Keitel, Hamp from foes to potent Falcons double actThursday, September 29, 2022 - 12:31 PM - by Chris Pike

AFTER years of locking horns in a fascinating rivalry, Tyler Keitel will team with Anton Hamp as West Perth's key forward options in Saturday's WAFL Grand Final with both chasing a premiership to top off decorated careers.

It was a controversial move from Keitel to join West Perth from East Perth back before he had even played a league game, but that now seems a lifetime ago. He's done it all in a glittering career for the Falcons that's included just about everything bar a premiership.

Keitel initially made his mark as a high possession winning key defender but it's as a forward target that he's since cemented himself. Now 142 games into his WAFL career, he's kicked 260 goals and along the way won two Bernie Naylor Medals, played twice for the WAFL State Team and won a fairest and best award.

The only thing now missing is that elusive premiership and through Keitel's career at West Perth since his 2015 debut where they made a Grand Final, they've constantly been knocking on the door.

The 26-year-old has played in two Grand Finals and he now wants nothing more than to win that breakthrough premiership.

"This will be my third one and I know what it feels like to be on the wrong side of the result so we are going to do everything we can to give ourselves the best chance," Keitel said.

"It's a really special group that we've got this year and everyone is so close, and that's the whole club and not just the league team. Now that we have this chance, I just want to experience a premiership with all my mates so it's something we can cherish for the rest of our lives.

"Everyone that I speak to that has won one, they just say it's the best experience of your life to share it with your mates. 

"Winning individual honours mean a little bit and are a good reward for putting in the work, but having something you've achieved as a collective that you've been working on for years together would mean everything. 

"It really feels like we've been building to get to here and just to have that premiership would mean the world to me and the rest of the boys as well to have something we can catch up to celebrate for the rest of our lives."

Throughout Keitel's career, perhaps the team that has been West Perth's most consistent rival is Claremont and that makes it fitting in so many ways they meet in the Grand Final for 2022.

However, what makes it equally intriguing is that the man Keitel has battled against at Claremont for many years, Hamp, is now his partner in crime in attack for West Perth after a successful first season together.

"I had a lot of respect for Hampy when he played at Claremont and was one of the better key defenders in the league," Keitel said.

"I always knew that coming up against him was going to be a tough day, but in terms of having him at West Perth now, it's just been awesome to work alongside him and have another experienced head there as another target. 

"He's a very calm and collected man so he calms me down a fair bit, and he's been awesome to come across. What people might not realise is just how much of a leader he is so to bring people like him into the club helps tenfold."

There's some obvious added interest for Saturday's Grand Final with Hamp now coming up against his old team Claremont on top of Darren Harris also coaching against the Tigers having led them to the 2020 decider.

However, at the end of the day whether it's Hamp, Keitel or anyone else at West Perth, they are just glad to know who they are playing in the Grand Final and are finalising their preparations on doing what they can to get that premiership they are so hungry for.

"I think Hampy just wants to win a premiership more than anything. That's why he's at West Perth and he's been on board from the start of his first training session," Keitel said.

"We were aware of what his aspirations were and they aligned perfectly with ours so I don’t think it matters who we play against on the weekend, we just want to win that premiership. 

"It had been a bit of a wait to find out who we would play, but now that we do have an opponent it's been nice to hone in on them and have a closer look at what they do, and work out a way to beat them."

Another forward that Keitel has a terrific bond with is another former Tiger, Keegan Knott. The partnership they have as a big and small forward has been a treat to watch now for several years.

Keitel cherishes the bond they have, but has been even more impressed with the way Knott has turned himself into a two-way player because his goal sense and offensive tricks were never in question.

"It's been awesome. Keegan has been on a pretty big journey as well and I don’t think a lot of people realise he's played close 100 reserves games as well," he said.

"He's one of the most resilient blokes I know footy wise and probably in the last couple of years I've seen his footy go to another level just in terms of wanting to do the best for the team. 

"I think the rest of the offensive stuff comes naturally to Keegan, but that defensive side is so important to us and he's finally realised that. He's going to be super important for us again on the weekend and I hope he goes really well."

Keitel is now playing under his third coach at West Perth on the back of Bill Monaghan and Geoff Valentine, and having always heard of the legend of Darren Harris, he's delighted to get the chance to now experience playing under him.

It's more than lived up to anything he had previously heard and Keitel wouldn’t want to share a premiership with a coach more than Harris now.

"We did some work with him last year as the leadership group and he sort of kept us on track in terms of leading the group and asked us some really tough questions that got some good responses," he said.

"It turned out well for him to come in and take over from his great mate Geoff and he's obviously such a fantastic coach. He's someone you can go to speak to about anything and he's willing to have the hard conversations, and he just wants the best for us. 

"I know all he wants is for his players to experience a premiership and I know it won't be about Harro on the weekend, but hopefully we can get it done for him."

Throughout Keitel's entire career now there has been a fascinating rivalry between West Perth and Claremont. It has been heated at times and always fascinating, and both clubs have ended the season of the other in first semi finals in 2018 and 2021.

Keitel has always enjoyed the battles and in a lot of ways it's fitting that they get to meet in a Grand Final to cap it off.

"I don’t think I've ever played in a game against Claremont where it hasn’t been a tough contest," he said.

"We know they are a great club and every game against them is really challenging, and we've had our chances to be on the right side of the ledger but just not this year so we'll be keen on the weekend to put our best foot forward to play well and come away with the win."

West Perth has won its first minor premiership since 1993 so for the first time in Keitel's career that has meant earning a break before the finals, and in between finals.

The Falcons had the first week off and then beat East Fremantle in the second semi-final to go straight into the Grand Final. 

While it's a different preparation, given how well it worked two weeks ago Keitel is backing in keeping things similar going into Saturday now.

"It's just a bit of a different path than normal so just making sure you are doing everything right on the track for those weeks in between is really important," Keitel said.

"I think the way we came out against East Fremantle with the right mindset and we were well prepared. So we haven’t tried to change too much from that two week block going into this weekend so hopefully it holds us in good stead. It just comes down to the right mindset come Saturday and hopefully that takes place."

Not only has West Perth's league team claimed a first minor premiership since 1993, but the colts and reserves also finished on top of the ladder and won their second semi-final match ups to move into the Grand Finals this Saturday at Leederville Oval.

For Keitel, he feels the special feeling at the club all goes back to the pre-season when they came together to set the goals of what they wanted to achieve, and the way they wanted to go about it.

"We just have that one club mentality throughout all the grades and everyone is on board," Keitel said.

"We had a meeting at the start of the year with people from all aspects of the footy club, so we had administrators, people from the league team, past players, legends of the club, people from the women's department and everyone just came together. It was so good to hear the stories that each person had of what West Perth means to them. 

"So to be able to share those stories and come up with a blueprint of what we want to be known as, and then go out there each week and finish on top with all three grades and have our values stand up in finals footy is really good to this stage.

"We are also pretty realistic that we haven’t achieved anything yet and all we've done is give ourselves a really good opportunity, which we can't wait for."

Now that the Grand Final is just days away, Keitel can't hide his excitement and while he might not feel too much of a connection to Leederville Oval, he knows what it means to so many West Perth people and is hoping for a special day for all involved.

"I'm feeling just pure excitement now that the game is so close to be honest. I'm just really keen to get out there and do what we've been planning all year for which is to play our way, bring our values onto the ground and hopefully we come out on the other end with the win," Keitel said.

"I probably don’t feel that much of a connection to the ground, but it definitely means a lot to our supporters and especially the crew who have been around for a long time.

"It will bring back a few memories for them and hopefully see a few more of them come along where they might not have had it not been at our spiritual home. Hopefully it draws in a bit bigger crowd and allows those passionate West Perth supporters to get along and watch the game."