IN THEIR WORDS – LAINE RASMUSSEN PRELIMINARY FINAL

IT is the time of year everyone involved in football gets excited for, be that players, coaches, staff and most importantly our supporters. Elimination finals take more than just 22 players working simultaneously to win.

They take individual feats of brilliance, devoted leadership and a hell of a lot of heart. Sometimes we have to rely on the ones we know will give everything for the club.

Big time games call for big time players and even bigger time journalism (I know that isn’t perfect grammar Bill but it has dramatic effect), that’s why the club has called on me for the Preliminary final edition of the West Perth Player Column. Fighting through the adversity of my questionably sticky keyboard, I’ve put together a comprehensive rundown of our week leading into our most anticipated game of the season to date.

The week started with many sore and bruised bodies and another story about Mike 'The Answer' Lourey. Mike has been really important for us this year, giving everyone up the ground confidence to use the ball long and direct. Journalists have flocked to him since the finals series begun, showering him with the praise he certainly deserves.

It’s a real credit to his wife Liz and her years of experience in communications and PR, she has timed his personal media releases perfectly to coincide with the September passion. She could really help out Matt Fowler too. After weeks of Channel 9 hat parading, logo pointing and name dropping he is still yet to be asked to appear on a promotional ad. Mike was unfortunate to sustain an ankle injury early in the game which limited him after quarter time. He is fortunate, however, to be recovering well and is confident he will be right to play this Sunday. There must be something in the dolphin meat down in Frankston, because he looks set to make a full recovery in just one week, an injury which hampered Shane Nelson for six.

One thing our coach Bill Monaghan has taught me in football is the power of a quote. On looking for inspiration for this week’s game I consulted the all-knowing scholar, Google. Benjamin Franklin once said “"The key to success can be found underneath the alarm clock." While staring at my bedside table sitting calmly next to my bed I was slightly confused by the godfather of kite flying. I could not find the answers I was looking for in the stained wood top, so opened the drawer to see if he had really meant "The key to success can be found underneath the alarm clock and in the top drawer." I found a hunting knife I keep to fight off intruders, some latex personal protection and my spare keys.

I interpreted this message from Mr Franklin as saying, "The key to success is the perfect balance between offence and defence, and even if we lose drive we must find what got us started in the first place." Well if that is what he meant then he is right. When we are at our best we know we score well without giving up our greatest strength, our defence. We had a minor setback last week, but a great trait of our current playing group is our ability to perform well with our backs against the wall. We didn’t finish second by coincidence and our strength will be on show this week.

It is a great honour representing our great football club in the final series and regardless of the result I’m sure everyone will look back at 2015 as a great success. It has been reported even our co-captain Luke Tedesco has been spotted smiling when talking about Sunday’s game. Our young playing group is still a developing prospect and I hope our supporters are as excited as I am to see where we can take the club.

Although we should have an extra week to do so, I’d like to take this opportunity on behalf of the playing group to thank the administrators, support staff, sports trainers, remedial massage therapist (and handyman partner) and all other volunteers. Craig Soley and Rhys Murray have also done a fantastic job in managing our bodies. It is also sad to see Jess Hayes in her final days as head trainer; you were a fantastic head trainer to many aspiring girls and boys. Many of the guys have known you since they first stepped foot into the club. We will be blessed if our next head trainer is just half as competent and caring as you.

I’d finally like to thank the West Perth Football Club and loyal supporters for allowing us to do what we love each week, we hope to see every one of you at Arena Joondalup this week and help us get over the line!

"You won’t see it on TV" – Bill Monaghan 
(Although this week you can, but still come to the game. Maybe record the game and then watch it again when you get home)