Phelan proud to have stuck at it for decorated Lions careerThursday, July 20, 2017 - 10:51 PM - by Chris Pike

CHRIS Phelan's 150-game milestone might have hardly gone to plan personally but as he nears a return from his knee injury suffered back in Round 10, the dual premiership winning midfielder has reflected on a journey he almost gave up on back in 2011.

Phelan has had a remarkable last four years with Subiaco playing in two premierships and three grand finals, two fairest and best awards and a state appearance for the WAFL, but it wasn’t always a given that the prolific midfielder would make it with the Lions.

When he was coming up through the ranks Subiaco was in the middle of a premiership hat-trick between 2006 and 2008. His lone game in 2008 came when Daniel Chick missed a game with an ankle injury but he was then straight back out missing the premiership of that year.

Life member Phelan eyes pre-finals Subiaco return 

He was back in the league line-up for the start of 2009 but couldn’t hold on for the finals missing out on a place in the Subiaco team that played in a fourth successive grand final before losing to South Fremantle.

Phelan went on to play 37 games over 2010 and 2011 including playing in the losing grand final of 2011 to Claremont, but it wasn’t as a midfielder where he had always played coming through the ranks and would end up marking his mark at league level.

Given the strength and depth at Subiaco through the midfield, Phelan had to settle into a spot at half-back and while he played some good football there, he never felt it's what he wanted to do full-time.

When he missed virtually all of 2012 with groin injuries, he was never sure if he wanted to return but by sticking with it, his run since 2013 as a midfielder has been simply remarkable.

He has averaged 21.9 possessions a game over that time while starring in the premierships of 2014 and 2015, and winning fairest and best awards in grand final years of 2015 and 2016.

He was once again having a brilliant start to the 2017 season averaging 30.7 possessions in the six games before hurting a rib in Round 9 against South Fremantle and then injuring his knee in Round 10 against East Fremantle that has kept him sidelined since.

The medial ligament tear meant it wasn’t exactly the milestone game to remember, but Phelan is proud to become a life member at Subiaco and it will always be one of his career highlights.

"It's a huge honour. At one stage of my career I really wasn’t enjoying my footy and didn’t think I would play 50 games let alone 150," Phelan said.

"Now as a player it might still take a while to sink in, but once I've finished my career and will always be known as a life member I will always look back at it with fondness. It's just a huge privilege.

"The state game was a highlight. That was the only one I've got to play in so that was definitely a great honour and a highlight of my career. Playing 150 games now is probably the next best thing on that list. The best and fairests are good personal accolades, but it is a team game so I think those two things are right up there."

There have been plenty of individual highlights along the way for Phelan, but the upset 2014 grand final victory over the West Coast-powered East Perth will always be a great highlight.

Little was expected of Subiaco that season but it ended in a surprise grand final appearance and tremendous performance in wet conditions on the day at Domain Stadium to win the premiership.

On the back of that, Subiaco was the favourites and dominant team right throughout 2015 and ended up beating West Perth in the grand final. While any premiership is special, the 2014 win will always be hard to top for Phelan.

"The whole 2014 season is definitely my fondest memory in my career so far. We were the underdogs all year even though we did beat East Perth a couple of times during the season. But they spanked us in the second semi and we were rank underdogs going into the grand final," he said.

"It was just great to come away with that win. Then for the 2015 premiership it was a lot different because we were favourites, so that 2014 win is my favourite memory so far. I didn’t really feel any pressure going into the 2014 one because we all felt in a lot of ways that we had nothing to lose that day.

"Then going into 2015, we had a great side and we were feeling really confident but I was a bit more nervous because there was that expectation on us to win. It's just the difference to being the underdogs to favourites I suppose."

On the back of the 2014 and 2015 premierships, Subiaco was again the dominant team in the WAFL last year claiming the minor premiership and then advancing straight to the grand final with a second semi-final win against South Fremantle.

But the grand final didn’t go to plan with the Fremantle-strengthened Peel Thunder beating the Lions.

However, for Phelan and his Subiaco teammates it has only served to provide motivation to get revenge this year. 

They get another chance playing Peel this Saturday at Bendigo Bank Stadium but in the bigger picture the Lions are on track for a third straight minor premiership on the search for a fourth successive grand final and third premiership in the past four years.

"Last year was certainly devastating. All the boys worked so hard and we were probably favourites all year, but then by the grand final we probably weren’t anymore," Phelan said.

"It had a bit of an East Perth feeling about it from 2014 but we were still confident within our four walls of getting the job done even though no one else was expecting us to win.

"Even on the day, we came back just before half-time and we still felt like we could have won that game. It still burns and it provides great motivation to back to try and do it all again."

While things have certainly turned out well for Phelan as he has put together a brilliant 150-game career to date, he did almost give up on it at one stage before he was given a chance in the midfield at league level.

"There was definitely a time before 2011 when I felt I had a pretty good, consistent year that I certainly did think about giving it up and going to play amateur footy. I really wasn’t enjoying it and I just didn’t have that consistency," he said.

"I was in and out of the team a fair bit, but in 2011 I found some form and that's when I started to enjoy my footy enough to stick at it. It was tough in those early days. I came in and played my first game in 2007 and the boys were pretty solid back then.

"I came in because Chicky hurt his ankle and then I was straight back out when he was right to return. I played all my juniors as a midfielder and even that year I was playing as a midfielder in the twos but then had to play at half-back.

"It was a bit different but after a couple of years when I found some consistency I think I played that role pretty well. But obviously I'm loving playing in the midfield now. I'm probably a natural midfielder and that's where I played all my junior footy so it's where I'm most comfortable."

Following a strong 2013 season, it was during 2014 that Phelan knew that he had made the right decision to stick around with Subiaco and that he consolidated himself as one of the standout and most consistent midfielders in the WAFL.

"In 2014 I started to feel like I was really cementing my spot in the midfield. That was probably my first really consistent year in there so that's when I felt fully confident in that position," Phelan said.

"When Schoey took over in 2013 I started playing midfield but every now and then if I wasn’t getting a kick I got pushed back to the half-back line. It was 2014 when I started to figure it out. I did originally start as a tagger but by then I was finding a bit of the footy myself and that's when I felt cemented in the spot."

Looking back on some of his teammates at Subiaco, Phelan is proud to have shared his entire journey alongside captain Kyal Horsley while there were some veterans he played alongside in the back-line early on that had a significant impact on him.

"The skipper Kyal Horsley has always been a great mate so to go through the whole journey with him is great. He's probably the best player that I've ever played with. His record speaks for itself," he said.

"Another great mate of mine is Wayde Twomey who has been there the last three years now from Swan Districts. Then when I first started, Schoey was actually playing back then so he was someone I looked up to. 

"Darren Rumble has been a great support and he has been there almost my whole career and Aidan Parker as well who was our captain when I first settled into the league side. They are legends of the club and are always there for advice, and were just great to play with."

While Phelan's focus right now is on recovering from his knee injury to return in time to play again before the finals, the soon-to-be 29-year-old feels he has at least one more season left in him and potentially more.

"I've been saying I am going to retire the last couple of years now but hopefully I've got one year left in me at least," Phelan said.

"Apart from the knee, the body's feeling pretty good so hopefully I have one or two more years left. But we'll see how I go."