John Annear is a former Australian rules football

Australian rules football

Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...

er who played for Collingwood

Collingwood Football Club

The Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed The Magpies, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League...

, Richmond

Richmond Football Club

The Richmond Football Club, nicknamed The Tigers, is an Australian rules football club which competes in the Australian Football League. Richmond shares healthy rivalries with Carlton, Collingwood and Essendon. After winning five premierships between 1967 and 1980, the club hit the depths in 1990,...

 and West Coast

West Coast Eagles

The West Coast Eagles are an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League. The club is based in Perth, Western Australia. The club was founded in 1986 and played its first games in the 1987 season. Its current home ground is Subiaco Oval...

 in the Victorian Football League

Australian Football League

The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...

 (VFL) during the 1980s.

Annear began his career in Western Australia with Claremont

Claremont Football Club

The Claremont Football Club, nicknamed the Tigers, is an Australian rules football club in the West Australian Football League . Its official colours are navy blue and gold....

 and played 62 West Australian Football League

West Australian Football League

The West Australian Football League is an Australian rules football league based in Perth, Western Australia. The WAFL is the second-most popular in the state, behind the nation-wide Australian Football League...

 games over three years before being recruited by Collingwood. He was used as a midfielder and played his best football at Richmond, where in 1984 he finished second in their 'Best and fairest'.

In 1987 he crossed to West Coast who were competing in their inaugural VFL season and was their second most experienced player behind Ross Glendinning

Ross Glendinning

Ross Glendinning was an Australian rules footballer for the North Melbourne Football Club and West Coast Eagles in the Victorian Football League/Australian Football League...

. He made State of Origin appearances for Western Australia towards the end of the decade.