of Barry Cable from North Melbourne where he had transferred in 1970, saw Perth decline abruptly to seventh or eight with only eight wins and a draw, and after a return to third in 1972, Cable's last year with the club in 1973 saw them win only six games (their worst year since 1941 when they won only four matches). Perth, however, rebounded under the coaching of former captain and 1955 premiership player Ken Armstrong. He took their 1974 team, skippered by the versatile Bob Shields, into the Grand Final. Though wingman David Pretty won the Simpson Medal, Perth failed against East Fremantle, and missed the finals in 1975. However, despite not being perfectly consistent during the home-and-away round, the Demons under new captain Colin Lofts clicked when it counted, taking out the 1976 Grand Final by 23 points, again at the expense of East Perth. Courageous defender, Mal Day, won the Simpson Medal for an outstanding game. Except when affected by a major injury to star rover Robert Wiley, the Demons dominated in 1977, capping the season off with a record 26.13 (169) Grand Final winning score against East Fremantle. Ruckman Wim Rosbender marked his best season, winning the Simpson Medal. Armstrong and new captain Ken Inman had high hopes of another premiership hat-trick with big wins during the 1978 season. Their goal was denied by just two points in a grand final marred by very wet conditions. Long-term decline After three decades among the WANFL elite, Perth declined abruptly in 1979, winning only eight games of twenty-one and finishing a distant sixth. The departure of Armstrong to Subiaco in 1980 only made things worse: despite the presence of a fine coach in Alan Joyce for two seasons, Perth never improved upon 1979's sixth place between 1980 and 1985 and won only 28 of its 126 games. The recruitment of proven coach Mal Brown that year was hoped to make the Demons a WAFL power, but after finishing third in 1986 the club was devastated by the loss of players to new VFL club West Coast and fell back down the ladder, ultimately taking wooden spoons in 1993 and 1994 and not being able to stay far from the bottom. During the 1980s and 1990s, the club also had severe financial problems, so bad that in 1990 after losing revenue from gate pooling and the WAFC being forced to