Demons recruits Chris Masten, Fraser McInnes help Perth turn back time against Peel Thunder

The last time Fraser McInnes and Bradley Holmes spearheaded Perth and Peel, Subiaco were languishing near the bottom of the ladder, East Fremantle were pushing for finals and Rory O’Brien was about to win the Sandover Medal.

The year was 2013. Yet as if Cher had penned the song for them, the two turned back time in a fascinating battle of two clubs on different journeys, as the Demons claimed a 10.10 (70) to 9.6 (60) win at David Grays Arena on Saturday.

The Demons went into the game heavy favourites on the back of some astute recruiting, which saw them land ex-Eagles McInnes and Chris Masten, as well as part of their WAFL contingent in Brady Grey and Andrew Fisher.

And while all four had a big impact on the outcome, the Demons could not shake a plucky young Thunder outfit, who are almost bringing the movie The Replacements to life, putting together a team as best they can minus their usual Fremantle contingent.

Holmes, doing his best Shane Falco impersonation, shook off a possession-free first half to boot three goals in his first WAFL game in almost seven years.

The Thunder were happy to concede the hit-outs by playing undersized ruckmen and were instead relying on the hard work by their stubborn midfield, led by inspirational captain Ben Howlett (24 touches and 11 tackles) and Michael Randall (20 disposals).

Ultimately though it was the sheer gut running and weight of possession from Masten (30 disposals) and a fantastic all-round performance from the versatile McInnes which was the difference, as the Demons chase their first finals berth since 1997.

McInnes floated between attack and defence, but it was his two final-quarter goals which helped the Demons over the line, as he and youngster Logan McDonald (three goals) led their team to victory.

“It’s great to be back, to win in that fashion was pretty tough,” McInnes said.

“It’s hard to scout (the Thunder), they hadn’t played an opposition, they had played a couple of intra-clubs, but credit to Cam Shepherd and Ben Howlett, what they rolled out today was a really good brand of footy.

“I feel good, I always enjoy my footy but coming back to Perth has a good feeling to it, I was able to catch a couple and kick a couple, so I was happy with it.

“It was great to have Brady and Fish stick together as well. We are just excited to play footy.”

Written by Mitchell Woodcock, originally published in The West Australian.