Wesley Curtin Recruit Bulldogs Legend
21 Apr, 2008
Wesley Curtin Amateur Football Club is heading into the 2008 WA Amateur Football League season with a new coach, South Fremantle great, Marty Atkins.
Atkins, a record-setting 266 game veteran with the South Fremantle Football Club has been chosen as head coach of the A Grade Wesley Curtin team after four and a half years as the Bulldogs’ football manager.
Wesley Curtin club president Dean Diamond said the team should achieve greater success this season with Atkins as head coach.
“Marty has had a positive affect on the club with his professional approach to football,” he said.
“His knowledge of people and of the game has allowed us to recruit well.
“We should finish better than last year and make the finals. Finishing sixth was disappointing.”
Wesley Curtin, the 2005 Senior Champion Club, is yet to win a WAAFL A Grade premiership.
Atkins said his experience could help the players achieve a higher level of success.
“There are a lot of players on the team who are capable of playing WAFL but who can’t because of other commitments,” he said.
“With my professional experience, I hope to help the players experience higher expectations and greater success.
“I told the club that my number one goal for this season is to make the finals. Only time will tell.”
Atkins was a key feature of the Bulldogs in the 1990s, winning the Arthur Hankinson “Player of the Future” medal at the end of this debut season in 1990.
He then went on to represent WA in interstate competitions on six occasions, with the most notable against South Australia in 1993, where he won the Simpson Medal for best on-ground.
Atkins played a large role in the hard fought 1997 WAFL league grand final against cross-town rivals East Fremantle, the Bulldogs ultimately winning their eleventh premiership 13.7 (85) to 11.13 (79).
Since retiring in 2003, Atkins has contributed in an administrative capacity to South Fremantle while continuing to work with the Clontarf Academy Foundation.
