1968 SEASON
Western Suburbs First Grade 1968
Back Row: Ken Stonestreet, Dave Walkaden, John Armstrong, Tony Packham, John Elford, Barry Bryant
Middle Row: Dick Pickett, Barry Glasgow, Roy Ferguson, Rod Smith, John Maxwell, John Walsh, Bruce Beer
Front Row: John Mowbray, Rob McGuinness, Noel Kelly (Captain), Dave Barsley, John Hayes
1968 saw some significant losses of playing personnel, notably Denis Pittard to South Sydney and Pat Thomas to Canterbury and the retirement of Peter Dimond and Don Parish. Debuts by Mick Alchin, Peter Flanders, Tim Murphy and Steve Winter offsetted some of those losses. Wests won twelve out 22 matches but didn’t make the semi-finals. In fact, the only team to make the semi-finals was the Third Grade.
Western Suburbs DRLFC Reserve Grade 1968
Back: John Hayes, John Maxwell, Frank Tagg, John Armstrong, Rod Smith, Ken Walker, Doug Walkaden, Jack Williams (Official)
Middle: Doug Lucas (Official), Peter Flanders, Ralph Grimston (Official), John McGrath, Les Hobbs, John Kearns, Bill Owens (Coach), Roy Wilson (Official)
Front: Ross Goodman, John Mowbray, Kevin Storey
A significant event during the year was playing France, under lights, at Lidcombe Oval on the 13th of June. In an exciting match, Wests went down 11-10, losing in the last couple of minutes of the match. The move to Lidcombe Oval as the permanent Home Ground had been very successful.
Ken Stonestreet established himself as the best hookers in the competition, Tony Ford was the top points-scorer with 96 points (he was the first Wests’ fullback to score three tries in a match), while Mick Alchin was the top try-scorer with 12 tries in 17 games. Roy Ferguson was voted “Best and Fairest’ in First Grade.
The Junior League was booming with 158 teams (3,500 players) across 14 grades. Enfield Federals won a remarkable 8 Premierships – an incredible record unlikely to be repeated.
Enfield Federals “D” Grade – Minor Premiers and Premiers 1968
Back Row: Mr. K Arthur (Trainer), D Byrnes, P Robson, J Churchyard, Mr. A Smith (Coach), D O’Connor, L Smith, Mr. R Hill (Manager)
Second Row: J Love, D Ottey, S Carson, D Hennessy, W Hill, D Bastin
Third Row: N Sinclair (Captain), R Smith (Vice-Captain), M Arthur (Ball Boy), J Stewart, J Arthur