Co-captain looks for Falcons to rise to occasionFriday, September 25, 2015 - 4:34 PM - by Chris Pike

JAY van Berlo won a Breckler Medal back in 2008, made his AFL debut in 2009 and became a WAFL premiership player in 2013, and now he has the chance to become a premiership captain for West Perth in Sunday's grand final against Subiaco.

On the heels of his older brother Nathan coming through West Perth before being drafted to Adelaide where he's gone on to play 202 AFL games and be captain, and setting the scene for his younger brother Mitch to come through who has now played 16 WAFL matches, Jay van Berlo continues to be one of the best and most consistent players in the competition.

The now 27-year-old won West Perth's fairest and best award in his first full season of WAFL football in 2008 and that led to him being picked up by Fremantle where he went on to play 32 AFL matches with the Dockers with his last being the western derby of Round 9, 2012.

He returned full-time to West Perth for the 2013 season and went on to represent Western Australia in a drought breaking win over Victoria, and then capped it off by playing a key role in the Falcons' premiership victory.

Upon the retirement of dual premiership captain Jason Salecic, van Berlo was appointed co-captain alongside premiership teammate Luke Tedesco and now he is preparing for West Perth's second grand final in three years, and his first as skipper.

The lead up to the grand final this year for West Perth is significantly different than in 2013 with the Falcons two years ago beating Claremont in the second semi-final to earn the break waiting for East Perth in the grand final that they ended up winning by 49 points.

This year, West Perth has now played 11 straight matches since its last bye and has played three finals heading into Sunday's grand final against Subiaco at Domain Stadium.

From the 2013 premiership side, West Perth still has 15 players from that who are named in the squad of 26 for Sunday's grand final.

Van Berlo is confident that the Falcons will get their preparations right for the grand final both with those who have been there before, and those who are getting prepared to take part in the premiership decider come Sunday.

"It's a great experience really this whole lead up to the game and then the game itself. It's a different group this year to what we had in 2013 so there's a fresh excitement about the whole approach to the week," van Berlo said.

"The players are really excited and are taking it in their stride the best they can to keep the nerves down, and all we can ask of them is to put their best foot forward. Whether that's good enough or not, we can be proud of what we have achieved this year."

Having been there before, van Berlo knows that it's difficult yet important to get the balance right coming into the grand final of making sure the team's preparation is kept as normal as possible, but also trying to soak up the occasion of playing on the biggest day of the year.

He is also looking forward to the challenge of taking on the standout team of the year in Subiaco who are also reigning premiers, but West Perth's premiership win in 2013 came as underdogs and that holds no fear for him.

"There's more at stake obviously and it is exciting, but at the end of the day the rules are the same, the players are the same and the opposition is one we've faced before," van Berlo said.

"You have to treat it like another game but there's certainly more at stake and a big reward at the end if you play well.

"I know that Subi are not going to be giving away a premiership so it's going to be a hard task to try and compete with them, but we are excited about the challenge and we'll give it a red hot crack."