Wiley: Foundations are there

Rob Wiley believes that the East Fremantle Sharks have built the foundations for a strong 2017 despite missing this year’s finals after dropping a must-win clash against East Perth last Saturday.

The Royals were too good in the wet at ATOM Stadium, securing fifth place in the standings with a 48 point win.

With the wind to their backs, the Royals took control kicking the opening three goals before Mitch Boyle’s steadier.

East Perth pushed on into the wind in the second half to hold a healthy 25 point lead. A mini-rally from the Sharks in the third term closed the margin to within three straight kicks but East Perth were quick to regain control of the match and finished strongly with a four goal to one final term.

Liam Anthony was again the highlight for East Fremantle with 34 disposals and five tackles while Cameron Eardley kicked two of the Sharks’ six majors.

For Wiley, it was a season of two distinct halves. East Fremantle were targeting a top two finish after impressive mid-season wins against ladder leaders Subiaco and South Fremantle, but a string of injuries and a loss of form after the State Game bye saw the Sharks take just two wins from their last eight games.

“Obviously everyone’s disappointed because the first half promised so much but in the second half we lost our confidence and consistency,” said Wiley.

“But I have great belief that we’ve got good foundations and we’ve got good values here and sometimes you don’t get to the top of the mountain in one hit, you’ve got to chip away. They stood up when we were playing some very good footy against the best sides so we’ll continue to work on that.”

The East Fremantle Football Club still has a presence in the finals, with the Development League side heading to Bendigo Bank Stadium this weekend to face Subiaco.

Wiley sees plenty of positives coming from the Development League this year on top of a solid crop of up and comers in the League side.

“There are a lot of good kids who have come through and shown that they can play good football at this level, Jimmy Harrold and Jessie Adamini certainly are two, Dylan Winton as well,” Wiley said.

“There’s a lot of upside and we’ve got to continue to build our young kids coming through our program but we’ll also look to add from outside.

“The finals will be a great experience for our young kids so hopefully we can continue to go through that final series.

“In the end we will have to sit down an reflect and go through where we can get better and as I said this club is a very proud club and I’ll be doing my best efforts with the other coaches to make sure we can continue to improve.”