FEROCITY AND FOUR PRIME FACTORS UNDERPIN PRELIMINARY FINAL SUCCESS

John Townsend

Urgency. Intensity. Effort. Efficiency.

Four factors are essential for success in finals and Claremont could not have picked a better time to combine all four.

The Tigers will take on minor premiers West Perth in the grand final on Saturday after a preliminary final blitzkrieg that dismantled their recent nemesis East Fremantle and highlighted their path to a 13th league premiership.

It is a path paved with ferocity.

The 28-point winning margin at East Fremantle Oval did not reflect Claremont’s mastery, with East Fremantle squaring the scores after the first break to finish 10.11 (71) to 6.7 (43), but this was a match in which the scoreline was far less significant than the result.

And that was virtually beyond dispute by quarter-time given that Claremont produced their most ferocious start to a match in coach Ashley Prescott’s second stint at the club.

Replicate that ferocity at Leederville Oval on Saturday and Prescott will be well on the way to the first flag of a six-year tenure that includes three second-place finishes and two thirds.

For the second week in a row, Prescott had outstanding success with his pre-game tactical moves.

Shifting Jye Bolton and Timm House into defence helped disrupt Peel’s planning in the first semifinal; changing Jason Carter’s role against the Sharks was the pivotal move in the preliminary.

Carter went to damaging defender Cam Eardley, whose run from half-back was a key to East Fremantle’s round 19 and qualifying final wins, and had such a comprehensive victory that it was the best game of a career that included a couple of years at Fremantle.

Carter blanketed Eardley’s impact with the ball and exposed his opponent’s defensive flaws so effectively that he had two goals of his own in the first term.

And Carter inspired his team-mates thought his own actions.

Jared Hardisty laid five tackles in the opening term, Ollie Eastland set up many of the 15 inside 50 entries with his 15 hit-outs and Claremont had 10 shots at goal before the Sharks kicked their first major after the siren.

It was a period that included one of the team’s most exquisite sequences this season when back-up ruckman Jack Buller tapped the ball to the advantage of Ben Edwards who burst through several tackles in trademark fashion and hand-balled to the running Ben Elliott whose clean finish from inside 50 was the team’s fourth goal in 10 minutes.

There were plenty of individual heroes amid the team-first approach with several brilliant personal highlights illuminating the ruthless defensive effort.

Alex Manuel snapped a goal within 16 seconds of the start of the second quarter to be on world-record pace for early scoring.

That record lasted all of one quarter. Bailey Rogers burst from the first centre bounce of the second half, bounced the ball once and drilled a 55m kick that provided him with a 12-second conversion.

The impact of both goals was profound because it sapped the resolve of the East Fremantle players eager to make up for their earlier efforts and boosted the confidence of the Claremont cohort.

Declan Hardisty had a tough day against Jon Marsh in their previous home-and-away clash, with the big Shark kicking four goals, but the dour Tiger ensured there was to be no repeat of that fate on Sunday.

He played Marsh closely and with such tenacity that East Fremantle’s leading goal-kicker was restricted to 11 touches, just one behind and no influence.

The frustrated Marsh was also reported for a body punch on Rogers that is set to trigger a mandatory one-game suspension for his third low-level offence in as many games against the Tigers.

Captain Declan Mountford had a similar win over the lively Luke English whose stats and impact were identical to Marsh while House shut down his former colts team-mate Eddy Simpson whose only score came after the half-time siren.

Claremont’s five tallest players – Eastland, Buller, House, Hardisty and Max Minear – all won their positions while there was not a passenger amongst the smaller brigade.

Bolton relished his second game back in defence where his attack on the football, reading of the play and prodigious kicking set up many of Claremont’s attacking moves.

He twice landed the ball alongside the centre circle after playing on from an East Fremantle behind to underline the value of the latter attribute.

Claremont will spend this week preparing to play in their 28th grand final and aspiring to win their 13th premiership.

While the coaches and players know that urgency, intensity, effort and efficiency are non-negotiable factors if the ultimate success is to be achieved this Saturday, two omens are in Claremont’s favour.

The last time West Perth were minor premiers was 1993. Who beat them in the grand final that season?

And the last time Claremont lost twice in a row to East Fremantle in a season, including one by 45 points, was 2011. Who won the grand final that season?

CLAREMONT 5.5 8.7 10.11 10.11 71

EAST FREMANTLE 1.1 2.1 4.4 6.7 43 

GOALS – CLAREMONT: 2: J Carter, M Minear. 1: B Rogers, C England, B Elliott, M Spyvee, A Manuel, T Smallwood.

EAST FREMANTLE: 2: J Hagen, T Monaghan. 1: E Simpson, A Montauban.

BEST – CLAREMONT: J Carter, D Hardisty, B Edwards, O Eastland, B Elliott, J Bolton, T House, M Minear. 

EAST FREMANTLE: J Hagan, J Meade, J McDonald, R Lester-Smith, C Eardley.