Brian "Puffer" France: Class Defender
Posted Mar 9, 2010 - 6:58 AM
by Ron Head
Hobart,1966 Australian Football Carnival.
The irrepressible Victorians had romped through the qualifying rounds with margins of 101 points and 68 points respectively over Tasmania and South Australia, while Western Australia had beaten the same sides by a combined total of 24 points.
Darryl Baldock had been in scintillating form for the Vics, but West Australian centre half back Brian France absolutely cut the star out of the game in the first half of the decider, and the Sandgropers were five goals in front midway through the second quarter, leading by a handy margin at half time. Critics rated the performance of France one of the best defensive efforts they’d seen. Disaster struck during the third quarter, and France hobbled to the bench with a game ending injury.
Baldock literally jumped off the leash and Victoria won the game and the Carnival.
It was a good illustration of the value to a side someone with France’s ability to stop highly credentialled forwards can be.
And Brian France made a career of just that. He was a no frills no nonsense defender, who played his opposing forward like a second skin, with his charges through packs a feature of his game. His sole objective at all times was to keep his opponent out of the game, and there weren’t many occasions that his goal wasn’t achieved.
Like many West Perth stars, France was a product of the Mt Hawthorn juniors, graduating to the West Perth reserves at nineteen, before making his league debut a year later, in 1959. His first season saw him play in several positions, but in 1960 he slotted into the centre half back spot, and from then on it was his, apart from the odd sojourn goalwards to stop a highly rated full forward.
Nicknamed “puffer†because of his habit of puffing his cheeks as he tore through a pack, France was the outstanding centre half back in Western Australia thoughout his career, and would rate among the best of all time. A key member of West Perth’s 1960 premiership win,he became the State centre half back in 1962, and for seventeen State fixtures the position was his. In 1963, 64, and 65 , France was West Perth’s fairest and best, and his performance in the Hobart Carnival confirmed his class.
In 1967, France suffered a career-ending knee injury in round 14. When the Sandover Medal votes were counted at season’s end, he was third, just one vote behind joint winners Bill Walker and John Parkinson. There can be no doubt that he would have managed at least another two votes in the seven games he missed, given the outstanding form he had been in.
Brian France, forced into premature retirement at the age of 28, played 159 solid games for the West Perth Football Club. He was without doubt one of the finest centre half backs to play in this State, winning three Breckler Medals. In 2006 he was inducted into the Western Australian Football Hall of Fame.
