Peel senior coach Cam Shepherd has enjoyed a fruitful fortnight, awarded the WAFL Coach of the Year award at Monday night’s Sandover Medal count on the back of his two-year contract extension with Peel last week.
But any focus on contracts or accolades are on the back-burner as Shepherd looks to lead Peel to a second straight WAFL premiership against Subiaco on Sunday at Domain Stadium.
“I’m really proud to have won the honour and it’s not just myself it’s the team of coaches we have here at Fremantle and at Peel,” Shepherd said.
“We’re looking forward to not only the next two years but obviously to this weekend as well.”
Shepherd is focused on another tough contest after Peel prevailed in the 2016 grand final by 23-points.
“I think we’ve had some wonderful contest against Subiaco for the past two years,” Shepherd said.
“The rivalry continues on Sunday. We take into the fact that they’re all tight and tough games and we know our players have to be switched on to play the way we want to play.”
Subiaco won all three contests against Peel in the 2017 regular season but Peel continued to have the upper hand in the finals with their victory in the second semi final a fortnight ago.
“I think we can take a reasonable amount of confidence in the fact that we can match it with the side that’s been the benchmark in the WAFL for the past four years, where they’ve played in four straight grand finals,” Shepherd said.
“We have our work cut out but at the same time we know we can match it with Subiaco.
“I think we’ve got to be strong at contested ball and in the clearances and get the ball playing in our half.”
