The 1946 WANFL season was the 62nd season of senior football in Perth, Western Australia. With the background of the Pacific War almost entirely removed, the WANFL entered a period of exceptional growth that was to last until the middle 1960s. Attendances reached levels never seen in the pre-war WANFL, highlighted by two record crowds between grand finalists East Fremantle and West Perth. The league also restored the seconds competition – disbanded in 1941 – as a “colts” competition for players under 25. 1946 is most famous for Old Easts’ feat of a perfect season, winning all twenty-one of its matches to finish the season with a winning streak of thirty-one consecutive games, easily the longest in the history of the competition. There was a controversy in the third-last round when East Fremantle played Subiaco and, owing to injuries, played colts wingman H. Townsend in the league team, although regulations did not permit a colts player to start in the league team on the same day. but was dismissed on a technicality. Old Easts’ perfect season was only slightly marred by losing to third-placed VFL clubCollingwood at Subiaco on October 15. 1946 also saw Perth, in the doldrums since the end of World War I, begin its rise to power with the return of Merv McIntosh. The Redlegs stood third with two games remaining but lost a decisive match to Subiaco, who played open-age finals for the first time in a decade, in spite of being very weak in attack and the failure of their protest against Townsend. Swan Districts, a finalist in 1945, fell to second-last and began its bleakest period on record: until Haydn Bunton, Jr. joined the club in 1961 Swans were never to win more than seven games in a season and did not finish above any rival except Subiaco or Claremont. The Swans did, however, win their first title of any kind in the lower grade. Despite the return of Bernie Naylor, who went far beyond his 1941 promise with 131 goals, South Fremantle fell to fourth owing to injuries and business commitments – one of which caused their coach to resign while their form was at its best. Perth and West Perth toured Sydney and Melbourne respectively during the first three weeks of August, and played each other four times during the home-and-away season.
Home-and-away season
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Round 4
Round 5
Round 6 (Foundation Day)
Round 7 (King’s Birthday">Queen's Official Birthday">King’s Birthday)
