England thriving with Claremont's versatile approachSaturday, September 9, 2023 - 5:02 PM - by Chris Pike

MAKING sure their players are versatile has been a focus of Claremont with the Tigers hunting that elusive WAFL premiership in 2023 and nobody has embodied that more than Callan England who has produced the best season of his career.

England might have started his WAFL league career at East Perth purely through the alignment with West Coast at the time, but he is a Claremont product through and through and he's now in the fifth year of the quest to win that elusive premiership.

Whether it's his Sandover Medal winning teammates Jye Bolton and Bailey Rogers, long-time defender Lachlan Martinis or regular backman turned forward Declan Hardisty, or indeed England, being more versatile has been Claremont's mantra in 2023.

It now has them through to Sunday's first semi-final against Subiaco at Leederville Oval with a place in the preliminary final on the line on the back of last Sunday's elimination final victory against East Perth at the same venue.

Being in a must-win situation for a while

Claremont had been sitting in a top three position virtually all season and even on top of the ladder for a lot of those weeks up until a four-game losing streak late in the campaign.

That had the Tigers fighting for their season in the last two rounds but they scored victories against Swan Districts and Perth to book in the finals spot, and then beat East Perth in a hard fought elimination final last Sunday.

Knowing they've been in a must-win situation for multiple weeks now and were also in a similar situation last year before making the Grand Final has England confident in what the Tigers can produce on Sunday against Subiaco and beyond.

"I guess it's no secret that we lost four in-a-row and we had a bad month towards the back end of the season, but I think we've come out of it a better team," England told 91.3 SportFM.

"We've learned so much from those four weeks and it's put us in a really good stead for the finals and now that we're in the same position as last year where it's do-or-die. I think we've all been in this situation before and it's just a matter of leaving everything out there come Sunday."

Personal season in 2023

England returned to Claremont in 2019 where he had come right through the ranks and for much of the past four seasons, he's played at half-forward and been a strong contributor in teams that made the 2020 and 2022 Grand Finals, and preliminary final in 2021.

However, like a lot of his teammates and Claremont has made it a focus to not have players settle in one position or one role. England has thrived by spending more time as an on-baller than at any other point of his career.

On the back of that, he averaged 22.6 possessions a game throughout the season but he also went to half-back at times where he could set up play, and still spent some time in his familiar role forward and has kicked another seven goals throughout 2023.

The 23-year-old has been happy with his season but all his focus is on continuing to play at Claremont, continue working as an auditor and not even worry about if his impressive form might result in another AFL opportunity.

"It probably is the best season I've had. It's been pretty consistent which I strive to make my game as consistent as they come. It probably is individually my best season so far," he said.

"To be honest, getting back to the AFL isn’t something I'm really thinking about. I'm so happy down at Claremont with the bunch of boys that are down there, and the coaching staff and everyone else that's involved.

"Right now, I'm just thinking about the footy we're playing and life outside of footy so the AFL isn’t something I'm really thinking out to be honest."

Playing a variety of roles

England is far from the only Claremont player to be shifted around in various positions from week to week, and even quarter to quarter within games throughout this season.

That's proven to be one of the team's great strengths and makes them difficult to predict and prepare for from an opposition point of view. England is happy to play whatever role coach Ash Prescott asks of him.

"Ash since the start of the year has just made it important that you should be able to play lots of different roles because at certain times there might be injuries or at certain times during games we might need to change it up," he said. 

"I think that's something that as a club we've done really well and all the boys have taken it on board. You might play two or three positions in a quarter but we all know it's for the better of the team and hopefully it helps us win once we get to the end of September."

Importance of defensive jobs

It's not just players at Claremont playing in different positions, but also taking on sacrificial jobs for the best of the team and two players to highlight that in recent weeks are Tyron Smallwood and Lachlan Martinis.

While Smallwood has been a dangerous goalkicker this season for the Tigers kicking 20 goals, but it's playing as that defensive, pressure forward that makes him even more important.

He played that role to a tee last week against East Perth. While his stats didn’t stand out without a score and six kicks, he did lay three tackles, had five inside-50 entries and his efforts were noticed by his teammates and coaching staff.

"Tyron Smallwood I think won our players' player award which rewards those sort of things that isn’t shown on the stats sheet, but is invaluable to us and especially in finals when the heat is on," England added.

"What he brought on Sunday was amazing."

Then there is Martinis who has spent the majority of his 94-game WAFL career with the Tigers as an attacking half-back and one of the best at it in the competition.

However, over the last couple of weeks he has moved up onto the wing and that included helping to limit the influence of WAFL Team of the Year member Angus Scott in Sunday's win against East Perth.

"That was recognised post-match as well and he's been on the wing for the last two weeks, and he's been recognised both weeks," England said.

"We've put a big emphasis on recognising the boys who might go away from their normal game to play a role, and a role that can help us win and win in finals."

Tough elimination final win

Looking back to last Sunday and Claremont ended up prevailing in a tough elimination final battle with East Perth by 12 points to keep their season alive. England just felt the Tigers handled the big moments a little better.

"It was a tough game and we knew what East Perth was going to bring. But credit to us for what we did over four quarters and we managed to get the win, and still have a shot," he said.

"I think in finals it ultimately comes down to those big moments when players or teams step up. I think in those big moments we had certain individuals doing that and as a team, stepped up. I guess we played those bigger moments better than probably East Perth did in the end."

Playing Subiaco in cut-throat final

England is now preparing to play the first final of his career against Subiaco in this Sunday's cut-throat first semi-final at Leederville Oval. He can't wait for the chance to book in a preliminary final berth.

"I think it's just about doing the same as what we did against East Perth, win it at the source, do well with the contested ball and then just stand up in the big moments I guess," England said.

"That's what finals footy is all about."