The Redlegs stood third with two games remaining but lost a decisive match to Subiaco, who played open-age finals for the first time in a decade, in spite of being very weak in attack and the failure of their protest against Townsend.
In front of the biggest recorded home-and-away attendance in WANFL history to that point[27] – though soon to be broken[28] – East Fremantle confirm that they will be even more potent than in 1945 with a superb display against their port rivals.
A number of spectators hooted at field umpire Ryan after East Fremantle win its eighteenth consecutive WANFL victory, and in the crush a woman was knocked hard and collapsed, having to be driven by ambulance to Perth Hospital.
The rainiest spell in the recorded climatic history of Perth[64][65] produces extremely heavy grounds which results in: Despite the return of “Scranno” Jenkins after a serious knee injury, South Fremantle fall to sixth as Fred Williams seals a close match after a bad kick-in.
An unexpected move of skipper Fred Williams to full-forward results in an upset win for the Maroons, who kick a surprising 9.0 (54) with the wind in the first quarter and hold off the red and whites in the last.
[101] Despite not being happy with the rule interpretations of local umpire Ryan, Collingwood manage to keep ahead of the unbeaten WANFL premiers all game – yet are still impressed by the quality of Old Easts’ play.