AFL Commission Chair Richard Goyder said Derek Chadwick would be remembered as one of the greatest all-round sportsmen in the history of Western Australia.
Chadwick passed away peacefully at 84 yesterday, a star from the time when the game of Australian football was built on the strength of its strong state leagues well before the recent expansion of the game to a national league. Chadwick was inducted into the WAFC Hall of Fame for his deeds with East Perth during a 14-year career and also scored more than 4000 first-class runs for the state, including nine centuries.
“Derek Chadwick was an incredible contributor to the state of Western Australia with his sporting feats, starring in the summer as a top-order batsman and then equally dominant in the winter as a wingman for East Perth,” Mr Goyder said.
“Derek was one of the lead figures for WA at a time where the state was stepping up on the national sporting stage and matching it with the best from the rest of Australia across the 1960s. He was a part of the legendary 1961 team that won the national carnival in Queensland and also part of the 1967-68 WA team that won the Sheffield Shield for the first time in two decades.
“On a personal note, it was a thrill to watch him every time he took the field for East Perth and all in football send our deepest condolences to Jan, children Jenny and Grant and all his friends and colleagues across East Perth and football and cricket.”
Derek Chadwick
- 269 games for East Perth 1959-72, 64 goals
- 22 games for WA
- 2 x Best and Fairest 1963 &1964
- Simpson Medal 1964
- Captain 1967-69
- Captain Coach 1967-68
- East Perth Team of the Century
He also played 70-plus first-class cricket games for WA, scoring more than 4000 first class runs with nine centuries.
