GIVEN its links with the Establishment of the city, it came as no surprise that the Melbourne Football Club knew perfectly well to be waiting at Spencer Street Station when a train laden with trainee soldiers and sailors pulled in following the long journey from Western Australia in the middle of 1941.
Melbourne had won the previous two VFL premierships and its talent spotters were the best in the business, particularly as decent new talent was hard to obtain at a time when playing stocks and team depth were starting to be seriously affected by World War II.
But someone at the club had done their homework and when Stan 'Pops' Heal, a star wingman from West Perth alighted from the train, he was alerted by a navy officer that a chap called Mr Saunders from the Melbourne Football Club committee was there to see him.
From there came a meeting with Joe Blair, the oil company executive who had been president of the Demons for more than 15 years. The invitation to play with Melbourne was quickly offered, although Heal, who was en route to the Mornington Peninsula to complete his naval training, would only be able to play every second week. When he explained this complication to Blair, he was reminded of the age old footy adage - play well and you'll get a game.
That he did, impressing for the Demons every fortnight, right up to and including the grand final, a 29-point win over Essendon at the MCG, the club's third win in as many years.
As quick as a flash, Heal was back on the train back to Perth, where West Perth was only too happy to slot him back into the side for that week's grand final. And the side duly delivered against East Fremantle, meaning Heal was one of very few footballers to be able to play in two premiership sides within the space of a week.
Fellow Hall of Fame member Royce Hart achieved the same feat in 1969, while also on national service, playing for Richmond one week and SANFL club Glenelg the next.
Like many of the best footballers of his era, Heal missed the next few seasons while serving his country - in his case, with the Royal Australian Navy in and around south-east Asia.
But after the war he returned to West Perth and went on to serve that club with distinction.
Heal captain-coached West Perth to the 1949 and 1951 premierships in an era generally considered to be the club's finest.
It was a celebrated era in West Australian football and captain coaches were all the rage, with Clive Lewington, Jack Sheedy and Mal Atwell all huge figures in the sport, but at the time Heal was the finest as West Perth made five grand finals in six years.
Small, fast and highly-skilled, Heal was brilliantly suited to the type of football they played on the fast tracks in the west. He represented Western Australia on 18 occasions and was named All-Australian in 1948 and the Simpson medalist the following season.
Not surprisingly, he is a member of the West Australian Football Hall of Fame. And most deservedly, he is now an inductee of the Australian Football Hall of Fame.
Stan 'Pops' Heal - By The Numbers
180 - games for West Perth
8 - games for Melbourne
3 - premierships for West Perth
1 - premiership for Melbourne
2 - premiership sides he was part of in 1941
6 - successive finals series in which he coached West Perth
71 - per cent winning record as coach of West Perth
18 - matches he played for Western Australia.
