John Townsend

Claremont have suffered their second heart-breaking grand final loss in three seasons after falling to West Perth in an exhilarating WAFL decider.

Twenty seasons after West Perth left their traditional base at Leederville Oval, the first grand final in the ground’s 107-year history was decided by just 12 points in the former home team’s favour.

Coming off a six-day gap between matches – compared to West Perth’s two-week break for winning the second semifinal – the valiant Tigers produced the endeavour and intensity that marked their sudden-death victories in the previous two finals.

But ball-handling, decision-making and disposal errors proved deadly for Claremont who succumbed 10.9 (69) to 8.9 (57).

And they could not find a way to bridge the scoreboard gap in the last term despite calling on all their reserves of spirit to get within four points with just four minutes to go.

Perhaps inspired by the dominant West Perth contingent in the 16,791-strong crowd, Falcons co-captain Dean Munns produced a desperate defensive spoil to prevent a near-certain Claremont goal, defender Zac Guadagnin flew high to claim a spectacular intercept mark and then Mitch Dobson soccered a remarkable 30-metre goal to end the contest.

The result was almost as shattering as the three-point loss to South Fremantle two years ago and one-point defeat to Swan Districts in 2010 but providing considerable solace for the Claremont faithful is the knowledge that the playing group is unlikely to lose any significant members, and that motivation for improvement should remain ever-present in 2023.

It was Claremont’s 28th grand final, their third against West Perth and left them runners-up 15 times to complement 12 flags. The Tigers also drew against East Fremantle in 1938 but won the replay.

Several players who had break-out seasons this year, including big men Ollie Eastland and Jack Buller, saved their best for the most important day of the year.

Eastland had a colossal impact in the ruck, winning 44 hit outs to go with 18 disposals in a performance that could have won the Simpson Medal for best-on-ground had the result been different.

And Buller hauled in four contested marks, had a strong physical presence all day and threatened to overwhelm the West Perth defence with his career-high 20 touches only to be let down by his kicking.

Key midfielders Bailey Rogers and Jye Bolton, who was ferocious in defence in the first half before being swung onto the ball, loomed as potential fire-starters while Timm House, in his third outing since being stationed in the back-line, underlined the value of the tactical move with a superb defensive effort.

Claremont stood up well in the frenetic early stages and were able to resist West Perth’s considerable pressure without getting any reward on the scoreboard.

Buller’s plight in front of goals was indicative of his team’s day.

He had three shots at goal sail out on the full while the Tigers managed just three goals from 11 set shots inside the forward 50 arc.

Four of those missed shots came in a 10-minute burst early in the game when Eastland, Bolton and Rogers imposed themselves on the contest.

It took until the second term for Max Spyvee to land the team’s first goal, an excellent crumb in the goal-square, while Rogers followed with the similar strike a few moments later.

Ben Edwards started to get into the game in that quarter, gathering 10 of his eventual 21 disposals, while Ben Elliott also had an influence.

Ollie Sheldrick converted a mark in the corridor late in the first half to cut the lead to three points but Claremont’s inability to make full use of their opportunities foreshadowed a tough second-half battle simply to remain in the game.

West Perth appeared set to stretch the lead to unmanageable proportions when they climbed to 28 points ahead midway through the third term, with veterans Shane Nelson and Tyler Keitel getting into the game and Luke Meadows setting up his Simpson Medal win, only for Claremont to respond to the danger with a powerful counter-attack.

Spyvee kicked his second from a free, captain Dec Mountford kicked a 60m bomb to lift the crowd and his team-mates and when Buller opened the last term with another strong mark and his first goal, the margin was cut to single figures.

There was nearly 20 minutes left when the lively Cal England kicked truly after swooping on a loose ball 30m from goals, but that was to be Claremont’s last score of the grand final.

The Tigers attacked hard, West Perth defended grimly and during 15 minutes of the most absorbing attritional football, both teams demonstrated why they were deserved grand final opponents.

Eventually, the breaks fell West Perth’s way and, soon, their 20th premiership.

WEST PERTH 3.2 5.4 9.5 10.9 69

CLAREMONT 0.5 3.7 6.9 8.9 57

GOALS – WEST PERTH: 2: M Dobson, T Keitel, J Hinder, C Rundle. 1: A Hamp, C Lynch.   

CLAREMONT: 2: C England, M Spyvee. 1: D Mountford, M Minear, J Buller, B Rogers.

BEST – WEST PERTH: L Meadows, S Nelson, M Peirce, J Hinder, T Keitel, N Pegoraro, M Dobson. 

CLAREMONT: O Eastland, J Buller, J Bolton, B Rogers, T House, C England.