Player Column – Brock Higgins Second Semi-Final

EVERYONE is very excited looking ahead to Sunday and this is the game we want to win so we go straight into the Grand Final. To have a crack at Subiaco when both teams are at full strength should mean it's going to be a great game.

We come into the game in pretty good form having won our last five games and we have been focusing on playing our style of footy and we believe that can hold up against anyone. But when you play Subi, you just can't make mistakes and you can't turn the ball over because you know they'll hurt you and make you pay going back the other way. 

We have been able to play our style of football in patches against Subiaco this year but not for four quarters which is a difficult thing to do because of how good their pressure is. As soon as you make a mistake, that's it and the ball is down the other end. It's not so much that we've been preparing for Subi even though this week we train specifically to play them and do drills that we believe replicates their game style, but it's more about us and having the confidence to pull the trigger when we have to. In the past we might not have done that as much against Subi so everyone is geed up to do what we say we're going to do.

The last five weeks have been really good for us since our last bye and before that we had a couple of tough losses, and our training regime has definitely changed around that time. We were working on a few different things with some extra running sessions and what not, and our form of late is definitely because of that and also the belief within the group. The other big thing is getting blokes back from injury.

We've had a pretty horror run realistically this year in terms of getting our full team in but bar Saunders we are all pretty healthy at the moment. But at the same time, we've been able to play a lot of debutants and young players who are still pushing for spots this week so it's a good position for the club to be in.

Personally I've had a pretty interesting last part of the season but I'll be playing on Sunday for sure. I had a sneaky little holiday for two weeks for a good friend's wedding which freshened me up five or six weeks ago. I came back and played against West Perth and felt really good, but then I hit my head against Perth and had another week off. Then I was feeling good again coming into last week and I was I was covering the ground well before going over on my ankle late in the game. But apart from that the body feels fine and it's the best it's felt in a few years. I had a full pre-season and I've been managed well through games as well.

The drive among the whole playing group is massive to try and take that next step after the last couple of years. It's huge and that's the reason you play footy. We do remember the last two years and that we didn’t finish so well so we are definitely aiming up this week to go one better.

In an ideal world we'd all stay 27 and play forever but that's not going to happen. I know there are definitely a few guys talking about hanging the boots up at the end of the year, so for them and for everyone we want to do it. We've been together as group now since I've been at the club and we've all gone from our early to mid-20s to being nearly 30. I think the time is now and I think this year is the one where we're in the best position to have that success.

I come up against the big giraffe in Zac Clarke now on Sunday and it will be a massive challenge this week. He's in some red-hot form so I just have to get stuck into him early and try to get into his head or push him off the ball and use my weight against his height the best I can. I just have to jump into him all day and make it hard for him.

I like Clarkey and we are good friends as well but sometimes I enjoy playing against my mates even more. There's always that bit of banter out there and you want to make sure you do well against them and can hold the wood over them a little bit. It just gives you that added bit of extra motivation to beat your mate so they don't have the bragging rights over you.