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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.

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Red and WHITE – Craig White Column Round 2

Thursday, March 27, 2014 - 7:38 PM - by Craig White

I HAVE done some sums and out of my 158 games, I've played 122 so far with Millsy and there's only been one game at South Fremantle since 2007 aside from when I was away in 2012 that I haven’t played with him.

For me to be at the top of the list of guys he has played with is something we will probably talk about when we get a bit older. He has been someone I have enjoyed playing my footy with and to know that I am the guy he has played with the most over his career is something I'm actually pretty chuffed about.
It is something we will speak a lot about this week and make a pretty big deal about it. We will need to draw upon as much inspiration as we can to get a win on the board to get the ball rolling. His 300th game comes at a good time so we can put a little bit more emphasis on this game as well. You don’t want to think you can try extra hard for a game, but I don’t think anyone will play 300 games in the WAFL ever again so it's a remarkable occasion to be part of. I'm really looking forward to it.
It is a pretty amazing feat to get to 300 games and it's not something I can even think about. I've been playing since 2004 and apart from that one year I was away, haven’t missed too many games along the way and I'm only up to 158. It just shows the durability and quality of player that he is. He has missed four or five games since his debut in 1999 and it's just an amazing effort, and I can't see it happening ever again.
It's an amazing feat what he is about to accomplish. Not only is he about to play 300 games, but in a couple of weeks he will become the first player to ever play 150 games at two different clubs. The durability and mental strength to keep getting through pre-seasons to do that is just amazing.
When I started my league career in 2004, he was still at East Fremantle and someone we put a lot of time into trying to stop. They had a good midfield brigade there in the mid-2000s.
I can still remember the last derby of 2006, and the last one that both Tim Malseed and Millsy ended up playing for East Fremantle before coming across to South, and they towelled us up ending up with over 50 possessions and five goals between them, so as an opponent we always knew how much quality Millsy had.
But he has been able to play just as good footy at South Fremantle. He has repaid us by winning a few best and fairests, but he definitely gave good service to East Fremantle before that as well.
At that time, we already had big Bourkey with us from the year before and then in 2007 Malseed and Miller joined us from East Fremantle. We kind of had an inkling that people weren’t all that happy at East Fremantle, but from day one when he arrived he has fitted in with the group. It has obviously been beneficial to the club and he's a people's person who fits in quite easily wherever he goes.
Millsy is deceivingly quicker than you think. A lot of people see him as being slow, but he makes himself look a bit quicker whenever the ball is in the vicinity and then his cleanliness with the ball when he has brings other people into the game, which is probably his biggest strength.
He is just such a natural ball-winner and is clean with his hands. Some players might get 10 or 12 touches and not be effective, but he can only have that much of it and still be effective and set up goals. He is still a strong contributor to team and will do that for the rest of this year, and whatever he decides from there then so be it.
In my list of WAFL players I've played with or against, I left him out of my top three last year and Millsy was quick to point that out to me, so I probably have to put him fourth. I think he has been the best in-and-under player I've played with in terms of using his hands and then his ability to go forward and kick a goal as well.
Millsy does love a footy trip and I don’t think he ever missed one so he definitely wears the pants in the family, but he's not the best performer. He does tend to take it a little easy and he might not go as hard as what some of the other boys do. There was even one instance in Queenstown, New Zealand where he was caught throwing shots over his shoulder into the wall.
He definitely has Andrew McCarrey covered though. Macca is one of the worst I've ever seen on a footy trip and to Millsy's credit, he is always up and about on footy trips and is a joy to have a drink with.
Closer to home, after every game he likes to visit his 24-hour deli on the corner of Stock Rd and Leach Hwy there. His favourite food there is the battered chewy so that has been his weekly ritual after games which has seen him get through 299 of them so far.
By Craig WhiteI HAVE done some sums and out of my 158 games, I've played 122 so far with Millsy and there's only been one game at South Fremantle since 2007 aside from when I was away in 2012 that I haven’t played with him.

For me to be at the top of the list of guys he has played with is something we will probably talk about when we get a bit older. He has been someone I have enjoyed playing my footy with and to know that I am the guy he has played with the most over his career is something I'm actually pretty chuffed about.

For the record and by my reckoning, I have played 122 games with Millsy while Andrew McCarrey has played 118, Paul Mugambwa 117, Tim Malseed 115 and Toby McGrath 105 - who just happened to produce this cracking picture of the great man.

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Miller's 300-game white boots up for auction

Thursday, March 27, 2014 - 1:42 PM - by Chris Pike

IN 299 WAFL matches, Kris Miller has never worn anything but his black Puma King football boots – but that will change this Friday night as he becomes the sixth player in league history to reach the triple-century with the game ball and his specially-designed white boots up for auction.

Miller has had made a special pair of white Puma King boots embroidered with 300 that he will wear just for the occasion of his 300th WAFL match which will take place this Friday night at Fremantle Oval when he lines up for South Fremantle against Perth.
The 33-year-old will only get the boots on Thursday after having them embroidered in the eastern states, have one training session in them on Thursday night and then wear them in the game on Friday night.
By reaching 300 WAFL matches, Miller joins Bill Dempsey, Mel Whinnen, Jack Sheedy, Bill Walker and Brian Peake as the only other WAFL players to ever reach the triple-century mark in the long and storied history of the WAFL.
That is why he decided to play his very first, and likely only, game of his remarkable career without his trademark black boots.
Since making his WAFL debut in 1999 with East Fremantle, Miller went on to play 153 games with the Sharks and win a fairest and best award before joining South Fremantle for the 2007 season.
At the Bulldogs, Miller has now played another 146 matches, played in the 2009 premiership and won three more fairest and best awards.
He now will add another remarkable achievement on Friday night and the boots for the occasion will be the prizes awarded for a raffle that will take place at Fremantle Oval during the match.
Tickets will be sold at Fremantle Oval on Friday night to raise money for the boots and ball and will be available $10 for six, $5 for three and $2 for one.
By Chris PikeIN 299 WAFL matches, Kris Miller has never worn anything but his black Puma King football boots – but that will change this Friday night as he becomes the sixth player in league history to reach the triple-century with the game ball and his specially-designed white boots up for auction.

Miller has had made a special pair of white Puma King boots embroidered with 300 that he will wear just for the occasion of his 300th WAFL match which will take place this Friday night at Fremantle Oval when he lines up for South Fremantle against Perth.

The 33-year-old will only get the boots on Thursday after having them embroidered in the eastern states, have one training session in them on Thursday night and then wear them in the game on Friday night.

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Miller proud to not be limping to 300 games

Thursday, March 27, 2014 - 3:10 AM - by Chris Pike

CONSISTENCY, quality and longevity easily sum up the remarkable WAFL career of Kris Miller who this Friday night will join the all-time greats of West Australian football becoming just the sixth player in the competition's storied history to play 300 matches.

Miller has never missed a game through injury in his entire career that began at East Fremantle in 1999 and while he hasn’t missed a game, there has been no drop off in form either throughout each one of his 299 matches in the WAFL to date either as a midfielder or half-forward.
Over 153 matches at East Fremantle that saw him earn life membership, win a Lynn Medal and play in the losing 2000 grand final, he was one of the Sharks' best players the entire time no matter how the club was performing.
Remarkably, since arriving at South Fremantle in 2007 he has had an ever better period of his career both in terms of individual accolades and team success though.
A premiership was what he craved and he achieved that in 2009 while winning one of his three WJ Hughes Medals as South Fremantle fairest and best in the same year.
He is now closing in on life membership at the Bulldogs, but before that becomes just the sixth player in WAFL history to play 300 games this Friday night at Fremantle Oval against Perth – after Bill Dempsey, Mel Whinnen, Jack Sheedy, Bill Walker and Brian Peake.
Miller is excited to reach the milestone this Friday night to see him join that list of champions of WAFL football and it's unlikely to be a feat repeated with East Perth's Craig Wulff the next longest-serving current player with 223 matches under his belt.
"It's exciting actually and it has obviously been a long time coming. I have been thinking about it for a while and at the end of last year I didn’t know if I would be able to play on or not, so it has sort of been hovering around for six months. It is pretty exciting for me and my family I think so I'm looking forward to it," Miller said.
"If you look at the names of the players who have done it, they are in the upper echelon of the history of WA football. If I can't be anywhere near as good as them, at least my name is up there among those players for something with the games we've played.
"I think it's something that is pretty special and it will probably mean even more when I finish and can look back and say I got to 300 games."
Miller isn’t sure what his secret to being so durable has been, but not having serious injuries to keep him sidelined has certainly help as has the fact that his form has always been so strong over 299 matches that has never seen him being in danger of being dropped.
"I'm not sure there is a secret to it. I suppose I've been lucky with injuries. Really I have got there because of a lot of luck and fortunately I have been able to play good enough footy where generally my head hasn’t been on the chopping block. I try to pride myself on being a good, consistent player week in week out, year after year," he said.
"One of the proudest things with my career I have is that I like to think I have been really consistent the whole way through.
"Getting to your 100 or 150 or 200 or 250-game milestones is one thing, but I'm proud that I don’t think I have been towed along to any of them and instead I've been partially doing the towing for whatever team I've played for. That sits more with me than anything that I know that I have been doing a good job for my team and earned my spot for 300 games now."
Through his first 153 matches, Miller was as passionate about East Fremantle as anybody and certainly didn’t think that he would end up playing more matches with the Bulldogs by the end of his career.
"I remember saying when I got to 150 games that I felt I could play for another five years but you just don’t know what will happen and as it turns out that was only halfway through my career," he said.
"This is now my eighth year at Souths and I never imagined playing here this long, but they came along at the right time and the premiership I won here was the ultimate achievement in my career."
Miller was disappointed with what happened at the end of 2006 to see him end up departing East Fremantle prematurely, but the result for him personally has been the best thing to ever happen to his career.
He fitted in at South Fremantle instantly and will be remembered as a great of the Bulldogs in his own right as a life member, three-time fairest and best winner and a premiership player.
And when you consider he had a whole 153-game career under his belt when he arrived at Fremantle Oval, the Miller story is a remarkable one, will never be repeated and will see him always remembered now as an all-time great of WA football.
"What happened at East Fremantle happened but not in my wildest dreams at that point did I imagine I would still end up playing 300 games and earn life membership at Souths after doing the same thing at East Fremantle," Miller said.
"It's just funny how things turn out. I loved my majority of time at East Fremantle when I was there as well and things turned a bit sour, but that wasn’t through my decisions. Things happen and I wasn’t interested in being part of the direction they were going.
"John Dimmer was down here and I liked the way he went about things and it was only another five minutes down the road so it was convenient as well for me.
"South Fremantle has embraced me since I arrived and I certainly have embraced South Fremantle so I am comfortable that I have got as much out of them as they have from me."
By Chris PikeCONSISTENCY, quality and longevity easily sum up the remarkable WAFL career of Kris Miller who this Friday night will join the all-time greats of West Australian football becoming just the sixth player in the competition's storied history to play 300 matches.

Miller has never missed a game through injury in his entire career that began at East Fremantle in 1999 and while he hasn’t missed a game, there has been no drop off in form either throughout each one of his 299 matches in the WAFL to date either as a midfielder or half-forward.

Over 153 matches at East Fremantle that saw him earn life membership, win a Lynn Medal and play in the losing 2000 grand final, he was one of the Sharks' best players the entire time no matter how the club was performing.

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Unexpected inspiration spurs Miller on to 300 games

Wednesday, March 26, 2014 - 2:25 PM - by Chris Pike

KRIS Miller found some inspiration from an unexpected source over the summer that made his decision to play on in 2014 for him and now this Friday night that will result in him reaching 300 WAFL games in a remarkable milestone.

Miller has been playing WAFL football since he made his league debut in 1999 with East Fremantle and he has been at South Fremantle since 2007, and his durability has been remarkable as he now prepares to become just the sixth player in history to play his 300th game this Friday night against Perth at Fremantle Oval.
The 300-game milestone was only two matches away when Miller finished his 2013 season at South Fremantle where once again his form showed no signs of dropping away despite playing a different role in the forward-line in the second half of the campaign than the on-ball role he's accustomed to.
However, it was not a foregone conclusion that the 33-year-old would play on in 2014 despite the rare 300-game mark being so close.
His best mate, and coach, Paul Hasleby made it clear he had to earn his spot in the team and would be handed nothing, and Miller's pride in his consistently strong form over 298 games meant he would not allow himself to play unless fully committed.
He started pre-season training at the Bulldogs, but it wasn’t until he was inspired at the Busselton Iron Man event in early December that he decided that he would be playing on for at least one more WAFL season.
"I started training in the pre-season and people might not believe this, but I honestly didn’t know if I would play. I knew I had to start training to give myself a chance if I wanted to play because if I hadn’t been training and decided to play, I would have had too much catching up to do," Miller said.
"The time I actually made the decision was when I went down to the Busselton Iron Man because my sister competed in that. Seeing all the people competing was inspirational and she did well, but what stuck out was one guy who finished it with only one leg.
"That made me think that if he could do an iron man on one leg, that I could get through at least another season of playing football. That was the actual point that I decided I was playing, up to then I wasn’t sure and I obviously didn’t go down there knowing that would happen."
As much as Miller is looking forward to Friday night himself to enjoy reaching 300 games, he knows that it likely is even more special for his family and those close to him.
In recent years when he has reached the 200 and 250-game mark, the occasions have served as somewhat of a reunion for old mates, teammates and certainly a lot of family members and this Friday night is no different.
Miller is looking forward to seeing the enjoyment his family and friends get out of the occasion – especially his ever present parents plus his brother and sister, and wife Jenae, daughters Hannah and Charlotte, and newborn son Noah.
"I think it means just as much to my family, and maybe more, than it does to me. My parents have hardly missed any games and I have been out there playing so I get that enjoyment naturally, but for them recognition of a milestone like this reflects a lot on what their support has meant," he said.
"They might even get more enjoyment out of it than me at the moment as well so they are all very excited about it, I know that."
Playing 300 WAFL games is not an achievement that should be sneezed at.
While still a special achievement in the AFL, there is no question it is a lot easier to spend 16 years in the AFL as a full-time footballer than it is in the WAFL where the demands at the football club are huge but on top of that players must work to make a living and build a family.
Remarkably as well as his decorated playing career that has seen him play 153 games at East Fremantle where he won a fairest and best, and now 146 more at South Fremantle with a premiership and three club champion awards, the rest of Miller's life is successful too.
He is doing well with his business Country Solar WA while his family at home has recently expanded with son Noah joining daughters Hannah and Charlotte, but Miller is fully aware he wouldn’t have been able to play in the WAFL for as long as he has without the support of his wife Jenae.
"It's bloody hard on my family to be honest. I'm gone early in the mornings for work and then get home and have to shoot off for training straight away a lot of the time. My wife has got to do everything and our two girls have started school now, and we've just had a boy as well," Miller said.
"So she has to get the girls ready for school, make sure our boy is looked after and she has a lot she has to take care of with getting three kids in and out of the car every morning and afternoon, and everything else.
"With my business, it's hard to be around to help with a lot of that stuff as well, and then when I get home I have to go to the footy club. At the end of the day, I couldn’t have kept playing footy without her being as understanding and amazing as she has been."
With everything that is going on surrounding Miller's remarkable milestone this Friday night, it's easy to forget there are four points up for grabs.
They are an important four points as well after South Fremantle lost to Subiaco last Saturday by 38 points and now will be desperate to bounce back against Perth this Friday night at Fremantle Oval. Especially after the way they started 2013 with seven straight losses.
The last thing Miller wants is to remember his 300th game for being a loss for the Bulldogs.
"It was very disappointing and we played terribly. We lost by 38 points in the end even though we had more scoring shots and possession. There were a lot of indicators saying we went OK but we were just terrible. The bigger ground undid us a little bit and we have been working so hard, but didn’t adjust to the bigger ground at times," Miller said.
"It's massively important we win this week. Last year we were 0-7 and you can't afford to put yourselves in a position where you are chasing your tail all season. There is a lot more confidence in our squad this year and with the personnel we have to suggest that we should be going a lot better at the start of the year."
By Chris PikeKRIS Miller found some inspiration from an unexpected source over the summer that made his decision to play on in 2014 for him and now this Friday night that will result in him reaching 300 WAFL games in a remarkable milestone.

Miller has been playing WAFL football since he made his league debut in 1999 with East Fremantle and he has been at South Fremantle since 2007, and his durability has been remarkable as he now prepares to become just the sixth player in history to play his 300th game this Friday night against Perth at Fremantle Oval.

The 300-game milestone was only two matches away when Miller finished his 2013 season at South Fremantle where once again his form showed no signs of dropping away despite playing a different role in the forward-line in the second half of the campaign than the on-ball role he's accustomed to.

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