Schofield confident Lions can bounce back to reach grand finalFriday, September 12, 2014 - 10:21 AM - by Chris Pike

SUBIACO coach Jarrad Schofield remains confident his team will bounce back from last Sunday's second semi-final loss to East Perth and get over East Fremantle in this Sunday's preliminary final to earn another crack at the Royals in the grand final.

Subiaco was the only team to not taste defeat at the hands of East Perth during the 2014 home and away season on the way to finishing in second position on the ladder, but the Lions came up short to the tune of 32 points in last Sunday's second semi-final clash at Medibank Stadium.

The Lions now have another chance to reach the grand final of 2014 by hosting the Sharks this Sunday again at Medibank Stadium and Schofield remains confident his team will bounce back well from the loss to East Perth.

"I think our group has grown so much this year that they will respond in the right way and you know it's going to be a tough contest against East Fremantle who finished off strongly last week," Schofield said.

"It's a cut-throat final and there are no second chances now so we want to make sure that we field a better side than what we had on the weekend."

Schofield didn’t necessarily think that Subiaco stepped up to the occasion of a second semi-final last Sunday.

However, with Rhys Waters, Chris Deluca, Matt Boland, Brett Mahoney, Lachlan Delahunty, Josh Deluca, Joel Latham, Alliston Pickett, Shane Yarran, Charles Le Fanu, Daniel Leishman, Justin Joyce and Andrew McDougall all playing their first WAFL final he thinks they will be much better off for the run come this Sunday against East Fremantle.

"I think they just out worked us, they were stronger over the footy, and out worked us both ways, we weren’t at our best in that area," he said.

"For 14 of our players who hadn’t played finals football, they got a good eye opener and hopefully they’ll learn from it, that’s the main thing."

Schofield has identified the areas his team didn’t go too well in against East Fremantle, but he knows more than anything it is a mindset thing and they need to be ready to put everything on the line this Sunday if they hope to reach the club's first grand final since 2011.

"We’ll stay positive, assess all the areas we need to improve on, and there are two that really stand out, other than that our boys should be up and about," he said.

"We’ve got a chance to redeem ourselves and we’ve got our reserves side in the grand final already, yes we didn’t perform at our best but we get another chance to get in there.

"Our boys have to understand that we’re playing at a different level of intensity. We need to understand that it’s cut throat, there’s no second chances now, we’ve come up against a side that has taught us lesson about playing finals like football."

Schofield might also look to make a couple of changes to his team with ruckman Frank Stockley likely to return along with George Hampson while Kyle Halligan comes back into the mix after six goals in last Sunday's reserves second semi-final win over West Perth.

If Stockley plays, it will be the first time that he and Andrew McDougall have teamed together but there is plenty of options that Schofield still has to weigh up.

"We have got a couple of boys who have been hitting the scoreboard as the half-forward type players who can be dangerous on their day," Schofield said.

"We have some senior players who have been coming back through the reserves like a Scott Worthington who was unlucky to miss out on the weekend. I would think that he would push for selection because of his experience and leadership."

"When you play so well you’ve got to have a look at a few boys that are playing in the reserves, guys like Elliot, Worthington, Halligan, Daniels, Stockley, Bogensperger Bryan, there’s probably a good six or seven players we’ll look at.

"We’ll look at the balance of the side and try and get the right mix to get a win."