Two things come up when Dowerin enters a conversation. The WA Wheatbelt town about 160km north-east of Perth is famous for its Field Day (29-30 August 2018) and as the place where Buddy Franklin played his junior footy. The facilities at Dowern are among the best we’ve seen.

Since 2013 the local footy team has played as the Dowerin-Wylie Tigers in the Mortlock Football League after merging with nearby Wyalkatchem. The Tigers won the premiership in their first season as a merged entity.

Some other handy footballers have come out of Dowerin too including the 1969 Sandover Medal winner Mal Brown who coached East Perth to a premiership in 1972 and South Fremantle in 1980; Murray Couper, the WAFL’s leading goalscorer in 1975 and a member of Perth’s premiership teams of 1976 and 1977; and Ian Newman a Perth and East Fremantle ruckman who won the fairest and best award at the Sharks in 1992.