Barry Cable

Barry Cable (born 22 September 1943) is a former Indigenous Australian rules footballer in the (then) West Australian National Football League (WANFL) and Victorian Football League (VFL). A brilliant,dedicated rover, he was awarded the Sandover Medal as the fairest and best player in the league three times while playing with the Perth Football Club.

Cable played 225 games for Perth from 1964-1969 and 1971-1973. He played in 3 successive premierships (1966-1968). His time with Perth was interrupted by a stint with North Melbourne Football Club in the VFL in 1970 where he won North Melbourne Football Club's best and fairest award and came 4th in the Brownlow Medal. The Herald-Sun newspaper reported that Cable was the highest paid player in the V.F.L. in 1970. Back with Perth from 1971 he won the club fairest and best again that year and 1973, and was Captain/Coach for 1972-1973.

He returned to North Melbourne in 1974 and played in North Melbourne Football Club's first V.F.L. Grand Final, since 1950. Runners up in 1974, Barry Cable then played in North Melbourne's first day premiership in 1975. Accepting the position of Captain/Coach with East Perth Football Club in 1978, Cable took the Royals to a hard fought premiership that year over his old club, Perth. Cable retired as a player at the end of the next season.

Cable had significantly less success in the VFL as a non-playing coach than as a player, although he did get North Melbourne into the finals in two of his three full seasons in charge during the early 1980s.In 1983 he coached the team to be minor premiers, but North Melbourne lost both final matches to an early exit.

Cable played 22 state games for Western Australia winning a Tassie Medal (1966) and named in the 1966 and 1969 All-Australian Teams. In a richly rewarded career he won 3 Sandover Medals (1964, 1968, 1973) as the fairest and best player in the league, and 5 Simpson Medals (1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1977). He won 8 Fairest & Best Awards for his clubs - 7 with Perth, 1 with North Melbourne. In 2007 he was retrospectively awarded his fifth Simpson Medal by the West Australian Football Commission for his efforts in the 1977 inaugural State of Origin match between Western Australia and Victoria.

In 1979 Cable suffered a tractor accident on his farm which left him crippled. In 1993 he rode a specially modified bicycle and crossed the Nullarbor Plain in 9 days.

In 2007, Cable was working as a community development worker for the Community Development Foundation in Perth. [AFL Record round 9, 2007]

Career highlights

* 384 career games (225 Perth, 43 East Perth, 116 North Melbourne)
* 20 State games for Western Australia
* 1 State game for Victoria
* Perth Captain/Coach 1972-1973
* Sandover Medallist 1964, 1968, 1973
* Simpson Medallist 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1977
* Perth Premiership player 1966-1968, Simpson Medal each year
* Perth Fairest & Best 1965-1969, 1971, 1973
* North Melbourne Fairest and Best 1970
* 2 Premierships with North Melbourne, 1975, 1977
* Coached North Melbourne for part of 1981 and 1982-1984
* West Coast Eagles Assistant Coach 1987-1989
* All-Australian 1966, 1969

The Barry Cable Room at the Subiaco Oval is named in his honour. [http://www.wafootball.com.au/subiaco-oval-function-rooms.html]

In 1996 Cable was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame.

In 2004 he was inducted to Legend Status in the West Australian Football Hall of Fame.

References

*
* [http://prod.www.afl.cfour.com.au/Season2007/Awards/HallofFame/Players/tabid/856/Default.aspx AFL Hall of Fame]
* [http://www.fullpointsfooty.net/ca-ch.htm#Barry%20Cable%20(Perth,%20North%20Melbourne,%20East%20Perth) Full Points Footy Bio]
* [http://www.wafootball.com.au/index.php?option=com_content&Itemid=19&task=view&id=641 WAFC award retrospective medal]