Original Bulldog’s tale is still inspiring next wave
SEVERAL have followed and hopefully there is many more to come, but FNQ’s original link to the Western Bulldogs was northern beaches junior Mark West.
As the Bulldogs return to Cairns this weekend to book their spot in the top eight for 2020, West has recalled his journey from City Lions to the elite competition, where he was a big-time finals player in his short career.
The now 47-year-old had his career cruelled by shoulder injuries but when he was on the park in September at the MCG, the physical West was where he was at his best.
The Torres Strait Islander collected a career high 24 disposals and kicked two goals in the club’s infamous preliminary final loss to Adelaide back in 1997.
Now mentoring young children in Darwin, West turned up at the Whitten Oval just as the club was challenging for a flag.
“I was lucky enough to play a few games in the back end of the 1996 season, and then the next two years we played in the preliminary final,” West recalled. “We were one kick away in that 1997 season from making the grand final.
“I was lucky enough to get a gig in some good teams and played with some excellent footballers.
“Hopefully the club can play more finals this year.”
He would only total 16 games for the red, white and blue from Footscray, but it certainly would have been more if not for injuries.
“I just never had luck on my side, three shoulder reconstructions, that kept me in and out of the squad,” West said.
“I used to call it extended pre-seasons, I would do the pre-season, get hurt again and have to do rehab again all year (laughs).
“If I was injury free, I would have more opportunities out on the paddock, but I do not regret anything, it was an opportunity to have a go and I put myself in the best position to play against the best footballers I could have.
“I got those chances, I was lucky enough to play on the big stage and I felt like I could mix it with the best, injuries were just a flip of the coin and I was on the wrong end of the coin flip a few times.”
West’s mum was born and raised on Saibai Island, before eventually moving to Cairns, and he has family in Bamaga and in the surrounding areas.
The hard-running West was drawn into the game by families like the Fatnownas and others, who would drive up to the Northern Beaches and pick up the local kids from Yorkeys, Machans and Holloways to take them to footy training when they were called City United.
As the sport of Australian rules football was still emerging back in the ’80s and ’90s in Cairns, West was inspired by another City Lions legend – Robert Cockatoo.
“Our journey, with AFL, to give us hope to get there, was the Cockatoo brothers, Robert and Rodney,” West said.
“Growing up in Cairns, AFL was just a small snippet in the Cairns Post, everything was rugby league.
“Mainly Robert, he was our shining light, he was our hero, you see big marks in the AFL these days, maybe once a game, Robert would do that three times in a quarter.
“We were thinking, if he could get drafted from our little club in Cairns, then we can do it too, that gave us hope.
“That was the dream.”
Tom Pickford, who was president of the old Cobras, now called the Cairns City Lions, for around two decades believes West would inspire today’s footballers at Holloways Beach.
“There has been several AFL footballers who have started their journeys with us at Cities and Mark is one of our legends,” Pickford said. “Hopefully we can produce more AFL footballers in the coming years.” Another Lions junior who went on to play in the AFL, Peter Yagmoor (Collingwood), has returned to the club to play locally in 2020.
While being based in the Top End, West still follows his beloved Lions and is proud to see how many AFL games have come to his old home town over the last month.