EAST Fremantle coach Shane Woewodin has put in five tough years since returning to the Sharks and now his hard work has been rewarded with a home final this Sunday and he hopes anyone that bleeds blue-and-white comes out to support them against East Perth.
Woewodin, pictured, returned to East Fremantle in 2006 after a 200-game AFL career that saw him win a Brownlow Medal, Melbourne's fairest and best, represent Australia and WA along with playing in two grand finals.
After two years of playing back at the Sharks and another two coaching coming into 2010, he had not taken part in finals action since the 2003 grand final loss for Collingwood, but now his personal and East Fremantle's (since 2002) finals drought is over.
He also hopes all of the Sharks' faithful turns up to East Fremantle Oval on Sunday to show support against a firing East Perth unit.
"It has been a long time since we've had finals at East Fremantle Oval, if there ever has been, and it's great for our footy club. It's great for our players because it's our ground and not that it will make much difference in the result, but there's no doubt it's great to play at home," Woewodin said.
"It's an opportunity for all our East Fremantle supporters, members and anyone who has ever supported East Fremantle to come down and support your team who has been out of the finals for eight years. It's a great opportunity to come and fill this place like it used to be and we'd love to see it get a similar attendance to the derbies, it would be a great experience."
East Fremantle has struggled for the most part since losing the 2002 grand final to East Perth, but now has a good blend of former AFL players, currently-listed ones and promising youngsters that has led to its rise up to finishing third on the ladder.
Jamie McNamara, Mark McGough (pictured left), Kasey Green, Luke Weller, Ryley Dunn and Michael Warren are leading the way for an exciting brand of youngsters including Kym Monteath, Lewis Fasolo, Alex Fasolo, Jacob Brennan, Jamie Cripps, Andrew Stephen and Jack Perham (pictured below) who now will look to make the most of their finals chance.
"It's certainly exciting not only for the playing group who have worked tirelessly for this opportunity, but for the East Fremantle people whether they are supporters, members or people around the club who have just been waiting for this opportunity. It's an exciting time and one that's a reward for the hard work that's been put in," Woewodin said.
"It's great to have sealed it last week, but it's not good enough to just get there. We want to actually have an impact in the finals series, do some damage and at least win a game to get ourselves rolling. The reason you do play is to take part in finals and win premierships, and that's why we have worked for 10 or 11 months.
"We now don’t want to waste this opportunity because the game can go by you pretty quickly and you never know if you'll ever get the opportunity again. It's been eight years for this club and Leith Teakle is one example of someone who has never tasted finals, so for those players it's really exciting and you want to make the most of it as a group."
East Perth will arrive at Shark Park having won six straight games after bouncing back from a 2-7 start to make finals and now Woewodin knows that the Royals will be a tough opponent as he does battle with Tony Micale, who coached him at East Fremantle before his AFL career.
"They are a hardened outfit and very experienced group, so they will be a formidable opponent. We embarrassed ourselves last time and we were really disappointed with our first half of footy that day, but we have turned that around the last month," he said.
"They are a very spirited team and on any given day could beat anyone. They are a big danger and it's not just their hardness, but they have some special talent in their group over all lines and they can create some hassles for us. They are very good at the contested ball and get themselves up for big games, so we will have to absorb their emotion early and take it to them."
East Fremantle's season looked to be in freefall heading into the bye in Round 18 after four straight losses including a 53-point thumping to East Perth, but the playing group got together for a night out over that weekend and the results have been obvious.
The Sharks went on to win their last four matches before the Round 23 bye and Woewodin has been happy with how they have responded, and performed for the most part in all of 2010.
"It's an important part of footy and it's not all about the hard work. It's also about being able to have a balanced lifestyle where you can enjoy your footy and time around your mates. It was important for them to get together that weekend after a heavy month for us where we weren’t playing well," he said.
"The players loosened their grip a bit, just enjoyed themselves and had some time away. That freshened them up mentally and physically and they were then ready to go post the bye. The way it's worked out this year we've had eight games twice before a bye and we did limp into both byes with some players and injuries.
"We had a good look at ourselves over that last bye and where we needed to improve so it came at a good time and we were able to come back to play some really desperate and good footy since. The leadership group has been an integral part to us on and off field this year too, and they've emerged and grown while developing emerging players underneath them."
