Dominant Subiaco Destroy Peel in Grand Final Replay

Subiaco has powered to an emphatic victory in the Grand Final rematch, beating an underwhelming Peel side by 92 points in Mandurah.

After overcoming a slow start, Subiaco kicked into form after quarter time, kicking 19 goals to three after the first break in recording the big win.

Kyal Horsley led the way for Subiaco with 41 possessions, while midfield teammates Leigh Kitchin had 30 possessions, Lachlan Delahunty had 28 touches and Ben Newton had 26 possessions.

Newton was also damaging forward of centre with a game high five goals with state forward duo Brad Stevenson and Rhys Waters each kicking three goals in the win.

Defensively Aaron Heal and a returning Clancy Wheeler were impressive collecting nine and eight marks respectively and playing pivotal roles in holding the Peel forward line to just 48 points for the game.

The game started poorly for Subiaco as Peel kicked three goals inside the first five minutes to establish an 18 point lead.

Subiaco would steady over the remainder of the quarter but were brought unstuck by some poor conversion at goal, with Max Walters and Hayden Kennedy the only two Lions to strike in the opening quarter.

After an armwrestle to start the second quarter, Subiaco began to take control heading into half time with Stevenson kicking two goals and the Lions building a four goal lead at the main break.

It was one way traffic after half time as Subiaco piled on eight goals in the third and flirted with a three figure win in the final quarter, before Peel kicked two late goals, with the final margin a comprehensive 92 points.

It was Subiaco’s sixth win in succession to start the season and has come after a turmultous month, where the Subiaco has had to contend with two byes in the space of three weeks, and the passing of two club figures in that same time span.

Subiaco will look to maintain their unbeaten run to 2018 with an away fixture against Perth next Saturday at Lathlan Park, commencing at 2.15pm.

GAME CHANGERS

TICKS TO THE SUBI RECRUITMENT TEAM

While this was a very different Peel side to the one that Subiaco faced in the 2017 Grand Final, it was notable that two key personnel changes made a big impact in the Grand Final replay. Ben Newton was instrumental in the midfield after Peel built an early three goal lead, with Newton’s ability to have an impact around the contest assisting in stemming the early run Peel had. Meanwhile Zac Clarke was an important contributor against a strong Peel ruck trio, with Clarke effectively negating what had been one of Peel’s greatest strengths against Subiaco. The ongoing improvement in each of Clarke and Newton bodes well for Subiaco for the remainder of 2018 as well as the hopes of each for an AFL lifeline in 2019.

CAREER BEST HORSE

At age 30, and having played 168 games for Subiaco, inspirational skipper Kyal Horsley could be excused for slowing down. Yet, Horsley is arguably in career best form after for the second game in a row collecting a new career high in possessions and topping the 40 possession mark. Horsley had a big influence on Saturday both around the stoppage and linking up play through the centre and into the Subiaco forward half. Horsley is now averaging over 35 possessions a game in 2018.

KITCH LIGHTS UP MANDURAH AGAIN

Subiaco gun midfielder and respected leader, Leigh Kitchin produced another great game down in Mandurah. In his last visit, Kitchin kicked three goals from 21 possessions having a big influence, while on Saturday, he had 30 possessions and laid seven tackles in another polished performance. It was the first time Kitchin had reached 30 touches since the second semi final of 2017 and indicated that he is once again in top form in 2018.

MAKING THE MOST OF A CHANCE

Subiaco had three players play their first games of 2018, with Braden Fimmano and veterans Scott Hancock and Clancy Wheeler all in for the first time for the year. Fimmano started strongly and had an important impact on the outside as Subiaco took control in the first half. While Hancock and Wheeler started a little slowly, each worked well into the contest, with Wheeler in particular showing strong poise down back again highlighting his versatility as a tall.

FINAL

SUBIACO         2.4       8.7       16.11   21.14.140

PEEL                4.0       5.1       5.4       7.6.48

BEST: Horsley, Kitchin, Newton, Delahunty, Clarke

GOALS: Netwon 5; Stevenson, Waters 3; Delahunty, Walters 2; Clark, Clarke, Halligan, Hancock, Kennedy, Phelan 1.