disappointed, winning only eighteen of forty-two games and finishing fifth and sixth in an eight-team competition. However, when Subiaco won its first premiership since 1924 under new coach Ross Smith, it was generally acknowledged that Bunton had played a critical role in raising the team from last to first over the six seasons between 1967 and 1973. During this time, he played a leading role in completely banishing the drop kick from football. South Adelaide, 1975 to 1982 After a two-year sabbatical, Bunton returned to coach South Adelaide in 1975. As with Subiaco, the Panthers had struggled severely ever since World War II, playing in the finals only during the three years of Neil Kerley's tenure as captain-coach. Unlike Subiaco, South Adelaide's improvement under Bunton's patented methods of fast, skilful football was gradual, but the Panthers played in the major round for the first time in eleven years in 1977 and two years later played in only its second grand final since the war (and last to date, as of 2019). However, on a muddy ground and extremely windy if dry day Port's experience and luck with the toss told: the Magpies' five goals with the breeze was more than South could manage for a day when not one goal was kicked against the wind and by the last quarter South had little left in them, losing by the score of 3-14 (32) to 9-9 (63). The Panthers did, however, win the NFL night series with VFA and WAFL clubs plus representative teams from "developing" football states in both 1978 and 1979. However, despite playing in the finals and achieving South Adelaide's best minor round since 1964 in the 1981 season, a decline to third last in 1982 saw Bunton replaced by Graham Cornes for 1983. Subiaco, 1984 to 1992 In 1984, Bunton junior returned to his former haunt of Subiaco, who as a result of the loss of such players as Mike Fitzpatrick had endured another bleak era over the previous nine seasons. The Lions had not participated in the finals since 1974 and had finished dead last in 1976, 1979, 1980 and 1982, when they were in danger of a winless season before beating East Fremantle in the seventeenth round. Since 1975 Subiaco had recorded only 44 wins from 189 games and had lost its "average" game over these nine seasons by a margin of 36 points. However,