The 1983 WAFL season was the 99th season of the West Australian Football League in its various incarnations. The season opened on 31 March and concluded on 17 September with the 1983 WAFL Grand Final contested between Claremont and Swan Districts.
South Fremantle, after a disappointing 1982, and Claremont dominated the competition for most of the year before Swans – after a slow start due to numerous injuries with four losses from eight matches – came home very strongly for a second premiership win in a row. East Perth, with a new coach and required to play fourteen men new to league football, missed the finals for only the second time in eighteen seasons and indeed only the fifth since their dynasty between 1956 and 1961, though a reserves premiership after a drawn preliminary final was partial compensation.
The continuing fall in WAFL attendances despite the growth of Perth's metropolitan population,See loss of many star players to the VFL, and resultant financial difficulties for all clubs, led the government of Brian Burke to undergo a review of the WAFL's needs, especially club finances and ground leases, but future seasons did not prove the move successful. In an effort to update their images East Fremantle adopted the moniker "Sharks" and West Perth the "Falcons", and despite considerable scepticism both clubs have retained these nicknames to the present. The blue and whites dominated the pre-season and recovered from a very bad start in the home-and-away rounds to reach fourth position in the last round, but were out of their depths against the top three – who lost only three matches to the remaining five teams all season. The Sharks did win the experimental "Emu Export" lightning carnival held at Subiaco Oval on May 14 and 15, which was regarded by the WAFL as a major flop and never repeated.
For the first time the WAFL allowed six home-and-away matches to be played on Sunday and televised direct to Perth viewers, but attendances at these matches were about half what would have happened otherwise and the WAFL abandoned this for the 1984 season.
Home-and-away season Round 1
Round 2 (Easter weekend)
Round 3
Round 4
Round 5
Round 6
Round 7
Emu Export Lightning Cup First round
|- style="background:#ccf;" | Winning team | Winning team score | Losing team | Losing team score | Ground | Crowd | Date |- style="background:#fff;" ||| 11.5 (71) |||| 0.5 (5) ||Subiaco Oval|| 7950 ||Saturday, 14 May |- style="background:#fff;" ||| 4.3 (27) |||| 1.5 (11) ||Subiaco Oval|| 7950 ||Saturday, 14 May |- style="background:#fff;" ||| 7.3 (45) |||| 6.5 (41) ||Subiaco Oval|| 7950 ||Saturday, 14 May |- style="background:#fff;" ||| 9.6 (60) |||| 5.5 (35) ||Subiaco Oval|| 7950 ||Saturday, 14 May |- style="background:#fff;" ||| 8.5 (53) |||| 5.0 (30) ||Subiaco Oval|| 7950 ||Saturday, 14 May |- style="background:#fff;" ||| 8.7 (55) |||| 6.2 (38) ||Subiaco Oval|| 7950 ||Saturday, 14 May |- style="background:#fff;" ||| 8.4 (52) |||| 3.6 (24) ||Subiaco Oval|| 7950 ||Saturday, 14 May |- style="background:#fff;" ||| 6.8 (44) |||| 1.7 (13) ||Subiaco Oval|| 7950 ||Saturday, 14 May
Second round
|- style="background:#ccf;" | Winning team | Winning team score | Losing team | Losing team score | Ground | Crowd | Date |- style="background:#fff;" ||| 6.5 (41) |||| 5.2 (32) ||Subiaco Oval|| 3870 ||Sunday, 15 May |- style="background:#fff;" ||| 12.6 (78) |||| 4.3 (27) ||Subiaco Oval|| 3870 ||Sunday, 15 May |- style="background:#fff;" ||| 5.9 (39) |||| 6.2 (38) ||Subiaco Oval|| 3870 ||Sunday, 15 May |- style="background:#fff;" ||| 2.12 (24) |||| 2.7 (19) ||Subiaco Oval|| 3870 ||Sunday, 15 May
Final
Round 8
Round 9
Round 10 (Foundation Day)
Round 11
Round 12
Round 13
Round 14
Round 15
State of Origin match
Round 16
Round 17
Round 18
Round 19
Round 20
Round 21
Ladder
Finals First semi-final
Second semi-final
Preliminary final
Grand Final
Notes
References
External links