WAFL Grand Final

[Benchwarmer]

Just got back into Perth after a weekend over east.

Subiaco beat Claremont by 41 points in the WAFL Grand Final in front of a "disappointing" (so says the West Australian) of 19,541. Final score saw the Lions 15-13 103 to the Tigers 9-8 62.

At quarter time, Subi led 4-4 to a row of donuts, but Claremont stayed within 21 points at half-time. A 5 goal to 2 third stanza saw the Lions with an unassailable 40 point lead at the last change.

For the winners, former Eagle Brad Smith kicked 7 to finish with the Simpson Medal as well as 126 goals for the season in his first year back after missing two years on the sidelines after a couple of knee re-co's and current Eagle Mark Nicoski jagged a bullseye as well, whilst Sandover Medalist Anthony Jones (ex-Docker) was held to two goals for Claremont and ex-AFL player Jaxon Crabb kicked one as well.

Reserves - Subiaco 17-13 115 b East Frem 15-10 100 after extra time (In E/T Subi kicked 3-0 to 0-3).
Colts - Swan Districts 20-11 131 b Claremont 10-7 67 (former Eagle and Collingwood player Chad Morrison coached the winning Swans)

[FlyingHigh]

Interesting BW. Subi and Claremont seem to be forging a rivalry over he last few years like Eagles and CEntrals. Also, they would be two of the lower drawing teams in WA, wouldn't they?

[Benchwarmer]

Subi seem to be getting more going to their games from what I have been told, but Claremont's crowds aren't all that bad.

Lowest drawers are Perth by a mile and West Perth seem to struggle to get big crowds into White Elephant Joondalup, whilst the two Fremantle sides' crowds have dropped noticeably since the Dockers were created and haven't risen much at all except for the three derbies (4000 at SF on a wet night in Round 1, 9900 at EF in beautiful sunshine and just on 2000 in torrential rain at SF).

[FlyingHigh]

Knew about Perth, surprised West Perth are struggling to get a crowd, why would that be out at Joondalup?

[mighty_tiger_79]

Did Claremont win the 2nd semi to go straight into the G/f?

[Benchwarmer]

They should be getting a whole lot more ... couple of reasons ...

* Slipped outside the 'Four in recent times.
* It's like VFL Park without the seating (miles from the action and the grass banks slope eternally at a slight angle).
* The scoreboard is nothing short of atrocious without the use of binoculars.
* Woefully high prices for catering (e.g. $4 hotdogs that are tiny and overcooked and $2.50 cans of soft drink).
* A decent hike for visiting supporters (the nearest club is over 20km away, most are in the 30-40km range).
* You can listen to their home matches on the radio rather than spend $10 on petrol, $10 on admission and up to $30 on two eats and a few drinks and catch a cold in mid-June with 2000 other people (the bulk of which include their "interesting" supporters).

[westozfalcon]

MT_79 yes, Claremont did win the 2nd Semi.

Sheez Benchwarmer you're singling West Perth's ground out a bit there.

It can be miserable in the rain but that goes for every single WAFL ground apart from Fremantle Oval - not enough sheltered areas.

For example Arena Joondalup is a better ground than Medibank 'Stadium' (Leederville Oval), WA's alleged centre of excellence. IMO they should replace the word Medibank with Sandbank given all the unfinished building work in the outer. It looks like the landscape of the Gobi Desert. The lighting is also totally unsatisfactory for night games. To get food or a beer you have to go behind the stand and miss 20 minutes of the game while lining up. And as for the scoreboard at Joondalup, it is 3 times the size of the pitiful offering at Leederville.

Give me Joondalup over most WAFL grounds any day.

I'm sure if some of the blokes from Adelaide came over here and sampled the grounds they'd agree with me.

[Benchwarmer]

Most facilities are in desperate need of an overhaul and are pretty similar to what they looked like in the the 1970s - the case in point being Lathlain (Perth). I've described Joondalup, even though I must admit it is either 1 or 2 (my main beefs are the distance and catering), Leederville (Subiaco & East Perth) is a sad state of affairs and even our East Freo Oval has seen better times. Claremont is not bad though the facilities for us officials is not the best.

EF has a lot of under cover area, but then it costs to much to maintain it to make it more presentable than what it is plus it is a financial burden to manage all that under-utilised function space, which affects the bottom line.

The two away derbies at Freo Oval's (Sth Frem) were very cold but the old stand is nice albeit a fair way back from the action and it still stacks up well, whilst Bassendean (Swans) was not too bad when we played there in blazing sunshine ... even if all those old wooden stands are fire dangers.

[FlyingHigh]

That surprises me about West Perth, as no doubt they would have thought they would have been able to build a strong base up there. Starting from scratch must be tough, like South over here.

Thanks fellas, find it interesting to hear about the goings on in the West, and even though I'm glad the SANFL is No.2, would really like to see the WAFL improve, particularly in terms of public support, etc.

[woodwt]

There crowds are shocking
No one goes, what interest!!!!!

[spell_check]

There crowds are shocking
No one goes, what interest!!!!!

Which is the product of the AFL contributing to the downfall of another comp.

I'd also love to see the WAFL improve their status - at least from what I can see there are some things that the WAFL has over the SANFL - radio coverage and their own website are examples.

[Benchwarmer]

The WAFL has a large number of supporters - even 20 years on since the Eagles downgraded the League's status, we still have many people following bbth an AFL side and a WAFL side. Even I, having moved here last August, have Carlton and East Fremantle as my two sides ... it was one of the first questions asked of me when I started work.

If all of the WAFL supporters went to matches, we'd see the grounds packed out wek in week out like 'the good old days'. Unfortunately, like the SANFL, we see that people would rather pay over the odds to see a football match in sterile surroundings without a curtain-raiser rather than follow their local club and stand and drink beer out of cans whilst leaning on the fence or standing on the hill and enjoy a good day locally.

[Sojourner]

If all of the WAFL supporters went to matches, we'd see the grounds packed out wek in week out like 'the good old days'. Unfortunately, like the SANFL, we see that people would rather pay over the odds to see a football match in sterile surroundings without a curtain-raiser rather than follow their local club and stand and drink beer out of cans whilst leaning on the fence or standing on the hill and enjoy a good day locally.

Do they have night games in W.A?

In S.A, Speedway City at Virginia has seen attendences plummet in recent years, yet in W.A the Speedways are often packed out, maybe it is just how a thing is marketed?

Also I am told that the WAFL clubs recieve little or no revenue from their AFL sides unlike the distribution system here in S.A, so maybe they need to adopt our model if they want their facilities upgraded, or get the WAFL managment to do it with a series of grants?

[LPH]

I'd like to see a National State League Competition, myself... a bit like the CBL in basketball.

Sadly, I can't see the AFL santioning such a competition, which is a pity.

I would certainly go to Adelaide Oval & watch Centrals v Claremont, or another such game.

If our season was shortened, say to 16 rounds, home & away only... I think we could encompass a 'night competition' like the old days with the 'Adarth Cup/Sterling Cup' scenerio but with State League teams only in 'pools'...

How's this... all games programmed into competitions:

Pool A: Previous Year's 1st & 3rd from WAFL, 2nd & 4th from SANFL, 1st NSWAFL, 2nd Tassie.

Pool B: Previous Year's 2nd & 4th from WAFL, 1st & 3rd from SANFL, 1st QAFL, 1st Tassie

Round robin format... draw lots for game locations...

Semi Final 1: Winner Pool A v Runner Up Pool B ( Winner Pool A hosts)
Semi Final 2: Winner Pool B v Runner Up Pool A ( Winner Pool B hosts )

A Draw done for Final Location @ conclusion of Semi final 2

Just a thought...

[Benchwarmer]

South Freo hosts 3-4 and Peel has 1-2. Slightly larger crowds but if the weather is iffy and there's is AFL on the telly the crowd figure takes a beating.

[Dogsbody]

Do they have night games in W.A?

Fremantle Oval, Medibank Stadium in Leederville and Rushton Park in Mandurah all have night match lighting.

BTW... 19,541 at Subiaco Oval yesterday.

[ORDoubleBlues]

Knew about Perth, surprised West Perth are struggling to get a crowd, why would that be out at Joondalup?

The way Perth's moving north with new housing, in a few years time Joondalup will be looked upon distance wise along the lines of what Warwick and Karrinyup are now and as for the Oval, it is certainly a better facility than East Fremantles at least.

[Barto]

Someone stole the premiership cup from Subi's mad Monday celebrations at the Aberdeen Hotel. Told the bouncer he was taking it to look after for the players. Who said bouncers were stupid?

[Pseudo]

Just finished watching the replay. Thanks Benchwarmer for not giving away the result in the thread title.

Initial thoughts are that Subi was way too good, the final margin was flattering to Claremont. Claremont never looked threatening when entering their forward lines; delivery to the forward lines was woeful. Only 2 of their first half goals had any merit; the other 3 were assisted by poor Subiaco discipline and some over-zealous umpiring calls. Subi on the other hand was strong at the marking contests and direct with their delivery. Claremont appeared to be trying the running game but could not consistently hit a target with a handball. Subi had far more success with the handball but didn't rely upon it. The final term was a drag. Subi looked to be going through the motions, played to wind down the clock for more than half the quarter. Not a good advertisement for the league.

It's a bit hard to judge the teams based on a single match, and I have only seen sporadic coverage of the WAFL throughout the year (occasional quarters of match of the week on ABC2), but I doubt that either team would be a match for the top SANFL teams. Subi looks to be on par with Glenelg or Sturt, Claremont about as good as Norwood.

Interesting to see Aidan Parker among the better players for Subi. Brad Smith would slot right in to almost any SANFL team except perhaps Sturt, where he would play second fiddle to Chambers.