It’s always good to beat Subiaco; not out of any sense of malice but because East Perth has done so very infrequently in recent years.
It’s fair to say that - apart from Darcy Craven in the last 30 seconds - the game didn’t reach any great heights.
The Royals struggled to hit a target in the first half and Subi wasn’t much better, with the game resembling the old schoolyard kick-to-kick for much of the time.
However, the Lions seemed to have a lot more run and were willing to create space, so I thought the Royals were lucky to be only seven points down at half-time.
Whatever Ross McQueen said at half-time (probably along the lines of digitus extractus) certainly worked, particularly in the last quarter.
Both sides were missing a few key players, but at long last EP appears to have the depth to cover for the likes of Zach Hill, Shayne Hille, Michael Randall, Nick Robertson, Mitch Schofield (though he’s likely gone for the season) and Sam Van Diemen, most of whom are first 22 selections.
The eagerly awaited WA Day derby with West Perth awaits.
Mcqueen and co need to be commended for making the list a lot better. A lot of deadwood has been culled and a lot of colts have been promoted to the reserves. The fact that Craven has made the big step up from colts is a huge plus. We also have seen reserves players blossom. Boules has been able to get a few games under his belt and Jedd Edwards had been a good back up for Scott Jones. You don’t want too many injuries but it is nice that you can have some depth in the ressies.