Centreman Gordon Maffina, nicknamed Sonny, arrived at Claremont from Goldfields National Football League club Boulder City.
He made an immediate impact at Claremont with a Sandover Medal win in 1949 as well as being awarded his club's Best and fairest.
[1][2][3][4] He represented Western Australia at the 1950 Brisbane Carnival where he was a Simpson Medalilst and appeared in a total of eight interstates matches for his state.
Appointed captain-coach of Claremont in 1952 after captaining them the previous year, Maffina remained in the role until the end of the 1953 season.
He continued on as a player, returning briefly as captain-coach in 1957, but suffered from niggling injuries towards the end of his career and retired in 1958.