Royal redemption: East Perth keen to avenge 2024 Grand Final defeat

East Perth co-captain Christian Ameduri says the grand final defeat of last year has become a driving force in turning their fortunes around on Sunday.

The Royals take on minor premiers South Fremantle in the Sullivan Logistics WAFL decider at Optus Stadium on Sunday afternoon after getting beaten by Peel Thunder last season.

Ameduri admits East Perth let themselves down on grand final day last year, but feels the experiences will hold his team in good stead to cause an upset over the Bulldogs.

“We were probably the No.1 team all year (last season). We were hard to beat, had a really strong playing group, a lot of talent and a strong culture and let ourselves down on the day that it counted the most,” Ameduri said.

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“That drives a lot of the boys, especially some of the younger guys that haven’t been around for the last year or didn’t get the opportunity last year, they’re out for a little bit of redemption.

“We’ve got a strong culture, and they want to win for the guys that missed out last year and the experiences that we have from last year will hold us in good stead.”

East Perth have lost their last two games against South Fremantle by 47 and 59 points respectively, the latter in a one-sided Second Semi-Final at Fremantle Community Bank Oval less than a fortnight ago.

Coach Ross McQueen addressed what his team needed to improve on to avoid grand final heartache.

“Any time you’ve got to play against quality teams like South Fremantle, Claremont, East Fremantle if you’ve got to try to transfer the ball from the back half to the front half too many times in a game of football you just cant score enough so we’ve got to find a way to get that front half game,” McQueen said.

“Get our midfield to get on top of the ball, get it in early, get some repeat stoppages and that’s the challenge against South Fremantle.

“In the second semifinal they took 11 or 12 intercept marks in the defensive 50. Anytime they’re taking those marks it’s just coming straight out so we need to make sure our connections good.

“We’ve worked hard at that at training and it’d be a real focus about that connection going inside 50.”

Both the Royals and Bulldogs have two teams playing on grand final day.

East Perth kick off the day in the WAFL Reserves against minor premiers Claremont who have been the dominant force of the competition.

Souths go in warm favourites in the EGT WAFL Colts against Claremont in what’s expected to be a fierce battle.

Grand final fixtures

Optus Stadium, Sunday, September 21

Reserves: Claremont v East Perth, 9.05am

EGT Colts: South Fremantle v Claremont, 12.10pm

Sullivan Logistics WAFL League: South Fremantle v East Perth, 3.20pm