Terrance Brian Moriarty

Player 1942-1943, 1946-1958

Games 267 (Perth 253, Western Australia 14)

Goals 29 (Perth 27 Western Australia 2)

Honours: Sandover Medal 1943 Perth Fairest and Best 1942, 1943

Perth  premiership 1955, Grand Final 1949, 1950

Perth Captain 1943

The longest standing WAFL club games played record has stood for more than 50 years but Perth’s outstanding and enduring half back flanker Terry Moriarty, deserves to be remembered for much more than his Perth club record of 253 games.  He was a Sandover Medallist, 9 time state representative, vital member of Perths 1955 drought breaking premiership and dual club fairest and best.

Moriarty was always destined to be a Perth league footballer having been born in East Victoria Park and first playing football in the local Temperance League with the Victoria Park 12s and 14s.  He then progressed to the Victoria Park metropolitan juniors aged 16 in 1941 and to Perth the following year, when a restricted age wartime WAFL competition commenced.  As a defender from the outset, Moriarty starred in his debut season winning the club fairest and best trophy despite an ankle injury which caused him to miss 10 games.  The following year he played in all 17 games and won the Sandover Medal comfortably by 8 votes after being the clear favourite.  Moriarty was a fitness fanatic ahead of his time, and he was renowned as one of the closest checking half back flankers in the game.  Stan Heal in 1967 noted of Moriarty that “his ground play was faultless, he combined superbly with his centre half back and was a master at turning defence into attack”.  The role of attacking defender was little acknowledged until the 1990’s but with his ability to judge the flight of the ball and read the play, Moriarty was unafraid to leave his opponent when the opportunity arose.

Enlisting in the Army in September 1943, Terry Moriarty missed 2 years of WAFL football but he played in various armed services teams and also notched seven games with South Sydney, in the strong wartime New South Wales league before resuming with Perth in 1946.  As a highly consistent performer in some very strong Perth teams, Moriarty played in two losing Grand Finals (in 1949 when he was close to best afield, and 1950) before the clubs epic 1955 premiership triumph.  Qualifying third, they had to come through from the first semi final and in the Grand Final they came from behind in the dramatic final quarter against East Fremantle to snatch a thrilling 2 point win.  Unfortunately the celebrations were somewhat muted for Terry who had copped a broken nose during the game.

At the close of his senior career half way through the 1958 season, Terry Moriarty had compiled a club record 253 games and might have played 300 but for various hamstring strains which cost him a number of games in most seasons.  These were later discovered to be back-related but sports science was then only in its infancy.  Moriarty remained a fitness fanatic in his post football days and still indulges in an early morning swim and a regular round of golf.  Although modesty compels him to point out that his Sandover medal was won in the under-age war competition, Terry Moriarty need feel no reticence about joining the WA Football Hall of Fame.  His reputation as one of the finest half backs in WAFL history is secure.