Subiaco grand final player ratingsThursday, September 25, 2014 - 12:23 AM - by Chris Pike

SUBIACO pulled off a stunning WAFL grand final victory over East Perth on Sunday at Patersons Stadium to claim the 2014 premiership with veterans, youngsters and recruits all pivotal to the triumph of the Lions.

1. Jason Bristow – 9.5
The 30-year-old had been a tremendous servant for Subiaco since arriving in 2008 from Melbourne but he was simply outstanding in the grand final victory as the best player on the ground and deservedly winning the Simpson Medal.

After missing the 2008 premiership and then playing in the losing grand finals of 2009 and 2011, the flag is a just reward for the service provided over 114 matches.

He had already proved himself able to deliver in a grand final as Subiaco's best player in the 2011 loss to Claremont, but this time he led his team to a flag with his physical approach perfectly suited to the wet conditions.

He finished with 27 possessions, seven clearances, five tackles, four inside-50 entries and a crucial goal just before three quarter-time.

4. Rhys Waters – 6.5
Having not been able to cement himself fully in the league side coming into 2014 having played 32 league games the past three years, the dangerous half-forward became an important member of the Subiaco team and was again a key contributor to the premiership.

Having kicked 34 goals during the season while also doing well putting pressure on and setting up play across half-forward, the 20-year-old is now a premiership player with Subiaco and in the grand final he had 16 disposals, laid five tackles, won three clearances and kicked a goal.

5. Kyal Horsley – 9
Already a premiership player back in 2008, the 27-year-old became a premiership captain and led his team tremendously right through the season, and then in the grand final.

He missed the preliminary final win over East Fremantle with injury, but showed no signs of any concerns in the grand final and played so well that he was only narrowly behind Jason Bristow in best afield honours and in the mix with Chris Phelan as second best on ground.

He played in the 2008 premiership and then in the losing grand finals of 2009 and 2011 before spending the last two years in the AFL with the Gold Coast Suns, but returned to Subiaco desperate to lead the Lions back to glory.

And he delivered in the grand final with 27 possessions, six tackles, six inside-50 entries, five clearances and a goal.

8. Scott Worthington - 6
The 23-year-old defender had every reason to think his chance of being part of Subiaco's campaign in 2014 was over as he battled injury right throughout the season.

The left-footer played in the 2011 grand final loss to Claremont and had played 65 league matches since making his debut in 2010, but injury troubles meant that he only managed reserves appearances in Rounds 5, 22 and 23.

He then played tremendously in the reserves second semi-final win over West Perth and earned a league call up for the preliminary final, and held his spot for the grand final and didn’t let his coach Jarrad Schofield down in defence.

Started on the bench but had some big jobs to do and finished with 10 disposals, five tackles and three rebounds from the defensive 50.

9. Wayde Twomey – 7.5
The 28-year-old was handpicked by coach Jarrad Schofield as someone Subiaco needed to add to its group in 2014 with his AFL, premiership and State game experience, and ability to set up play coming out of the back-line.

And the signing proved a masterstroke as he delivered all season long as a creative defender with his precision kicking skills out of the back-line becoming one of Subiaco's great strengths.

Having already played in a premiership at Swan Districts, AFL football with Carlton and winning a State game Simpson Medal, he brought with him enormous experience and put together a tremendous season.

After a best on ground preliminary final display against East Fremantle, he finished with 19 possessions, 10 rebounds from the defensive 50, five tackles and three inside-50 entries in the grand final.

10. Chris Deluca - 6
The recently-turned 20-year-old cemented himself as the very best small forward at applying pressure in the WAFL and that was again a major factor in Subiaco's grand final win.

While he did finish the year with 30 goals, it was the ferocious chasing, tackling and physical pressure that he applied throughout the year that made life horrible for opposition back-line units and that was again the case for East Perth in the grand final.

He was coming off a bad cork in the preliminary final and battled a sore knee throughout the grand final, but still contributed strongly with two crucial goals from nine possessions.

11. George Hampson – 8 
Having always been acknowledged as a tremendously talented player since making his league debut in 2011, his reputation rose right throughout the 2014 campaign and then took another giant leap forward in the grand final.

He played four matches in 2011 and then 19 in 2012 before becoming an elite player in the competition in 2013, and then further improving in 2014 kicking 34 goals in 18 games during the home and away season while being a prolific ball winner across half-forward and at times in the middle.

However, he missed the Round 23 clash with East Fremantle, second semi-final loss to East Perth and preliminary final win over East Fremantle with a tear to his quad but he worked diligently to return and be right for the grand final.

And he did that with his quad standing up fine, but he injured a hamstring during the second quarter and to his credit he refused to let it ruin his day.

He came back out after half-time and played as a deep forward where he continued to present hard and kicked his second goal from just on 50 at the 20-minute mark of the third term before then kicking the sealer with the first major of the last quarter.

12. Matt Boland – 3 
Subiaco knew it needed a key forward target to rise up the ladder in 2014 and that's where the full-forward who had a taste of playing in the VFL came into play.

And the 23-year-old looked on target to win the Bernie Naylor Medal throughout most of 2014 with 48 goals up to the end of Round 19. However, he managed just four goals in the last three games but still it was a strong year with 52 goals to lead the Lions.

After kicking two goals in the second semi-final loss to East Perth, he then missed the preliminary final win over East Fremantle with a hamstring injury before returning for the grand final.

A combination of the weather conditions and East Perth defender Kyle Anderson meant he didn’t impact the grand final, but he was a major factor in Subiaco getting there. Despite being goalless, he did try hard laying five tackles still.

14. Brett Mahoney – 5.5 
The 24-year-old has now been a key player in the midfield for the Lions the last three years since arriving from country Victoria and deserves to be a premiership player.

Despite being an attacking midfielder in the 2012 and 2013 seasons, he was used in run-with roles to great effect throughout much of 2014 and those performances he delivered were a big reason in Subiaco's rise up the ladder.

He might have only had nine possessions in the grand final, but he did lay six tackles and win three clearances while spending time running with Steven Payne and helping to keep him relatively quiet on the wing.

15. Chris Phelan – 9.5
He had to bide his time early in his career managing just 26 games in his first three seasons behind experienced, premiership campaigners but by 2011 he had cemented his place in the team as an attacking half-back.

He played that role well before an injury-interrupted 2012 season and then Jarrad Schofield arrived as coach and saw something in him to suggest he could become a big-bodied midfielder.

That has since worked a treat and he had an outstanding 2014 season averaging 21 disposals a game and then delivering a grand final that saw him very nearly win a Simpson Medal as best afield if it wasn’t for the efforts of fellow on-baller Bristow.

He kicked two crucial and classy goals either side of half-time to go with 25 possessions, eight clearances, five inside-50 entries and four tackles.

16. Shaun Hildebrandt – 7
The veteran wingman returned to Subiaco after two years with Swan Districts and now is a three-time premiership player as a result in what continues to be a remarkable career.

After beginning his WAFL career with Peel Thunder in 2002, he joined Subiaco in 2006 and missed the premiership of that year, but was a key contributor to the triumphs of 2007 and 2008, and still in the grand finals of 2009 and 2011.

He then spent the last two years at Swan Districts continuing to be an outstanding ball-winning wingman before rejoining Subiaco and picking up 17 possessions in his fifth grand final for his third premiership.

The 30-year-old is not only a three-time premiership player, but has played 240 matches, three State games and won two fairest and best awards.

17. Lachlan Delahunty – 6.5 
The 23-year-old came as almost a package deal to Subiaco with Boland and the Frankston recruit split his time as a versatile big man at centre half-forward, the wing and a pinch-hitting ruckman right throughout the year.

The second half of his season was ruined by injury as he hurt his knee in Round 11 against Swan Districts, returned and reinjured it in Round 16 and then didn’t come back until Round 23 against East Fremantle.

However, once back he immediately showed his importance with 17 touches and nine marks that day, then 18 disposals and 10 marks in the second semi-final, 20 possessions and seven marks in the preliminary final and 16 touches, four tackles, three clearances and two inside 50s in the grand final.

19. Brad Stevenson – 6 
Another Subiaco player who had an injury-interrupted season but he got himself fit at the right end of the season and now the 26-year-old versatile key position player has a premiership medallion.

He made his league debut in 2010 and was an important player in the 2011 team that made the grand final at that stage playing as a centre half-forward, but with the arrival of Boland and Delahunty he was able to move to centre half-back this year.

He didn’t play due to injury between Rounds 12 and 23, but seamlessly settled back in at centre half-back with 20 possessions and seven marks on return.

With his ability to read the ball coming in and take marks from the opposition going inside-50, he is ideally suited to the back-line and finished the grand final with 11 possessions, five rebounds from the defensive 50 and three marks while battling hard on East Perth's tall forwards.

20. Clancy Wheeler – 6
Had a grand final to forget and that perhaps he couldn’t remember anyway in 2011 when knocked out in the opening minutes by Claremont's Brett Jones, but had a much more memorable occasion in grand final No. 2.

Having spent most of his career with Subiaco since arriving in 2011 as a pinch-hitting forward and ruckman, he has settled as a third tall in defence for much of 2014 and that was again his role in the grand final.

Spending most of his time on the resting ruckmen Callum Sinclair and Paul Johnson, neither of them kicked a goal for East Perth and Wheeler more than held his own despite giving up some size and strength.

He has now played 74 matches with Subiaco, is a premiership player and a State game player in a career that continues to flourish.

21. Andrew McDougall – 6 
It has been a long ride for the 31-year-old to taste premiership glory but the former West Coast, Western Bulldogs and Perth big man now has a flag to add to a career that has now lasted more than a decade.

The weather wasn’t ideally suited to him taking a mark up forward and having an impact on the scoreboard, but he did battle hard at centre half-forward and in the ruck finishing with 10 touches, 18 hit outs and five clearances.

He made his league debut with Perth back in 2000 and ended up playing 55 games with the Demons up until the end of 2006 when he left the Eagles for the Bulldogs.

He had played 43 matches with West Coast but things didn’t quite go to plan with the Bulldogs where he added just five more games before it appeared his football career was over.

However, he re-emerged with Perth in 2010 and 2011 playing some outstanding football as a ruckman and wingman before again missing all of 2012 with injury.

Desperate for finals success, he then joined Subiaco in 2013 and after a solid first season, he didn’t play in 2014 until Round 13 but once in the side he was outstanding both as a ruckman and key forward target.

23. Darren Rumble – 6 
He shared the premierships of 2004, 2006, 2007 and 2008 with Allistair Pickett, Chad Cossom, Mark Haynes, Marc Webb and Luke Newick, but all have since retired meaning he was on his own looking to create history on Sunday and he did so.

As always, he was handed the big job at full-back this time on Josh Smith and he battled hard all day to limit the influence of the star East Perth full-forward.

He might have had just seven possessions, but laid four tackles, took three marks, got the ball outside of defensive 50 three times and drove the ball inside-50 twice.

He again delivered for Subiaco and his 211-game WAFL career now includes five premierships in six grand finals while also being a reserves premiership player in 2002 and 2003 before that and having played for Western Australia four times. 

25. Daniel Leishman – 7 
The 27-year-old ended up being a major factor in Subiaco winning the 2014 premiership as one of the players who took his game to another level.

He had played 24 matches the last two seasons in his first taste of WAFL football, but the longer the 2014 season went the better he got and now by the end of the year he has emerged as an outstanding defender.

He had always shown an ability to run and carry the footy while not always delivering it well, but he showed much greater composure with the ball late in the year and defensively became near impossible to beat.

After shutting down Brett Peake again in the preliminary final, he was given the job on Josh Hill in the grand final and shut him out of the game completely. He only had seven disposals, but he more than did his job by not giving Hill a sniff.

26. Charlie Le Fanu – 2.5 
The 20-year-old came through Subiaco's colts in 2011 and 2012, got a taste of league football in 2013 and did enough throughout 2014 to hold his place as a small defender and can now call himself a premiership player.

Once he got into the league side again in Round 11, he never looked back and did some good jobs as a small backmen and someone who could provide some good run out of defence.

He might have had a quiet grand final with just four possessions and five tackles but more than earned his place in the premiership side before that.

27. Frank Stockley – 7.5
The ruckman's decision to leave West Perth after missing out on the 2013 premiership threatened to turn heartbreaking when he was dropped for the second semi-final, but he returned for the preliminary final, held his own and kept his spot in the grand final and delivered a strong performance.

The 24-year-old won the Prendergast Medal as the best player in the reserves in 2013 but missed West Perth's premiership victory and was looking for increased league opportunities in 2014, and that's how he ended up with Subiaco.

It took until the preliminary final for him to play alongside McDougall for the first time but the pair provided a strong duo with one on the ball and one in the forward-line.

He finished the grand final with 11 possessions, 27 hit outs and most importantly eight clearances as he more than delivered up against Callum Sinclair and Paul Johnson to make up for missing out on a premiership 12 months prior.

28. Shane Yarran – 5 
The 25-year-old arrived as an unknown commodity in 2014 but delivered an outstanding season finishing up with 39 goals from 20 matches, and becoming a premiership player in his first year in the WAFL.

He showed his class and brilliance on countless occasions throughout the season and never more so than his match-winning four-goal performance in the five-point preliminary final win over East Fremantle.

He was held goalless in the grand final but worked hard still for 13 possessions, five inside-50 entries and three tackles.

39. Joel Latham – 8 
The 22-year-old did a long apprenticeship at West Perth playing 58 reserves matches the last three years, but he couldn’t crack it for a league appearance and was looking for those chances elsewhere in 2014.

He ended up at Subiaco and played all but one game throughout the season and now ends up as a premiership player.

Throughout the season, he did strong run-with jobs either down back or through the middle, and did them well, and again in the grand final he spent time running with Patrick McGinnity among others after starting the game on the bench.

He also did well winning the ball finishing with 20 possessions, five tackles, four clearances and four rebounds from the defensive 50.

40. Josh Deluca – 8.5 
The 18-year-old was the youngest man in the grand final but by the end of the day was one of the best on the ground as he became a premiership player.

The left-footed small forward started off by kicking Subiaco's first goal of the game and then ending up with 21 possessions, five clearances and without doubt he has a bright future either with Subiaco or in the AFL.