PREMIERSHIP SKIPPER'S LAST ACT TO CAP OFF SPECIAL YEAR

JASON Salecic's last act as West Perth captain was holding aloft the premiership cup for 2013 as it capped off a year that might not have totally gone to plan on the field, but was the best of his life with his newly arrived son and wife there to share grand final day with him.

Salecic has announced that he will play on for at least one more season in 2014 to add to his glittering two-premiership, Breckler Medal winning, 213-game career but the 2013 grand final win over East Perth was his last match as captain.

Getting to hold up the premiership cup following the 49-point win over the Royals capped off a season for Salecic that saw him manage just the 10 home and away games and then the two finals due to some hamstring troubles, but it will forever be a year he won't forget.

Of course becoming a two-time premiership player and the captain of a premiership winning side automatically makes 2013 special, but Salecic and his wife Katie also welcomed their son Max into the world.

For Salecic, the birth of their son takes the cake in terms of the best moments in his life but he was just over the moon that both his wife and Max could be there to experience the premiership win of 2013 with him after a year that hasn’t always gone smoothly.

"It has been an amazing time in my life this year. Winning the premiership is good, but us having a baby was the best thing that has ever happened to me in my life," Salecic said.

"We did go through some tough times because he was a bit sick early on, and he probably spent half of his life up until three months in and out of hospital. It was a bit tough through that time and it has been a challenging year, but my wife has been so supportive and those commitments are huge.

"I'm so grateful to be able to continue to play for this footy club with my wife supporting me. Our son was at the grand final and there was no question he was coming.

"My wife thought it might have been too wet, but I said there was no way he was missing out on it and I will always remember sharing the premiership with him and my wife."

Salecic made his league debut with West Perth in 2002 and played in the grand final loss that year to East Perth before being part of the grand final again the following season, and then becoming a premiership player at just 19 when the Falcons beat Subiaco.

He might have expected plenty more grand finals throughout his career after two in his first two seasons of league football, but while he became one of the WAFL's best and most consistent performers over the last decade, the Falcons weren’t able to taste any finals success.

However, Salecic and a strong core group of experienced players stuck together and with the help of a couple of handy recruits and exciting youngsters, won the 2013 premiership and those minutes out on Patersons Stadium with the game won were special for everyone.

"It is pretty special. There's not too many premiership captains running around for West Perth so it's a very special moment for myself and I'm just happy for everyone involved in the club to get to enjoy this moment," he said.

"Those last 20 minutes were the best feeling I've had in my football career no doubt. In a way I wouldn’t have minded the last quarter kept going, but also I was just waiting for the siren so I could hold the cup up."

Salecic was the only player still playing from the 2003 premiership for the reunion earlier this season and now 2023, 2033, 2043 and so on are going to be special years for the rest of his life with two premierships to celebrate and remember each time.

"We've got plenty of reunions to look forward to now and I will be lucky enough to be celebrating two of them in 2023 so that will be pretty special. I don’t know if the missus will like that, but it's something that makes a premiership special because you remember it forever," Salecic said.

"Every one of these blokes I will be best mates with for the rest of my life so it's pretty special. There are guys who have missed out as well who have been best mates with the football club for such a long time as well and they have contributed to our success as much as anyone.

"I was a bit younger back in 2003 and it was a bit different for me as a young player, but I still have a lot of good mates who I played with in that time and a lot of them were here to enjoy us winning it this year. We have bonded throughout the years after that, but this year to play in a flag with guys who I have played with for such a long time makes it a bit more special I think."

Salecic was thrilled to get to celebrate a premiership with long-term teammates like Dan Hunt, Ray Bartholomew, Andrew Strijk, Chris Keunen and Marc Crisp, but the one that he feels the happiest for without doubt is Matt Guadagnin to now be able to call himself a premiership player.

"Guady is someone who I am just so glad is now a premiership player and that I get to share this with him, and Razor is another one and so is Dan. They are guys I'm fairly close with and 'Chipper' is another one who has gone through a lot of hard times, but he has worked hard to get into a position to play some good quality league football," he said.

"It's just good for those guys to get the reward of playing in a premiership. Me and Guady are kind of on the same page and he was around in 2003, and was unfortunate enough to be injured, and he is an emotional man. We are similar types of people and he puts a lot into his preparation and it's just great for him to get to enjoy this."

BY CHRIS PIKE