The incredible chemistry between Mick Malthouse and Trevor Nisbett, then senior coach and football manager of the West Coast Eagles, is well documented. The appointment of both men in late 1989 marked the dawn of an era of prosperity, the partnership leading the club to its first grand final in 1991, closely followed by premiership victories in 1992 and 1994. Together, they shaped the culture of success that exists between the walls of Subiaco Oval still today, and which will ensure the West Coast Eagles remains a powerhouse of the competition.
West Coast has enjoyed more than its fair share of highs and lows over its relatively short history. Along with three premierships from five grand finals, the club has also endured the usual football hardships and losing streaks. There’s only one person at the club who has witnessed all this and more, who has relished the triumphs, endured the sorrows and never given up. And it’s a woman.
Anna Durante’s journey with West Coast began in 1988 when she was employed as a receptionist. After current chief executive officer Trevor Nisbett joined the club as its football manager at the end of 1989, Durante was promoted to the position of football secretary, an appointment which marked the beginning of a 19-year relationship that continues today. Although less public than Nisbett’s partnership with Malthouse, it’s fair to say Durante’s role in Nisbett’s life and the success of the club was just as significant.
“Knowing I have the support of Anna takes away the anxiety of actually being at the club all the time,” Nisbett begins. “You don’t have to be here for things to get done which allows you the freedom to focus on strategic things and things that the club needs to get done away from the office.
“Even in the old days when the only technology we had was the telephone, it was still easy to get things done because Anna is so efficient. She is a do-er and she never procrastinates.
“I trust her implicitly and you have to if you’re working in this sort of environment in that sort of relationship. I don’t think there’s any other option; if I didn’t trust her she wouldn’t be working for me and probably if she didn’t trust me she wouldn’t work here. There are so many confidential things that run past her eyes that she has to be impeccable with her standards and her ethics and so on.
“We are very close and enjoy a great working relationship. We work so closely together, she’s a bit like Radar off Mash I think. Sometimes she knows what I’m thinking before I do and when I come in it’s already done. It’s a bit like that because we’ve worked together for so long.”
Durante’s progression from receptionist to Nisbett’s right-hand woman didn’t come easily. With an Italian background, she had the tradition of soccer coursing through her blood and her family felt a sense of betrayal when she started working for the football club.
“I didn’t know a single thing about football and it was very hard to make my family understand that I was working for the West Coast Eagles,” Durante laughs.
“They didn’t understand the game, but it was amazing that it only really took them until we got to the finals in 1990 that everyone realised how exciting it was and then they all jumped on board. I had to learn along the way myself.
“Half the time I think I pretended I knew what was going on. I think I learnt the most from (then recruiting manager) Mick Moylan because he used to give me his recruiting reports to type up that had everything about the player, about his skills and where he plays. So I start recognising words like centre half-back, full-forward and I start thinking, ‘Oh, he’s got good hands, he’s got good vision, he’s a left or a right kick.’ And I reckon that’s where I learnt about football.
“My role has changed a lot over the years and there has never been a position where I’ve gone, ‘I don’t like what I’m doing’. I’ve been able to create and implement new things in the club and that makes it all worthwhile, because if you do the same-old, same-old you do get quite bored and stagnant and lose interest.
“The club has changed a lot too. When I first started there were probably about 12 people, not even, and now look, we’re at 80 full-time staff. I’ve probably seen two major changes in my time, I think when the senior coach changes that always has a huge impact and it does change the staffing with people coming and going.”
As a woman witnessing those changes, Durante faced her own set of challenges and difficult times. She explains that one of the main issues facing women in the industry today is recognition.
“Women in football work just as much as everyone else does, but a lot of people don’t see that,” Durante assesses. “Not that we’re out there to get patted on the back all the time, but football’s difficult because always will be a male sport.
“You know, we’ll never recruit a female player, and it’ll be a very long time before we see a female senior coach or CEO. It’s just never going to happen that way. I don’t think it’s ever going to be easy to be recognised, but I have to say that in the last five or ten years, the industry’s slowly allowing women to get recognised in their role and that’s great.
“You don’t realise how many women work in our club. We’re in the majority, discounting the football department, and it just goes to show that we make things happen. There are a lot of women in the club who work big hours.”
Nisbett agrees, believing that his executive assistant has become stronger as a person for her time working in a football club, facing the unique hurdles set out by the industry.
“I think it’s a really challenging career path for women,” he admits. “Football’s very exciting and challenging and I think Anna’s lived up to all our expectations. She’s met all the challenges she’s had, and she’s had plenty of them. Whether it be personally or work-wise, she’s met those head-on and I think you end up toughening up pretty quickly in this environment.
“The longer you’re at a footy club, the more resilient you get. The cyclical nature of football means that it’s not always going to be good fun and it’s not always going to be glamorous. And this is my favourite quote, sometimes you have to do things that you don’t want to do.
“I think the added difficulty is that you’ve got to put up with the emotion of it. Getting over that period of time when you fall in love with the football club to the extent where everything affects you, that’s a really difficult thing to do.”
Indeed, over the past 20 years, Durante has taken these challenges in her stride, and her loyalty and commitment was rewarded with life membership in 2007 when she became the first female in the history of the club to be bestowed with the highest available honour.
Her name is now displayed proudly on the life members honour board, listed among club legends such as Chris Mainwaring, John Worsfold, Mick Malthouse, the Matera brothers and Glen Jakovich, in perhaps the strongest indication that her contribution to the club has been as significant as that of the players and coaches who have become household names across the country.
