Barry Cable - Playing Career

Playing Career

After being rejected by Western Australian football powerhouse East Fremantle for being "too small" - his playing height was listed as 168 cm, or five-and-a-half feet - Cable signed with Perth in 1962. Just two year later, he would win the first of three Sandover Medals, the highest individual honour in the WAFL. Cable was awarded the Tassie Medal as the best player at the 1966 Australian National Football Carnival, as well as selection in the All-Australian team. The same year, he played in the first of three consecutive premierships with Perth, winning the Simpson Medal as the best player in the grand final in each year, as well as a further Sandover Medal in 1968.

Cable's first coach at Perth was former Carlton premiership captain Ern Henfry, who alerted the Blues about the talented young rover. So in 1964, Carlton invited Cable to Melbourne and signed him on a "Form Four", which meant that for the next two seasons he was tied to Carlton if he were to play in Victoria. But Cable had no desire to move interstate, despite the repeated urging from Carlton. It was not until North Melbourne secretary Ron Joseph flew over to Perth and met with Cable personally in 1969 that Cable decided to play in Victoria. In August of that year, Cable signed a form four with the North Melbourne Football Club, enabling him to transfer to the Victorian Football League (VFL). The secretary of North Melbourne, Ron Joseph, said Cable was "genuinely interested in playing League football", and wanted to "prove himself in Victorian football". At the time Cable made his initial move to Victoria, North Melbourne were a struggling team, still a few years away from becoming one of the powerhouses of the decade. 1970 was a miserable year for the Kangaroos as they finished last on the ladder, but Cable justified the hype over his reputation by winning the Syd Barker Medal and finishing fourth in the Brownlow Medal vote count. However, North Melbourne were unable to meet a clause in his contract, which required them to pay Perth $71,000 to retain Cable's services. This was a large sum, especially in the days when being an AFL footballer was not a full-time profession as it would become in later decades. As a result, Cable returned to Western Australia.

Back at Perth, Cable captain-coached the club in 1972 and 1973 and won his third Sandover Medal in the latter year. During his absence, North Melbourne had managed to sign former Carlton premiership coach Ron Barassi and took advantage of the short-lived Ten-Year Rule to land the signatures of VFL stars Doug Wade, John Rantall and Barry Davis. With Keith Greig and David Dench starting to emerge as champions, Cable decided to return to North Melbourne for the 1974 VFL season. North Melbourne made it to their Grand Final since 1950, but lost to Richmond. Finally, in 1975, the Kangaroos broke through by defeating Hawthorn to claim their first VFL premiership. At the conclusion of the 1975 season, Cable considered returning to Perth to play, after the death of his father-in-law. North Melbourne had agreed to release him from his contract, but he decided to remain with the club for at least one more season. He again returned to Perth after accepting an offer to captain-coach East Perth. He would return to Perth after 1977.

In the 1978 WAFL grand final, East Perth defeated Cable's old club, Perth, by two points, winning their first premiership since 1972. Cable, who was "at his best in the heavy conditions", was playing in his sixth consecutive grand final, having played in five consecutive grand finals at North Melbourne.

In October 1979, Cable was involved in an accident on his property in Orange Grove, in which his right leg was crushed under a tractor, stripping one side of his leg to the bone. Cable went under operation within the first days after the injury to remove foreign material, including gasoline, from the wound. Later, secondary infections set in, necessitating the use of heavy painkillers, with Cable said to be "hovering between life and death", and spending his time in a "twilight world of delirium, drugged sleep and excruciating pain". A series of operations was conducted at Royal Perth Hospital in which muscle from his right hip was grafted to replace his right calf muscle, with a vein from his lower left leg being made into an artery for his right leg. At one stage, Cable was given the possibility of never walking freely again.

Having represented Western Australia in a total of 25 matches during his playing career, Cable also coached the team at the 1979 State of Origin Carnival, later being named coach of the All-Australian team.