SUNDAY's second semi-final might not have gone to plan for Swan Districts but 16-year-old Swan Stephen Coniglio was one of the black-and-whites' better performers as he continues to defy his age.
Coniglio didn’t look overawed whatsoever in his first WAFL final, third senior game and first against a team that didn’t occupy the bottom spots on the ladder as he collected 26 possessions, but Claremont proved too good winning 17.17 (119) to 10.9 (69) to advance to the grand final.
As well as Coniglio's strong performance, Sandover Medal favourite Andrew Krakouer had 31 possessions, Tom Roach 26, Matt Spencer 24, Wayde Twomey 24 with Luke Pratt and Tallan Ames outstanding in defence.
However, an early ankle injury to young ruckman Luke Adams proved costly as Llane Spaanderman lost his partner in crime to go up against Claremont pair Andrew Ruck and Tom Derickx, and Claremont proved too strong winning by 50 points.
Coniglio, who despite being just 16 years of age has been terrific in his first three league matches, coped well with the pressure of a final that was to decide which team advanced to the grand final, but certainly noticed a massive step up in pressure and intensity from the first two games he played.
"It was the toughest game I've ever played. The pace of it got me on a couple of occasions, but after half-time I think I started to settle in a bit after the incident with Wolfy (Brett Wolfenden) at half-time. It became more physical and a bit quicker and each team wanted the ball as equally bad as each other. It was a tough match and I definitely pulled up a bit sore from it," Coniglio said.
"It was a massive step up and the biggest thing for me to make the transition easier has been with the boys helping me out and supporting me. They have told me to back in my skills by taking risks and stuff like that. The step up to playing Claremont was a big one, but I like challenges and it was a good test."
While clearly it was disappointing to lose and miss out on the opportunity to advance straight to the grand final, Coniglio enjoyed the challenge of going up against some of the best players in the competition at such a young age.
"It was disappointing and after the game it sunk in straightaway to the boys that it was an opportunity we missed out on. We had set ourselves to come out with all guns firing to make a statement, but it didn’t happen," he said.
"After growing up watching guys like (Luke) Blackwell, (Clancy) Rudeforth and a heap of their guys play well and rack up big numbers it was good to play against them. Even guys like Tom Swift who have played AFL footy it was good to test myself against them."
The positive out of Swans' finishing second on the ladder is that they get another chance this week at Steel Blue Oval in the preliminary final against East Perth. Coniglio is looking forward to that and the black-and-white army turning out in force again.
"Hopefully we can serve it up to them. They are a hard one-on-one team as well and Tony Micale drills that into them well. We are expecting a hard one-on-one contest and I'm looking forward to the challenge," he said.
"It's always good to play in front of our supporters and even on the weekend there was the can bar out there at Claremont. Whatever they shout out spurs the boys on and gets us excited about the game. Hopefully we get a few numbers down here and a lot of friends and family turn up to make it a good day for Swans."
While Coniglio enjoyed the challenge of taking on Claremont's midfield, he has got even more out of talking to, playing with and training with his Swan Districts teammates like Andrew Krakouer, Josh Roberts and a host of senior players who have helped him adapt to league football quickly.
"It has been amazing to see some of the things they do in games like Kraks getting 51 possessions in a game, but some of the stuff they do at training, their work ethic and how they are role models for people their age and mine coming up is really inspiring," Coniglio said.
"It's an awesome experience coming down to training on Tuesday and Thursday night's to talk to them and get out there with them, especially to talk to Andrew Krakouer about his experiences at Richmond and he has a lot to teach. We've got a lot to learn as well as young players."
Only four weeks ago, Coniglio was still preparing for the finals with the colts, who lost the first semi-final to Peel on Sunday, so his emergence into the league side has been a bolt from the blue but he now wants to be part of a team that wins on Saturday and makes a grand final.
"It has been pretty unexpected to first come into the team. I was focused on the colts who just got knocked out, but I still came down to help them out when I could and supported them. It has been all right in the league team and the boys have made it an easy transition for me," he said.
"Coming into a finals series you have to kick yourself to realise you are playing league footy now for Swans, but it's a good challenge and I'm looking forward to hopefully winning this week to get into a grand final."
Given a month ago he didn’t even think he would play league football until 2011 at the earliest, Coniglio hasn’t had time to look back and reflect on what he's been able to achieve so far and won't allow himself to do that until the finals are over.
For his sake hopefully that is after the grand final, but either way he is too young to be drafted still and is looking forward to what appears likely to be a full season in the league side next year.
"To be honest I haven’t really reflected on it all, I've just been trying to get from one week to the next to try and cement my spot for the finals. I haven’t given it too much thought, but maybe at the end of the season I might have a look back. Right now the focus is all on next week," he said.
"I'm looking forward to another pre-season so I can get my body a bit bigger and more atoned to what a WAFL midfielder's should be like. That will make it a bit easier for me in contested footy and it will be a good experience to hopefully play a full season next year as long as injuries stay away."
