East Perth grand final player ratingsThursday, September 25, 2014 - 3:40 AM - by Chris Pike

EAST Perth lost its second grand final in 12 months on Sunday against Subiaco at Patersons Stadium with the Royals unable to get close enough to having 22 strong contributors like the Lions had on the occasion.

1. Dean Cadwallader – 7
He had a poor grand final last year in East Perth's loss to West Perth and then had an off-season hernia operation that delayed his start to 2014, but once he got his chance he grabbed it and also performed well in the grand final despite the loss to Subiaco.

Didn’t get his chance until Round 16 this year, but once he did he was just about best on ground in his three matches leading into the grand final including the second semi-final win over Subiaco.

Continuing his new role as a running half-back, he finished the grand final with 19 possessions, eight marks, eight inside-50 entries, five rebounds from defensive 50, four tackles and a terrific long goal in the last quarter that gave the Royals a slight sniff. 

2. Steven Payne – 6
The hard-running wingman had an outstanding 2014 season emerging as an elite player in the competition averaging over 25 possessions a game, but he was relatively well held by Subiaco in the grand final.

The 24-year-old who has now amassed 71 league matches with East Perth spent the afternoon on the wing and finished with 15 possessions, eight tackles, three inside-50 entries and two rebounds from the back 50.

3. Mitch Fraser – 6 
The gutsy and tight-checking small defender burst onto the scene in 2013 to play in the grand final loss to West Perth and has again been a mainstay of the Royals' back-line in 2014.

The 20-year-old from Busselton also won plenty of the ball averaging 16 disposals a game in 2014 while also often playing on the opposition's best small forward.

On grand final day, he had a terrific battle with small but powerhouse Subiaco forward Chris Deluca, and both ended up doing what was asked of them for their respective team.

6. Kyle Anderson – 7.5
As has been the case right throughout his career, his 2014 season was marred by injury troubles but in the 11 games he did play he continued to show that he is the best lockdown defender in the WAFL.

He did the job on Subiaco full-forward Matt Boland in the second semi-final and got that role again in the grand final, and completely blanketed the man who narrowly missed out on the Bernie Naylor Medal and held him goalless.

He also won more of the ball than his opponent finishing with 10 possessions and three rebounds from defensive 50.

7. Brendan Lee – 8.5
For the second straight year he was his team's best player in a losing grand final performance, but all that will matter to the co-captain is that again East Perth fell short of a premiership.

Coming off 37 possessions and 10 clearances in last year's grand final loss to West Perth, he had another 24 disposals, nine tackles, seven entries inside the forward 50 and four clearances in this year's loss to Subiaco.

He did all he could up against Subiaco midfield trio Jason Bristow, Chris Phelan and Kyal Horsley, but the 104-game three-time fairest and best winning 27-year-old just didn’t have enough help.

10. Nathan Blee – 5 
The defender returned to East Perth in 2014 after two years with Port Adelaide in the AFL but after being a strong attacking weapon all year for the Royals, he couldn’t find much of the ball in the grand final.

The 24-year-old spent most of the game on either Lachlan Delahunty or Andrew McDougall, and did a solid job defensively, but the Royals missed his drive out of defence with him finishing with just 11 possessions, five rebounds from the defensive 50 and four tackles.

He averaged over 20 disposals a game during the season.

13. Craig Wulff – 5.5
It took him 10 years to play in the first grand final of his career and now unfortunately for him he's played two in 12 months, and both occasions he led his team out, tossed the coin and had to give the speech as the losing captain following the game.

He was outstanding last year in his first grand final against West Perth and the 31-year-old 246-game veteran worked tirelessly again on Sunday, but didn’t spend much time on the ball.

He finished with 12 possessions, four clearances and two tackles.

15. Josh Smith - 5
The Bernie Naylor Medal winner and Simpson Medallist has been the competition's best goalkicker since returning from North Melbourne in the AFL in 2011, but he had another fascinating dual with Subiaco's now five-time premiership full-back Darren Rumble.

He has kicked 244 goals now in 102 WAFL matches, but more impressively 215 in 82 games with East Perth but he's had some terrific contests with Rumble and it was another one in the grand final.

He is a triple-premiership player in the VFL but is still chasing a WAFL flag after kicking 2.3 from 11 possessions and four marks. He could have had a massive day if his kicking boots were on.

16. Jarrad Oakley-Nicholls - 3
Coming off an eight-possession grand final in 2013, he failed to improve on that in 2014 again struggling on the big stage and with the contested nature given the occasion and the wet conditions.

Finished with only eight possessions, five marks and four tackles.

19. Paul Johnson - 5.5
The veteran big man had dominated the ruck the past two years since joining East Perth following his AFL career, but he was used as the No. 2 ruck option for most of 2014 and that was again the case in the grand final.

He started in the middle but Sinclair did spend more of the time on the ball but he still battled hard whether in the middle or up forward.

He didn’t manage a goal but finished with 10 possessions, 24 hit outs and five clearances.

20. Blayne Wilson – 8
Coming off being one of East Perth's stronger performers in last year's grand final loss to West Perth, he again played well this year against Subiaco at centre half-back.

He spent most of the day opposed to Subiaco big man Andrew McDougall and kept him off the scoreboard while he also finished with 22 possessions, six marks and four rebounds from the defensive 50 himself.

21. Freddie Clutterbuck – 6.5
After missing out on the grand final of 2013 against West Perth with an injury suffered in the preliminary final, was ready to make an impact in his first grand final appearance and did so.

The 24-year-old wingman has now played 92 league matches with East Perth and used that experience to good effect in the grand final with a good performance made up of 16 possessions, three inside 50s and a goal in the last quarter that at least gave the Royals some hope still.

29. Callum Sinclair – 5 
The weather conditions didn’t suit him to have much of an impact in the air, but he still worked hard and made a solid contribution even though it could have been much more significant.

Playing against a Subiaco team that brought him to Western Australia back in 2012 and that ultimately got him the chance to play in the AFL, he threatened at times to have a big grand final but didn’t quite.

He missed a couple of gettable set shots on goal that could have changed the complexion of the game but he finished with 11 possessions, 31 hit outs, three clearances and two behinds.

39. Ashley Smith – 5 
Only managed to play two AFL matches with West Coast in 2014 and he would have been hoping to impress the Eagles coaching staff with a strong WAFL grand final showing, but it wasn’t to be.

The 24-year-old has played 45 AFL and 63 WAFL matches now since being drafted by the Eagles and while he gathered 19 possessions in the grand final loss to Subiaco, his efficiency with his ball use was way down and he had no impact on the contest.

41. Fraser McInnes – 6.5
The versatile and smooth moving big man looked on song to start the grand final drifting across the front of a pack to take a strong mark right in front of goal. However, he then looked set for a horror day when he kicked that shot straight into the man on the mark.

To his credit, he didn’t let that bother him and he proved East Perth's best forward of the grand final kicking a goal in the first quarter, and then two in the third to have three for the match to go with 13 disposals and three marks.

44. Patrick McGinnity – 4
Is now an experienced player with 81 AFL games and 48 in the WAFL to his credit, and it was his first grand final but not one that he will remember fondly.

He was trying hard and had 10 possessions, six tackles and three clearances despite being watched closely by Subiaco's Joel Latham before a broken finger ended his day prematurely.

47. Adam Carter – 3 
The small defender is in his second year on West Coast's list and playing with East Perth for the first time after crossing from South Fremantle, and struggled on the big stage of the grand final in the heat of a physical battle.

He had played in a colts premiership with South Fremantle and seven AFL matches over his first two years, but the 20-year-old couldn’t get into the game.

He had just 11 possessions and three tackles while also having his opponent Rhys Waters make a solid contribution for Subiaco.

49. Sam Butler – 7
As an AFL premiership player he was one of the few East Perth players in the grand final who had tasted the ultimate success at a high level, and the 28-year-old was one of his team's best in a well-beaten midfield.

The 120-game AFL player finished the season with West Coast strongly and brought that form back with him to East Perth for the finals.

Despite always being a defender with the Eagles, he is a prime on-baller in the WAFL and finished the grand final with East Perth with 22 possessions, eight tackles, three clearances, three inside 50s and a goal.

53. Josh Hill – 2 
Was watched closely by in-form Subiaco defender Daniel Leishman and could never shake his opponent and have an impact on the game.

Finished with only nine possessions, four marks and four tackles to go with one behind that if he kicked it at the time, could have at least kept the Royals in the contest.

54. Dom Sheed – 4 
Was drafted from Subiaco by West Coast last year and found himself up against the team he played four league matches with last year in the grand final, and the highly-talented 19-year-old failed to have an impact in the premiership decider.

Despite playing some outstanding football throughout 2014 in East Perth's midfield including a big performance in the second semi-final win over Subiaco, the wet conditions and tough and contested nature of the battle didn’t appear to suit him.

He finished with just 12 possessions, six tackles and four clearances.

58. Brant Colledge – 3
The first-year West Coast midfielder had a big impact in his 11 matches in the home and away season and then the second semi-final, but he didn’t have a good grand final.

He averaged over 22 possessions in his games for East Perth during the season and only once did he have fewer than 20 disposals, but it was a different story in the grand final.

The 19-year-old started on the bench and never got into the game finishing with just 10 possessions in his lowest tally of the season. He did lay seven tackles though.

60. Jacob Brennan – 7.5
Made his second WAFL grand final appearance in three years having played in East Fremantle's loss to Claremont in 2012, and had a much better individual performance this time around despite again playing in a defeat.

He was given the big defensive job of stopping Subiaco's match-winning forward from the preliminary final Shane Yarran, and he did a tremendous job holding him goalless in a fascinating battle all afternoon.

The 24-year-old also finished with 17 possessions, five marks and four rebounds from the defensive 50.