Horsley's reputation grows in heroic Grand Final displaySaturday, October 1, 2016 - 1:07 AM - by Chris Pike

IT is not often that a multiple premiership winner can further enhance his reputation in a losing Grand Final but that is exactly the case with Subiaco captain Kyal Horsley after a heroic performance in Sunday's loss to Peel Thunder.

Sunday's Grand Final didn’t go to plan for Subiaco with Peel creating history by winning its first ever WAFL premiership leading from start to finish to win by 23 points, but it wasn’t without a remarkable individual performance by Horsley.

Subiaco was attempting to make history itself by winning two premiership hat-tricks inside an 11-year period with the Lions having won the last two flags on the way to the 2016 minor premiership.

The Grand Final loss shouldn’t diminish Subiaco's standing as the dominant team of this century given the Lions have won six of the last 13 flags and played in 10 of the past 14 Grand Finals.

Horsley has now played in the Grand Finals with Subiaco of 2008, 2009, 2011, 2014, 2015 and 2016 with him tasting premiership glory in 2008, 2014 and 2015, and being part of losses in 2009, 2011 and 2016.

He has played eight WAFL seasons now either side of his two years and 14 AFL games with the Gold Coast Suns and remarkably played in six Grand Finals.

There is every chance as well that he has never played a better game than his performance in Sunday's Grand Final against Peel with Subiaco fighting against the odds.

Sometimes that's when reputations are greatly enhanced. You can think of Gary Ablett Snr in the 1989 AFL Grand Final when he kicked nine goals in Geelong's loss to Hawthorn. His son Gary Ablett Jnr then was remarkable in the Cats' 2008 loss to the Hawks as well.

Collingwood captain Nathan Buckley put in a performance for the ages in his first Grand Final in 2002 when he was matched up with Brisbane Lions legend Michael Voss and despite losing, claimed the Norm Smith Medal.

Even Chris Judd showed he was a big game player without question winning the Norm Smith Medal in West Coast's loss to Sydney in 2005.

Each one of those players saw their place in history grow in how they performed in losing Grand Finals. Horsley is likely in the same position now despite having already been a triple premiership player and a skipper of two flags.

Subiaco fell behind early against Peel in Sunday's Grand Final and could never quite bridge the gap, but their captain threw everything at a comeback and when he kicked his second goal in the third quarter, the Lions did appear a chance trailing by just 12 points.

While the win didn’t quite eventuate, Horsley finished with a remarkable individual performance ending up with 39 possessions, seven tackles and two goals and it would have been no surprise to see him claim the Simpson Medal.

None of that made up for the pain of losing for Horsley, but ever as gracious in defeat as victory he paid tribute to Peel Thunder for its win and couldn’t help but still be proud of the efforts Subiaco all season long and during the Grand Final.

"Obviously to Cam (Shepherd), Uges (Gerald Ugle) and Peel Thunder it's a historic day for your club and organisation," Horsley said in his post-Grand Final speech.

"You were incredible and so swift with your hands, and your intensity for four quarters we just couldn’t match. Congratulations on that.

"To our boys and our club, the board and everyone involved. Obviously this result is super disappointing but I'm so proud of what we've achieved this year to finish on top of the ladder for a minor premiership.

"We obviously fell short so that's going to burn but to our supporters, you guys are awesome."

What also shouldn’t be lost in Subiaco's loss in the Grand Final was the outstanding achievement to claim the minor premiership on the back of winning the last two flags considering the players that departed at the end of 2015.

That included the best three players on the ground in last year's Grand Final win over West Perth, Matt Boland, Sam Menegola and Shane Yarran along with six-time premiership winning full-back Darren Rumble and fellow defender Scott Worthington and small forward Chris Deluca.

Injuries in 2016 meant that Kyle Halligan, Hayden Kennedy and Scott Hancock couldn’t make it back to another Grand Final.