Brad Wirra | WA Football CEO (29.07.2026)

**SPEAKER_1** (0:01)
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**Mark Duffield** (0:26)
Welcome back to the SNWA studio out here at Optus Stadium on this Wednesday morning in Perth. Brad Wirra, of course, is the newly appointed CEO of WA Footy. He joins us on the show now. Brad, welcome.

**Brad Wirra** (0:41)
Thanks, Mark. Great to be with you.

**Mark Duffield** (0:43)
Mate, a couple of things on a more lighthearted nature before we get serious. We had David Wirpunda on the show last week, and he was talking about the 1999 Western Derby when it was a case of Wirra on Wirra.
Do you remember playing on Wirra in a Western Derby?

**Brad Wirra** (1:02)
I do, indeed.
Good memories back there and great fun. Obviously, for those who are footy tragics, would remember that's the first time that Freeman Orla had the victory over West Coast. But yeah, I played on David. It was when a tagging of a rebounding defender was just coming into vogue. So I went and played forward and managed to get on the end of the couple.

**Mark Duffield** (1:26)
You kicked three, didn't you? Did you kick three? Is that right?

**Brad Wirra** (1:29)
I did. Yeah, I did, which was great fun. But Tony Modra kicked six, and Adrian Fletcher had 40, and Jason Norris had 35 And so they tell me all about their performances. But it was a great day for the footy club.
One we look back on with great memory.

**Mark Duffield** (1:43)
I think only one person did the aeroplane after kicking a goal, though, Brad. And I believe that was you. I do remember that clearly. In fact, if I have two enduring memories of that game, it's Modra's goal from the pocket after turning Ashley McIntosh around, and you doing the aeroplane after kicking your third.

**Brad Wirra** (2:00)
It was great fun. Sometimes we do things that we look back on.
Oh, look, it brings a smile to my face. I don't think my dad's too happy with it still, because every time the derby gets mentioned, he's like, someone mentions that again. But look, it was a great time in the footy club's history. That goal that you mentioned with Tony Modra, he was such a talent. We were so lucky to have him come and play a couple of years at Fremantle, but that was a ripping goal from the pocket there.

**Mark Duffield** (2:26)
Yep, and so lucky to have him still with us, of course, after that terrible accident in South Australia. So good to hear Tony is on the mend. Mate, how are you settling into the new job?

**Brad Wirra** (2:38)
Fantastic. It's been everything I thought it would be, and then some more. Coming in mid-season has been, there's been a lot of say good day and get out of the way.
And what I mean by that is we have some wonderful staff here doing some wonderful things for WA Football across all of the ecosystem, from Auskick all the way through to the to the AFL clubs that we hold the licenses for. So coming in in May has been a real eye-opener while sitting on the board. I understood things from a strategy and governance perspective, but getting into the operational stuff, which now I'm three months in into my 13th week, but it's been fantastic.

**Mark Duffield** (3:18)
Now, big announcement this week, of course, state of origin coming back to Western Australia again next year in February, the Sand Gropers versus the Crow Eaters. Financially, what sort of input does this have into the WA Football system, and in particular, the talent development pathways?

**Brad Wirra** (3:36)
It's just great, isn't it? We saw just how popular the return of origin was last year, and now we look forward to it coming back to Perth with two of the next three years.
And what that does do is, and the minister in Rita Safiotti mentioned at the press conference on Monday, some of the proceeds from the first origin now go back into WA Football. We're just wrapped with that to be able to take that to, in this case, to our regions, to be able to support our regional development of talent, to ensure back to our strategy of equity and access, to get boys and girls in Albany, boys and girls in Kalgoorlie, boys and girls in Derby, to Broome and across all of the state, to have the same opportunity, which is a big challenge, but for it to come back for another two years, we're working closely with the government on what that will look like, but it's fantastic to have it back.