Subiaco unbeaten WAFL premiers by Les Everett
The 2018 WAFL premiers. All photos by Les Everett.
To challenge the unbeaten Subiaco in the 2018 WAFL grand final West Perth needed to “bring something”, to start strongly… and they did. But it wasn’t enough.
For the first 15 or so minutes the Falcons controlled things and they even led by a point after Andrew Strijk just missed a set shot from the boundary.
Chris Phelan finally nailed the first goal and the Lions were into the kind of exhibition grand final fans love and players and coaches deny were quite as emphatic as they looked. Subiaco were too well organised, too disciplined, too calm and far too good for West Perth who really did a great job to get to the last day of the season.
The Simpson Medal winner is announced.
Captain Kyal Horsley is a big factor in the success of the Lions and it was fitting that he was awarded the Simpson Medal as best player on the ground – he is the best and most influential player in the competition.
Leigh Kitchen.
Zac Clarke did what he was recruited to do and dominated the ruck, key forward Ben Sokol did what he did in last year’s grand final this time kicking five goals with strong marking and clever positioning, small forwards Kyle Halligan (five goals) and Rhys Waters (three) did what they were meant to do and Horsley’s midfield mates Phelan, Leigh Kitchen and Josh Deluca were relentless. When the Falcons did go forward they were meet with almost impenetrable defence with Jordan Lockyer, Aaron Heal, Angus Litherland and Drew Rohde all outstanding. The versatile Lachlan Delahunty messed up an otherwise fine display by missing three shots for goal.
Mitchell Pierce completed a good finals campaign for the Falcons, Aaron Black kicked a couple of goals and worked hard as usual in the midfield, Blake Wilhelm was good early and Cory Chalmers kicked two goals.
The grand final might have been Jarrad Schofield’s last as Subiaco coach.
There will be changes at Subiaco next year as there always is – only 14 of this year’s premiership team playing in the 2017 losing grand final – and coach Jarrad Schofield may move into the AFL. However the well-resourced club is very good at replenishing its supplies and anyone looking to challenge them will need to improve too.
Subiaco 19.13 (127) West Perth 7.4 (46)
Reserves: Subiaco 11.11 (77) East Perth 9.5 (59)
Colts: Subiaco 9.10 (64) Swan Districts 9.8 (62)
There was kick-to-kick on the Perth Stadium surface after the game. Subi dominated that too.
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About Les Everett
A Footy Almanac veteran, Les Everett is the author of Gravel Rash: 100 Years of Goldfields Football and Fremantle Dockers: An Illustrated History. He is the footyalmanac.com WAFL correspondent and uses the money he makes from that role to pay for his expensive websites australianrules.com.au and talkingfrankie.com and fund the extravagant Vin Maskell at scoreboardpressure.com
Congratulations Subiaco, the little club that could, after one of the longest droughts in football, 1924 to 1973, they became a regular winner in a way that I could only dream about for my heartbreaking team of Magpies.
My father was a keen Subiaco supporter, he also taught me to appreciate the interstate dog in the fight, when Collingwood or his team Melbourne wasn’t playing.
Onya Les.
Interested in your thoughts on how the new stadium has affected WA footy this year. Any noticable impacts?
Cheers
John it was bold move to place the stadium in a location only accessible by public transport in the famed City for Cars. But the train and bus service has been excellent and might just show some people that you can take a train or bus on other days too.
Viewing is very good. West Coast fans are getting value for their boos. However the best thing about Perth Stadium is the toilets. There are lots of them… even for women who now don’t need to queue. Only took us 100 years or so to work out that men and women have different WC requirements, let’s hope other venues take note.
The impact on Fremantle will be interesting if they continue to be horrible to watch. There’s now no real need to be a member… you can just walk up and go to the footy. The Dockers better start looking good or some may decide to ditch the membership.
There’s plenty of room to move and patrons are not confined to their seats… those who prefer to stand can do so. Standing at Subiaco Oval was a heinous crime. Last year I was at an AFL 18s game along with about 800 others and was told by security to sit down when I decided to stand behind a block of empty seats…. it was health and safety thing….
The new bridge has been a good addition as it means you can walk away from the stadium after the game rather than being crammed into a train.
I hate that it was given a corporate name… such a missed opportunity… but you’ll never hear or read me refer to it as Octopus Stadium or whatever they called it.
George Subi is now the rich successful club with not-that-many fans. I love watching them play but concede they had a financial advantage on the others when AFL games were played at Subiaco Oval.
Go Subi, that’s three more premierships to add to the Hawks premierships on the same day.
Great summation of the new oval Les. Esp the toilets. For 100 years (longer) the motto was made by men, for men. I gather the access for patrons with disability is as good as everything else described. Fingers crossed.
Cheers