The Winners - Pre-Season Game One

Subiaco had their first hit out against an opposition side last night, taking on East Perth in a battle of the co-tenants in a twilight fixture at Leederville Oval.

The game was split over five quarters, with Subiaco splitting their senior squad, one group playing the first two quarters and the other group playing the last three.

Subiaco dominated from the outset with four goals to nil in the opening quarter and continued to dominate across the night, running our comprehensive winners.

These are some of the big winners of the first night of action:

WINNERS

HAYDEN KENNEDY

After another injury-free pre-season, Kennedy was a player who stood out in the back half playing in the first two quarters of the match. Kennedy continued to show his outstanding ability to rebound from behind, with his strong decision making also a feature.  Significantly, Kennedy continues to show an expanded leadership presence around the playing group and in the defensive half, as a vocal members of the Subiaco leadership group.

LIAM HICKMOTT

Playing in the first two quarters of the match, Hickmott quickly showed an ability to match the intensity of senior football. There were no obvious signs of an upcoming colts player who was overawed by his first senior hit-out, as Hickmott fitted seamlessly into the Subiaco midfield group. A noted clearance player at colts level, Hickmott had some nice moments around the clerances during his time on field, and continued to show an ability to find the ball around the ground. It was an impressive first up showing from the young Lion.

HARRY MARSH

While it took Marsh a little while to get into the action, once he had settled into his role in the back six, he was an outstanding contributor to the defensive group. What was noticeable with Marsh was his ability to hit targets by foot with some crisp delivery from the defensive fifty. As he had shown at AFL level, Marsh had a strong ability to read the game and like Kennedy gave good rebound from behind. There were strong signs from last night to suggest Marsh will be the marquee recruit of the 2019 WAFL season.

ETHAN BURNETT

Playing across half forward in the last three quarters of the game, Burnett was one who stood out with his attack on the footy and at the contest. A noted pressure player, Burnett found his groove early and gave an important dimension to the forward group during the last three quarters. After missing a large chunk of 2018 with injury, Burnett is injury free and looks set to add to his first league game of 2018 throughout 2019.

JOEL LATHAM

The feel good story of the night for Subiaco was seeing popular club man Joel Latham get through his first hit out in 18 months unscathed. After missing all of last year with a knee injury, Latham returned in the last three quarters of last night’s game. While there was some understandable rust early, Latham worked his way into the game, put himself in the right positions to make an impact and added presence to the back half.

DEFENSIVE GROUP

Despite a couple of new faces, the back six quickly settled in and proved to be the strength of Subiaco’s side on Thursday night. The ability to win one on one contests and rebound strongly means that the back group appears set to benefit from the new rules in 2019. Led expertly by long time defensive coach Nigel Hamilton, the defensive groups were strong throughout the night.

THEY SAID IT

“It was a good opportunity for the boys to have a competitive hit out and put into place some of our training. There were some positive signs with our ball movement, understanding we still have some focus on this area. We go away content and a base to build from.”

BEAU WARDMAN

"It was a good opportunity to implement some of the things we have been working on throughout pre-season, see what worked well and what areas we need to focus on. It was also just great to be back out there as a team and welcome some new and returning faces to the side."

LEIGH KITCHIN