WAFL 2025: Claremont stalwart Bailey Rogers says Tigers desperate to avoid away finals

Bailey Rogers says Claremont are desperate to avoid another away final as premiership aspirations continue to fuel the Tigers stalwart.

Rogers and fellow veteran Jye Bolton were two of the Tigers best as they survived a scare against Subiaco on Saturday, fending off the cellar dwellers by 12 points at Sullivan Logistics Stadium.

At 33, Bolton recorded an incredible 39 disposals and eight clearances, while Rogers collected 27 of his own to go with the game’s opening goal. The pair have been remarkable warhorses for the Tigers, and Rogers admitted a lack of finals success in recent seasons continued to inspire them to work harder.

“We haven’t had any major (team) success, no premierships,” he told The West Australian. “That’s the reason we come back every year, and we just put our best foot forward inside.

“I don’t know how Jye has 39, and he does it at 33. I’m 28 and starting to fall off the tracks.

“But it’s a pretty handy midfield when you have (Ollie Eastland) hitting it down to you and Ronin’s (O’Connor) doing his job in there, and now Barron’s come inside and been a bull in there, so me and Jye just get on the end of a few which is lucky for us.”

Claremont sat perched in fifth ahead of the match but jumped into the top three, with the Royals enjoying a week’s rest with the bye.

And Rogers knows it’s a position they must hold to have any real hopes of a flag.

“The last few years, we’ve finished fourth and fifth, and playing away finals is tough, and we learnt that last year especially, so we want to get as high as we can on the ladder as we can,” he said.

“We’ve got a bit of catching up to do with the top three, so that’s the aim.”

Winning games while not at their best will be a crucial step on the road to September, and Rogers said the team prided itself on being able to absorb the opposition’s best and still come away with the points.

“We knew Subi would come pretty hard for us; they always do, so we just had to get to the end in front, and we did, so we’ll take the four points,” he said.

“The competition is so even so you just can’t take anyone lightly, and it showed again today.

“It’s something we’ve been working on for years, really. We used to get hit in quarters and go missing.

“In this year, especially, and at the end of last year we hold on and stick through it to get out the other side with a win.

“It’s something we pride ourselves on now to cop the hit from the opposition and come away with four points.”