Sharks turn attention back to WAFL seasonFriday, July 19, 2013 - 11:06 AM - by Chris Pike

EAST Fremantle has the Foxtel Cup grand final and potential $100,000 windfall in the back of its mind but the Sharks turn their attention immediately back to trying to stay alive in the race for a WAFL finals appearance for 2013.

The Sharks qualified for the Tuesday August 6 Foxtel Cup grand final against the SANFL's West Adelaide at AAMI Stadium after a quarter-final win in Adelaide over Norwood and then a semi-final triumph over Werribee in incredibly wet conditions at Patersons Stadium.

That is a terrific result for the Sharks and now they have one eye on the grand final in three weeks time but more immediately last year's WAFL grand finalists return to regular duties and face Subiaco in a must-win WAFL clash this Saturday at East Fremantle Oval.

East Fremantle's two-time State defender Andrew Stephen is certainly making no secret of the fact that the Sharks know the benefits to their club of doing well in the Foxtel Cup both in terms of trying to win the lucrative prize money but also in terms of putting their club out on a national stage.

"Obviously our main focus is still on the WAFL competition and hopefully pushing up to the top-four, but the boys were absolutely ecstatic after the game and we have taken this competition really seriously," Stephen said.

"We want to win $100,000, it's as simple as that. The boys will do anything possible. There is a lot of commitment in doing it because if we have to go to Adelaide again we have to take three days off work and that's not easy to do especially with different employers.

"We love the competition and we think it's fantastic, and guys get to play on the big stage on Foxtel on national TV. To win $100,000 would be fantastic."

Stephen has no doubt that obviously with the $100,000 for winning next month will be huge for East Fremantle, but even without it the exposure and positive press the Sharks have received from doing well in the Foxtel Cup could do well in attracting potential new recruits and sponsors going forward.

"We are one of those clubs who needs all the support we can get financially," Stephen said.

"I know we get quite a bit of support when we get kids drafted, but to win $100,000 that's a big major sponsor so it would be fantastic for the club. All the staff are really looking forward to us playing in the Foxtel Cup grand final.

"If you put your brand out there and get that exposure, people's eyes light up a bit. If we continue to play in a competition like the Foxtel Cup, then why wouldn’t you want to try and come and play for East Fremantle or be a sponsor or involved in some way. It's fantastic for the brand and it's not only good for this year, but also the future with our recruiting and things like that."

As for the incredibly wet conditions at Patersons Stadium in the semi-final win over Werribee, Stephen had never played in anything like it but was glad to see his Sharks handle the conditions much better than the VFL club.

"It was incredible conditions. We haven’t had that much rain over here for the last couple of months and to have it all fall on one night within two hours of playing footy it was incredible. It was nothing like a lot of the boys have ever experienced before," he said.

"The drainage probably wasn’t great over that side of the ground but most of it was pretty good until that second half when the rain really came down. At the end of the game, we were trudging through the change rooms in a foot of water and it was just incredible scenes down there. Thankfully we won."

As for the 2013 WAFL season, East Fremantle currently sits in sixth position with a 6-8 record to be two games outside the top-four but with a superior percentage to East Perth and Perth in the spots above.

With just six games to go, the Sharks will likely have to win all of them to remain a chance of backing up last year's grand final appearance to earn a finals spot again but for Stephen he knows that East Fremantle has the ability and it's just about trying to win a game at a time to stay alive.

"Our destiny is still in our own hands. If we keep winning, other sides are going to generally lose a couple of games anyway here and there, and we lifted our percentage up a fair bit in our last game as well," he said.

"We just have to concentrate on what we can do and that's beat Subiaco this week and then I think we have South Fremantle the week after that. We can't look too far ahead because when you do that it's when you start bringing other things into it.

"From our point of view, we are just concentrating on getting good form up leading to the end of the season and if we are in the finals, it will be because we deserve it rather than just sneaking in there to make up the numbers."

Remarkably, East Fremantle now takes on Subiaco again this Saturday at East Fremantle Oval after also playing the Lions two weeks ago prior to last weekend's bye.

The Sharks won that game at Medibank Stadium by 66 points and also beat Subiaco earlier this year by 69 points, but Stephen is well aware of Subiaco's dominance over East Fremantle this century so it taking nothing for granted heading into this week's clash.

"It's well documented that we have had a bad 10 years against them so it's great to get the win over them because they have been such a good side for a long time," Stephen said.

"To dominate them in both games so far this year has been good and now we've got them again so we will go in with confidence for that game, but it's going to be equally as hard because they might change a few things up and we are looking forward to it."