under Bunton and aided by a powerful country zone, the Lions improved rapidly: from four wins and a percentage of 70 in 1983 they went to nine wins and a percentage of 100 in 1984 and fifteen wins and a percentage of 124.5 in 1985. Despite being in their first finals series since 1974, the Lions only just failed to beat East Fremantle in the grand final and gained ample revenge against the Sharks the following year by eleven and a half goals. Their team was sufficiently good to be competitive against VFL premiers Hawthorn in a post-season "challenge" match—ironically Hawthorn's win was led by Subiaco's one star of the bleak late 1970s and early 1980s in Gary Buckenara. An irrepressible Claremont outfit under the innovative coaching of Gerard Neesham halted Subiaco in 1987, but the following year after losing the second semi to the Tigers and being unconvincing in the preliminary against East Fremantle, the Lions, playing a much more traditional game than Claremont and aided by the controversial inclusion of West Coast Eagle Laurie Keene, ran away to win by 62 points after an even first half. The massive drain of players to the VFL meant Subiaco could not keep up this standard, and they won only six games each in 1989 and 1990 before returning to the Grand Final in 1991 only for Claremont to have its revenge. A thrashing by East Perth in the first week of the 1992 WAFL finals saw Bunton resign at the end of the season after having coached Subiaco's most successful era since before World War II. Sturt, 1993 to 1994 At the age of fifty-six, Bunton was appointed by a Sturt club looking for an experienced coach after Kevin Higgins and Steven Trigg had guided them to only seven wins from 64 games between 1990 and 1992. Sturt had actually possessed interest in Bunton during the early 1980s when they were seeking a replacement for veteran coach Jack Oatey, but lost interest when a decision had to be made at the end of 1982. Bunton started very badly, with the Double Blues having lost as many as twenty consecutive games before their first win in July. However, they managed to win four of their last eight games but narrowly failed on percentage to avoid a fifth straight wooden spoon. In 1994, things started promisingly with two wins and a near