Four Great Southern players part of Claremont’s winning preliminary final side as they send East Freo packing

An inspired Claremont side reached their second grand final in three seasons with a superb preliminary final display against East Fremantle at New Choice Homes Park on Sunday. With four Great Southern players in their league outfit, the Tigers were a dominant force in the opening half as they stunned the Sharks, kicking eight goals to one on their way to a 28-point triumph. It was a 76-point turnaround from the Tigers’ disastrous qualifying final loss a fortnight ago, sending the Sharks crashing out of the finals, 10.11 (71) to 6.7 (43). Strong Gnowangerup key position player Timm House was again used in defence and he was superb early on as the Tigers led by 28 points at quarter time and stretched that to 42 points by half time. In-form small forward Tyron Smallwood, who played with Royals and Albany, kicked an important goal at the 15-minute mark of the second term and that was soon followed by a Max Minear conversion as their side took full control. The Sharks fought hard to reduce the deficit in the third and they held the Tigers scoreless in the final term but it was too little, too late. House was among the Tigers’ best as he kept Eddie Simpson to one goal from eight disposals. The switch from attack to defence has been effective for House as he finished with 15 touches, six in the first term, six marks and two inside 50s. Borden’s Anthony Davis did little wrong in a sound defensive display, collecting 12 possessions and three marks. North Albany junior Declan Mountford ran hard between the arcs and applied terrific pressure to go with 10 touches, two clearances and five tackles. Six of Smallwood’s 11 disposals were contested and he also won two clearance and had four score involvements. Despite his side fading in the final quarter, Claremont coach Ashley Prescott was proud of their finals performance. “We want to play a style of footy that is just giving everything and not saving ourselves,” Prescott said. “That will hold us in very good stead from a mindset point of view because we’ve got to go harder for longer. “Yes, we did tire a little bit but we’re a no-excuse footy club and we’ve just got to make sure that from the first bounce to the last bounce we’re giving amazing effort.” The win sets up an intriguing grand final where the Tigers will face West Perth, coached by Darren Harris. Harris was sacked by the Tigers two seasons ago after getting them to within a kick of the 2020 premiership.