Kyle Hams with point to prove back at Bulldogs

KYLE Hams has no trouble admitting to enjoying his three years with Swan Districts but a year out of the WAFL had him craving one more crack and the chance to try to win a third premiership with South Fremantle and his twin brother Ashton was too much to turn down.

Hams played 106 matches and was a key player in the back-line in South Fremantle's premierships in 2005 and 2009, but he was feeling a little stale with the Bulldogs at the end of 2010 and was considering doing in 2011 what he ended up doing in 2014 - taking time away from the WAFL.

He has always wanted to move back to Busselton to live, and he has done that, but Swan Districts made him an offer too good to refuse in 2011 and he ended up having three outstanding seasons with the black-and-whites.

Along the way, he played his only two State games for Western Australia, and got to play finals in both 2012 and 2013 but decided to move home to Busselton with his young family and playing in the WAFL wasn’t on the cards.

While he was happy with life and playing football close to home, he found himself missing playing WAFL and that's why he was delighted that he came to terms with South Fremantle to return in 2015 while still living in Busselton.

While Hams is training just once a week with the Bulldogs, he could very well be in the best shape of any point in his career and is taking this last crack at WAFL football seriously.

It began with a near best on ground performance in his customary role as an attacking defender with 27 possessions in the Round 1 win over West Perth and he has continued to play well in wins over Perth and Claremont.

Now it's his first chance to play against Swan Districts for the first time since leaving South Fremantle at the end of 2010 with the Bulldogs looking to remain unbeaten up against the black-and-whites at Steel Blue Oval on Saturday.

While there are old teammates like Ryan Davis, Matt Riggio and Tallan Ames who might have plenty to say out on the field, the one Hams is most expecting to hear a lot from is premiership forward Tim Geappen. He did enjoy his time with Swans, though, despite the expected banter on Saturday.

"I'm not worried about them, I'm worried about Swoop. I have been talking to a few of the Swans boys and I keep in touch with Swoop pretty well and we are pretty good mates," Hams said.

"I think it will actually be good fun out there. I got along with them and I didn't have a falling out with them or anything, so hopefully it will be good fun out there and we have a good game. And hopefully we get the win.

"Swans were awesome and I still have a soft spot for them. They were unreal with the way they treated me so it's nothing against them that I didn't go back there. The main reason I came here was to play with the brother. It was nothing against them but hopefully now that I am back here, we can play finals again."

Not only because of the winning start to the season, but Hams is already enjoying playing under new coach Todd Curley and is seeing similarities to John Dimmer who coached the Bulldogs to the premierships in 2005 and 2009, and for his entire career at South Fremantle previously.

"Curls is actually almost like a young JD to be honest with the way he coaches," he said.

"We focus on switching, getting two on ones, running and carrying the ball, and it's very similar to how we played under JD and it's actually a very similar side. It's fun to play in a side like that and it's made it easy to fit into the back-line because it is so similar to how we played before."

Hams not only missed playing with the WAFL last year and wanted to come back to South Fremantle to try and win another premiership with his brother Ashton and good friends like Haiden Schloithe, but wanted to prove to some doubters that he could still play at the level.

"The main reason I came back was to prove a few guys wrong that I could come back and give it a crack, and I have committed pretty hard to it. I wanted to play with the brother again and Haids who is one of my best mates," he said.

"I did definitely miss it. I watched Ash a couple of times live and on tele, and I just missed it. I just had that burning desire to play WAFL again so I spoke to Ash and Todd and the boys up here, and they were keen so I committed to giving it the best crack I could.

"The travel might not be easy and we'll see how that goes, but so far so good. It's a pretty cruisy life down there and these boys have been good to me to give me the chance to play WAFL again. It's a good club and I always loved it here, even though I did love my time at Swans as well, but it's good to come back here."

While a lot has changed at the club since Hams' first stint, the biggest difference personally is that he is having to deal with the travel to and from Busselton at least a couple of times a week.

While his brother is providing him and whichever members of family that includes a partner and two kids a place to stay when he's in Perth, it's not always easy. But in return Kyle would like Ashton to join him playing in Busselton once their WAFL careers are over.

"Busso was good but I didn't think I would come down there so that's why I committed to playing up here. Eventually hopefully he comes down to play there eventually so he can do the travelling and I don't have to," Hams said.

"It's weird because a lot has changed here at the club since I left and there aren't the guys like Ronny Porter or Sandy around anymore so there have been a lot of changes, but it does sort of feel like coming home especially with my brother here. Playing with him again is good and there are a lot of the same supporters around, so it is good."