With the exception of the initial elimination round, all matches were played at VFL Park on Tuesday nights.
The WAFL's Swan Districts Football Club generated controversy when it sent a team of reserves and colts players to contest its quarter-final against Richmond in protest at the rescheduling of the match.
[19] More generally, Swan Districts coach John Todd was already a vocal critic of the dominance of Victorian influence in the administration of the game at a national level, and he was unhappy at seeing his club treated in a way in which he did not believe a Victorian club would have been treated.
[22] Unsurprisingly, the inexperienced team was completely uncompetitive against Richmond—which was at that time on top of the VFL ladder—and lost the match by 186 points.
The following month, the AFC banned Swan Districts from competing in the Escort Championships until 1985 as punishment for the controversy.