Robinson excited for chance at second flag five years in the makingSunday, September 20, 2015 - 11:00 AM - by Chris Pike

BRETT Robinson was part of the most remarkable WAFL premiership in recent history at Swan Districts back in 2010 but given the tough times he's had since, winning his second flag next Sunday for Subiaco will mean every bit as much for the damaging and hard-running midfielder.

Robinson joined the WAFL having originally come from Tasmania and then Werribee in the VFL in 2008, and alongside Wayde Twomey and Tim Geappen helped form a strong Swan Districts team that made the grand final the first year, just missed in 2009 and then won a premiership in 2010.

Just to play in that flag, Robinson had to overcome a knee reconstruction earlier in 2010 and then illness curtailed his impact in 2011 and his 2012 was ruined by a second knee reconstruction.

He responded with some strong form in 2012 at Swans, but his mind and body both needed a break and that's what took him to South Bunbury and out of the WAFL system for 2014.

However, that freshened him up significantly and he was lured to Subiaco by his old mate Twomey who had played in the Lions flag in 2014 having crossed from Swan Districts, and Robinson's form has seen him just about back to his very best of 2009 before his first knee injury.

The 29-year-old has now played 101 WAFL matches and represented WA twice, and his form in 2015 with Subiaco has been tremendous with him playing 18 games, kicking 13 goals and averaging almost 22 disposals.

He was again one of the best afield in the second semi-final win over West Perth last Sunday with 28 possessions and a goal, but he knows better than most that just having qualified for the grand final counts for little on the big day whether Subiaco's opponents are West Perth or East Perth.

Back in 2010, Swan Districts beat a Claremont team in the grand final with the Tigers having had a similarly dominant season and second semi-final to what the Lions have had in 2015 so there will nobody at Subiaco taking anything for granted.

"Obviously it's the time of year you want to be playing footy and we had a good season, but that means nothing until you play good footy at finals time. We've played a good first final now but you don’t rest on your laurels because of that. You know that if you don’t bring that again in a week's time you won't win the final dance and that's what you play the whole season for," Robinson said.

"Everyone is really excited, but we also know we have a lot of hard work to do in the next week to prepare ourselves for the biggest game of the year. It's a game of footy and if you aren’t 100 per cent switched on and aren’t exactly where you want to be on the day, it can go against you.

"The two opposition teams that we could be playing are both quality sides and they've both beaten us this year so we know it's not going to be an easy what we've got ahead of us. But if you put the hard work in and we've got a fresh list with everyone on the same page, hopefully we can the job done."

Subiaco has had injury problems right throughout the season to the likes of Sam Menegola, Matt Boland, Lachlan Delahunty, Rhys Waters, Darren Rumble, Scott Worthington and Chris Deluca, but they are now all up and running timing their run perfectly for the finals.

The Lions also earned the bye in the first week of the finals having finished four games clear on top of the ladder, and now have preliminary final weekend off as well awaiting the winner of West Perth and East Perth in the grand final.

While that should ensure that the Lions bodies are in good shape for the grand final, Robinson knows it's important to have a hard week on the training track and that performances there will be important with individual positions in the grand final team well and truly up for grabs.

"We earnt the chance to get that week off at the start of the finals and that's the only way we looked at it, we played a good season and earned the right to have the week off but it didn’t mean anything after that," he said.

"It was good to freshen up a few boys to prepare ourselves right for that first final, and that was a solid workout with some sore bodies at the start of this week so the recovery was essential. We'll get the management and all that right now over the next couple of days and train hard on Friday night, and get some really good sessions in over the next week."

Swan Districts' one-point grand final win over Claremont in 2010 is always something that will hold a special place in Robinson's heart, but he is yet to play in a grand final since and has had plenty of occasions where he thought he wouldn’t get a chance so can't wait for next Sunday at Domain Stadium.

"Any premiership will mean a lot because of the hard work that goes into it with that group of players, and hopefully we can give it a good crack next weekend to win one," Robinson said.

"That one in 2010 was a special day with the one-point victory in the dying minutes on the last day, you don’t see too many games like that in grand finals. Add Kraks who put on a show that day too, it was special to be part of that and everyone will remember that day for a long time."

Robinson saw firsthand just how remarkable Andrew Krakouer's season, and then grand final, was in 2010 and he has never seen anything rival that sort of dominance since playing alongside Menegola in the second half of this year.

As a result, he wouldn’t be surprised to see him win the Sandover Medal on Monday night despite having not played until Round 11 this season.

"Both circumstances are head and shoulders above anything else I've seen. Since Sam has come in he's been unbelievable just with his strength and ability to will himself to a contest," he said.

"I've never seen it to that degree at WAFL level and he's had taggers to deal with as well, but you wouldn’t notice that plus he's gone forward to kick goals.

"He should definitely get another opportunity at AFL level off his second half of the year. You'd think that six, seven or eight of his games probably should be best-ons so if the umpires are seeing what should be seen, he should be right up there and pushing to win it."

If it's not Menegola who claims the Sandover Medal for 2015, Robinson wouldn’t be surprised in the slightest to see his old Swan Districts teammate Ryan Davis claim the prize who has turned himself into perhaps the most damaging offensive player, and best tackler in the WAFL.

"Davo is an unbelievable player and he's someone who could still be playing at AFL level as well in my opinion. He's a very tough opponent to line up against best he is just so strong and he kicks goals as well," Robinson said.

"He will definitely be up there as well and you just look at how eye-catching he is, and he does stand out.

"You look at when he won the Simpson Medal and he stood out that day, and his rugby background really helps him and he has the perfect tackling style, and strength to go with it so there wouldn’t be a better tackler going around."