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WAFL mourns loss of Billy Krakouer

East Fremantle premiership player William Krakouer, the third oldest brother from Mt Barker's famous football family, has died at 47.

Krakouer passed away suddenly after collapsing last Thursday.

He is the younger brother of Jim and Phil Krakouer, who played a combined 275 matches for North Melbourne and lit up the VFL during the 1980s with their electric skills and speed.

William, who was known as Billy, started his WAFL career at Claremont and played 16 games for the Tigers before moving to East Fremantle midway through the 1989 season.

He played 65 matches for the Sharks from 1989-93 and was part of their 1992 premiership side.

Krakouer booted East Fremantle's first two goals in the grand final victory over derby rivals South Fremantle, just a fortnight after being disciplined for turning up late to training.

The small forward/rover switched to South Fremantle for the 1994 season, citing a desire to play alongside younger brother Andrew.

Seventeen matches at the Bulldogs rounded out his 98-game WAFL career.

East Fremantle coach and former teammate Steve Malaxos said Krakouer was a similar player in style to brother Phil.

"He was very dangerous with the ball in the forward line," Malaxos said.

"He was probably not quite at the same elite level with his skills and decision-making as Phil, but he was a pretty good WAFL player when the competition was a little bit stronger back in those days."