Arm in arm the Kingsley Cats Footy players gathered on Kingsley Oval to honour their teammate, whose life was tragically cut short last week while spear fishing off Rottnest Island.
Steven Mattaboni, 38, was in the water with four friends about 1km offshore at Horseshoe Reef — north-west of the island — last Saturday when the predator, reportedly a great white, attacked just before 10am.
On the oval in the fading sunlight, the arms of a crowd of men linked as supporters lined the boundary, listening to a speech read out by a fellow teammate.
“Mattas brought energy, excitement and plenty of laughter into every room he walked into,” he said.
“Never shying away from contest, or stirring up a bit of banter.
“He put other people first no matter what, even if you were wrong.”
The atmosphere was filled with heartbreak as teammates, friends and family reflected on the devastating loss of a much-loved member of the community.
Near the centre of the gathering, Mr Mattaboni’s wife sat on the pews sobbing, holding her baby tightly in her arms.
Around her, people stood in tears, clutching their chests as emotion swept through the crowd.
Club officials addressed the players and supporters, speaking of Steven’s loyalty, his passion for football, and the way he brought people together both on and off the field.
They spoke about mateship, family, and the importance of standing beside one another through unimaginable grief.
“The Mattabonis will always be part of the Kingsley family,” they said.
Following the speeches, the siren sounded and the oval fell completely still for a minute’s silence.
Heads were bowed across Kingsley Memorial Stadium as the football community paid its respects.
As the silence ended, players and supporters united to sing the club anthem, “team of the Red and the Blue,” with emotional voices echoing around the ground.
For many in attendance, it was a moment that captured both the pain of loss and the strength of the Kingsley Cats family.
The club isn’t a stranger to tragedy, in October 2002 after celebrating the club’s first-ever reserves premiership, a group of 20 young players and officials flew to Kuta, Bali, for an end-of-season trip.
Just six hours after arriving, they were partying inside the Sari Club when a car bomb detonated directly outside, killing seven teammates and wounding the remaining 13.
The Kingsley survivors were offered the opportunity to fly straight home from Bali – but they chose to stay and search for their missing teammates who were never found.
