1977, when the first proper State of Origin match was played, it saw Western Australia inflict its biggest defeat on a Victorian team. East Perth's 1961 loss to Swan Districts would see that side's first-ever premiership. Captain/coached by Haydn Bunton, Jr., they became the team of the early 1960s when they followed it up in 1962 and 1963 to make it three in a row. The dominating sides of the late 1960s and early 1970s were the three Perth teams. Perth won 3 in a row from 1966 to 1968, and West Perth won in 1969 and 1971 captain/coached by Graham Farmer who had returned from over east. All 5 of these grand final wins came at the expense of East Perth who earned the bridesmaid tag in this era. However East Perth finally won through in the 1972 grand final. After 1972 the competition was more evenly matched with every team winning a grand final over the next 10 years. At this time crowds were as big as they ever were. The 1979 grand final was played before a record crowd of 52,781 and saw East Fremantle defeat archrivals South Fremantle. 1980s In 1980, the WANFL dropped the "N" and the "ern" and reverted to being called the WAFL. At the end of the 1980 season East Perth put in an application to join the VFL. The offer was withdrawn. Crowds had been buoyed by State of Origin football that saw Western Australia's best players return home briefly, but this effect was short lived. Interest in the WAFL began a slow decline, as it became increasingly obvious that even larger numbers of the WAFL's best players were going to head east. By 1983 the management of the WAFL itself acknowledged that economic crisis loomed. They approached the state government for financial aid, and were rewarded with a grant of $1.9 million. In response, the government wanted a full-scale investigation into the likely future financial demands of football. This led to the formation of the West Australian Football Commission who functioned independently of the WAFL. In 1986 the decision had been made that the WAFL needed to become involved in helping the VFL, where several clubs were also struggling financially, to become national. Against a backdrop in which several WAFL clubs were looking to enter the VFL or in which a struggling Victorian club may be relocated to Perth, the