WEST Perth produced a stunning first half and then withstood South Fremantle's charge to win the preliminary final on Sunday by 26 points to book in a WAFL Grand Final meeting with Subiaco.

 

Despite South Fremantle having beaten West Perth the past nine occasions including by 98 points two weeks earlier in the qualifying final, and the Bulldogs entering the preliminary final the warmest of favourites, it was the Falcons who shot out of the blocks.

 

West Perth came out a ferocious, desperate, determined and well-drilled unit at Fremantle Community Bank Oval going on to kick four goals to one in the opening quarter.

 

The Falcons turned up the heat further in the second quarter with some inspired football kicking five goals to one to lead by 41 points at half-time.

 

It would take the biggest second half comeback in WAFL finals history for South Fremantle to avoid a third straight preliminary final loss, and the Bulldogs definitely did go up a gear in the second half.

 

The Bulldogs were desperate to find a way back into the game and dominated all areas of the second half except in front of goal.

 

South Fremantle ended up kicking 7.12 for the second half and 3.9 alone in the last quarter to kick themselves out of a comeback. West Perth were clinical in their rarer forays forward in the second half but still kicked six goals after half-time to secure the 15.7 (97) to 9.17 (71) victory.

 

The win means West Perth advances to the 2018 Grand Final next Sunday against Subiaco at Optus Stadium. It is the Falcons first Grand Final appearance since also losing to Subiaco in 2015 as they chase a first premiership since 2013.

 

Heartbreakingly for South Fremantle it was a third straight exit in a preliminary final and the loss came despite the Bulldogs finishing the game with 89 more possessions, 35 more marks, four more inside-50 entries and 26 scoring shots to 22 for the game.

 

It also spelled the end of a decorated WAFL career for South Fremantle champion Ashton Hams who fittingly kicked the last goal of the game in what will be his last kick. 

 

He retires after 205 games with South Fremantle including two premierships, two Simpson Medals, a fairest and best and life membership at the Bulldogs.

 

West Perth's star trio of midfielders were once again superb with Luke Meadows inspirational with his 24 possessions, six tackles and five inside-50 entries. Aaron Black also had 26 touches and nine marks, and Shane Nelson 26 possessions and six tackles.

 

Once again, the Falcons opted to start Michael Lourey in the ruck and he found a way to compete strongly throughout the afternoon wherever he played finishing with 13 touches, 12 tackles, seven hit outs and six marks.

 

Andrew Strijk was again superb at full-forward for West Perth ending up kicking another four goals from 20 possessions and five marks while Rudy Riddoch was a late inclusion for Steve Potente and kicked two goals from 15 disposals.

 

Mitch Peirce also had 20 possessions and 11 tackles for the Falcons with Trent Manzone finishing with 19 disposals and Corey Chalmers 16.

 

Zac Guadagnin continued his breakout season with another tremendous defensive job on Cory Dell'Olio but the whole West Perth back-line stood up well.

 

Haiden Schloithe delivered a huge second half for South Fremantle to try to inspire his team and finished the preliminary final with 34 possessions and four tackles.

 

Jacob Dragovich also gathered 28 disposals for the Bulldogs, Shane Hockey 25, Dylan Main 22, Nick Suban 20, Ryan Cook 20, Shaun Bewick 19, Steven Edwards 19 and Jason Maskos 19.

 

Brock Higgins returned from an ankle injury and was a dominant presence with 21 touches, 56 hit outs and a goal while Brandon Donaldson was lively with 20 possessions, eight marks and two goals.

 

Blayne Wilson was strong down back with 20 possessions and seven marks and also did the job on Tyler Keitel after Noah Strom went off injured early.

West Perth kicked the opening goal of the preliminary final when ruckman Chris Keunen ran hard to take a diving mark at the top of the goal square. But when South Fremantle skipper Dylan Main marked and goaled up the other end, the stage was set for a terrific contest.

But West Perth's intent and ferocious attack on the ball and opposition was at another level with the Falcons going on to kick the last three goals of the first term thanks to Keegan Knott, Tyler Keitel and late inclusion Rudy Riddoch to lead by 19 points at the first change.

Another shocking turnover early in the second quarter from South Fremantle's defence saw West Perth captain Aaron Black mark and go back to convert to extend the Falcons' lead to 25 points.

The Bulldogs did get a goal back through Mason Shaw, but it was again all the Falcons to close the second quarter with goals to Connor West, Andrew Strijk, Jay van Berlo and Corey Chalmers after the siren.

West Perth's lead had ballooned to 41 points in a stunning first half from the Falcons against a rattled Bulldogs who were staring down the barrel of a third straight preliminary final defeat.

South Fremantle had to respond to start the second half and they did come out desperate and with a clear left in intensity. That did lead to an early third quarter goal to Brandon Donaldson but they couldn’t take advantage of their dominance in general play.

West Perth got the next goal through Strijk before Donaldson did add another for the Bulldogs and Matthew Parker also kicked one from the goal square. 

That was the first time they had kicked consecutive goals for the game, but West Perth steadied with a great goal from 50m by Blake Wilhelm when he intercepted a South Fremantle pass.

South Fremantle had the better of the quarter but by the time Brock Higgins goaled late, they hadn’t made the inroads they would have hoped with West Perth still up by 29 points at the last change.

The Bulldogs threw Marlion Pickett to full-forward in the last quarter and they were creating plenty of chances, but weren’t able to convert that into goals. Pickett did kick a goal at the four-minute mark, but South Fremantle missed a host of gettable chances.

It seemed inevitable that West Perth would make them pay and while the Falcons didn’t go forward a lot in the last quarter, seemingly each time they did they scored a goal starting with a beauty from Mitch Peirce.

Riddoch also made the most of his chance in the side kicking another and then Strijk showed his class with two more to ensure a 26-point win for West Perth after his good mate Ashton Hams kicked a goal after the siren to mark the end of his 205-game WAFL career.

Meanwhile in the reserves preliminary final, Subiaco booked its place in the Grand Final by defeating Claremont 11.14 (80) to 5.8 (38) to book in a meeting next Sunday morning against East Perth at Optus Stadium.

 

Subiaco bounced back from losing the second semi-final last week to East Perth despite kicking the opening eight goals of the game to advance to the Grand Final with a strong 42-point win over Claremont.

 

The Lions again started strongly with four goals to one in the opening quarter and went on with the job with another two goals to one in the second term to lead by 26 points at half-time.

 

Subiaco further extended its lead in the third quarter with two more goals to one, and then three goals to two in the last term to come away with the 42-point win to book a Grand Final meeting against East Perth.

 

Ray Daniels was the only multiple goalkicker in the game kicking two for Subiaco but the Lions had nine single goal scorers to just five from Claremont.

 

Craig Hoskins was impressive for the Lions with 25 possessions and seven tackles while Daniel Leach collected 23 disposals, Travis Cleggett 23, Daniel Perkins 18, Mckenzie Lawrence 17, Adam Cockie 16, Jacob Miller 16 and Nick Menegola 16.

 

Ruckman Tim Sutherland did well for 15 touches, six marks and 30 hit outs while Rhys Waters tried to show he was ready to return to the league side with 12 possessions, seven tackles, six marks and two behinds.

 

Brad Stevenson was another trying to force his case for the league side next week and had 12 touches, five tackles and a goal.

 

Jack Lewsey ended up with 16 possessions for Claremont, Morgan Davies 14 (13 tackles), Eddie Simpson 13, Jake Stergiou 13 and Rylie Morgan 13.

 

Jeremy Goddard had 12 disposals and 47 hit outs in the ruck for Claremont.

 

The day started at Fremantle Community Bank Oval with Swan Districts beating Peel Thunder in the colts 10.12 (72) to 7.8 (50) to advance to the Grand Final against Subiaco.

 

 

SOUTH FREMANTLE – Goals: Donaldson 2; Pearson, Higgins, Main, Shaw, Pickett, Parker, Hams.

Best: Higgins, Schloithe, Wilson, Donaldson, Dragovich, Edwards, Hockey.

WEST PERTH – Goals: Strijk 4; Riddoch 2; Black, Chalmers, Wilhelm, van Berlo, Keunen, Peirce, Knott, Keitel, West.

Best: Meadows, Strijk, Black, Peirce, Nelson, Lourey, Guadagnin, Riddoch.