WA connection part of Brisbane win

Spirit of Goomfa resonates at Gabba

It is fitting that Brisbane have equalled West Coast’s record of four AFL premierships.

The two new clubs entered the VFL in 1987 – and for the sake of argument let’s say that the original Brisbane Bears are effectively the same entity as the current Lions – which used their punitive entry and clearance fees to prop up that decaying state league.

Converting a fragile competition on the verge of collapse into a billion-dollar behemoth a third of a century later has been one of Australia’s greatest sporting success stories.

Yet if the ambitious western and northern states had matched South Australia, which delayed its AFL entry for several years in the astute and accurate expectation of a better deal, Victorian football might have been rationalised with the departure of several more moribund clubs other than the bankrupt Fitzroy.

Instead, WA football has propped up the Vics ever since with the new franchises helping underwrite the mendicant clubs that inundate Melbourne.

Many West Australians would have been delighted when the Lions ended their 21-year drought, not only because of their shared history but the many links between this state and that organisation.

The most obvious ones are in the history of Brisbane’s senior officials, including their current and previous chairmen, both West Australians who moved to Brisbane for work opportunities.

The measured Andrew Wellington, a Geraldton product and former Subiaco colts player, has been instrumental in guiding Brisbane to their position of strength.

Chris Fagan had just been appointed as coach when Wellington took over but the pair have developed considerable synergy with their emphasis on authenticity, character, patience, hard work and sharp decision-making as the building blocks for success.

Wellington succeeded Bob Sharpless, who grew up in Scarborough, went to Hale School and has since made a fortune in property development, mostly from the Springfield precinct in south Brisbane which the Lions now call home.

And CEO Greg Swann, a precocious and personable administrator, spent a season playing at Perth before making his mark as a football change agent.

Sharpless is married to Belinda Way, the daughter of prominent WA surgeon Neville Way who was one of WA legend Jack Sheedy’s best mates.

Sheedy and Way forged an unshakeable bond by playing VFL football during their World War II navy service before the latter starred in the SANFL while he was studying medicine at university in Adelaide.

There are few outstanding WA footballers with a lesser profile than Way but he did contribute strongly to two Norwood premierships, came second in the Magarey Medal and once kicked seven goals in a historic state win over Victoria.

And it is through Sheedy that WA had another close link to the Lions and the person who I thought of immediately the final siren went on Saturday.

Geoff Forsaith was the most passionate Brisbane supporter I have ever met.

Geoff “Goomfa” Forsaith at the Gabba.

Goomfa, as he was known universally in football, cricket and business circles from his initials GMF, died four years ago just as Brisbane were starting to emerge as a genuine contender.

We had a long connection through University Cricket Club where he played for 20 seasons immediately after the war, four of them as an A grade premiership opening bowler, but had a far greater impact as a social organiser who believed to his very core that successful teams were founded on the hours spent together off the field as much as those on it.

He once marched into the WA changerooms during a Sheffield Shield match at the Gabba to demand to see a young player named Josh Mangan. The bemused Mangan was soon introduced and Goomfa explained that he knew he played for UCC and simply wanted to check the cut of his gib. Mangan was scrutinised closely but eventually passed muster.

That vivacity made Goomfa a highly popular Australian team manager during World Series Cricket.

His one first-class match for WA got him into the record books but it was his capacity to help players gel after hours that ensured his number was in every cricket contact book in the country.

His parties at home in North Street, Swanbourne remain legendary.

Goomfa moved to Brisbane for business and soon converted his life-long passion for East Perth into a near obsession for the Lions.

 He lived near the Gabba and rarely missed a minute of training, meaning he could provide Gentleman Jack with extensive daily reports and me with weekly updates on which Lion appeared set to launch a Brownlow Medal-winning career.

 He was right about the midfield triumvirate of Michael Voss, Simon Black and Jason Akermanis, and predicted, correctly, that Lachie Neale could match them.

Goomfa’s special interest was related to his mate Sheedy’s history at East Perth and East Fremantle where he played in multiple premierships and honed his reputation as the most skilfully brutal, or perhaps brutally skilful, player of his era.

Goomfa would track players drafted to Brisbane from either club and seek them out at the Gabba to present them with a dog-eared copy of Sheedy’s book My Football Life.

The expectation was that the player would be inspired by the lively book before returning it to Goomfa to be passed on to the next draftee.

There were about a dozen recipients over the years, including Black, but the tradition died when one of the players returned to Perth taking the book with him.

I received strict instructions from Goomfa to track down the miscreant and retrieve the book, but it was all to no avail.

The book was lost in transit and Goomfa found it increasingly difficult to sell the merits of a mid-20th century star to 21st century teenagers.

Yet his passion for Brisbane never waned and there would have been no prouder supporter last Saturday as his Lions roared home.

The fact that his son Rob, a prominent sports journalist, reported on the grand final after recently returning to AAP would have been the only thing to bring him greater joy.