Lion Davey rapt to reach 50 WAFL gamesFriday, March 28, 2014 - 11:18 AM - by Chris Pike

IT HAS taken Abe Davey five years since his league debut to reach 50 games with Subiaco to be just a sixth of the way to Kris Miller's 300, but he already knows the South Fremantle champion well and got the chance to play on him again in last Saturday night's season-opening win.

Since making the move to Perth from Condingup, near Esperance, Davey made his league debut with Subiaco in 2009 and now has played 46 of the Lions' last 64 games as a half-back who can lock down on an opponent or provide plenty of run and drive either out of the back-line or off the wing.

He will now play his 50th league game for the Lions this Saturday when they take on East Fremantle in Geraldton, and the 24-year-old is proud to get to the 50-game mark.

"It has obviously taken me a few years to get to the 50 games, and I'm happy to get there now," Davey said.

"To be honest, I was more focused on just getting a couple of games when I came up from Esperance.

"I played colts when I first got here and sort of came in on the back end of the Subi glory years so it was pretty tough getting a game in those first couple of years, but I'm rapt to get to 50 games now."

It has become commonplace in Subiaco-South Fremantle games in recent seasons to see Davey line-up on this week's 300-game milestone man Miller as well, and that was again the case last Saturday night in the Lions' 38-point win over the Bulldogs at Leederville's Medibank Stadium.

It was an impressive first-up win for Subiaco to kick off the 2014 season in perfect fashion.

"There were plenty of positives from the game. We had a new group in and had only 13 players from our team last year lining up, so it was a new group," he said.

"It was pretty tight right up until half-time but we kept to our structures, everyone played their role and we ended up having a pretty decent win in the end."

Subiaco now will jump on a plane for its Round 2 clash this Saturday to take on East Fremantle in Geraldton, and given he is from the country himself, Davey is looking forward to it.

"We are flying out on Saturday morning before the game with both teams on that flight, and then we are staying the night after the game and coming back on Sunday," Davey said.

"It definitely has some positives behind it and we are still a bit of a new group I suppose, so all the bonding that we can have together will benefit us in the long run so everyone is looking forward to the trip.

"I absolutely can't wait. We had a bit of a taste of a country trip two years ago when we went to Esperance and the boys really get around it. It's great to also have a bit of a change of atmosphere and to get to play some country footy."

Subiaco has recruited well coming into 2014 with the additions of the likes of Matt Boland, Lachlan Delahunty, Frank Stockley, Wayde Twomey and the returning Shaun Hildebrandt.

One player that Davey saw up close in last Saturday's win over South Fremantle was last year's State game Simpson Medal winner Twomey.

Having played 98 games in the WAFL with Swan Districts, the 2010 premiership player has joined the Lions this year and now will play his 100th game in the competition this Saturday as well alongside Davey.

"I actually played down back with Twoms so I got to see firsthand how he goes about it. He is just so good at using the footy and he is already our general down back," Davey said.

"Whenever we can get the ball into his hands, he makes us look good. He also knows how to find the footy and it's definitely good to play down back with him."

Another player who was outstanding in the win over the Bulldogs was usual defender turned midfielder Chris Phelan who racked up 32 possessions for the game, but Davey wouldn’t mind seeing him return to the back-line at some point.

"He is a good man the Phez man. He likes playing in the midfield and I think it gives him a bit more freedom, and as you saw on the weekend he knows how to find it and he can be damaging when he does," he said.

"Whether he plays midfield the whole year I'm not sure or not and he has had problems with his groins, but he also has the option of coming back so that always gives Schoey that flexibility."

Goals haven’t always been easy to come by for Subiaco since the retirement of Brad Smith and the departures of David Mapleston and Blake Broadhurst, but it wasn’t a problem last weekend with Rhys Waters booting five, Boland four and Shane Yarran three. 

"A big focus has been on trying to find some goal kickers and the forward-line looked quite lively on the weekend. There were some lively types down there and George Hampson played half-forward as well," Davey said.

"Having the big key target Matty Boland down there really straightens us up so the forward-line is working hard on their set ups, and finishing off is one of the main focuses they've had since the pre-season as well. It all worked out well on the weekend.