Schofield has Lions focused on Grand Final not history that can be madeFriday, September 23, 2016 - 11:05 PM - by Chris Pike

NO WAFL club has ever won two premiership hat-tricks as close together as Subiaco could by winning Sunday's Grand Final and coach Jarrad Schofield would have been involved in all six, but his focus is on wanting to see his players receive reward for all the hard work they put in.

Subiaco won three straight WAFL premierships in 2006, 2007 and 2008 with Schofield a key player in each of those triumphs on return to the Lions after an AFL career with West Coast, Port Adelaide and Fremantle that included the 2004 premiership with the Power.

He retired at the end of 2008 and now has been coach of Subiaco in the premierships of 2014 and 2015, and is at the helm again heading into this Sunday's WAFL Grand Final against Peel Thunder at Domain Stadium.

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A win would mean Subiaco has won two premiership hat-tricks closer together than any other club in the history of the league and for Schofield to be involved in all six flags would be a remarkable achievement.

The Subiaco Football Club has always been a big part of Schofield's life before and after his AFL career so to be part of such success at the club means a lot to him.

But he and his playing group won't be focused on the history they can create on Sunday. That's something that will be saved until they actually achieve it.

"Personally I came through this club from the age of 12 and I'm an invested person in this footy club. I want sustained success so we make sure we run a tight ship and our playing group is run from the front with our captain Kyal Horsley," Schofield said.

"We have only spoken about winning in 2016. We could have 10 new faces on Sunday from the team that won last year so for us it's a new challenge to hopefully get that. If we are good enough, then we can talk about the achievement but we just want to focus on getting the win first on Sunday.

"For me being the coach it's about creating success for the players. Having been there as a player you know what it tastes like and when you're a coach you are giving that opportunity to players coming through, and you see them succeed and get rewarded for their hard work. That's what puts the smile on my face."

Subiaco's success of having made 10 of the last 14 WAFL Grand Finals and having won seven premierships in that time is no secret.

The Lions are well run off the field to give the playing and coaching group every chance to succeed, and then they have done a tremendous job over the past 15 years of recruiting smartly and successfully to top off their local players.

Schofield is proud to be part of a club that does so much right on and off the field to give themselves the best chance possible of being successful.

"We try and create a great culture in terms of our players and personnel that we bring through our footy club, and we develop our own and we have a good zone in terms of good kids that come through," he said.

"It's not the biggest zone and we have to work hard on developing that, and we are able to bring in good people. We identify who we want to bring in and it's not just about bringing in good footballers looking for money, it's bringing in good footballers that are going to be good people for the footy club.

"That creates the foundation for a good culture and behind the scenes we have a strong administration to run the club well. That has held us in good stead over the last decade and our brand even in the eastern states is strong because of the people who have come through the footy club."

While Subiaco has won the last two premierships, there has been plenty of changes to personnel in each of the past three years.

Following the 2014 Grand Final win over East Perth, Subiaco lost ruckmen Frank Stockley and Andrew McDougall as well as Simpson Medallist Jason Bristow, George Hampson, Shaun Hildebrandt and Josh Deluca.

But they were able to top up with Leigh Kitchin, Brett Robinson, Sam Menegola, Michael Wood, Scott Hancock and Jordan Lockyer last year along with the likes of Aaron Heal, Kyle Halligan and Craig Hoskins developing from within.

But again from last year's premiership side, Menegola, Matt Boland, Shane Yarran (will be playing for Peel), Darren Rumble and Chris Deluca left coming into 2016.

Once more the Lions were able to replace them impressively welcoming back Adam Cockie and Greg Broughton, signing Hamish Shepheard, plucking Liam Ryan and developing Declan Jackson and Chris Bryan.

While Chris Phelan, Kyal Horsley, Wayde Twomey, Clancy Wheeler, Delahunty and Brett Mahoney will be attempting to win a third straight premiership, Schofield's team will have a host of players trying to win their first flag and he's happy with the mix he will have.

"Throughout the whole year we've had to really draw on a lot of new players to step up and that's the quality of our club in terms of the players that we bring in," Schofield said.

"I'm sure there's going to be a few nerves and if there wasn’t I'd be a bit worried and concerned, but they've been fantastic on the track and we are looking forward to the opportunity."

One of those new faces in 2016 has been excitement machine up forward Ryan. He arrived from Geraldton ahead of the season and has taken the WAFL by storm to the point where it's hard to imagine he won't be drafted into the AFL later this year.

Schofield also has no doubt he will be able to handle the Grand Final stage on Sunday against Peel at Domain Stadium.

"Handling him is pretty easy because he's a pretty composed young man for 19 years of age. Nothing seems to faze him and what he's shown this year is that he steps up on the big stage. He has been able to step up against good players and we are expecting him to do that again," he said.

"He is going to get stiff opposition from his opponent and he's previously had Bootsma, but whoever it's against he knows he will have to play good footy to contribute. But hopefully he performs well and kicks us a few goals to get us over the line."

The other juggling act Subiaco has had to handle is having the bye in Round 23, a break in the first week of the finals and then beating South Fremantle in the second semi-final by 40 points before another break leading into the Grand Final.

But Schofield has no doubt the Lions have done everything right to make sure they are ready to fire come Sunday.

"We encountered something similar last year as well with breaks between each of our finals. It's not ideal because you want to try and simulate the match play that you want to get from a game, and obviously we can't replicate a game, but this group is very professional for being semi-professional footballers," Schofield said.

"That's why we've been able to stay afloat and near the top the last three years because of the quality people we have in our group. In terms of having to keep the boys' head in the game, that's not an issue.

"It's just all about how we handle the training and match simulation and recovery, but this week has been really good on the track and we've been able to train on Domain twice. Our guys are prepared and ready to go."