Despite the WA Football Hall of Fame night being held in the middle of Kings Park overlooking the city of Perth, there was a strong country feel to the evening as a number of country products were recognised for their achievements in the great game.

The evening was hosted by Tim Gossage who did a great job extracting some of the stories behind each inductee.

The first cab off the rank was Kevin Clune who played a number of his 269 games for Claremont between 1953 and 1965 from the family farm in Carnamah- no mean feat with an approximate round trip of 600 kms.  Kevin played in a League premiership at Carnamah as a16 year old and ‘the Carnamah Kid’ told how at times he would work on the farm until the early hours of the morning, freshen up and then head to the city to play for his beloved Tigers.  The farm work obviously did Kevin good and football great John Todd told how Kevin was capable of grabbing hold of the football in the back pocket and taking it all the way up the ground to score crucial goals when his team needed them.

Syd Jackson was another country inductee and for those that know Syd's story he is one of the true pioneers of our game.  Born in the Goldfields town of Leonora.  As a three year old, Syd was stolen by authorities and made a ward of the state growing up at the Roelands Native Mission near Bunbury.  After an amazing career at both South Bunbury and East Perth, Jackson was recruited to Carlton in 1968 but was forced to sit out of football due to transfer complications.  Jackson played 8 seasons and 136 games for 'The Blues' with the highlights being premierships in 1970 and 1972.  Syd will best be remember as being a trailblazer for Aboriginal footballers. “I’m just so proud that a lot of Aboriginal players who came after me appreciated I’d gone before them”.

The final inductee of the evening was by far the youngest with Paul Haselby at the tender age of 34.  Paul's career followed the path that many country kids have had to in pursuing their dreams- when his parents sent him to Mazenod College from Northampton. 

Paul was a prodigy as a junior and in his first year of league Football won East Fremantle’s Fairest and Best and the following year was the AFL's Rising Star after being drafted at number 2. 

Haselby’s 208 game AFL career was full of highlights although he still ponders on the team’s lack of success as they established themselves in the national competition.  Following his retirement he has continued to be involved with football, playing and coaching at South Fremantle and now having 'a kick' back in his hometown of Northhampton and playing for the Great Northern at the recent Landmark Carnival.

Other inductees include; Con Regan (East Fremantle), Stan Nowotny (Swan Districts), Tom Grljusich (South Fremantle), John Wynne (West Perth), Oliver Drake-Brockman (Media). 

Johnny Leonard was elevated from the Hall of Fame to a Legend.