[1] Tetley wasted no time establishing himself, for he was named West Perth’s best first-year player in 1931 and a key member of their drought-breaking premiership team the following season, when he also won his only Breckler Medal for the club’s fairest-and-best.
His reputation as a hard and strong defender grew over the years, and Tetley was a crucial factor in holding East Fremantle and Subiaco to extremely modest scores in the 1934 and 1935 Grand Finals, which produced as of 2014 the Cardinals’ only back-to-back premierships.
However, Tetley’s two years in charge of West Perth were an unmitigated disaster, with the Cardinals winning a total of four matches and finishing a clear last both seasons – in the process suffering the equal-worst losing streak in WANFL history.
Tetley continued to play in 1940 under future politician Ross Hutchinson, but like his contemporary Tyson contemplated retirement in 1941 before staying on and helping a Cardinal team rebuilt with young players like Stan Heal, Bill Kingsbury and “Spike” Pola to a surprise premiership win over East Fremantle.
With the WANFL competition restricted to players under eighteen from 1942 to 1944, Tetley was forced into retirement and, unlike Tyson and a number of other pre-war stars, did not make any comeback after the war.