Atwell was a tough, hard hitting footballer and spent most of his time as either a defender or in the ruck.
He started his career in 1958 at East Perth and played in their premiership team that season as well as the next. After 162 games with East Perth, he transferred to Perth where he played 76 games.[1][2]
He had a highly successful stint as Perth coach and was later named as the coach of Perth's official Team of the Century.
From 1966 to 1969 he was captain-coach of Perth and led them to premierships in 1966, 1967 and 1968. He remained coach for the 1970 and 1971 seasons but retired as a player.
The following year he joined South Fremantle as non-playing coach and spent two seasons in the role.
Western Australia 26.18 (174) defeated Victoria (VFA) 5.11 (41), at North Hobart Oval, 9 June 1966, crowd: 20,047 Western Australia 13.11 (89) defeated South Australia 10.14 (74), at North Hobart Oval, 13 June 1966, crowd: 13,969 Western Australia 17.13 (115) defeated Tasmania 16.10 (106), at North Hobart Oval, 16 June 1966, crowd: 10,199 Victoria (VFL) 15.10 (100) defeated Western Australia 13.7 (85), at North Hobart Oval, 18 June 1966, crowd: 23,368