Semi Final Reaction – SubiacoWednesday, September 22, 2021 - 7:00 PM - by Chris Pike

STANDARDS are high at Subiaco and they've been that way this entire century so while there were reasons, not making finals at all in 2020 meant they had redemption on their minds in 2021 and now the Lions are the first to book a spot in the Grand Final.

It has been a remarkable century of consistent high performance for Subiaco in what is the best period in the club's history so any time there is a down year like the Lions had in 2020, it's not taken lightly.

That's because the standards have been so high for so long and it all began under Peter German as coach back in 2003. Over the next four years, Subiaco would win two premierships from three Grand Finals and the tone was set for the century.

Scott Watters came in to coach the Lions to the 2007 and 2008 premierships to complete the hat-trick before another Grand Final appearance in 2009.

There was a surprise 2011 Grand Final appearance under Chris Waterman before the building blocks were put in place in two challenging seasons to set the tone for this current period dominance.

Under Jarrad Schofield, Subiaco won three premierships from five straight Grand Finals between 2004-18 and then Beau Wardman continued on the legacy with another premiership and top place finish in 2019.

However, the loss of key players, a horror injury run and not dealing with the delayed, shortened seasons as well as other clubs all conspired for a down 2020 season for the Lions which left them with no shortage of motivation coming into 2021.

It wasn’t all easy with the departures of Kyal Horsley, Ben Newton, Rhys Waters and Rowen Powell either coming into 2021, but the Lions were able to be the standout team for much of the home and away season to claim another minor premiership.

That saw them earn a week off to start the finals and then dominate the first half of Saturday's second semi-final against South Fremantle at Leederville Oval before winning by 22 points to move straight into the Grand Final at Optus Stadium.

SECOND SEMI-FINAL MATCH REPORT

WAFL TEAM OF THE YEAR

FINALS ANALYSIS – SUBIACO

For coach Beau Wardman, he set high goals this year of how hard Subiaco could bounce back from the disappointment of last season and he gives credit for the playing group standing up to deliver and now get them into another Grand Final.

"Obviously at the start of the season our first goal to tick off was to make the finals and to now be in the Grand Final after missing out completely last year is a great achievement for the whole club, but we know there is no point making it if you don’t win it so we have one more big job to do," Wardman said on SEN.

"We've had a bit list turnovers over the last couple of years which has been important. Some of our senior players have retired and moved on which has given great opportunities for a number of young guys. 

"I think we've had nine or 10 debutants at league level across the season and we had eight guys playing their first final on Saturday. 

"The most pleasing part was probably those guys really stepping up and it was an equal contribution across the board, and they were able to play the brand and style of footy we've been training for all year. 

"They were able to implement that and it shows that guys who persevere through the colts and reserves get the opportunity to play at league level, and can step up and adjust to that really quickly."

Subiaco was fresh and raring to go for Saturday's second semi-final and after conceding the first goal of the game to South Fremantle, the Lions got rolling to kick the next seven goals of the contest.

They then went on to lead by 40 points to start the second half but still Wardman knew the Bulldogs were going to make a charge having done so the week before in a stirring comeback win in the qualifying final against Claremont.

South Fremantle did make a four-goal run and with Subiaco ranked last in third quarters over the season Wardman was a little concerned, but he was delighted with the way the Lions responded and went on to win the game by 22 points to advance to the Grand Final.

"We knew that they were going to throw everything at us and we addressed that our third quarters haven’t been strong over the last three weeks, but I thought that the boys had settled when Ben Sokol kicked a goal there early in the third quarter," Wardman said.

"But South Fremantle continued to challenge us and I thought the boys showed a fair bit of resolve towards the back end of the quarter to get things back on our terms, and to play the way we want to play a little bit more. 

"We always knew South Fremantle would have their moment in the sun and it was just about restricting the influence that it had across the game. They were able to score reasonably freely in that third quarter but we were able to resist the momentum which was good."

While it's going to be tough to make changes to the 22 that beat South Fremantle in the second semi-final, Wardman and his coaching staff will have some thinking to do with the Lions reserves still alive in the finals too.

There are plenty of players in that group that Wardman would have faith in to bring into a Grand Final too including Matt Johnson, Jordan Faraone, Lewis Putt, Jack Beverley, Kaidyn Fullgrabe and Koby Fullgrabe.

"It has been a challenging couple of weeks in terms of selection because our reserves have found some really good form, and are playing really well with some great consistent contributors in there," Wardman said.

"Young Jordy Faraone is a small forward, Kaidyn Fullgrabe has just come back from injury and there's Jack Beverley and Koby Fullgrabe who are knocking down the door. 

"Then there's Matt Johnson who is part of the 19s squad and potentially a high draft pick who is finding a lot of the ball in the reserves. 

"That's probably kept the league boys honest in terms of what they need to do and a lot of them will get another opportunity to stake their claims in the reserves prelim against Claremont. 

"There then might be a couple of changes for our Grand Final team depending on which opposition we line up against."