Mission accomplished

by LES EVERETT

IT took a little while for East Perth to mould last Saturday's WAFL grand final into the required shape.

Two glorious first quarter kicks for goal by Paul Symmons and Dean Buszan were surrounded by missed opportunities and some defensive ill discipline which ensured the game was very much alive at quarter time.

During the second quarter two Royal craftsmen stepped forward to put thing right. Andrew Waller, who took a spectacular mark in the first quarter, kicked a rare goal and Devan Perry stepped forward to finish things off.

Perry kicked two second quarter goals and added another from the boundary in the third and from then on it was a matter of stepping back and admiring the work.

The evenness of East Perth's team performance became evident when it came time to award the Simpson Medal.

Ryan Turnbull was recognised as the player of the match and he was a worthy winner. But the award could just as easily have gone to Perry, Symmons, whose kicking-in was superb, or Rod Wheatley, who settled after a somewhat nervy start.

Back at Leederville Oval, black and blue the were colours and the club song was belted out with particular emphasis on the line: "With the premiership our mission."

Before and after the game the aligned club system was again up for discussion. Exaggerations and misinformation are put forward on both sides of the argument but the fact is the AFL aligned WAFL clubs played off in the 2001 grand final and that doesn't look good.

The perception of unfairness is one the WAFL could do without and adjustments are needed. But for now the feeling among East Perth supporters, players and staff is one of mission accomplished.

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