Sinclair proud of journey to 100 Perth gamesThursday, April 25, 2019 - 8:29 AM - by Chris Pike

MICHAEL Sinclair could very well be the most undervalued star of the WAFL as he continues to battle manfully against the odds with Perth, but now ahead of his 100th game there is light at the end of the tunnel and he's desperate to be part of it.

Maybe it's because he's been playing with a Demons team that has been regularly closer to the bottom of the ladder than contending for a finals spot throughout his career, but for whatever reason Sinclair's consistently standout performances in the red-and-black have gone largely undervalued.

Across his 99-game WAFL career, Sinclair is a fairest and best winner at Perth from 2014 and 2016, and has been named to the WAFL team of the Year, but his exploits as the standout intercept and rebound defender in the league might have not been appreciated as much as it deserved.

That might be beginning to change now with Perth having only narrowly missed a finals berth in 2018 and now starting 2019 winning its opening three matches leading into an ANZAC Day clash with East Perth at Mineral Resources Park.

That clash on Thursday will double as Sinclair's 100th WAFL appearance with him starting the 2019 season in tremendous form remaining a key part in Perth's push for that elusive run to the finals.

Sinclair has turned himself into a master in the back-line for Perth of reading the ball coming in and chopping it off with his strong overhead marking ability. He's often had to play above his size on key forwards too, but his ability to set up play off half-back has been his trademark.

He now is looking forward to his 100-game milestone but it's being part of an improved Perth team that means even more to the 25-year-old.

"It definitely does mean a lot, it's been a pretty long seven years where I've had a fair few injuries along the way and haven’t had too much success obviously. But it does mean a lot to reach the 100 games," Sinclair said.

"The last couple of years we have sort of been building towards this but now having a few wins on the board already, we feel like we are heading in the right direction even though obviously there's still a long way to go to make finals. But that's obviously the goal for the club and for all the players, including me as well. 

"I obviously haven’t played finals in my years at the club and the club hasn’t made it for a long time so that's a big drive for all us players to reach the finals to reward the fans that have been waiting a long time. But it's definitely the best feeling we've had around the club for a long time."

Given Perth hasn’t taken part in a WAFL finals campaign since 1997, nobody at the Demons will be getting ahead of themselves despite the upward trajectory they clearly appear to be on, including Sinclair.

But that doesn’t mean one can't dream and Sinclair would love nothing more than to be part of that Demons team that finally gets to play finals football again.

"Personally there is that desire to make finals just because I've been around for a long time now and that has obviously been a factor in me wanting to stay around the club so I can be part of the first team to reach the finals in a long time," he said. 

"I know the boys are all in the same boat wanting to be the first team to do it in a long, long time but we all realise there's a long way to go with a lot of footy ahead of us. We just have to take it week by week and hope for the best."

Throughout a lot of Sinclair's career he has been battling against the odds in an often undersized, undermanned and under siege back-line.

That's no longer the case and getting to play alongside Clayton Giblett, Mitch Lague, Jared Bell, Matthew Taylor, Zac Hill and Subiaco recruit Chris Bryan is something he's enjoying immensely. 

"The back six we've got have been together for a couple of years now without too many changes so we're a team within a team down there," Sinclair said.

"We feed off each other and help each other out a lot. All the boys are a really tight-knit group. 

"Zac Hill is one of the younger boys who has really come on, we've got Matty Taylor back now, Mitch Lague and Giblett, and Chris Bryan has come across from Subiaco and Jared Bell is back from his knee injury. 

"The back-line is nearly set in stone now and we've been playing pretty good footy as a unit. Hopefully we can all stay on the park and continue that."

As for his own role as a defender, Sinclair did initially start as a midfielder at Perth and proved a more than capable one at that whether in ball winning or run-with roles.

But once he was tried down back, clearly that became where he would best make his mark and while there's been some hiccups along the way with some injuries and trying to juggle full-time work, he's never looked back.

"When I first started at the club, Damien McMahon put me in a defensive role straight out of colts and it sort of grew from there," Sinclair said. 

"I was more of a lockdown defender when I was much younger but I suppose the coaches have backed me in and allowed me to play my own footy a bit, and let me decide to be that drop off defender and not be as defensively-minded on a specific opponent like some of the other defenders are. 

"That's given me a lot of confidence to run off a little bit more and be a bit more offensive, but also be that third man up to help out my teammates. The boys around me play a big part in that defensively as well to allow me to do what I do. Through the coaches and my teammates, that gives you all the confidence you need."

Another thing that Sinclair is getting to enjoy for the first time is having the chance to look on from the back-line at what is an impressive looking Perth group further afield

With Christian Eyres in the ruck and a good blend of midfielders Clint Jones, Corey Yeo, Cody Leggett, Brant College and Corey Byrne, and then Sam Garstone and Guy Langdon as targets in attack with Michael Bennell and Cody Ninyette among the other forwards, it's an impressive squad.

Sinclair is certainly noticing how far Perth have come under coach Earl Spalding to develop this group.

"We've got a good mix of talls and smalls down in our forward-line now which we haven’t had in previous years," he said. 

"Then in the midfield, we have guys with big bodies who are good contested players along with CJ, Eddo and Byrno who supply that outside run so it's a good mix of those sort of players. Then with Magic Bennell and Ninja as well, they are excitement machines and it's good watching them from down the field. 

"It is a good mix of players we have now and we're starting to gel really well. We've been together for the most part for a couple of years now and we're no longer a young group. Those younger players are getting towards the 30 to 50 game mark now so it's a much more experienced outfit than what we've seen in the past from Perth and we're starting to see some results from that."

What a milestone like reaching 100 games also provides is a chance to reflect on the journey to get there. Sinclair is proud that he's been able to overcome plenty of challenges to get to the mark and now hopes there's plenty more to come.

"It's obviously taken a lot of sacrifices and a lot of training, and a lot of time and effort to play 100 games in the WAFL when you factor in working full-time as well," Sinclair said.

"It has been a really good journey so far and I've really enjoyed my time at the Perth Football Club and with everyone behind the scenes, all the supporters and everyone has been fantastic in regards to supporting me and the club even through the harder years. 

"I've obviously had my fair share of injury which hasn’t helped along the way, but to get to 100 is something I look at as a really great achievement and I'm honoured to play 100 games for the Perth footy club."