On Sunday 14 September 2014, the Wembley Saints defied the odds to beat the Kingsway Rockets by 11 points in the Year 11 Jay van Berlo grand final. Final scores were Wembley Saints 7.13 (55) defeated Kingsway Rockets Black 6.8 (44).

A beautiful spring day, both teams were hoping to taste premiership glory. The Rockets had not been beaten since the 2011 season and were attempting to complete three seasons as undefeated champions. Wembley (formed by the merger of Wembley and West Coast) had narrowly missed out on a flag the previous year and had played Kingsway on four previous occasions in 2014 without tasting victory. That all changed on Sunday around 3.15pm when the Claremont aligned Wembley came from behind to end the amazing winning streak of the Subiaco aligned Kingsway.

The game was a classic – hard and tough with unbelievable skills on show by both teams. Kingsway bounced out of the blocks and kicked the first goal while Wembley wasted opportunities up front. At quarter time the Rockets 3.0 to Wembley 1.5.

In the second stanza, Wembley had most of the play but could not capitalise on the scoreboard. At half time it was bloody close…a kick in it, Kingsway in front by a goal!

The premiership quarter was like the first half – tough, uncompromising football. Wembley kicked a goal in the first few minutes to level the scores and things remained tight throughout the quarter. This was to be a Battle Royale as the teams headed into their three quarter time huddles on near level terms. Kingsway 6.7 (43) to Wembley 5.12 (42).

The last quarter of play was dominated by the boys from Wembley West Coast. This was their chance for premiership glory…this was their chance to make history. They repelled repeated attacks and held the Rockets to a solitary point in the last term…amazing! In what can only be described as an “awesome team effort with plenty of ticker”, the boys from the Wembley Saints powered home to win the 2014 premiership by 11 points.

The Wembley Saints team that made history were:

Backs: Sam ‘Gricey’ Grice, Cameron Quenby, Oskar Crane

Half Backs: Declan ‘Dec’ Hardisty, Alex Dakic, Calais ‘Stapes’ Staples

Centres: Hudson ‘Huddy’ Simcock, Luca ‘Jules’ Digulio, Ben ‘Sondy’ Sondergaard

Half Forwards: Adam ‘Barts’ Bartlett, Harry ‘Haz’ Keady, George ‘Handsome’ Cokis

Forwards: Aidan ‘Fatty’ Oswald, Tom ‘Warra’ Lawrence, Jacob ‘Sidda’ Sideris

Ruck: Declan ‘Deckers’ Coffey, Josh Tucker, Logan McAlpine

Interchange: Conor ‘Chooky’ Fowler, Riverson ‘Rivo’ Robbins, Lachie Tweedie, Mitch ‘Harro’ Harrison, Tom Brennan, Daniel ‘Bomber’ Borgogno, Oliver ‘Ollie’ Malone

Emergencies: Seb ‘Corporal’ Morrison, Luca ‘Tizza’ Tizzano, Andre Barros

Coach: Cameron Tweedie

Assistant Coach: Paul Tucker

Manager: Adrian Fowler

Runners: Mattison Staples, Evan Cokis

Editor’s note – In what can only be seen as a triumph for selecting ‘even teams’, the sister team of the Wembley Saints, the Wembley Cats, won the other year 11 premiership. Wembley Cats 10.7 (67) defeated Quinns Bulls 5.5 (35).