Injured Lions trio expected to play
Subiaco are set to recall classy forwards George Hampson and Matt Boland as well as captain Kyal Horsley for Sunday's grand final at Patersons Stadium.
Horsley (quad), Boland (hamstring) and Hampson (quad) missed the Lions' exciting five-point preliminary final win against East Fremantle last Sunday.
The star trio showed they had recovered, training soundly at Medibank Stadium on Tuesday and Patersons Stadium last night.
While Hampson, Horsley and Boland moved freely, veteran wingman Shaun Hildebrandt was restricted to walking two laps due to a dose of the flu.
He is not expected to miss the game.
A final decision on whether Horsley, Boland and Hampson play will be made on Sunday morning.
The biggest question mark hangs over State forward Hampson who has not played since Subiaco's round-22 game against South Fremantle on August 22.
Hampson was close to a recall for the preliminary final.
Lions football manager Luke Sanders said Hampson would be given every chance to prove his fitness.
"George adds another dimension to our side," Sanders said yesterday. "His ability to play forward and mid gives our team a bit of versatility."
Sanders said Boland, Horsley and Hampson would not be risked against East Perth unless they were 100 per cent.
"There is too much at stake to be taking players in that are only going to be playing limited game time," he said.
"I'd imagine (coach) Jarrad (Schofield) wouldn't bring in any player that was underdone."
Hampson played 18 of Subiaco's first 19 games before missing the final qualifying match against the Sharks.
He averaged 20 possessions, five marks and two goals a game in 2014, with standout performances against Claremont (28 disposals, six marks and four goals) in round three and East Perth (24 disposals, four marks and five goals) in round five.
A key in both Subiaco's regular season wins against the Royals, Hampson was missing when they lost the second semifinal by 32 points on September 7.
Sanders said Boland and Horsley had also proved their fitness at training on Tuesday night and would be selected if they got through last night's session.
Boland finished second on the WAFL goal-kickers' list with 51 in his debut WAFL season, eight behind South Fremantle sharpshooter Ben Saunders.
Horsley, the pre-count favourite for last Monday's Sandover Medal, averaged 26 possessions, three marks and five tackles in 18 games after returning from two seasons with AFL team Gold Coast.
George adds another dimension … " *Luke Sanders *
