by LES EVERETT

Deanmill is a little timber town – population about 400.

The footy ground is spectacular and Deanmill’s footy heritage is astounding.

Deanmill was the home town of the only two coaches to have taken three clubs to a premiership in WA – Ross Hutchinson: East Fremantle (1937), West Perth (1941) and South Fremantle (1947 and 1948) and John Todd: East Fremantle (1974), Swan Districts (1982, 1983, 1984 and 1990) and South Fremantle (1997).

Others to hail from Deanmill include Ray Richards (premiership player with South Fremantle in 1952 and 1954); Ray Giblett (premiership player with East Perth in 1959 and coach of the club in 1975 and 1976), Gary Bygraves (premiership player with East Perth in 1972), Paul Peos (original Eagle who also played 121 games for East Perth), Heath East (a handy East Perth player who had a day out in the 1992 elimination final when he kicked nine goals) and Tayte Pears (East Perth & Essendon defender).

Deanmill Oval looks like it was dropped into the middle of a forest making it one of the most attractive grounds I’ve seen in WA. The scoreboard is an impressive steel structure that records the progress of the Deanmill Hawks in the strong Lower South West Football League. The Hawks have won 16 premierships including 2008 and 2009.