Keunen ready to lead Falcons from the ruckFriday, September 20, 2013 - 6:54 PM - by Chris Pike

CHRIS Keunen had to bide his time and show loyalty and patience to become West Perth's No. 1 ruckman and now he will have one of the biggest jobs on the ground in Sunday's grand final against East Perth at Patersons Stadium.

When Keunen arrived at West Perth in 2006 from amateur Victorian club St Bernard's and had to battle with Rob Warnock, Darren Atkinson, Mark Seaby and then Mitch Andrews in the early years for a spot in the ruck, but he has now well and truly cemented himself as the Falcons' No. 1 big man.

While those first few years saw him battling for a spot and now he needs to continue to perform to hold out the emerging Frank Stockley, Keunen has developed into one of the best and most consistent big men in the competition.

The 29-year-old has played 132 games and the 199cm big man has been able to carry the ruck load virtually on his own often being double-teamed by the opposition, and more than holding his own both in the actual ruck contests and in picking up plenty of the ball around the ground.

That will again be the case in this Sunday's grand final against East Perth with the Royals to throw their duo Paul Johnson and Scott Lycett at him.

However, Keunen has stood up to every challenge asked of him since Bill Monaghan took over as coach in 2009 and by now getting to play in his first grand final and West Perth's first since 2003, it's a great reward for him sticking at it and showing loyalty to the Falcons.

"It obviously is a bit of a reward for sticking around when I had a few opportunities to go elsewhere, but being a one club player at the end of the day and having the opportunity to play 100 games at the footy club meant a lot to me," Keunen said.

"Personally when I played my 100th game I said that I probably didn’t work hard enough earlier in my career and I expected things to happen, but now I've had to work harder and force myself into the No. 1 position rather than being in and out of the team.

"Now that I have cemented my spot, I have to keep working hard and playing well because Frank Stockley is chomping at the bit for an opportunity."

When Keunen first arrived at West Perth he thought it might be just a fun experiment to play in the west for a couple of years, but he fell in love with the West Perth Football Club and living in Perth so much that it's now where he will finish his career and continue to live afterwards.

"At the time of moving over I probably thought we'd stay for a couple of years. My girlfriend at the time, now my wife, spoke about staying two years to give it a good opportunity and now we don't even think about going home at all, Perth is our home," he said.

"Back then it was just about playing footy for a club which at that time I had never heard of, but now obviously it's a massive part of my life.

"My name is the first one on the No. 19 locker and now the opportunity to get to 150 games in the next year or two is really what is driving me as is trying to win a premiership with the club."

Even though it did take some time for Keunen to lock in the No. 1 ruck spot, he has had it for several years now and isn’t at all fazed about taking on two ruckmen on his own on Sunday in the grand final because that is exactly when he feels he plays his best football.

"I've been pretty much the only ruckman for the last three or four years now and I'm pretty comfortable with where I'm at fitness-wise and what I can do by myself. It's always nice to have an extra set of legs out there at times to help you out, but I'm pretty confident either way," Keunen said.

"Since I've come over here I have tended to play better football when I have had the role in the ruck to myself because to me coming on and off the bench loses a bit of your momentum, but if I can stay out there you get into a groove and work into the game better.

"That is something I have had to work on as well because in Victoria I was used to smaller grounds but playing on the bigger grounds like Joondalup has helped me get my fitness base right up there."

Keunen does need to keep performing, though, because Stockley has dominated in the reserves throughout 2013 and won the Prendergast Medal for the best player in the competition.

However, Keunen knows exactly how he feels and hopes Stockley stays patient because he will be the ideal partner for Keunen when the coaching staff want two ruckmen and he's the perfect replacement for him when he retires in the next one, two or three years.

"If he sticks at it, he's already shown what he can do both in the reserves and league team, then it's just about him grabbing those chances when they come," he said.

"He is fantastic around the club, he loves everyone at the club and is always smiling and happy, and having a laugh and joking around with everyone. He is passionate about what he's doing and the footy club, and if he sticks with it obviously more opportunities will come his way."

Keunen has no doubt that his first finals victory in the second semi-final over Claremont at Claremont Oval was the highlight of his career, but just making a grand final isn’t something anyone wants to settle for, they want to win the premiership.

Keunen is glad to be sharing the grand final with teammates like Jason Salecic, Matt Guadagnin, Ray Bartholomew, Andrew Strijk and Dan Hunt, though, who he has played his entire career at the Falcons with.

"For sure it was the best moment in my career so far, it was pretty special. It's a bit hard to explain because at the same time you are stoked to be in it, but you know you still have another game to go," Keunen said.

"It was a matter of trying to keep a lid on it but enjoying the moment at the same time because it obviously doesn’t come around too often. We knew that having played in two prelims before and being beaten in them so the opportunity to now get to play in a grand final is fantastic.

"It's fantastic to share a grand final now with guys like Dan Hunt, Jason Salecic and Matt Guadagnin who have been around a lot longer than me. The one we are most disappointed for is 'Slick' for missing out on this, but for us older guys who have now played a lot of footy together it's going to be a special moment to run out there. It has been 10 years since the club has been in a grand final so it's going to be great to try and create some history for the club."

Keunen is looking forward to now being involved in the very first contest of the grand final when he contests the centre bounce up against Johnson, and he is confident that he can match the experienced big man throughout the day on what will be the biggest day of his career.

"It will be a pretty special moment to be part of that first bounce down of the game, and making the first contest. Hopefully I can have a big influence in that and get the game off to the right start for us," Keunen said.

"I think I have done OK against him in the past. Obviously he is a big possession winner for them so I have to try to quell him getting the footy around the ground, particularly around the forward 50 where he can score goals. He is also good at running forward hard from a contest so I just have to try to stop him getting forward of the play as much as I can.

"It is going to be a massive event. There is talk that the crowd is possibly going to be huge. It doesn’t matter who you play, it's a grand final so everything is going to step up. Just because it's a derby that will add a little bit of spice particularly in the first five or 10 minutes when everyone's adrenaline is pumping, but at the end of the day it's a grand final and you just have to do your best to try and win the premiership."

BY CHRIS PIKE