Ashton Hams earns life membership with 150 games at BulldogsFriday, July 31, 2015 - 2:05 AM - by Chris Pike

SOUTH Fremantle coach Todd Curley believes Ashton Hams' ultra-competitiveness is the reason why he continues to be a standout WAFL player ahead of his 150th game on Saturday while Haiden Schloithe is just proud to be playing alongside someone who once was his babysitter.

Curley has enjoyed his chance to coach Ashton Hams this season ahead of his 150th game and wouldn’t be surprised to see him add to his individual accolades, but for now the focus for the Bulldogs is on plotting the downfall of Subiaco.

Hams will add another notch to an already remarkably decorated career this Saturday at Medibank Stadium when South Fremantle enters the clash needing to beat the rampant league-leading reigning premiers Subiaco to remain in the race to play finals for the first time since 2011.

The 28-year-old will earn life membership at South Fremantle by playing his 150th game as part of a career that has seen him play in the 2005 and 2009 premierships, and win a grand final and State game Simpson Medal on top of his 39 AFL matches with the West Coast Eagles.

Curley was still captain at West Perth when Hams began his league career in 2004 and then coached against him at the Falcons before now having coached him for almost a whole season leading into his 150th game on Saturday.

The thing that has stood out as coach for Curley is just how competitive Hams is and he's hoping it's a milestone for him to remember on Saturday at Medibank Stadium.

"It's a great effort to become a life member by playing 150 games as well as his AFL stint. He's a premiership player and he's been really good for us this year as well, so it will be a really good occasion for him and his family on Saturday to reach the milestone," Curley said.

"His real strength is that he's ultra-competitive and doesn’t like to get beaten, but he's also really flexible and can play back and mid, and even forward if you really need him to.

"He gives us some really good flexibility and the thing that stands out to me the most is his competitiveness. You know what you're going to get from him every week."

Hams already has two premiership, two Simpson Medals and two State game appearances to his credit from his 149-game WAFL career, and Curley sees no reason to suggest he isn’t a chance to finish 2015 with both a South Fremantle fairest and best award and Sandover Medal to his collection.

"He's had a pretty good and consistent season. He has played midfield and back mostly but he's been able to give us some really good ball use off half-back, and drive through the midfield. He has had a pretty consistent year," he said.

"Given he has been so consistent, and has had some really big games this year for us, you would think he'll be in the mix for those individual awards. You never know with Sandovers and those things, but he has been so consistent that you would think he will poll OK."

While South Fremantle will be looking to win to celebrate Hams' milestone on Saturday, the focus is on beating Subiaco to bounce back from last Saturday's horror 106-point loss to East Perth at Fremantle Oval to remain in the finals hunt in 2015.

"It's been pretty much must-win most weeks for us and that will be the case for the rest of the year," Curley said.

"We're a proud group and we're looking forward to the chance to bounce back."

Schloithe always wanted to play WAFL football for South Fremantle alongside Ashton and Kyle Hams looking up to them as a youngster in Katanning, and now he's looking forward to being there on Saturday for Ashton's 150th game for the Bulldogs.

Schloithe and the Hams twins all have made the move from Katanning to come to Perth and play WAFL football with South Fremantle, but given the seven-year age gap Ashton and Kyle were always two players that Schloithe wanted to emulate one day, and play with at the Bulldogs.

Now in 2015 it's the first chance for the trio to play together with Kyle returning to the Bulldogs for the first time since 2010 while both Ashton and Schloithe have remained committed to South Fremantle after spending time at West Coast and Fremantle in the AFL respectively.

Kyle has played 183 WAFL games now, but 61 of those were at Swan Districts, with Ashton now preparing for game No. 150 at South Fremantle this Saturday against Subiaco at Medibank Stadium.

Schloithe is now looking forward to being out there on Saturday as part of Ashton's 150th game and he hopes the Bulldogs can respond.

"Being able to play with him for a few years now, I know he's one of the better players in the WAFL. He's a really smart ball user, he has great skills and I try to feed off that and it's a privilege to be able to play with him," Schloithe said.

"Obviously I've known Ashton for quite a long time now and it's a great achievement by him to play 150 games for this great club.

"It was obviously a disappointing result for us on the weekend but we've put that behind us now and hopefully we train well this week, prepare well and get up to put in a good performance not only for him, but the club on Saturday."

Growing up in Katanning with Ashton and Kyle both beginning their forays into playing football at a higher level up in Perth, they did in fact babysit a younger Schloithe on a few occasions back a bit more than a decade ago.

To now be able to all play in the same WAFL team at South Fremantle is something that Schloithe is enjoying, and is certainly proud of.

"We're all from Katanning and they used to babysit me for a while there, so I have some good memories there with them," he said.

"When I was a young fella and not playing footy up in Perth, I used to come up with my old boy and watch them play on a Friday night or the weekend for South Fremantle. I've always had that dream to come up and play for South Fremantle as well.

"When Kyle went away for a few years, I hoped that the three of us could still come together and play in the same team and we're lucky enough this year to be able to do that and it's been a good experience."

While winning for Ashton's 150th game on Saturday would be nice for South Fremantle and Schloithe, getting a victory over the league-leading reigning premiers Subiaco would keep the Bulldogs' season alive as well so it's a crucial game potentially with finals on the line.

"The really important thing for us now is the way we respond after being beaten really well by East Perth on the weekend. As a group it's all about how we bounce back and it's a big game for us on Saturday, and for Ashton to hopefully we put in a good performance for him and the club," Schloithe said.

"We had a really strong meeting on Monday night, which was good, and we covered some things that we needed to address. We put that behind us now and we look forward to taking on Subiaco. It's a big challenge and a must-win game, but we attack it full on."