Centurion Wilson hopes it's third time lucky in WAFL finalsThursday, August 25, 2016 - 7:31 PM - by Chris Pike

SOUTH Fremantle defender Blayne Wilson reaches the 100-game mark in the WAFL this Saturday but is more looking forward to another finals campaign and hopes to go one step better than the losing grand finals of 2013 and 2014.

Wilson is now in his second season with South Fremantle following four years with the West Coast Eagles where he was able to continue his WAFL career at Peel Thunder early on, and then moved to East Perth the last two seasons.

Wilson has played 36 games in the WAFL with the Thunder, 29 with the Royals and so far 34 with the Bulldogs and he will reach 100 in total this Saturday when South Fremantle takes on Perth at Lathlain Park in the final round of the home and away season.

But what Wilson is focusing on is what happens the week after when the Bulldogs return to WAFL finals action for the first time since 2011 by hosting West Perth in a qualifying final at Fremantle Community Bank Oval with the winner to advance to the second semi-final against Subiaco.

While South Fremantle hasn’t played finals the past four years and a lot of the group hasn’t experienced that, Wilson is one exception having played in the first semi-final, preliminary final and grand final of 2013, and second semi-final and grand final of 2014.

While three of his finals have been victories, the two losses were the grand finals and that's something that still burns away for Wilson and he can't wait for a chance to try to go one better to make up for those heartbreaks against West Perth and Subiaco respectively.

"It's a great time of the year knowing we are actually going to play finals. Last year it was a bit of a sting after I had just played in two grand finals in-a-row. I've always had that fire in the belly after losing both of those to try and get back there again to win a flag at any level," Wilson said.

"The group we've got this year is one we can have a really good crack at it with even though we know how much of a challenge it will be. The boys are ready and if we keep our heads down and bum up, we can achieve some good things this year."

While the majority of the South Fremantle team will find out what the intensity of finals is like next Saturday, Wilson is one player who has experienced it and he can report firsthand that a normal finals game goes up significantly from the regular season, and then the grand final is another level altogether.

Wilson has full faith that his Bulldogs teammates are ready to excel in finals having developed strongly over the past two seasons under coach Todd Curley.

"Finals is obviously quite a big step up and then in the grand final you are playing in front of more of a crowd and the intensity lifts another 10 or 15 per cent. It's certainly going to be a challenge for us in the finals but we've all worked hard and if we can keep doing what we have been doing then we can give it a good shake," he said.

"It doesn’t matter really what side you go in with in the finals, what matters is the effort you put in on game day and the intensity you can adjust to. It's the team on the day that wants it the most and finals footy steps up another gear.

"With our young side and the guys who haven’t played too many finals, I'm sure they are ready for the challenge and can step up to put their foot down and make a good impact."

Looking back on his four years at West Coast and nine AFL games, Wilson enjoyed that experience but is more than happy to now be at South Fremantle to continue on his family tradition with the Bulldogs.

"It was an awesome experience at West Coast. I managed to get a couple of games under my belt, which was good, and it was obviously disappointing to get delisted in the end. But coming to the Bulldogs was a great opportunity for myself to really stamp my foot on the WAFL," he said.

"It's been really good so far so I'm not looking back and all my focus is on what's ahead. To be honest I was probably always coming here with dad having played here along with my uncles and so forth.

"I also knew a few boys down here like Hamsy and Schloithey so the opportunity arose to come down here and I pretty much jumped at it with both hands and haven’t looked back.

"Our progress and improvement in my two years here has been tenfold so it's really exciting times for us, especially going into finals footy now which we missed out on last year. It's going to be a great experience."

Wilson is having a tremendous season for South Fremantle in the back-line where his ability take plenty of intercept marks and set up play is elite.

He is happy with how he is going but even happier with the back-line surrounding him with the likes of Josh Pullman, Marlion Pickett, Chris Luff, Adam Guglielmana, Jason Maskos and Matthew Gundry.

"It's been really good this year. I've played every single game so far and I think I've improved on last year and we have as a team obviously to now be qualified for the finals. The whole team is really hungry and excited for finals now this year and it's a great opportunity for us," Wilson said.

"The back six or seven we've got at the moment is great. We are a bit of a team within a team, and we get around one another a lot and do different things together.

"It's great at the moment with the unity we've got down there with the different guys like Pullers and Marlion. Pullers has been great for us this year and he's a bit of a rock for us and we just bounce off one another to be honest.

"It's been really good so far this year so hopefully we can work well together into the finals and hold up under pressure.

"I have to give the midfield a bit of a plug too and their pressure has been a lot better than it was last year to make our jobs a lot easier. It's been good this year but we know we still have to improve in some areas."

Wilson is proud to reach 100 WAFL games this Saturday as the Bulldogs take on the Demons at Lathlain Park, but longer term he would like to bring up the century with South Fremantle.

"It's still a good effort to play 100 WAFL games and it will be good to play a lot more as well. It's a good start at the moment but hopefully I can play 100 here at the Bulldogs and keep on playing some decent footy," Wilson said.

"I'll take 100 games anywhere obviously and it's good to play 100 in the WAFL but I didn’t really imagine that would be at three different clubs at the start. That's been a bit of a journey but a good one so far and I'm happy with where I'm at, at the moment.