Established in 1957, the Manning Junior Football Club was once a hotbed of talent development in WA. Manning juniors included triple Perth premiership players Graham Ramshaw and Greg Brehaut; Rob Wiley (eight Perth fairest and best awards; two Perth premierships, one Richmond premierships and involvement in AFL flags with West Coast and Collingwood) and Steve Hargrave (two Perth premierships). Wiley won the under 12 fairest and best award at Manning in 1966.

And it wasn’t all Perth – East Fremantle great and Geelong captain Brian Peake started at Manning as did Peter Spencer, who won two Sandover Medals as an East Perth player, and even triple Carlton premiership player and current media star Mark Maclure was a Manning junior.

The original Manning juniors faded away in the late 1990s but returned in 2004 under the umbrella of the relatively new senior club the Manning Rippers (1986).

The top Rippers team plays C4 in the WAAFL. The scoreboard does the job but we do have a tip for attendants – don’t obscure the score.