Tigers defender looking to end preliminary final painThursday, September 22, 2022 - 2:07 PM - by Chris Pike

EVER reliable Claremont defender Declan Hardisty is hoping its third time lucky for the Tigers against East Fremantle in Sunday's WAFL preliminary final as he readies himself for a big task and tries to put past finals pain behind him.

Since making his debut for Claremont in 2018 having come through the proven ranks of colts football back in 2016 and PSA football at Scotch College, Hardisty has been a mainstay of the Tigers' back-line.

He is now an 88-game WAFL player already despite being just 24 years of age and rarely has been beaten, and even more rarely has he not been tremendously reliable and consistent in the back-line for Claremont over the last five years.

And it has been a good five-year period to be part of the Claremont team with him playing finals in each season he's been playing league football with the Tigers, and winning at least one final in each of the past five seasons now.

However, there's been pain along the way too especially against South Fremantle at Fremantle Community Bank Oval where Hardisty and his Claremont team lost the 2020 Grand Final along with the preliminary finals both in 2019 and 2021.

The positive is there's no trips to Fremantle Oval or playing South Fremantle this finals series for Hardisty and Claremont, but heading to East Fremantle's New Choice Homes Park on Sunday for the preliminary final isn’t too far removed.

Claremont hasn’t won a premiership now since 2012, ironically when they beat East Fremantle in the Grand Final, but there are no players left from that team and the hunger to cap off a successful five years by at least reaching the decider against West Perth is strong.

Whether or not the pain of going so close over the last four years spurs on Hardisty and the other teammates who have been part of it, or if it's just that drive to get the ultimate success, whatever it is there's no shortage of motivation heading into Sunday's preliminary final.

"We're all really hungry I think to get to that next stage and top it off with a flag so we're all doing everything that we can to get there and make it a year to remember," Hardisty said.

"You're never going to play this same group of teammates two years in-a-row so we feel like this year is a really good chance to go all the way.

"I don’t know if that pain is the biggest motivator, but it's definitely up there and you reflect on those things. I personally always go back to that Grand Final down at South Freo and it stings in the moment, but even more so when you carry it with you. 

"But I think you try and build on that and make sure that when you do play you give it everything so you aren’t regretting any performances after the fact if you do fall short."

There's an added piece of intrigue coming into Sunday's preliminary final with East Fremantle having comprehensively outplayed Claremont twice inside the last month.

The Sharks beat the Tigers by 45 points in Round 19 at Revo Fitness Stadium and then by 48 in the qualifying final at Shark Park.

That means that one or two things can happen, the Sharks can continue to hold the wood over them with a Grand Final spot on the line or Claremont can turn the tide.

"You'd hope that it wouldn't happen again three times in-a-row and we're certainly planning on turning it around," Hardisty said.

"It's just going to come down to doing the basics and playing that effort-based team footy that we've kind of built our season on. It's gotten us to where we are now and we're just going to back that in and see how we go."

What the match up likely means for Hardisty on Sunday is a renewal of his budding one-on-one rivalry with East Fremantle spearhead Jonathon Marsh.

Marsh kicked three goals two weeks ago in the qualifying final and four two weeks prior to that in Round 19, but given the way East Fremantle outplayed Claremont all over the ground, Hardisty actually did as well as you could expect on an opponent with his tail up.

Hardisty is looking forward to the challenge once again of likely getting the job on Marsh and given the pride he takes in his defensive prowess, he'll back himself to limit his influence the best he can.

"He's obviously one of the top forwards in the comp so whenever I'm going up against a strong player like that I always approach it from a point of respecting their ability and what they can do," he said.

"Then I just do everything I can through determination and all that to try and minimise their impact on the game. I see that as my role on the team so I do all I can to do that the best I can and hopefully by me doing that it helps the team win."

Hardisty played alongside some quality experienced defenders early in his career at Claremont that helped hasten his development. 

The one that stands out is Anton Hamp and while he certainly isn’t looking past East Fremantle this week, but a Grand Final battle with West Perth the following Saturday at Leederville Oval where Hardisty lines up on Hamp in the Falcons forward-line would be quite the occasion.

"I do take a huge amount of pride on my defensive work and it's what I've built my career in the WAFL on. I've worked pretty hard at it and I've been lucky enough to learn from a few really good defenders at Claremont earlier in my career," Hardisty said.

"Anton Hamp is the one that immediately springs to mind and I played with him for the majority of my career and learned a lot of important lessons from him which are still helping me in really good stead. 

"I've tried to use that to develop into a defensive player who can shut down some of the best forwards in the league. It would be kind of fitting if everything works out and I end up playing on him in a Grand Final should we be lucky enough to get there."

Coming off the disappointment of the eight-goal loss to East Fremantle in the qualifying final, Claremont responded impressively and there was a noticeable lift in their intensity, physicality and ball movement in this past Sunday's first semi-final against Peel Thunder.

As a result the Tigers ran out 59-point winners to ensure they have won a final in five straight seasons, and Hardisty hopes they can continue that momentum on Sunday.

"We just got back to the basics of our game plan which is based on effort and selfless team play. That's given ourselves a chance to go back down to East Freo and have another crack, and hopefully get into a Grand Final," he said.

"The East Freo game the last time we went down there we just went away from the basics I think and the simple things. 

"It's something we spoke about after the game and in the lead up to the game against Peel as well is just how every member of the team can contribute and play their role, and help the team win. 

"That's kind of been our focus now leading into this week's game as well, we're just keeping simple and everyone has to do what they can to help the team win."

Since the redevelopment at Claremont Oval it's become quite the enclosed venue and while it might not be able to hold a whole lot of people, when a strong crowd like there was on Sunday of 3730 is there, the atmosphere is fantastic.

With that atmosphere on their home turf to play in front of, then to win a cut-throat final impressively and to celebrate the 150th game of Ryan Lim meant that it was quite the memorable occasion for Hardisty and everyone at Claremont.

"It was pretty epic playing there on the weekend. The atmosphere when it's packed in gets really loud out there on the ground and that makes it all the more exciting to play out there in front of what seems like 10,000 people," Hardisty said.

"The noise and everything is really good, and obviously to get the win for Limmy's 150th just makes it all the more worthwhile as well. We kind of said after the game that the milestone is really special in itself but if you don’t get the win and make it win then it kind of falls by the wayside a little bit."

Now with a Grand Final spot on the line on Sunday there's no denying it's not just another game for Hardisty to be preparing for this week.

He doesn’t need to be told what's at stake having already lost two preliminary finals, but he's doing his best to just stay focused on the job at hand.

"The whole team is pretty excited and we're all filled with belief i think that we can get it done, but I personally do try and treat it like another game," Hardisty said.

"I've just been kind of focusing on going back to basics and focusing on my role and doing what I can do to help the team win. If that's playing on Jono Marsh or someone else then that's what I'll focus on and hopefully get it done."