Tigers confident in roaring from fifth positionSaturday, September 2, 2023 - 1:57 PM - by Chris Pike

DESPITE finishing in fifth position, there's no shortage of self-belief at Claremont that the elusive first premiership in 11 years is possible and with somebody like Bailey Rogers back in Sandover Medal winning form, you wouldn’t write them off.

For 14 of the 20 weeks during the home and away season, Claremont sat inside a top three position which would have guaranteed the Tigers a finals double chance at least as they chase that first premiership since 2012.

Claremont did win 10 of the first 12 games of the season on the back of losing two of the last three WAFL Grand Finals and making finals every season since 2017, but then a four-game losing streak had a finals position in jeopardy altogether.

However, Claremont hit back to beat Swan Districts and Perth over the last two rounds of the home and away season to lock in a sixth straight finals appearance, but they will have to do it from fifth position starting with an elimination final against East Perth this Sunday at Leederville Oval.

A big part in Claremont scoring the wins the last two weeks to secure a finals place has been the season-best form of 2021 Sandover Medallist Rogers who has combined for 58 possessions and six goals in the wins against the Swans and Demons.

Belief in being able to go all the way from fifth

Rogers is now 134 games into his WAFL career with Claremont and has been there for all the finals battles over the past five years which included the losing Grand Finals to South Fremantle in 2020 and West Perth in 2022.

He is a match-winner like very few others in the WAFL competition with what he can do both in the midfield and as a forward, and that's considering he spent the first half of his career with the Tigers as an attacking defender off half-back.

However, all Rogers ultimately cares about is that team success after five years now of finals heartache of varying degrees. Even from fifth position and knowing it would take four wins to win a premiership over the next month, he's confident it's within their capabilities.

"We're pretty relieved to make the top five after going through a rough patch for a month that started six weeks ago. But we're very happy to be in the top five and we know our best can match it with anyone and we can still go the whole way from here," Rogers told 91.3 SportFM.

"We spoke about having belief after the game on Saturday and it's definitely there throughout the whole club, and us in the club rooms at presentations it's definitely there. You can feel it. We do have to do it the hard way but we definitely believe we can.

"We'll definitely go in confident no matter what, but we have played finals for the last few years and the tempo does go up a little bit on game day. Hopefully we can settle a bit earlier than East Perth might be able to and we'll see how it goes from there."

Tough patch late in the season 

Coming off another heartbreaking Grand Final loss last year ironically at the same venue as this Sunday's elimination final, Claremont started 2023 brilliantly winning 10 of the first 12 games to appear more likely to be competing for the minor premiership than anything.

However, a run of four straight losses to East Perth, West Perth, East Fremantle and Peel Thunder left the Tigers in jeopardy of making the finals altogether in 2023.

They managed to steady the ship and beat Swan Districts and Perth to book in another finals place, and Rogers just feels performing over four quarters is what they need to focus on getting right.

"I think we got a bit unlucky in that stretch but that's no excuse," he said.

"We played some pretty good football throughout games still, but when we looked back on it, it was four quarter performances where we were lacking. 

"We played three good quarters in all four of those games just about but it was one quarter that let us down, and that was it between winning and losing. 

"We were pretty disappointed in that, but the last couple of weeks there's been a real focus on playing four quarters and it's been good to be able to do so, and build that into finals."

Feeling heading into the finals

Since winning the 2021 Sandover Medal where Rogers was widely regarded as the best match winning performer in the competition, it's been a challenging last couple of seasons just from a physical standpoint.

His body never fully allowed him to reach his peak again in 2022 despite still contributing strongly, and then after a terrific start to 2023, he injured an ankle in Round 6 and wasn’t able to make it back until Round 12 for the Tigers.

It's been a bit of a slow build since, but his performances against Swans and the Demons the past two weeks show that he's right back on top of his game, and he has full confidence his body is ready to play whatever role he's asked during the finals.

"My body is feeling very good and we've done a lot of work on it since I've returned to play, and it's coming good at the right time of the season," Rogers said.

"That's good for me but as for the other ones, it's a bit of a waiting game and we'll do as much as we can to get them up to play at some point during the finals if we continue to progress. 

"I've been playing the majority of forward since coming back from my ankle injury, but the last two weeks I've started inside and then rotate forward which is my game usually. 

"I'm very confident in the body now with how it's gone the last couple of weeks, and the match fitness is there so if required, I'm needed to play 90 per cent inside I'm confident the body would get through."

Teammate reaching 150 games

While Rogers will need to wait until 2024 to reach his own 150-game milestone with Claremont to earn life membership, he couldn’t have been happier for teammate and fellow Sandover Medallist Jye Bolton to reach the mark a week ago.

The pair have spent their entire WAFL careers together at Claremont dating back to 2016 even if they did come from significantly different backgrounds. Rogers can't speak more highly of his dual Sandover Medal, four-time Simpson Medal and three-time fairest and best winning teammate.

"Jye and myself started in the senior program at Claremont in the same year so he's been there since the beginning for me," Rogers said. 

"He has been an absolute warrior for the football club and will go down as one of the greats at Tigerland, and in the WAFL. 

"I can't even put into words what he's done for my career and how he's helped me along the way, and he has also done a huge amount for the football club. I know he should be very proud of what he's done for himself and for the football club, and I'm sure he is."

Young gun finding feet ahead of draft

Another teammate who is at the other end of his career and set to be a high AFL draft pick later this year is Dan Curtin. 

He has now played the last four games at league level with Claremont and will be out there again on Sunday against East Perth to get a taste of finals action. Rogers has no doubt he is going to be an AFL star for a long time to come.

"I've seen nothing like it before and I'm amazed at what he can do on the football field, and with the person he is," Rogers said. 

"He's so humble around the football club and selfishly I wish he could stay here for another 10 years at Claremont, but he's going to be an awesome AFL player.

"I haven't seen too much of Harley Reid, but he must be a pretty good player if he's getting rated higher than Dan Curtin I tell you that much."