WAFL Grand Finals PreviewSaturday, September 24, 2016 - 1:29 PM - by Chris Pike

SUBIACO and Peel Thunder do battle in a highly-anticipated WAFL Grand Final to decide the 2016 premiership at Domain Stadium and every indication is it should be a tremendous contest.

With Subiaco looking to make history with a second premiership hat-trick inside 11 years and Peel out to win its first ever flag, it should be a Grand Final to savour and bounce down is set for 2.30pm.

The day at Domain Stadium begins at 8.40am with Claremont taking on East Perth in the RediMed Colts Grand Final. It will then also be the Royals and Tigers doing battle in the reserves Grand Final starting at 11.40am.

WAFL Grand Final day is the biggest day on the WA football calendar and Domain Stadium will be playing host to a lot of festivities surrounding the games on Sunday.

Ticket prices have been frozen for adults and concession while all kids 15 and under will gain entry for free.

There will be fan zones set up at Gates 8 and 19 for the day featuring more than 15 different family activities including live music, inflatables, balloon twisters, face painting, airbrush tattoos, barbecues, merchandise and roving entertainment.

There will also be family meal deals and half-time entertainment making it one of the cheapest family days out for the start of the school holidays and long weekend.

LEAGUE GRAND FINAL
SUBIACO v PEEL THUNDER – DOMAIN STADIUM, SUNDAY 2.30PM
Selected teams 
Broadcast – Channel 7, 720 ABC Perth, 91.3 SportFM, KIX Digital, 97.3 CoastFM, 882 6PR

Subiaco and Peel Thunder meet in the WAFL Grand Final and the history of the two clubs over the past 20 years couldn’t be more stark – but all signs are pointing to a fascinating battle to decide the 2016 premiership.

Subiaco enters the Grand Final on a six-game winning streak and having won the last two premierships while Peel has won its last four matches including dominant finals wins over East Perth, West Perth and South Fremantle to book a spot in the Thunder's first ever Grand Final.

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Peel Thunder entered the WAFL in 1997 and it has taken until this year for the Mandurah-based club to even think about playing in a Grand Final.

It took the Thunder until last year to play finals for the first time and that saw them lose a qualifying final to West Perth and a first semi-final to East Perth to be eliminated.

Then in 2016, Peel finished fourth on the ladder at the end of the home and away season before beating East Perth by 49 points in the elimination final, West Perth by 60 points in the first semi-final and South Fremantle by 39 points in the preliminary final.

But over the club's history, Peel has finished with nine wooden spoons and had never threatened to play finals up until this year.

In direct contrast, the past 20 years have been the best in the history of the Subiaco Football Club.

There were some lean years in the early seasons that Peel was in the WAFL, but by 2003 the Lions emerged as a real force with Peter German taking over as coach and they have stayed a powerhouse ever since.

Subiaco made the Grand Final in 2003 losing to West Perth before then getting back there in 2004 and beating Claremont for the club's first flag since 1988.

After being minor premier in 2005, Subiaco was bundled out of the finals but that inspired a premiership hat-trick in 2006, 2007 and 2008. The Lions fell short of a four-peat losing the Grand Final in 2009 to South Fremantle and then again losing to Claremont in 2011 in the decider.

The Lions then made a stunning run to the 2014 Grand Final beating East Perth and then dominated the WAFL in 2015 on the way to a 66-point win over West Perth to win a second straight flag.

Subiaco will take part in its 10th Grand Final of the past 14 years by running onto Domain Stadium on Sunday with the Lions looking for a seventh premiership in that time. If the Lions prevail they will also become the first club to win two premiership hat-tricks in an 11-year period in WAFL history.

While the difference in history in terms of success couldn’t possibly be more different, there is every reason to think Sunday's Grand Final will be a tremendous contest.

Subiaco has six players attempting to take part in three straight premierships with captain Kyal Horsley, Chris Phelan, Wayde Twomey, Brett Mahoney, Lachlan Delahunty and Clancy Wheeler having been part of the flags in 2014 and 2015.

Meanwhile, Joel Latham, Leigh Kitchin, Jordan Lockyer, Aaron Heal, Craig Hoskins, Brett Robinson, Rhys Waters, Brad Stevenson and Daniel Leishman have been part of one of Subiaco's last two premierships and are looking for a second flag with the Lions.

Simon Moore, Declan Jackson, Chris Bryan, Liam Ryan and Hamish Shepheard are the Subiaco players attempting to win a flag for a first time.

Hayden Kennedy played in last year's premiership but remains an unlikely starter as do Sean Bradley, Ben Sokol and Will Fetherstonhaugh.

Adam Cockie and Greg Broughton might have not been at Subiaco for the premierships the past two years but the former played in the 2008 flag and the latter was part of all three from 2006-08.

Peel isn’t without some premiership experience as well including Shane Yarran who played in Subiaco's flags the last two years and Josh Deluca who was part of the Lions' triumph in 2014.

Clancee Pearce is a Swan Districts premiership player from 2010 and also played in the losing Grand Final of 2008 while Nick Suban is a Claremont premiership player from 2012.

Jonathon Griffin and Rory O'Brien both took part in East Fremantle's losing Grand Final of 2012.

Both teams enter the Grand Final in impressive form with Subiaco winning its last five games of the home and away season prior to a Round 23 bye and then a break in the opening week of the finals.

The Lions then beat South Fremantle by 40 points in the second semi-final before another break ahead of the Grand Final.

Peel beat Claremont in the final round of the season and has now gone on to be supremely impressive winning its three finals emphatically over East Perth, West Perth and South Fremantle.

While many of Peel's 17 Fremantle-listed players have had a significant impact on that including Alex Silvagni, Sam Collins, Tendai Mzungu, Zac Clarke, Connor Blakely, Matt de Boer, Darcy Tucker, Ed Langdon and Nick Suban, it hasn’t been just them.

Gerald Ugle, Rory O'Brien, Blair Bell, Josh Bootsma and Brayden Lawler have been Peel's five WAFL players throughout the finals and have all played well also.

The two teams met three times throughout the season starting in Round 1 at Bendigo Bank Stadium when Subiaco won a thriller by eight points.

Peel beat Subiaco at Domain Stadium for the first ever time in Round 12 in another thriller, with Bell taking a strong contested mark and kicking the winning goal for the Thunder in the dying stages.

The Thunder were then in control leading the Lions by 26 points in Mandurah in Round 22 but Subiaco kicked up a gear through the last quarter to win by 17 points. That was Peel's last defeat and Subiaco has only played once in the five weeks since.

There will be fascinating match ups all over the field but in each forward-line, whether or not the combination of Subiaco's Hamish Shepheard and Liam Ryan, or Peel's Michael Apeness and Shane Yarran can combine for the most goals could be match-winning.

Subiaco's makeshift ruck pair Lachlan Delahunty and Clancy Wheeler did so well last year leading the Lions to a premiership but they face a significant challenge on Sunday against Clarke and Jonathon Griffin.

Both teams have strong and deep midfields with Subiaco led by Chris Phelan, Leigh Kitchin, Adam Cockie, Craig Hoskins, Brett Mahoney and Kyal Horsley, and Peel by Connor Blakely, Matt de Boer, Rory O'Brien, Josh Deluca, Harley Balic, Darcy Tucker and Ed Langdon.

RESERVES GRAND FINAL
EAST PERTH v CLAREMONT – DOMAIN STADIUM, SUNDAY 11.20AM
Selected teams 

East Perth and Claremont enter Sunday's reserves Grand Final featuring teams full of players who either have or will play a lot of league football setting up what should be a tremendous contest.

East Perth finished the home and away season in the reserves on top of the ladder with a 16-4 record earning the break in the first week of the finals before beating Claremont at HBF Arena in the second semi-final to book in a spot in Sunday's Grand Final.

Claremont, meanwhile, finished the season in second spot with a 15-5 record before beating South Fremantle by nine points in the qualifying final at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.

Then following the 41-point loss in the second semi-final to East Perth, Claremont bounced back last week to beat East Fremantle by 55 points in the preliminary final to earn another crack at the Royals in the Grand Final.

Remarkably East Perth is attempting to win a first reserves premiership since 1983 while Claremont's last triumph in the reserves came in 2012 when the Tigers set the scene for their league side by beating East Fremantle in the Grand Final.

The two teams first played one another in Round 1 of this season with East Perth winning that contest by 27 points at Medibank Stadium. Then in Round 18 at the Claremont Showground, Claremont managed to beat East Perth by 27 points.

But East Perth turned it around in the second semi-final with a dominant performance to win 12.14 (86) to 6.9 (45).

That day, Shayne Hille kicked three goals for East Perth with Lewis Wilson, Matthew Allen booting two apiece.

Tom Omodei dominated with 33 possessions and on Monday night he was rewarded by winning the Prendergast Medal as the best player in the reserves. It's the same reward his former teammate Tom Shanahan won last year and he will now play for Claremont on Sunday.

Will Maginness also had 25 possessions in that second semi-final win, Daniel Perkins 23, Tom Hodgson 23 and Tom Gorter 20.

Claremont might have had an off day in that loss, but bounced back strongly last Sunday to beat East Fremantle 15.13 (103) to 6.12 (48).

In that win, Ben Higgs and Gerrick Weedon both kicked four goals apiece for Claremont with Lachlan Martinis gathering 24 possessions, Zac Langdon 24, Shanahan 22, Weedon 22, Luke Maddock 19 and Cameron Palmer 18.

REDiMED COLTS GRAND FINAL
CLAREMONT v EAST PERTH – DOMAIN STADIUM, SUNDAY 8.40AM
Selected teams 

Claremont continues to be the dominant team in the RediMed Colts competition and enters a fourth straight Grand Final on Sunday but East Perth has plenty of momentum and will be out to take it right up to the Tigers to open the day on Sunday at Domain Stadium.

Claremont is now playing in a fourth successive WAFL Colts Grand Final attempting two win a third premiership in that time with the Tigers again proving to be the dominant team the longer the season went.

But East Perth has been in some stunning form firstly needing to beat East Fremantle in the final round just to qualify for the finals and now beating Swan Districts, South Fremantle and Perth to book a spot in the Grand Final.

Claremont ended up finishing in second position at the end of the home and away season with a 15-5 record but their monster 169.29 percentage was an indication of their dominance.

The Tigers have been able to show that in the finals regaining their best team with players coming back from earning a taste of league football including Jake Waterman, Bailey Banfield and Matt Guelfi.

Claremont beat South Fremantle by 32 points in the qualifying final at Fremantle Community Bank Oval before qualifying for the Grand Final with an empathic 64-point win over the minor premier Perth in the second semi-final at HBF Arena.

On that day, Waterman was outstanding kicking four goals to go with 18 possessions and 10 marks.

Jacob Sideris also kicked two goals to go with 24 touches and eight marks while Callan England and James Egan also booted two majors.

Guelfi also racked up 33 possessions, Banfield 31, Sam Petrevski-Seton 25, Jack Blaauw 24, Jake Patmore 23, Tom Lawrence 20, Bailey Bennett 20 and Chris Oakley 19.

East Perth was not guaranteed of playing finals until beating East Fremantle by a thriller in Round 23 at ATOM Stadium and now since then the Royals have continued to build some impressive momentum through the finals.

It started in the elimination final at Bendigo Bank Stadium with East Perth beating the grand finalists of the last two years Swan Districts by 12 points.

The Royals then regained Sam Powell-Pepper from the league team for the first semi-final against South Fremantle at Medibank Stadium with East Perth running out 33-point winners.

East Perth then took on Perth in the preliminary final last Sunday at Fremantle Community Bank Oval and won 12.14 (86) to 7.8 (50) to make its way into the Grand Final this Sunday at Domain Stadium against Claremont.

In that win, Tom Vellios, Ethan Christofis and Kane La Fontaine all kicked two goals for East Perth while Mitch Dobson gathered 27 possessions, Christian Ameduri 22, Matthew Young 21, Alex Di Placido 20, Powell-Pepper 19, Stan Wright 19 and Nathan Arbon 19.

The two teams met twice during the season firstly in Round 1 at Medibank Stadium with Claremont winning a thriller by six points. Then in Round 18 at the Claremont Showground, it was another thrilling contest with the Tigers winning by two points.