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Small Talk – Ashton Hams Column Round 3

Tuesday, April 8, 2014 - 7:22 PM - by Ashton Hams

THE thought of playing for East Perth this year was a big reason why I decided to retire from the AFL. I just love it at the South Fremantle Football Club too much.

I had the best of both worlds last year when I was coming back to play for Souths when I wasn’t at the Eagles which I really enjoyed doing, but this year I would have had to go back to East Perth when I wasn’t in the Eagles team and my heart would not have been in it.
To be honest, I would not have wanted to be out there in an East Perth jumper and I know I would not have enjoyed it. I couldn’t even stomach the thought of doing it to be honest. I have never liked East Perth. Even their supporters at times aren’t the best going around, so it wasn’t a hard decision in the end. Nothing would have made me playing for East Perth feel OK.
Looking at this year, it was in the back of my mind that the Eagles side would be hard to get into and I wasn’t able to play a full year in my four years there. It was always going to be hard to keep my spot so chances were that I might only play 10 or even less AFL games and then spend the rest of the time at East Perth. I couldn’t have done that.
I'm happy, though, with the four years I had in the AFL with the Eagles. It was an amazing experience and it is the best four years of my life so far. I learnt so much while I was there and yes it is intense and hard, but everyone dreams of playing AFL and I was lucky enough to get there, and play a few games. I was rapt to be part of it for four years.
I'm getting old now as well and realistically I probably only have two or three years of top-level football left in me so I wanted to make sure I was enjoying it wherever I was playing. I know I will enjoy it here with the young boys at South Fremantle and even though we haven’t had the best start, hopefully we win a few games and I get to play finals footy again.
We have had a massive turnover in players though. There's only myself, Kris Miller, Craig White and Paul Mugambwa left from our 2009 premiership team so I am trying to be a leader around the club. That has been a real challenge because I have never been a leader in my career before. We do have a very young group and even Cooky is still pretty young for a captain. It doesn’t help starting with three straight losses, but we can only improve from here and I'm sure we will learn a lot out of our last loss to East Perth. We will keep working hard and it will come together for us.
When I first got to West Coast, I found it very challenging adjusting to the full-time life after spending four or five years at Souths juggling footy with work and everything. The biggest adjustment was probably my diet. It was hard at first but it is such a good club with a rich history and there are always people there to help you out. You never felt alone and I would never take those four years back for anything. I just loved it.
Now after four years of being full-time in the AFL, it has been another big challenge getting used to life back in the WAFL. I still think I'm finding my feet trying to get the balance right with footy and work. WAFL footy is far from easy. It's three nights a week at the club, plus a game and it's a lot of hours and hard work. You still have to be fit and you can't play WAFL footy without being fit, you just can't get away it. I think I am slowly finding my feet, but a few wins would certainly help.
I actually think you spend a longer time training in the WAFL. You train for longer because it's not quite as intense. At the Eagles, we'd train for 30 minutes and it was just full on, but here you train for longer and you are on the oval for a lot more time. If you push yourself, it is quite hard and I am just trying to get my old body through.
Work-wise, Hase hooked me up with a job through his brother-in-law at Crommelin (www.crommelin.com.au) where we waterproof ceilings. So I'm doing a bit of sales and rep work there and I'm really enjoying it. It's a good company so if anyone needs any waterproofing or ceiling work, just get in touch. It is good in that I can work my own hours to fit with footy. I start early and finish a bit early so I can get to training so it's working out really well.
Knowing how tough playing WAFL footy is, it's so amazing seeing Kris Miller reach 300 games with his business and family on top of footy. You won't see anyone doing that again. It's just too hard. WAFL is becoming so demanding with your time and on your body. Millsy is just a genius and we are all shattered for him losing in his 300th game. He deserved us to win for him but unfortunately we couldn’t get over the line for him. It's still an incredible effort from him. 
By Ashton HamsTHE thought of playing for East Perth this year was a big reason why I decided to retire from the AFL. I just love it at the South Fremantle Football Club too much.

I had the best of both worlds last year when I was coming back to play for Souths when I wasn’t at the Eagles which I really enjoyed doing, but this year I would have had to go back to East Perth when I wasn’t in the Eagles team and my heart would not have been in it.

To be honest, I would not have wanted to be out there in an East Perth jumper and I know I would not have enjoyed it. I couldn’t even stomach the thought of doing it to be honest. I have never liked East Perth. Even their supporters at times aren’t the best going around, so it wasn’t a hard decision in the end. Nothing would have made me playing for East Perth feel OK.

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Colts Report - Round 3

Monday, April 7, 2014 - 4:16 PM - by Arthur Maskos

THE South Fremantle colts side continued to produce the goods with another win on Saturday against the rugged East Perth.

With two more debutants in Sandy Williamson and James McGuire standing in for more fancied state representatives, the side was able to produce a display that kept up the standards required.
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Entertainment Books

Sunday, April 6, 2014 - 3:33 PM

The SFFC Past Players and Officials will be selling Entertainment Books for 2014-2015. 20% of every membership sold contributes to our fundraising.

Orders can be placed online at https://www.entertainmentbook.com.au/orderbooks/912897a or a form can be collected from the Stephen Michael Room.

Books are $65.00 and offer a range of discounts including meals, accommodation, tourist attractions and discounts at retail shops just to mention a few.

For more information please contact Emmie Del Borrello on 0407 217 298 Read More [+]

Bulldogs go down to Eagle-powered Royals

Saturday, April 5, 2014 - 4:11 AM - by Chris Pike

SOUTH Fremantle has fallen to its third straight loss to open the 2014 WAFL season with a West Coast Eagles-strengthened East Perth cruising to a 75-point victory at Fremantle Oval on Friday night.

Coming off a 38-point loss in Round 1 to Subiaco in a game where South Fremantle had more possessions, inside-50 entries and shots on goal, and then in Round 2 led Perth by 44 points before losing by five, the Bulldogs had every reason to think a first win of 2014 was just around the corner.
However, East Perth had other ideas on Friday night at Fremantle Oval and with a team featuring 12 West Coast-listed players and another four players who have played AFL football, the Royals ended up winning 20.8 (128) to 8.5 (53).
It was a tough loss for the Bulldogs to take but they now have a chance to get on the board in 2014 next Saturday against Swan Districts at Bassendean's Steel Blue Oval ahead of matches against West Perth, East Fremantle and Claremont before the Round 8 bye.
Former Eagle Ashton Hams did all he could against the side he would have been playing for had he not taken the decision to retire from the AFL at the end of 2013, and the dual South Fremantle premiership player finished with 33 possessions and nine clearances.
Haiden Schloithe also worked tirelessly in the Bulldogs midfield with 28 possessions, eight clearances and a goal with captain Ryan Cook finishing with 22 disposals, five clearances, four inside 50s and a goal.
Mitch Carter came in for his first league appearance of 2014 and did well off half-back with 20 disposals while fellow defenders Adam McIntosh (18 touches), Nick Borovac (13), Dylan Ross (13) and Craig White (13) did all they could while under-siege.
South Fremantle only managed to go inside-50 on 37 occasions so the forward-line was starved of opportunities, but Josh Pullman played his best game for the Bulldogs and kicked his first two goals for the club from 13 possessions and four marks.
With James Sellar out with a knee injury, former Royal Brock Higgins had a huge task coming up against Paul Johnson and Scott Lycett in the ruck, but battled manfully finishing with 15 possessions, 20 hit outs and seven inside-50 entries.
South Fremantle fans also would have had a difficult time watching dual colts premiership player Adam Carter also play well for East Perth with 23 possessions and nine marks.
The Bulldogs got off to a perfect start with captain Cook kicking the first goal of the game and in a scrappy opening quarter, East Perth held on to just a two-point advantage by quarter-time.
However, the Royals then kicked two goals in the first three minutes of the second quarter through Josh Smith and Lycett, and went on to add four more before half-time to lead by a comfortable 32 points at the main break with South Fremantle's only second term goal courtesy of a Schloithe snap.
It took just 30 seconds for the Royals to get on the board in the third quarter when Mitch Fraser kicked truly and when Lycett, Fraser McInnes and Josh Hill followed suit, East Perth's advantage was out to 51 points heading into time-on in the third term.
East Perth still led by 50 points at three quarter-time and despite two last quarter goals for South Fremantle to Pullman and another to Marlon Pickett with his first, and only, kick of the night, the Royals ran away with the contest with seven more goals of their own to run out 75-point victors.
SOUTH FREMANTLE 2.2 3.2 5.4 8.5 (53)
EAST PERTH 2.4 8.4 13.6 20.8 (128)
SOUTH FREMANTLE – Goals: Pullman 2; Pickett, Saunders, B Verrier, Schloithe, Guglielmana, Cook.
Best: Hams, Schloithe, M Carter, McIntosh, Higgins, Borovac, Cook.
EAST PERTH – Goals: J Smith 4; Hill 3; Sheed, McInnes, Lycett 2; A Smith, Blee, Fraser, Wulff, Hutchings, Dobson, Butler.
Best: Wulff, Sheed, Hutchings, Anderson, Blee, Butler, Johnson, McGovern.
By Chris PikeSOUTH Fremantle has fallen to its third straight loss to open the 2014 WAFL season with a West Coast Eagles-strengthened East Perth cruising to a 75-point victory at Fremantle Oval on Friday night.

Coming off a 38-point loss in Round 1 to Subiaco in a game where South Fremantle had more possessions, inside-50 entries and shots on goal, and then in Round 2 led Perth by 44 points before losing by five, the Bulldogs had every reason to think a first win of 2014 was just around the corner.

However, East Perth had other ideas on Friday night at Fremantle Oval and with a team featuring 12 West Coast-listed players and another four players who have played AFL football, the Royals ended up winning 20.8 (128) to 8.5 (53).

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Round 3 Preview v East Perth

Friday, April 4, 2014 - 3:03 PM - by Chris Pike

SOUTH Fremantle returns to Fremantle Oval for its second night game in seven days this Friday with a big task against an unbeaten East Perth, but with every confidence of getting its first win on the board for 2014.

The Bulldogs come into the Round 3 clash on Friday night after a 38-point loss to Subiaco and five-point defeat to Perth after leading by 44 points early in the second quarter in Kris Miller's 300th WAFL match.
Meanwhile, the Royals are unbeaten following wins over Peel Thunder and Swan Districts to open the season coming off last year's grand final appearance.
While overall over the past decade South Fremantle has generally enjoyed Friday night matches at Fremantle Oval winning 23 of the 35, recent years hasn’t been as kind to the Bulldogs under lights at the port.
Including last week's five-point loss to Perth, South Fremantle has lost its last five Friday night matches at Fremantle but have won three straight games on Saturday nights so winning under lights isn’t a concern.
South Fremantle has hosted East Perth five times in Friday night games as well with the Bulldogs winning all of them over the past decade.
And since the Royals ended the Bulldogs' 15-game winning run over South Fremantle in Round 9, 2012, East Perth went on to win three straight against South Fremantle won a high-scoring thriller by 12 points in Round 23 last year at Fremantle Oval.
South Fremantle's chances against East Perth won't be helped either with former AFL big man James Sellar ruled out with a knee injury.
He has played mostly in the ruck over the first two weeks and been in good form averaging 14.5 possessions and 29.5 hit outs game, but now his absence leaves a huge task for former Royal Brock Higgins in his third game for South Fremantle and first against his old side.
Higgins played 31 matches at East Perth over the last three seasons before crossing to South Fremantle over the summer and he now has the task of taking on Paul Johnson and Scott Lycett in the ruck on Friday night.
He will be supported by Alistair Gillespie who comes in for his first league game of the season to both back up Higgins in the ruck, and to also take the place up forward of Paul Mugambwa who has also been ruled out of the game after rolling his ankle last Friday night against Perth.
As well as Gillespie coming into the South Fremantle team to face the Royals, 90-game veteran Toby Bairstow, recruit Steve Mills and Mitch Carter are pressing for selection with Traye Bennell and Mitch Banks a chance to make their league debuts.
Meanwhile, East Perth welcomes back Mark Hutchings for his first game in Royals colours since Round 18, 2009.
He was drafted to St Kilda and then upon return signed with West Perth which culminated in winning the Simpson Medal in last year's grand final win over East Perth.
However, still listed at West Coast he returns to the Royals this year and will play his first match of the season on Friday night following a back injury.
Steven Wityk, Matt Gordon, Callum Hart, Julian Locantro and Will Magginness are all in the mix to come into the East Perth team too, but even though Lycett, Will Schofield and Dom Sheed have been named out, all are expected to still play for the Royals.
Hard-running wingman Steven Payne and outstanding lockdown defender Kyle Anderson also celebrate their 50th games for the Royals on Friday night.
RESERVES SQUAD
T Bairstow, M Banks, T Bennell, M Bolger, S Borovac, M Carter, E Collard, A Collica, J D'Vauz, A Gillespie, M Gundry, J Hall, L Harvey, K Hogan, J Laurino, J Louthean, L Lucev, K Matera, S Mills, M Nicholson, N Olds, S Panizza, J Pantano, J Parry, B Sokol, T Stewart, Z Strom, J Symmans, J Tartaglia, B Verrier, M Walley
COLTS SQUAD
B Colbung, B Collier, J Culleton, J Depane, B Donaldson, J Dragovich, B Fimmano, W Frampton, J Garlett, C Loersch, B Matera, J McComb, J Mcguire, G McLeod, J McMaster, B McPhail, J Mirco, D Moore, A Nodari, L Pearson, C Salmon, K Stewart, N Strom, B Truss, T Wheeler
By Chris PikeSOUTH Fremantle returns to Fremantle Oval for its second night game in seven days this Friday with a big task against an unbeaten East Perth, but with every confidence of getting its first win on the board for 2014.

The Bulldogs come into the Round 3 clash on Friday night after a 38-point loss to Subiaco and five-point defeat to Perth after leading by 44 points early in the second quarter in Kris Miller's 300th WAFL match.

Meanwhile, the Royals are unbeaten following wins over Peel Thunder and Swan Districts to open the season coming off last year's grand final appearance.

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Bulldogs to make tweaks in search of first win

Thursday, April 3, 2014 - 6:10 PM - by Chris Pike

SOUTH Fremantle coach Paul Hasleby is confident that with some fine tuning to the Bulldogs' discipline, ball use going inside-50, tackling and defensive structures that they can bounce back from two tough to swallow losses to open the 2014 WAFL season.

The Bulldogs came into 2014 expected to be one of the competition's big improvers having been out of finals action since 2011 with a combination of strong recruiting, key players returning and a strong group of young players ready to take the competition by storm.
However, things didn’t get off to the ideal start with a 38-point loss to Subiaco in Round 1 at Leederville's Medibank Stadium despite the Bulldogs having more possessions, inside-50 entries and shots on goal.
South Fremantle then started on fire last Friday night racing out to a 44-point lead early in the second quarter at Fremantle Oval against Perth in Kris Miller's 300th game of WAFL football.
However, the Demons eventually whittled down that deficit to end up winning by five points.
Hasleby isn’t hiding behind the fact that those two losses have been disappointing, but is confident of things turning around starting this Friday night back at Fremantle Oval against the so-far unbeaten East Perth. 
"It has obviously been disappointing results the first two weeks particularly on Friday night when we were up by over 40 points early on in the game," Hasleby said.
"That was very disappointing and a hard pill to swallow, but it's Round 2, we've played some good footy and been in winning positions so the boys have to keep on going forward, and the wins will come."
Last Friday night, Hasleby felt that one or maybe two more goals early in the second term when 44 points up and the game could have been over, but the Bulldogs couldn’t slam the door shut on Perth and that was after only managing nine goals from 65 inside 50s and 28 scoring shots against Subiaco.
"There are just times in games when we need a bit of composure and class. We had Perth on the ropes but couldn’t put them away in that second quarter when the game was there for us to take it away from them," he said.
"And in the first game, we went inside-50 65 times but they couldn’t execute on the scoreboard. We've had missed opportunities and when the opposition gets a run on, we need to improve and we have come up with a few strategies this week to try and remedy those situations."
Coughing up high tackles has always been an area of concern over the first two rounds and Hasleby hopes that is something they can quickly fix, especially with Ashton Hams in their team showing them how to draw high tackles.
"We just have to get smarter with the way we tackle. We have given away 12 goals over the first two games either from 50 metres or from poor tackling techniques," Hasleby said.
"We have done some work on that and the boys have to get a bit smarter and a lot of players are experts at drawing free-kicks from high tackles. We've got one of them in our own team called Ashton Hams and we have to get a bit smarter with the way we tackle the opposition."
Former Adelaide and Melbourne recruit James Sellar has started quite well in the ruck this season for South Fremantle, and Hasleby does expect to use him in different roles and not just in the middle as the year rolls on.
"We'll keep mixing it up with James. The great thing about him is that he has versatility and he can play in the forward-line to take a mark, can play in the ruck and he has spent the last couple of years as a key defender," he said.
"It will depend a bit on the situation of the game we are coming into, but he is a great asset for us to have and will only continue to get better. He has started off quite well, but I think he has a great upside."
Brock Higgins has been helping out Sellar in the ruck and finding his feet for the Bulldogs as he now prepares to play against his former team East Perth for the first time this Friday night.
Hasleby is confident the duo as a ruck pair will only continue to develop better relationships with the midfielders as the season rolls on as well.
"Brock hasn’t been too bad either. He and James complement each other and Brock is more of a grunter and gives us that physicality and hardness where James has the ability to spread and cut the opposition up a little bit more," Hasleby said.
"We are going to need both of them throughout the year and it's an area we identified we needed to improve in, and that's why we brought in so many tall players into our squad.
"As they develop more chemistry with midfielders like Cook, Hams, Kelly and Schloithe I think they are only going to get better with the centre bounce work."
By Chris PikeSOUTH Fremantle coach Paul Hasleby is confident that with some fine tuning to the Bulldogs' discipline, ball use going inside-50, tackling and defensive structures that they can bounce back from two tough to swallow losses to open the 2014 WAFL season.

The Bulldogs came into 2014 expected to be one of the competition's big improvers having been out of finals action since 2011 with a combination of strong recruiting, key players returning and a strong group of young players ready to take the competition by storm.

However, things didn’t get off to the ideal start with a 38-point loss to Subiaco in Round 1 at Leederville's Medibank Stadium despite the Bulldogs having more possessions, inside-50 entries and shots on goal.

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Old Royal foe now a proud Bulldog

Thursday, April 3, 2014 - 3:51 PM - by Chris Pike

A FAMILIAR face has been running around the South Fremantle Football Club in 2014 in the form of former long-time East Perth captain and 171-game WAFL star Michael Swan, but it's not as a player and he is proud to join the Bulldogs given his family link to the club.

Swan retired from WAFL football after the 2013 grand final and finished his career with 170 WAFL games at the Royals including 90 as captain plus a Foxtel Cup appearance and one match for Western Australia.
That was after time in the VFL with Port Melbourne and AFL with the Sydney Swans.
After a glittering playing career, Swan wasn’t sure what the future held for him in football but did know that he wanted to dedicate plenty of time to further building his physiotherapy career.
When the opportunity came up to become the head physio for South Fremantle in 2014 it was something Swan was quick to accept especially with the chance to again work closely with Mike Vega, and to work at the club where his wife's grandfather is a legendary figure – Clive Lewington.
"In terms of not playing myself, I'm not missing it too much which is a good thing. I love being involved still in WAFL football especially here at the South Fremantle Football Club because I do have a bit of a family connection through my wife," Swan said.
"It's really good to be able to contribute to a footy club in a different fashion so I'm really enjoying the role as a physiotherapist down here at South Fremantle, and working with a new bunch of guys.
"They are a fantastic bunch of players and it's really good to try and facilitate their performance just by trying to help them with any injuries they might have. It is actually quite rewarding to treat a player and to get them back out on the field, and watch them perform as they should."
Swan knew that his tremendous playing career would always likely end at the end of the 2013 season, and that finish came in East Perth's grand final loss to West Perth.
The 32-year-old has been working hard on building his career as a physiotherapist and while down the track he would be ideally suited to coaching given the leadership he had at East Perth as a player, for now he would like to focus on building up his career.
"I hadn’t really thought too much about what I would do when I finished playing football. I did want to stay involved especially at WAFL level and I wanted to further my skills as a physiotherapist, and my career by taking up this role," he said.
"I potentially could have looked at coaching, but I thought that just at the moment I wanted to take a step back from the football side of things and focus on my career as a physio because that has been neglected a bit whilst I was still playing football. This has been very enjoyable so far and stressful at times."
On top of Swan's family link to South Fremantle through his wife, strength and conditioning coach Mike Vega is someone he worked closely with when they were together at East Perth, and he was keen to team up with him now to start his physio work inside a football club.
"He was definitely a big factor because he passed on my details to Gary Davidson (football manager) and Stuart Kemp (chief executive)," he said.
"We then sat down with them and I presented to them what I thought would be the best way for a WAFL physiotherapist and medical staff to be conducted. I've seen what is effective and what isn’t effective over the years so I drew on my experience to present to Gary and Stuart.
"So we spoke about a lot of different issues and I said that if I was going to do it, I had to be fully committed. To do it properly, I had to be here every night and be just as committed as the players or I wouldn’t provide an efficient service to the players."
Swan could have played many more than his eventual 171 WAFL games had it not been for injury troubles, particularly with his groins.
The experiences he went through helps him now treating players and it also helps them listen to him given he was one of the very best leaders in the WAFL throughout his career, one of the most intense competitors and most respected figures in the game.
"It definitely helps when players talk about symptoms and signs of a particular condition, quite often I have experienced that myself and that helps give me that insight as to what the actual injury is, and what they need to do to rehabilitate and the time frame of that injury," he said.
"I think the players are also a bit more receptive because they know I have been in their situation so they have been very respectful of my advice and treatment I give them."
Swan has had long-running battles with some of the South Fremantle players he is now working closely with, particularly Kris Miller and Craig White, but what has stood out to him about the inner workings of the Bulldogs is the similarities he sees with some of the characters from East Perth.
"Every football club tends to have a similar group of players, just with different names. I recognise a lot of similarities with players that I knew back at East Perth so it has been good from that point of view to see inside another football club. Some of the guys I played against tease me from time to time, but it's all in good jest and is good fun," Swan said.
"I remember playing on Kris Miller in my fourth or fifth game of WAFL football and he was very good with his body and skills even back then, and he always had skills and co-ordination. He was an outstanding player and still is, and for him to play 300 games of WAFL football is an achievement that I don’t think will ever be completed again.
"It's just a testament to himself and his family that he can perform at such a high level over so many years. The commitment it takes is huge and that support network for him must be outstanding so full credit to him and his full family. Craig White is a great leader around the club and is a really good bloke too."
Swan's wife Shannon also hasn’t given him a hard time about not taking a break from football after retiring at the end of 2013, and the fact that the intensity he played his career with isn’t needed now in his new role is certainly helping with that.
"She has been very, very supportive because in this role I don’t have the same social constraints as when I'm playing," Swan said.
"So in terms of dietary requirements and just being able to go out the night before a game and catching up with friends or having a drink with dinner, we can do that and I don’t have to be in bed.
"Psychologically I was quite intense when I used to play so from that side of it I have been a lot more relaxed around the house, and have probably been contributing around the house with the chores as well because I haven’t been as physically tired."
However, the news isn’t all good for Swan. He and Shannon took the chance to go on a holiday to North America over the Australian summer, and he was excited to see snow and go skiing for the first time.
However, that excitement was short-lived after he crashed while skiing, injured his knee and has now had to undergo a knee reconstruction. Despite the long list of injuries throughout his playing career, it is the first time he has had any knee problems.
By Chris PikeA FAMILIAR face has been running around the South Fremantle Football Club in 2014 in the form of former long-time East Perth captain and 171-game WAFL star Michael Swan, but it's not as a player and he is proud to join the Bulldogs given his family link to the club.

Swan retired from WAFL football after the 2013 grand final and finished his career with 170 WAFL games at the Royals including 90 as captain plus a Foxtel Cup appearance and one match for Western Australia.

That was after time in the VFL with Port Melbourne and AFL with the Sydney Swans.

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Colts Report Round 2

Wednesday, April 2, 2014 - 5:45 PM - by Arthur Maskos

This Colts season has started in promising fashion as the South Fremantle youngsters have shown good early form to record two wins in as many weeks. After overrunning a valiant Subiaco side in week 1 the colts easily accounted for a  young Perth colts team on Saturday.

Lead by recently appointed Captain Brad McPhail the players were able to assert their superior strength and skill to force Perth onto the back foot early, from which they found it very difficult to recover. It was pleasing to see players like Bill Collier, Noah Strom and Jack McMaster continue their  good preseason form in the backline. They were ably assisted by the dominant tall brigade in Bill Frampton, Cameron Loersch and Matthew Ah Siu.

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Bulldogs just fall short in Kris Miller's 300th WAFL game

Saturday, March 29, 2014 - 3:52 PM - by Chris Pike

PERTH stormed home at Fremantle Oval on Friday night to come back from 44 points behind to beat South Fremantle by five points in Kris Miller's 300th WAFL match.

The Bulldogs shot out of the blocks with eight goals to two in the first quarter and then were 44 points in front when Jacob Martinez kicked his third goal to start the second term, and looked on track to celebrate the remarkable feat of Miller in the best possible way.
However, the Demons have new found belief, confidence and hardness it appears in 2014 and they managed to whittle down that deficit, hit the front in the fourth quarter to lead by 17 points in the dying minutes.
Two late goals to Craig White and captain Ryan Cook, trying desperately to win for their teammate Miller, brought South Fremantle back to within five points with the ball back to the middle with only 40 seconds left on the clock.
South Fremantle made one more attacking foray and full-forward Ben Saunders almost latched onto a mark in the goal square, but it wasn’t paid and the siren sounded as Perth recorded a remarkable 19.9 (123) to 18.10 (118) victory.
It was a night of WAFL football that simply had it all.
Miller's achievement of reaching 300 WAFL games is something that is unlikely to be repeated in the modern game.
The 33-year-old previously played 153 games at East Fremantle before joining South Fremantle in 2007 where he has now added a further 147 matches, won three fairest and best awards and played in the 2009 premiership.
It was a heart-warming scene seeing him enter Fremantle Oval on Friday night carrying his newborn son Noah in his arms while his daughters Hannah and Charlotte ran out with him decked out in Bulldogs jumpers with No. 9 on the back and 'Daddy' written above the number.
Their mother, and his wife Jenae was there to greet them after they led the South Fremantle team out through the banner.
Miller then went on to spend most of the game on the ball for the Bulldogs and worked tirelessly finishing with 19 possessions and eight tackles before being chaired off by Craig White and Adam Guglielmana, as both teams formed a guard of honour.
On top of Miller's milestone, a good crowd turned out to Fremantle Oval to watch the clash that turned into a classic contest.
South Fremantle was clearly inspired by Miller's milestone and after a disappointing Round 1 showing, played brilliant football in the first quarter and-a-half to lead by 44 points.
However, Perth was coming off a 65-point win over Claremont and with the experience of the three Morton brothers playing together for the first time – Jarryd, Cale and Mitch, the Demons never gave in and stormed home for a victory they will remember for years to come.
The Morton brothers were all outstanding as well with Sydney premiership player Mitch spending most of the game on the ball and ending up with 18 possessions and two goals.
Cale added 18 touches and two goals as well as six inside-50 entries while across half-back, Jarryd finished with 18 possessions.
Young small forward Callum Collard booted five goals for the Demons as well while Brennan Stack kicked three goals.
Dene White was outstanding in the midfield with24 possessions, six tackles and two goals with Gerald Ugle collecting 23 disposals, Kieran Hug 21, Reese Richardson 20, Cameron Manuel 20 and Michael Florio 20.
The ruck battle between Mitchell Lleyendekkers and James Sellar was also fascinating with the Demon finishing with 11 touches, seven tackles, 41 hit outs and a goal and the Bulldog 13 possessions and 32 hit outs.
Martinez kicked his three goals early for the Bulldogs and finished the night with 19 possessions and fellow young Indigenous star Marlon Pickett was simply brilliant with 26 possessions, six hit outs, five tackles and three goals.
Adam Guglielmana and Ben Saunders both kicked two goals apiece for South Fremantle as well.
Captain Cook also finished with 25 possessions while Brendan Verrier had 21 touches, Tim Kelly 24 and Shaun Bewick 18.
Nick Borovac was outstanding in defence especially in the first half shutting down Perth captain Paul Bevan forcing him to be moved into defence in the second half.
SOUTH FREMANTLE 8.2 12.6 14.9 18.10 (118)
PERTH 2.1 8.4 13.6 19.9 (123)
SOUTH FREMANTLE – Goals: Pickett, Martinez 3; Saunders, Guglielmana 2; Schloithe, Bewick, Kelly, B Verrier, White, Sokol, Cook, Hams. 
Best: Pickett, Cook, Borovac, Kelly, B Verrier, Martinez, Miller, Guglielmana.
PERTH – Goals: Collard 5; Stack 3; M Morton, White, C Morton 2; Boyle, Hug, Houghton, Lleyendekkers, Leeson.
Best: White, Collard, M Morton, Ugle, Manuel, C Morton, Florio.
By Chris PikePERTH stormed home at Fremantle Oval on Friday night to come back from 44 points behind to beat South Fremantle by five points in Kris Miller's 300th WAFL match.

The Bulldogs shot out of the blocks with eight goals to two in the first quarter and then were 44 points in front when Jacob Martinez kicked his third goal to start the second term, and looked on track to celebrate the remarkable feat of Miller in the best possible way.

However, the Demons have new found belief, confidence and hardness it appears in 2014 and they managed to whittle down that deficit, hit the front in the fourth quarter to lead by 17 points in the dying minutes.

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Round 2 Preview v Perth

Friday, March 28, 2014 - 5:01 PM - by Chris Pike

THIS Friday night is a massive occasion at Fremantle Oval with South Fremantle's home-opener for 2014 with the Bulldogs desperate for their first win of the season and to also celebrate the remarkable achievement of Kris Miller playing his 300th WAFL match.

Night football has always been a popular fixture at Fremantle Oval and there is no better way for South Fremantle's first home match of season 2014 to take place than under lights this Friday night against Perth with bounce down at 7pm.
South Fremantle's season didn’t get off to the best start last Saturday night in a 38-point loss to Subiaco at Leederville's Medibank Stadium either, so the Bulldogs will be desperate to get their first win on the board this Friday night especially after losing the opening seven matches of 2013.
Perth won't be an easy opponent, though, with the Demons coming off a 65-point win over Claremont last Saturday.
The Bulldogs over time have enjoyed their home games at Fremantle Oval on Friday nights, though, and have a good run in recent times against the Demons.
Since 2004, South Fremantle has won 23 of the 34 night matches hosted at Fremantle Oval.
South Fremantle and Perth have played out some remarkable contests in recent years under lights at the port as well with the Bulldogs storming back from being 50 points down at three quarter-time to win in Round 2, 2012 while the Demons scored a one-point win in 2011.
Perth might have won all three matches over South Fremantle in 2013 but before that between 2002 and 2012, the Bulldogs won 17 out of 24 matches in a dominant period against the Demons.
South Fremantle has no outs at this stage from its team that lost to Subiaco last week with Toby Bairstow, James Laurino and Brendan Verrier coming into the squad.
Meanwhile from the Perth team that thumped Claremont at home last Saturday, Sydney Swans AFL premiership player Mitch Morton comes in to make his debut for the Demons while former South Fremantle colts premiership player Sean Lynch is a chance to line-up as well.
And of course just in case South Fremantle needed any added motivation to win, Kris Miller will become just the sixth player in WAFL history to play 300 matches when he runs out for his 147th appearance for the Bulldogs.
Miller is on the verge of becoming the first player in history to reach 150 games at two clubs and with a career already consisting of a premiership and four fairest and best awards, he will go down as one of the WAFL's all-time greats.
RESERVES SQUAD – Saturday 2pm
T Bairstow, M Banks, T Bennell, M Bolger, S Borovac, M Carter, E Collard, A Collica, J D'Vauz, A Gillespie, M Gundry, J Hall, L Harvey, K Hogan, J Laurino, J Louthean, L Lucev, K Matera, M Nicholson, N Olds, S Panizza, J Pantano, J Parry, T Stewart, Z Strom, J Symmans, J Tartaglia, B Verrier, M Walley
COLTS SQUAD – Saturday 11.25am
C Ah Chee, M Ah Siu, B Colbung, B Collier, J Culleton, J Depane, B Donaldson, J Dragovich, B Fimmano, W Frampton, J Garlett, C Loersch, B Matera, J McComb, G McLeod, J McMaster, B McPhail, J Mirco, D Moore, A Nodari, L Pearson, J Pickett, C Salmon, O Sexton, K Stewart, N Strom, B Truss, T Wheeler
By Chris PikTHIS Friday night is a massive occasion at Fremantle Oval with South Fremantle's home-opener for 2014 with the Bulldogs desperate for their first win of the season and to also celebrate the remarkable achievement of Kris Miller playing his 300th WAFL match.

Night football has always been a popular fixture at Fremantle Oval and there is no better way for South Fremantle's first home match of season 2014 to take place than under lights this Friday night against Perth with bounce down at 7pm.

South Fremantle's season didn’t get off to the best start last Saturday night in a 38-point loss to Subiaco at Leederville's Medibank Stadium either, so the Bulldogs will be desperate to get their first win on the board this Friday night especially after losing the opening seven matches of 2013.

Read More [+]

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