A message to you Suma (and The West) by Les Everett

I’m a follower of Fremantle in the AFL and East Perth in the WAFL. 

Unlike others with an interest in the Dockers and the WAFL I have, over the years, been impressed with Australian football coverage in The West Australian newspaper.

Good overall coverage of the AFL, informed columnists and extraordinary coverage of the WAFL. Good photos too – though I haven’t always been impressed by the pics that make it into the paper – can’t believe they’re the best taken by the talented snappers. Oh, and maybe the NicNat (& Fyfe) coverage has been excessive.

Covid hit us all. And it hurt footy in The West.

With lockdowns and restrictions there were no live AFL games in WA for a while, the 2020 WAFL season was shortened and AFLW season abandoned approaching the climax with Fremantle undefeated (that’s another story and I’m not over it).

The ever-flowing river of content ceased. The West needed to get creative and things changed. 

There was good. Articles about football and footballers of the past appeared – one that springs to mind was a story about Claremont great Les McClements by John Townsend. Les was my uncle George Milner’s favourite player. George was in his 40s when Les was at his best. He was in his 80s when the Krakouer brothers came along and suddenly George wasn’t so definite when asked about the best players he’d seen at the Tigers. An example of a lifetime loving the game and appreciating the players.

There was also an amusing and self effacing article by Adrian Barich about South Fremantle’s spectacular Benny Vigona.

But then came coverage of private school footy games. Photographers were sent to games (kept them in work I suppose), coaches were interviewed, players profiled – it all seemed a bit much to this observer. Then followed an obsession among some writers on The West sport pages with telling what school (private only) up-and-coming footballers came from – “… gun Swan Districts and Guildford Glamour* forward…”

It filtered into other sport coverage too. An article about Big Bash final basher Cooper Connolly and veteran AJ Tye didn’t mention the schools they went to but did slip something in about Aquanita* College. 

Then The West lost two of their best writers.

Now Peter Sumich is their star. ‘WA’s most feared analyst!’ Or something like that.

Sumich is well-qualified to comment on WA footy. He was a star player for South Fremantle and West Coast, coached South in the WAFL and has been an assistant coach during successful times at both WA AFL clubs. Perhaps even more useful is his experience in coaching some of the young Eagles and Dockers in the WA18s. He has also been a serious contender for the senior coaching position at West Coast and Fremantle.

His role is to be controversial. Create ‘feedback’ even backlash. His individual AFL player ratings after each game are harsh and “honest”. They are also great value for the newspaper – two pages of content! And not many words. I do, however, have a couple of suggestions. Peter, you don’t have to tell us how many disposals or marks or other statistical stuff each player registered – we can look that up for ourselves. Maybe remind us of something remarkable – like a midfielder’s 91% effective disposals (don’t tell us about a defender’s kicks-to-advantage, most of them might have been to an unmarked player standing behind him). Some of the rating comments have been constructive, especially when referring to flaws (or strengths) in the games of young players he knows well – Brandon Walker and Jye Amiss for example. So, less stats and more observation please.

Of course we love low scores don’t we… I bet a Broadfield 2/20 restaurant review attracted more eyes than a 13/20. So a 2/10 for Jackson or Darling will get attention.

Sumich also writes hard-hitting columns, in the Kane Cornes style. No worries. Except when he gets to downtown Freo, my feeling is that the blokes Sumich has coffee with on the ‘Cappuccino Strip’ might not be as close to the Dockers engine room as he believes. Opinionated? Yes. Passionate? Yes. Experienced? Yes. Loud? Yes. Know more than me about just about everything? Yes. But close to what’s happening at the modern Fremantle Football Club? Don’t think so, same as me.

Oh and one other thing that’s crept into The West – Team of the Week. A nice cheap space filler serving no purpose what-so-ever. Why not a story about a community or country footy team? You have the space.

Anyway, keep up the good work.

* Not the name of real schools.

Photo: •Peter Sumich addressing his South Fremantle players in 2001. Photo by Les Everett.