WAFL 2025: Claremont coach Ash Prescott opens up on ‘pretty extraordinary’ comeback victory over Perth

When Ash Prescott walked down the Mineral Resource Park race to address his Claremont side down a staggering 50 points at quarter-time, you could have forgiven him from feeling a little hot under the collar. But by the time Prescott reached the huddle, the Claremont players were already in deep discussion about how to fix the errors which had seen them give up a nine-goal opening quarter to Perth. Two hours later, Prescott and Claremont were celebrating equalling the WAFL record for the greatest quarter-time deficit comeback to seal a 13.8 (86) to 11.7 (73) victory over Perth. “The players got in before I got to them and had a chat. I dare say that would have been about winning contested ball and getting first hands on it, because we just got obliterated through the midfield,” Prescott said of his players’ quarter-time discussion. “I’ve never once questioned their heart, character or their belief or hardness. “At times we get away from our method, so we’ve just got to keep working at that but the way we were able to regenerate our energy and belief and and do what we did was was pretty extraordinary.” After the first quarter from hell, the Tigers proceeded to limit the Demons to just three points over the next two quarters, while also kicking seven majors of their own in the second quarter alone. Perth forward Aaron Clarke kicked five of his six before the opening break, so the Tigers restricted the service into him and turned him into a spectator. But more importantly, after the Demons dominated stoppages in the first quarter, Prescott was delighted they clamped down on Perth’s dominance and began to win the possession and territory battles. “If you’re not taking the ball out of the centre or winning clearances, your defenders are under a lot of pressure,” he said. “We made some structural changes, challenged a few blokes, reinvented our midfield a little bit, but more importantly, we just started to win first possession and get a little bit of field position off that.” Old dependable Jye Bolton finished with 25 disposals after helping lead the second quarter charge and ruckman Oliver Eastland iced the game with two late goals to add to 21 disposals, 28 hit-outs and four inside 50s. Also pivotal in the fightback was Zac Mainwaring, who tallied 21 disposals and seven tackles and kicked a vital second-quarter goal. He celebrated with gusto which let Perth know the Tigers were hungry for more. While Prescott admitted he never felt the lead was safe once Claremont took it for good during the third quarter, he praised his multitude of on-field leaders — both old and young — for ensuring cooler, calmer heads prevailed. “We’ve got a really good depth of leadership and some really strong-minded and disciplined younger players that are coming through,” he said. “They’ve been part of our system for five years now, they’re really flying the flag in relation to how we want to play, and our actions and behaviours. “They’re really driving that culture and that allows some of those older players that have been around to not feel they have to do everything. “Some of those more well-credentialed midfielders, they’re just accepting any role that they get, to allow the (Zac) Mainwarings, the (Ben) Elliotts, the (Bailey) Banfields and those sort of guys to show what they can do, get in there and get to work.”