seventh in an eight-team competition and overall won only 26 and drew one of 102 games. An unexpected 112-point thrashing of North Adelaide in their last game of 1940, however, proved a true omen of what was to come in 1941. The Bloods carried all before them early in the season and after ten games had suffered only a draw and two narrow losses. A slump ensued before the club required to finish third and beat Port Adelaide in the first semi before Sturt knocked the inexperienced Bloods out in the preliminary. Between 1942 and 1945 West Adelaide joined forced with Glenelg in a wartime competition, finishing second, third and fourth in a four-team competition. "Thereabouts" but never "there" West Adelaide became one of the power teams in the SANFL following the resumption of full-scale competition in 1945. The club finished third in 1946 before winning its sixth premiership in 1947 defeating Norwood 10.15 (75) to 8.15 (63). One of Wests leading players during this time was future SANFL legend Fos Williams who played 54 games for the club between 1946 and 1949 before moving on to captain-coach Port Adelaide in 1950, a move that would haunt West Adelaide for the next thirteen seasons as Wests would lose five Grand Finals, all by less than three goals, to the Williams-coached Port Adelaide between 1954 and 1962. During the mid-1950s, West Adelaide, under the coaching of Laurie Cahill and with strong players such as Neil Kerley, Brian Faehse, Doug Thomas, Ken Eustice, Ken McGregor and 1957 Magarey Madalist Ron Benton, became regular finals visitors and finished as beaten grand finalists in 1954, losing the grand final to the Fos Williams led Port Adelaide by just three points. The 1954 final was marred by a brawl which broke out at half time of the match when angry Port supporters set upon Wests players as they attempted to enter the dressing room located in the Sir Edwin Smith Stand. This was a reaction to a heavy but legal clash prior to the end of the half between Wests captain Brian Faehse and Ports Dave Boyd in which Boyd had come off second best. Wests had been leading by 25 points at half time but the melee in the crowd proved unsettling with some battered Wests players not making it back to the dressing room until the team was due to go back out