He then combined for 42 possessions over the first two final wins over Swan Districts and Claremont, but had a relatively quiet grand final finishing with 12 disposals.

2. Steven Payne - 4
The hard-running wingman had played just 27 matches in the last two years for the Royals, but did well to cement himself in the side in 2013 having played every game from Round 9 onwards where he averaged over 18 possessions a game during the home and away season.

The veteran might be nearing 150 games to become a life member at East Perth but his new coach for 2013 Brian Dawson challenged him early in the season by dropping him and returned in Round 15 to find one of the best patches of form of his entire career.

He then was one of East Perth's better players in the grand final with two first quarter goals and finishing with 16 disposals, six marks, six tackles and four entries inside the forward 50.

4. Cameron Grover - 6
Played 15 games during the home and away season with the Royals averaging over 14 possessions, but couldn’t quite hold his spot in the side for the first two finals that East Perth won over Swan Districts and Claremont.

However, with Freddie Clutterbuck hurting his hamstring in the preliminary final it was the 20-year-old who got the nod to take his place in the grand final team and he made a good contribution as well with 15 possessions, four marks and three inside 50s.

5. Aaron Sweet - 8
The usual defender has moved further up the field in 2013 to play more in the midfield and even at times across half-forward, and the form of the 103-game player has been terrific and he backed that up with an outstanding performance in the grand final for the Royals.

The 24-year-old did all he could to try to give the Royals a chance to win their first premiership since 2002 and finished the grand final with 29 possessions and six entries inside the forward 50.

6. Kyle Anderson – 6.5
The defender might have missed the first 10 rounds of the 2013 season but once he was fit to go for Round 11 he became the staple of the Royals back-line and one of the very best lockdown defenders in the competition.

The unique nature of the West Perth forward-line meant that he didn’t have a traditional key forward to line up on, though, and spent most of his afternoon opposed to Falcons full-forward Matt Fowler.

Fowler did kick two goals but Anderson held him to just the four kicks and he picked up 11 possessions and three rebounds from the defensive 50 himself.

7. Brendan Lee - 9
The East Perth co-captain was tremendous for several seasons before earning his chance in the AFL with Essendon in 2012 where he ended up winning the VFL side's best and fairest award before returning to the Royals in 2013 where he has taken his football up another level further.

He averaged over 27 possessions a game while also dominating the clearances, and then he put together an outstanding grand final for East Perth as he did absolutely everything in his power to try and help the Royals win the premiership.

The 26-year-old finished the game with 37 possessions, 10 clearances, four inside 50s, four marks and three tackles as one of the very best players on the ground despite the result not going East Perth's way.

11. Ryan Maldenis – 5.5
Has been transformed in the second half of the season from a midfielder over the past 12 months to being a defender given some big jobs of playing on some of the competition's best small forwards.

Coming off a terrific battle with Claremont's Ian Richardson in the preliminary final, his coach Brian Dawson gave him the role of lining up on West Perth captain, and the only premiership player going into the game, Jason Salecic.

Maldenis gathered nine possessions himself and had a good battle with Salecic all afternoon.

12. Marcus White - 5
The 22-year-old arrived at East Perth ahead of the 2012 season after time in the AFL with North Melbourne and had a terrific first season, but he had to fight hard to cement his spot in 2013.

He played the first eight games of 2013 before two weeks in the reserves, then getting injured and playing one match in Round 15 before getting hurt again.

He played two more reserves matches in Rounds 21 and 22, and then returned to the league line-up for the last two rounds of the season, played the first semi and preliminary finals to cement his spot in the defence for the grand final.

Spent time lining up on some of West Perth's smaller forwards and resting midfielders, mostly Steve Potente, and did a solid enough job while picking up just the seven disposals and two rebounds from the defensive 50 himself.

13. Craig Wulff - 8
Made his league debut with East Perth in 2002 but wasn’t part of the premiership team of that year, and over the decade since has put together a career that has made him one of the most beloved and respected Royals players in recent memory.

It took until the 225th game of his career for him to play his first grand final and the co-captain led the Royals out onto Patersons Stadium, tossed the coin and then performed tremendously solidly for himself but despite East Perth not quite getting the job done in the end.

The 30-year-old finished the grand final with 24 possessions, seven clearances, six tackles and a goal while playing much of the game across half-forward while spending some time in the middle as well.

15. Josh Smith - 5.5
The Bernie Naylor Medallist for 2013 as the league's leading goalkicker has cemented himself as the best big key forward target in the competition since returning to the WAFL since returning from North Melbourne in 2011.

In that time, he has played 63 games for the Royals and kicked 177 goals including 62 in the home and away season of 2013, and then after just one in the first semi-final win over Swan Districts he booted four in the preliminary final victory over Claremont.

That set up a grand final against his original WAFL club West Perth before he went to North Melbourne, and he was matched up on by a former Falcons teammate of his Dan Hunt on Sunday and the pair had a terrific battle.

His two goals came either side of quarter-time but his supply dried up in the second half and he didn’t add to his tally finishing with seven possessions and three marks.

16. Jarrad Oakley-Nicholls - 3
He missed the first eight rounds of the season through injury but made an immediate impact with 29 possessions in Round 9 against Swan Districts before going on to average 20.5 disposals over the last 12 games of the home and away season.

While he has played the majority of his 68-game WAFL career as a half-forward/wingman, with coach Brian Dawson playing others in new forward roles, Oakley-Nicholls was shifted to half-back and showed that he was clearly suited to that role being able to provide run and drive from the defence.

While he didn’t have a great grand final with just eight possessions and three tackles, the move of him to half-back worked well enough in the latter part of the season that it deserves to be continued with.

18. Jacob Derickx – 6
The 22-year-old had managed just 24 games over the last three years before making his league debut with East Perth in 2010, but he cemented his spot this year as the man in the back-line regularly given the jobs of matching up on the opposition's biggest forwards.

Played every game during 2013 and then in the grand final he had the job on West Perth tall teenager Nick Rodda, and the two had a terrific battle. Rodda kicked two goals but Derickx did well also opposed to him and had just the seven disposals but his main job isn’t to pick up the possessions.

19. Paul Johnson - 6.5
Has been the best ruckman in the competition the last two years with East Perth since signing on with his 70-game AFL career with West Coast, Melbourne and Hawthorn came to an end.

During 2013, he captained WA to a state game win over Victoria in Northam and also finished as runner-up in the Sandover Medal, but conditions in the grand final didn’t necessarily suit him.

He did spend the majority of the game on the ball with some help from Scott Lycett up against West Perth's Chris Keunen, and the 29-year-old worked hard to finish with 10 possessions, 46 hit outs, six clearances, five inside 50s, four tackles and three rebounds from the defensive 50.

20. Blayne Wilson - 7
The West Coast-listed defender was in his first season with East Perth after previously playing 36 games with Peel Thunder, and had a terrific year both with the Royals and also in his first taste of AFL football with the Eagles.

During the grand final, he was matched up most of the day on Fremantle forward Josh Mellington who kicked 2.4 and threatened to tear the game apart if he kicked straight, but Wilson also played well for the Royals finishing with 22 disposals and a massive 13 rebounds from the defensive 50.

22. Scott Lycett – 5.5
The West Coast big man has shown some good signs throughout the 2013 season with the Royals as a key forward who backs up Paul Johnson in the ruck, and that earned him a chance to show what he can do in the AFL with the Eagles when Nic Naitanui went down.

He then returned for the East Perth finals campaign and kicked four goals in the first semi-final win over Swan Districts, had a good preliminary final win over Claremont and then made a solid contribution in the grand final mostly as a forward and the back-up ruckman.

Finished the game with eight disposals, 36 hit outs and two goals.

27. Jamie Cripps – 5
The West Coast small man kicked five goals in the first semi-final win over Swan Districts and then booted another three in the preliminary final win over Claremont to clearly be a player that West Perth had to be mindful of heading into the grand final.

He finished the grand final with just the 10 possessions but kicked three goals all in the second half. He booted East Perth's last two goals of the game, and three of their last four of the game against the tide when West Perth was well on its way to victory.

28. Cale Morton – 4.5
Has been good at times this season with East Perth and had some high possession games when allowed to run out into open space and do his own thing, which did happen in the first two finals but didn’t in the grand final.

Spent most of the day on the wing, but couldn’t find a heap of the ball in the tough and hard conditions the game was played in, and finished with 15 disposals and four rebounds from the defensive 50.

37. Mitchell Fraser – 5.5
The 19-year-old broke into the league side for East Perth in Round 9 and never looked back cementing his spot as a small defender.

Had the job of playing on West Perth's Marc Crisp for much of the grand final and the pair had an enthralling battle, with Fraser finishing the game with 12 possessions and he looks a definite exciting player of the future for the Royals.

39. Adam Selwood – 8
The retired West Coast AFL premiership player from 2006 had become an important player in the East Perth line-up in the back half of the 2013 season and certainly in the first two weeks of finals.

Despite coming into the grand final with a calf injury and being a little worse for wear in the physical grand final contest, he worked tirelessly in the midfield for the Royals and finished with 32 possessions, 10 clearances, four tackles and three inside-50 entries.

44. Michael Swan – 6.5
The former captain arrived at East Perth in 2003 on the back of his brother David playing in the hat-trick of premierships the three years before, but it took another decade and him playing 172 games before his 173rd match for the Royals became his first grand final appearance.

Has been an inspirational, courageous and tough performer for East Perth in every one of those previous 172 matches and the first grand final of his career was no different with the 32-year-old booting a good set shot goal midway through the second quarter. He also finished the game with 14 possessions.

46. Arthur Bennell - 2
The small forward had played three matches for the East Perth league side in 2011 and didn’t manage to add to that in 2012 while playing nine reserves matches, but the battle to be the Royals crumbing forward this year became a fascinating one.

Bennell did play six matches straight between Rounds 4 and 10, but then played just two more matches before Round 23 but he then booted four goals in that game against South Fremantle, three more the week after against Subiaco and then a goal each in the two finals win over Swan Districts and Claremont respectively.

He couldn’t quite get into the grand final, though, in the tight conditions and went scoreless from four kicks and a clearance.