Subiaco Face Round One after closing Pre-season with dominant Win

Subiaco last night completed their 2018 pre-season with a comprehensive 64 point win over East Fremantle.

The win was sparked by an irresistible first half of attacking football punctuated by a nine goal opening quarter as the Lions led by 55 points at the long break.

While the game tightened up after halftime, Subiaco continued to maintain authority on the match outscoring the Sharks six goals to five after half time.

The only negative note to come from the night was an injury to veteran midfielder Justin Joyce who will be assessed during the week before deciding if he is available for round one on Good Friday against East Perth.

Subiaco had winners all over the field, with Kyal Horsley and Josh Deluca controlling the midfield for the Lions with 25 possessions each. Deluca’s importance as an inside midfielder has continued to show over pre-season as he had 13 clearances and 10 tackles to go with his 25 touches.

Up forward tall forwards Brad Stevenson, Ben Sokol, Lachlan Delahunty and Zac Clarke combined nicely with smaller forwards Kyle Halligan, Daniel Perkins and Rhys Waters with once again an even mix of contributers on the scoreboard.

Meanwhile in defence Aaron Heal continued his excellent pre-season with another strong display to lead the Subiaco backs. Heal was well supported by Angus Litherland, Drew Rohde, Ryan Borchet and Hayden Kennedy.

Subiaco completes its 2018 pre-season with two wins and one loss, now looking ahead to East Perth and the traditional Good Friday blockbuster between co-tenant clubs. Subiaco encourages all fans and members to be at Leederville Oval this Saturday as the 2018 WAFL season commences.

GAME CHANGERS

ROUND ONE DEBUTANTS IN MIX

Subiaco could have up to six possible club debutants on Good Friday as a handful of recruits completed pre-season in strong form and some younger players put themselves into calculations for a WAFL debut. Zac Clarke, Ben Newton and Drew Rohde all finished their pre-seasons with solid performances on Friday night, while youngsters Nick Menegola, Kaidyn Fullgrabe and Ryan Borchet all produced strong performances against the Sharks and would be in calculations to make a WAFL league debut next week.

SPREADING THE GOALS

Again Subiaco was able to produce a winning score by sharing the load in front of goals. Subiaco had seven multiple goal kickers on Friday night with 13 of the team kicking goals. In what would be a surprise to many, Lachlan Delahunty, Daniel Perkins and Ben Sokol led Subiaco in goals through the pre-season.

EXPLODING FROM THE OPENING

As has been a hallmark of Subiaco coached sides under Jarrad Schofield, it appeared the Lions were quick to atone from an underwhelming performance. After being outworked in close and lacking efficiency going forward a week ago, Subiaco were dominant in these areas early on Friday night. The Lions had five goals on the board in the opening 15 minutes and were impactful around the stoppages at the start. It may have been a pre-season match, but it was pleasing that the Lions again showed resilience to bounce back from a below par performance.

FORWARD 50 PRESSURE

Despite having just 10 more possessions than East Fremantle, 348 to 338, Subiaco were far more direct with the ball nearly doubling their opponents inside 50 numbers. Subiaco were a commanding plus 30 in this area, 63 to 33. Midfielders Kyal Horsley and Josh Deluca combined to drive the ball inside 50 on 14 occasions, while Ben Sokol was also a pivotal option going inside 50 with six entries. After being limited to 31 entries last week versus Peel, this was a noticeable change last night.

SUBIACO                     9.1       14.7     18.12   20.15.135

EAST FREMANTLE      3.2       5.6       8.9       10.11.71

GOALS: Clarke, Delahunty, Halligan, Horsley, Perkins, Sokol, Stevenson 2; Burnett, Menegola, Newton, Rohde, Walters, Waters 1.

BEST: Deluca, Horsley, Heal, Halligan, Menegola.