Selection dilemmas the only headache as Bulldogs reserves begin flag tilt

THE only thing giving South Fremantle reserves coach Tony Walters headaches heading into Sunday's second semi-final against Subiaco is how to fit more than 30 capable and qualified players into the Bulldogs' team to play at Medibank Stadium.

South Fremantle's reserves dominated the 2015 home and away season winning 18 of 20 matches to be four games clear on top to claim the minor premiership, and then earn the week off in the first week of the finals before beginning the quest for a second flag in three years.

With South Fremantle's league side missing finals for a fourth straight season, that means that the likes of Jacob Dragovich, Mitch Carter, James Laurino, Josh Branchi, Zac Strom, Tim Stewart, Kade Stewart and Matthew Ah Siu return for the reserves after finishing the season in the senior side.

With Paul Mugambwa to captain the Bulldogs into the reserves finals as well to finish his career with experienced WAFL players Dylan Ross, Nick Borovac, Chris Luff, Shaun Bewick, John Sgherza and Anthony Collica there as well, there's no shortage of proven performers in the team.

Brendan Verrier, Bailey Matera, Ben Sokol, Matthew Gundry, Simon Panizza, Jason Maskos, Adam Carter and Traye Bennell are among the others looking for a big finals series to give themselves every chance of being in the league side for Round 1 next year.

While Walters couldn’t have been happier with how the season has panned out, he knows it all counts for little now that the finals are here and Subiaco awaits with a grand final spot on the line on Sunday.

"It has been a good season. They certainly are a fantastic group who have come through our colts program, and they love to win and that's what I admire about them as a whole unit. It has been a good season to finish four games clear but the job is only half done and we need to turn that into some finals form and get the results over the next couple of weeks," Walters said.

"It is certainly going to be tough at selection and I've told the players that 31 can't go into 23. I explained to them that I will pick the best 23 players based on form and what we need to win a game of footy.

"It's not personal, I've got a job to do to pick the best team, and I'm sure all those guys who finished in the league side will be part of that so I have some headaches ahead at the selection table."

Walters oversaw the players having an intra-club hit out last week before giving them the weekend off as he watched Subiaco and Swan Districts play for the right to play South Fremantle in this Sunday's second semi-final. He knows the Lions will give them a big test.

"A few guys had some sore spots after the Peel game but having the week off, we gave them the weekend off, and I feel they are all pretty refreshed and keen to play a game footy this weekend," he said.

"They (Subiaco) are a good side and are very well drilled, similar to their league side. They have a lot of strong players and on the weekend they hung in there, and took their chances when they came and they were the better team on the day against Swans.

"We have beaten them a couple of times this year, but we are under no illusions that we have to put our best foot forward this weekend again to get across the line."

Walters has been impressed with the attitude of the senior players who have dealt with the disappointment of being dropped from the league side this season, particularly the likes of Mugambwa, Ross, Borovac and Bewick who have a combined 352 WAFL games between them.

Now Walters has appointed Mugambwa captain for the finals after he announced that 2015 would be the final season of his career that has included the 143 WAFL matches and the 2009 premiership.

"There is a really good blend and I can't fault the senior guys like Rossy and Gumby in the way they have come back and led this side. There's a lot of excitement as well coming from the young guys so I'm looking forward to seeing them come together on the weekend," he said.

"He (Mugambwa) is very keen and I don’t mind saying that he's going to be captain for the finals series. I've known Paul for a long time and he's certainly very keen to finish on a good note. Hopefully he can lead from the front.

"Inside the walls of our footy club, he's just fantastic. I remember in 2009 under John Dimmer some of the one percenters that he did in the grand final were fantastic. That sort of stuff makes us a better side and people lift from watching all his tackling, chasing and competing in the forward-line."

While Walters will have plenty of goal kicking options and a bevy of prolific ball winners in the midfield, the back-line made up of Ross, Luff, Borovac, Maskos, Brad McPhail, Mitch Banks, Adam and Mitch Carter, and Zac Strom if need be would be more than handy to line-up at league level.

"We've had the least points scored against for the season and those guys back there have been fantastic," Walters said.

"There's been weeks when we've picked the side and just think wow about the back-line. It's the future of the footy club and I'm looking forward to seeing them in action in the weeks ahead."