent a particular area to attract players. East Fremantle are the most successful club in WAFL history, winning 29 premierships since their entry into the competition in 1898. VS. By the end of the 20 rounds this season, 152 individual players all earned a spot in the Team of the Week with Peel Thunder having the most players to earn a spot at least once. The origins of the West Perth Football Club go back to 1885 when the Victorians Football Club was formed and competed in the first season of the West Australian Football Association (now the WAFL). [citation needed]. The team includes many names that have become synonymous with East Fremantle. The team's home ground is East Fremantle Oval. East Fremantle's Cam Eardley was the only player to earn a spot nine times with Claremont's Jye Bolton, Sandover Medallist Blaine Boekhorst, East Perth's Angus Schumacher and South Fremantle's Toby McQuilkin named to Teams of the Week eight times. Previous Teams of the Year: 5 (2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021). In the spirit of AR's excellent threads on WAFL/VFL best teams, this has just popped up on TheWest online, . Previous Teams of the Year: 1 (2016). Peel actually scored 10.10 (70) for the match, but their score was deleted as a penalty for playing a player with an incorrect clearance. ROUND 2 of the 2022 WAFL season saw a whole host of standout performances from some familiar faces but also plenty of fresh faces in a fascinating weekend of action across the board. Put together a standout season for the Tigers averaging 27.7 possessions a game including picking up 30 or more touches on eight occasions. Was once again a cornerstone of the midfield for the black-and-whites and put together a tremendously consistent season averaging 24.1 possessions a game while being dangerous going forward too and kicking 11 goals. FULL-BACK MATTHEW JUPP (East Fremantle) The club played its early football in the Perth First Rate Junior Competition before replacing Rovers mid-way during the 1899 WAFA season after Rovers was unable to continue. 'Research Helps WAFL Plan for the Future' in. . HALF-BACK FLANK CAM EARDLEY (East Fremantle) [5] In particular Tom Wilson and David (Dolly) Christy from the Imperials along with Sam Thomson were instrumental in the foundation East Fremantle Football club, Wilson as captain and Christy as Vice Captain would play in East Fremantle's first game at the WACA on 11 May 1898. Albert Thurgood (Essendon) 11/1/1874-8/5/1927 Inducted: 1996 A legend of the game before the VFL was formed, he showed his all-round greatness . EMERGENCY LLOYD MEEK (Peel Thunder) In 1921, the WAFL followed the idea of the SANFL's Magarey Medal and introduced the Sandover Medal, for the fairest and best player over a season, as voted by the field umpires. East Fremantle's success has thus far eclipsed that of South Fremantle, who (as of 2021[update]) have won 14 WAFL premierships. The Subiaco Football Club was formed in 1896 and joined the West Australian Football Association (now the WAFL) in 1901. Was clearly the best season of his 57-game career. As the 2023 WAFL season creeps closer, the Mandurah Coastal Times caught up with Peel Thunder league coach Geoff Valentine to see how the team has been performing during the pre-season period. At the end of the 1980 season East Perth put in an application to join the VFL. Australia have been well placed to reach the decider for most . One of the best afield with 20 possessions. He has played 44 reserves games along the way and only managed 18 league appearances in those first three seasons, but has consolidated himself the last three years and stepped up even further in 2022. But in 1977, when the first proper State of Origin match was played, it saw Western Australia inflict its biggest defeat on a Victorian team. Only one player earned selection 10 times throughout the season and that was Swan Districts wingman and vice-captain Jesse Turner. Of the 418 available spots in the Teams of the Week across the 20 rounds, it was East Fremantle's players who earned selection the most with their 16 players earning a spot on 60 occasions. It was quite the star-studded team and between the final 25 . HALF-BACK: Cam Eardley (EF), Kasey Nicholas (P), Lachlan Martinis (C) Foodbank WA - Purple Plates for Christmas. In the following four years Perth remained a force most notably in nearly keeping East Perth goalless on a rain-drenched WACA in early 1956[5] but could never overcome the Royals or East Fremantle in the finals. The eight competing sides at this point still remain today and are often referred to as the "traditional eight clubs" as opposed to Peel who would join much later on. [1] The club enjoyed success in the latter part of the 1900s, winning its first premiership in controversial circumstances in 1907: the club originally lost the grand final against East Fremantle by five points, but this was amended to a one-point victory after Perth successfully protested that the free kick from which one of East Fremantle's goals was scored was awarded after the half time bell. Transcription. EMERGENCY SHANE NELSON (West Perth) Another locally based AFL team, the Fremantle Football Club were formed in 1994, and this cemented the position of WAFL as a second-class competition. [11], Previously in January 2015, the WAFL announced a deal struck with the Seven Network, where under the arrangement, Seven agreed to a three-year deal involving the telecast of 18 home and away matches as well as all Finals matches, broadcast throughout Western Australia. [citation needed], In 1886 a new club Fremantle-based club Unions joined. That included a career-best 47 possessions in Round 10 while having 40 on another two occasions and over 30 another nine occasions. Jun 2014 - Apr 20161 year 11 months. Working as a Software Developer in Private Cloud Team of Druva inSync. Ended up averaging 27.8 possessions across his 16 matches and his combination of physicality, ball winning and skill made him a standout across the season. Rover: Bob Skilton (South Melbourne . His role did change at times and he spent some time setting up play off half-back, but wherever he was playing he was as effective and consistent as ever. Team Store; Membership; Events & Functions. A shortlist of players was . Unlike many other sporting competitions, the WAFL didn't go into recess during World War I, although two teams North Fremantle and Midland Junction were "casualties" of the war, competing for the last time in 1915 and 1917 respectively. Like most clubs, Perth lost a number of players due to the First and Second World Wars, with many players enlisted in the Australian Defence Force. In each case Perth was led by Atwell, with Cable collecting three Simpson Medals for brilliant best-on-ground roving performances. The South Melbourne Soccer Club Team of the Century was an event on February 12th 2002 - held at the Palladium at Crown Casino - at which South Melbourne's greatest ever side was announced. EMERGENCIES: Lloyd Meek (PT), Stefan Giro (S), Shane Nelson (WP). George had the knack of being able to take the ball out of the . After winning a fourth flag in 1924, Subiaco struggled through a lengthy lean period, going . Radio stations which cover the competition include ABC Radio Perth, ABC Grandstand Digital, 91.3 SportFM, 107.3 HFM and KIX Country Digital. Then in 1968 it was Perth, again over East Perth, by 24 points. Scott Jones was also named to the Team of the Week three times. His third season with East Perth in the WAFL was an outstanding one where he confirmed himself as one of the best and most versatile midfielders in the competition. In 2016 the Total Player Payments cap is $294,000 for the non-AFL aligned clubs, while the cap for East Perth and Peel Thunder is $191,100. Round 1 Jake Florenca (South Fremantle) At this time crowds were as big as they ever were. [7] During Gullans time at East Fremantle he became regarded as one of the best players to ever play the game.[8]. They were given one concession, which was to draft champion Hawthorn player Ben Allen, who . As part of the celebrations, The Australian Football Hall of Fame was established to help recognise the contributions made to the sport of Australian rules football by players, umpires, media personalities, coaches and administrators.It was initially established with 136 inductees. The East Fremantle Football Club, nicknamed the Sharks, is an Australian rules football club playing in the West Australian Football League (WAFL) and WAFL Women's (WAFLW). HALF-FORWARD: Bailey Rogers (C), Tyler Keitel (WP), Sam Fisher (SD) Lague, Steve; 'Members Vote to Keep Perth at Lathlain'; Reid, Russell; 'Irving Sets Up Subiaco Success'; in, Full Points Footy History of Perth Football Club, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Perth_Football_Club&oldid=1114018000, Australian rules football clubs in Western Australia, Australian rules football clubs established in 1899, Short description is different from Wikidata, All Wikipedia articles written in Australian English, Australian football articles with insufficient color contrast, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, 1925, 1949, 1955, 1957, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1988, 1996, 2021, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1972, 1999, 1904, 1908, 1909, 1913, 1915, 1949, 1950, 1970, 1974, 1978, 1900, 1912, 1921, 1922, 1923, 1935, 1942, 1981, 1983, 1984, 1993, 1994, 2000, 2007, 2010, 2014, 2015, 2017, This page was last edited on 4 October 2022, at 10:56. . CENTRE HALF-BACK KASEY NICHOLAS (Perth) Swan Districts most recent wooden spoon was in 2019, while Subiaco had their most recent in 1996. It was a massive effort from the second we had to shift from Optus. Get everything you need, from team lists, fixtures, statistics and a profile on every single player in the competition in our 2023 AFL Season Guide. East Fremantle has a fierce rivalry with its Port cousin, South Fremantle, and the Foundation Day Derby between the two sides is a much anticipated highlight of the local football calendar. Carried the load through the middle for the Bulldogs and ended up leading the league with average hit outs of 42.3 for the season. The former Carlton AFL big-bodied midfielder has found a home for himself with the Royals and while 2022 didnt end up in the finals appearance they were hoping, he couldnt have possibly done more. 12 separate Perth players have won the Sandover Medal for best and fairest player in the WAFL including two players, Merv McIntosh and Barry Cable, who have won the medal three times. His passion and intensity was infectious, his ferocity was intimidating and his celebrations were unforgettable as he put together a season of kicking 39 goals including six in Round 3 along with two hauls of five, and kicking four another couple of times. Fri, 3 March 2023 8:38AM. It wasnt all smooth sailing throughout the season and he did miss six matches through various factors, but he started and finished the season on fire. Hazard & Incident Reporting Form | YouTube Encyclopedic. Against a backdrop in which several WAFL clubs were looking to enter the VFL or in which a struggling Victorian club may be relocated to Perth, the WAFL decided to hastily form a new club to enter the VFL such that they could retain control of a West Australian presence in the situation. They then upset South by twelve points and came back on a windy day to defeat East Fremantle by two points in the 1955 WANFL Grand Final for their first premiership in forty-eight years. Round 8 Matthew Jupp (East Fremantle) Previous Teams of the Year: 7 (2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021), PLAYERS OF THE ROUND (Fremantle, Rovers. Round 10 Aaron Black (West Perth) Patrons at the WAFL pay at the gates. Although payments are made to players, it is generally considered to be a semi-professional competition. Because of World War II, the league only ran an "under age" competition between 1942 and 1944. The league is run adjacent to the WAFL premiership.[34]. Had an especially strong back end of the 2022 season and ended up kicking 36 goals and now will be looking to play a key role in his first premiership for West Perth on Saturday. Over his entire 89-game WAFL career now after serving a significant reserves apprenticeship, he has consolidated himself as a no-nonsense key defender who might not grab the spotlight like his teammates, but at the same time is very rarely beaten and is outstanding at taking on the league's best forwards. RUCK: Hamish Free (SF), Angus Schumacher (EP), Blaine Boekhorst (EF) In response, the government wanted a full-scale investigation into the likely future financial demands of football. 37.17 v East Fremantle 9.7 (13 June 1981) Highest Goal Tally in a Season. looking like as many as 3 or even 4 players are done for the tour , Swepson might be coming back In 1987, a Perth-based club the West Coast Eagles joined an expanded Victorian Football League. This chronology below is not a definitive outline of . FORWARD POCKET HAIDEN SCHLOITHE (South Fremantle) EACH weekend during the WAFL season there was a Team of the Week named and now those players who stood out on a consistent basis have been rewarded with selection in the WAFL Team of the Year for 2021. Contribute to chinapedia/wikipedia.en development by creating an account on GitHub. The club song of the Perth Football Club is sung to the tune of the Anthem of the United States Marine Corps, the same tune is used by the Adelaide Crows. Recent arrivals East Fremantle became the dominant force in the league winning 11 premierships from 1900 to 1918. [10], In 2022, the WAFL signed a deal that will see 26 games including all finals matches broadcast on the Seven Network, with the remaining 72 matches to be available for streaming on the AFL's official app and AFL On Demand service. On 12 March 2004, a West Australian Football Hall of Fame was formed when 81 former players, coaches, umpires, administrators and media representatives were inducted. All clubs competed, with the exception of Swan Districts who could not form a team in 1942, although they were back in 1943. Fri Apr 07 14:10. Free just got the nod in the Team of the Year while Meek filled up an emergency spot. Matera. In 1952, the Avon Valley Football Association applied to enter a team in the WANFL, following concerns about its players being poached by Perth-based teams. The Perth Football Club, nicknamed the Demons, is an Australian rules football club based in Lathlain, Western Australia, currently playing in the West Australian Football League (WAFL). Round 19 Milan Murdock (East Fremantle) Previous Teams of the Year: 1 (2020). He was coming off the year of his life in 2021 where he won a Sandover Medal and did so while earning the reputation as the most effective one-on-one player in the competition. The fiery Rabada took 6-50 on Thursday as South Africa bowled out the tourists for 159 after the West Indies had been set a target of 247 to win. There were plenty of other midfielders across the competition unlucky to miss out too including Milan Murdock (East Fremantle, five), Aidan Clarke (Swan Districts, five), Mitch Crowden (Peel, four), Connor Blakely (Peel, four), Tom Blechynden (South Fremantle, four), Jake Florenca (South Fremantle, four), Tobe Watson (Swan Districts, four) and Aaron Black (West Perth, four). In 2007 the East Fremantle and South Fremantle football clubs came together to select the Fremantle Team of Legends. Wed, November 30, 2022 - 11:04 AM. To top it off, he played State football for the first time in 2022, reached his 150-game milestone and now just needs a premiership to finish off with. [6], Tragedy would stike the East Fremantle football club in just 6th year with the death of prominent player James Gullan from accidental poisoning the day after their game against South Fremantle. Just, wow. However, in those 13 games he did play before getting hurt, he was simply brilliant for the Sharks through the middle with his dynamic ability to break out of congestion, and drive the ball long was game changing. Round 6 Blair Bell (Peel Thunder) Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Adelaide . He has never looked back since and was his team's Player of the Finals in his debut season and then took an even greater leap forward throughout 2022. Has shown he's good enough to be a regular AFL ruckman, but should the Thunder be lucky enough to have him at all in 2023, he could dominate further. They folded and were immediately replaced by Perth Football Club who were promoted from the Perth First Rate Association. To all the die hards, new fans, clubs & players, THANK YOU! Views: 1 182. His ability to win contested possession and clearances, and to also work well out in space to use his lethal right boot make him quite the weapon for West Perth. They approached the state government for financial aid, and were rewarded with a grant of $1.9million. Times named in 2022: 6 Attendances have recovered slightly and in 2004, the league posted a total attendance of 202,797. Private John Alexander Robertson 'Hooky' DOIG (44th Battn). South Fremantle Football Club is an Australian rules football club based in Fremantle, Western Australia.The club plays in the Western Australian Football League (WAFL) and the WAFL Women's (WAFLW), commonly going by the nickname the Bulldogs.Since its founding, the club has won 14 WAFL premierships, the most recent of them in 2020.. However, despite not being perfectly consistent during the home-and-away round, the Demons under new captain Colin Lofts clicked when it counted, taking out the 1976 Grand Final by 23 points, again at the expense of East Perth. Their team featured Graham Farmer who would leave at the end of the '61 season and carve out a reputation in the VFL as one of the game's greatest ever players. Travis Head's 49 not out against India has helped Australia seal their place in the WTC decider. There were again unlucky forwards to miss out including Ryan Borchet (Subiaco, five), Ben Sokol (Subiaco, four), Mason Shaw (South Fremantle, three), Alex Manuel (Claremont, three) and Luke English (East Fremantle, three). Digging deeper into the Team of the Year and down back, South Fremantle's Noah Strom, East Fremantle captain Matthew Jupp and Perth's Kasey Nicholas were the standout key defenders to earn spots in the back-line. Fremantle thus was required to start from scratch, with no relationship to the two dominant WAFL teams. Representing the south-east area of the Perth metropolitan region, the club currently trains and plays its home games at Lathlain Park (currently known, for sponsorship reasons, as Mineral Resources Park . The contest was played intermittently between 1903 and 1924 and the winning team accorded the title Champions of Western Australia.[28]. 2 986. Friday, April 29, 2022 - 9:00 AM by Chris Pike. WAFL Team of the Year 2021 Wednesday, September 15, 2021 - 8:43 PM - by Chris Pike. The club initially struggled, winning only 11 games in their first seven seasons, but improved to win their first premiership in 1912 and added two more in the next three seasons. He now retires a 200-game player with South Fremantle and it wouldnt surprise to see him win a fifth fairest and best award and this is his seventh Team of the Year selection. Four players were snared from WAFL ranks in Monday's AFL mid-season draft, with Josh Deluca heading the pack after being selected by Carlton with pick one. Coincidentally, the press at the time reported there was a growing dissatisfaction with rugby as a spectacle. Half forwards: Alex Jesaulenko, (Carlton, St Kilda) Royce Hart (Richmond) Dick Reynolds (Essendon) Forwards: Leigh Matthews (Hawthorn) John Coleman (Essendon) Haydn Bunton (Fitzroy) Followers: Graham Farmer (Geelong) Ron Barassi (Melbourne, Carlton) . In 1986 the decision had been made that the WAFL needed to become involved in helping the VFL, where several clubs were also struggling financially, to become national. He came from nowhere virtually to earn a league debut in the back end of the 2021 season for South Fremantle. Despite its failures at senior level up to 1946, Perth reached the preliminary final of the 1944 underage competition, and aided by inequitable metropolitan zoning,[4][a] this group of young players allowed the club to become finals regulars along with West Perth, South Fremantle and East Fremantle from 1947 to 1951. This led to the formation of the West Australian Football Commission who functioned independently of the WAFL. In 1997 the East Fremantle Football Club named its Team of the Century, to coincide with the club centenary celebrations. Claremont's Ryan Lim and Swan Districts' Jesse Turner were the standout wingmen of the season while Jye Bolton, Angus Schumacher and Blaine Boekhorst claimed the three on-ball positions. [4], With professionalism of teams in the goldfields attracting players away from Perth saw the Imperials collapse after 3 years in 1897, many of the players from that team would become part of the East Fremantle Football Club in 1898. Join our WA Footy family to receive all the latest news and results Expanded free-to-air television coverage of the WAFL will . WING RYAN LIM (Claremont) Had a standout season as the spearhead of the East Fremantle and he had to stand up given most of the forwards he was expecting to play alongside, Hugh Dixon, Brynn Teakle, Luke Strnadica, Dillon O'Reilly and Cody Leggett, all either went to AFL clubs or got injured. And by 1906 there were eight teams: West Perth, East Perth, East Fremantle, South Fremantle, North Fremantle, Subiaco, Perth and Midland Junction. The name again reverted to WAFL in 2001 although retained the logo. inSync is implemented as - inSync Client and inSync . In 1885 one of the leading rugby clubs, Fremantle, decided to change to Australian Rules. These migrants came from a climate where Australian Rules football was more popular and included a large number of footballers including some celebrated players. During the 1980s and 1990s, the club also had severe financial problems, so bad that in 1990 after losing revenue from gate pooling and the WAFC being forced to pay the West Coast Eagles' licence fee as its holder, the Demons had to raise $100,000 to avoid folding at the close of the season. Also in 1997, the WAFL was renamed Westar Rules, in an attempt to revamp the league's image. There is currently no naming rights partner of the WAFL, so the competition is officially known as the "WAFL Premiership". Courageous defender, Mal Day, won the Simpson Medal for an outstanding game. Times named in 2022: 7 Victory came despite solitary resistance from Jermaine Blackwood, who scored 79 of his team's runs in a one-man effort to give the Windies a chance. Now you can cast all elite state league matches from your . He could well be South Fremantle's most decorated player this century and despite retiring following the elimination final loss to Peel Thunder, he remained right at the peak of his powers by the end of the 2022 season. Has had a remarkable first 33 games of his WAFL career. In 1887 Fremantle left the WAFA and the West Australian Football Club joined but they would only play two seasons before they disappeared. The dominating sides of the late 1960s and early 1970s were the three Perth teams. The East Fremantle Football Club team song is sung to the tune of "Notre Dame Victory March". West Perth was next with 58, Claremont 54, South Fremantle 54, Swan Districts 49, Peel 40, Subiaco 40, East Perth 34, Perth 20 and West Coast nine. South Fremantle were without dispute one of the strongest teams in Australia during much of the period 1947 to 1954, not only winning 6 premierships but also defeating many touring sides from Victoria and South Australia. Times named in 2022: 8 By 1983 the management of the WAFL itself acknowledged that economic crisis loomed. East Perth's inaugural season in the WAFLW will be historic for the new eight team competition and the club's fi. [6] There were unsuccessful plans by the WAFL to relocate the Demons to the Perth Hills to capture expanding outer suburbs as West Perth did by moving to Joondalup,[7] but in spite of the trouble many players had travelling to Lathlain, the Perth board voted by 115 to 83 to remain there on 11 July 1995. Five have been elevated to Legend status: George Doig (2004), John Todd (2004), William "Nipper" Truscott (2004), Steve Marsh (2005) and Jack Sheedy (2005). Round 12 Blaine Boekhorst (East Fremantle) He had to work tremendously hard to earn a regular league spot and had to change clubs to do so after playing 78 reserves games with Claremont, but he's now put together a career made up of 101 games and 169 goals. IC: Tom Scully, Adam Treloar, Nathan Wilson, Jacob Hopper. The league is currently affiliated with the two Western Australia-based AFL clubs. Oct 2. He finished the season on fire with all seven of his Team of the Week selections coming in the last eight rounds of the season and he very nearly claimed a second Sandover Medal. . Whilst 2022 didnt pan out that way with a rare non-finals season for the Lions, he didnt disappoint as a recruit fresh out of the AFL system at Fremantle. Anthony Alexander Forrest, who played two games for the club in 1900, was killed in the Second Boer War in 1901.[3]. He went on to average 28.4 possessions a game and kicked 14 goals to be named to Teams of the Week in eight of the 14 matches he played. 1999 Richmond Team of the Century segment . Richmond Football Club Team of the Century interviews from Ch9 Footy Show. The WAFL is a semi-professional competition and has a salary cap in place. the VFL representative team) had by far the best record in interstate games for a long time. The Goldfields competition (later known as the Goldfields Football League) was hence comparable in status and standard to the Perth competition for many years.