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WA’s oldest surviving prisoner of war and much respected member of the community, Arthur Leggett has died at the weekend, aged 106.
Leggett was just 22 years old when he was captured during the Battle of Crete in 1941. He spent four years in a prison of war camp, spending 12-hour long days in the coal mines in Poland.
After the war, he dedicated his life to serving others and had a passion for veterans affairs.
He received an Order of Australia medal, was the WA president of the Ex-Prisoners of War Association for more than 25 years, and Mount Lawley Senior High School’s library was named in his honour to recognise his dedication to inspiring young Australians.
West Coast coach Andrew McQualter has defended debutant Sandy Brock, saying GWS spearhead Jesse Hogan would have even given AFL legend Stephen Silvagni a giant headache.
Brock was handed the unenviable task of nullifying the reigning Coleman Medallist at Engie Stadium on Sunday after key defender Jeremy McGovern (groin) was ruled out.
He was subsequently outclassed, with Hogan kicking an equal career-best nine goals to help launch the Giants to an 81-point victory.
Brock’s AFL baptism of fire came after McQualter had opted to drop key defender Harry Edwards, despite losing McGovern earlier in the week.
But the first-year coach defended his decision to play Brock, nephew of Australian motorsport legend Peter, on Hogan. The 22-year-old took nine intercept possessions to match All-Australian defender Sam Taylor’s haul, and also finished with two intercept marks.
“It’s an easy one to say now, I suppose [about dropping Edwards],” McQualter said.
“I actually thought – this is going to sound crazy – but I thought Sandy Brock actually defended quite well and showed some moments.
“I’m sure Sandy hasn’t got everything right.
“Ultimately when you have that much ease with your flow of ball through the middle of the ground, you could put Stephen Silvagni on him [Hogan] in the back line and he still would have kicked a few today.”
After mulling over the magnets last week, McQualter opted against sending Eagles co-captain Oscar Allen from forward to defence, and placed star midfielder Harley Reid at halfback.
Here’s what’s making headlines today:
Good morning, and welcome to Monday’s live blog.
Making headlines this morning, the family of a WA woman feared murdered by her husband nearly 40 years ago has been asked to provide DNA samples to police in a bid to solve the mystery about what happened to her and have called for her case to be reinvestigated.
Meanwhile, the cost to rent a house in some of Perth’s most in-demand school catchment areas has ballooned over the past year, with some suburbs now costing more than $1000 per week.
And a prominent Perth boys’ school Aquinas College has applied to install a $2.37 million digital billboard on Kwinana Freeway to raise money.
Lastly, timber industry insiders are increasingly concerned an estimated 100,000 tonnes of timber harvested for forest health will be left to rot in huge stockpiles in the state’s South West.
Stay with us as we bring you the news of the day, as it happens.