Western Suburbs DRLFC First Grade – 1925
L to R: J Brien, G Stettler E Doig, G Daisley, E Courtney, F Matterson, F McCauley, N Matterson, J Drew, W Carpenter, F Lane, C Bellamy, E Stapleton
In 1925, the competition reverted to a sixteen-round format with a knockout City Cup competition at the end of the regular season. Wests did not appoint a Coach in 1925, and surprisingly there were only two players that made their First-Grade debut. These were Cecil “Blue” Gilbert and Gordon Daisley, both Wests juniors. Gordon Daisley took over the fullback position after Frank McMillan went to Balmain for the season. Wests were now starting to see the results from the flow of Wests juniors into the Grade playing ranks.
The First-Grade team only used sixteen players throughout the regular season, so the make-up of the team was quite stable. Of the sixteen players, only Bob Lindfield had not played with a Wests junior team. Moreover, the vast majority of players were young with only a few seasons of Grade football behind them. Wests won six and lost five of the eleven competition games and finished second on the competition ladder behind an undefeated South Sydney. South Sydney were so far ahead of the rest by round thirteen, that the NSWRL curtailed the competition and proceeded to the City Cup knock out competition which South Sydney also won.
Wests Juniors continued to provide the Club with some great young talent but, until 1925, had not wrested a President’s Cup pennant from one of the inner-City clubs. But there was an air of confidence that Wests’ time had come in 1925. An article written by W. F. Corbett in The Sun in June 1925 expressed that sentiment well. It noted; “Western Suburbs is a quiet district, but the quietest districts are often the most dangerous when it comes to a test. The Western Suburbs Juniors are quietly figuring that they are going to spring several surprises in the President’s Cup competition. They are perfectly determined about it.”
Western Suburbs won the President’s Cup competition in 1925, beating a strong Eastern Suburbs team in the final.
