Caporn excited to be one win from another grand final

The highlight of Kristian Caporn’s career with Swan Districts so far might well have been the Reserves premiership triumph two years so to be one win now away from another grand final is something that’s hard not to get pumped about.

Luke Kelly, Henrick Alforque, Ethyn Kane, Ayden Cartwright, Tom Smith, Luke Taylor and Brodyn Fitzgerald were all like Caporn and part of that memorable 2023 Reserves premiership triumph that Swan Districts won at Optus Stadium in a thriller against West Perth.

Having been part of that is a big reason why Caporn is now so excited for Swan Districts to again be one win away from getting back to the grand final in 2025 after Sunday’s qualifying final victory against South Fremantle that they all also played in.

The Swan Districts Reserves will now play minor premiers Claremont this Sunday at Revo Fitness Stadium with the winner to advance to the grand final at Optus Stadium while the loser will get a second chance in the preliminary final against either South Fremantle or East Perth.

To now know that the next win the Swans have will mean they make a grand final is an exciting position for Caporn to be thinking about.

“It’s definitely nice knowing that from here we have two great chances to lock ourselves into that grand final,” Caporn said.

“It’s what all the hard work and months preseason training go towards! But while it’s nice knowing we’re so close we know we can’t look to forward into the future as we know we have to get the job done either this week or next to get there.”

Looking back on Sunday’s qualifying final and it was a strong performance from Swan Districts to score a 13-point victory against a powerful South Fremantle outfit.

It was a Bulldogs team featuring the likes of Dylan Main, Jacob Sax, Robbie Turnbull, Toby Dodds, Toby McQuilkin and Jordan Boullineau, but the longer the game went the better Swans got.

They ended up kicking four goals in the last quarter to secure the eventual 13-point win and Caporn was happy to see his team produce what might have been their best four-quarter performance all season.

“Yeah we knew Souths would have a good quality team on the park but we also knew we had about five or six boys ourselves coming back into our team, we also know as a team our best footy can beat just about anyone,” he said.

“It’s just about consistency over four quarters with us and while we’ve probably struggled with that during large parts of the season it was nice to see us put it all together for a good majority of the game against a good opposition!”

Looking back on that premiership triumph of two years ago to win a thrilling grand final by three points against West Perth and to do it on Optus Stadium with Greg Harding as coach is something that will take some topping as a career highlight for Caporn.

“Probably one of the best days in my footy career and I can’t thank Greg Harding enough for what he did for us as a team to get us there,” Caporn said.

“We definitely made it harder on ourselves leading into finals, think we went from first with a game clear to barely holding onto second/third come season end. But the boys turned it on come finals and we went through in straight sets.

“So hopefully a good omen for this weekend. The grand final itself was definitely not for the faint of heart, back and forth all day and I think we ended up winning by three points in the end.

“The feeling of knowing all the hard work paid off and that we got to bring a premiership back to this great club was something I’ll never take for granted.”

Caporn started his football at East Perth where he came through the colts and then ended up playing four seasons in the Reserves before making the move to Swan Districts for the start of the 2021 season.

While the league opportunities haven’t come the way Caporn might have hoped with the Swans either with just the three games in 2024, he has become a tremendous person around the club and an outstanding consistent member of the Reserves forward-line.

He has now kicked 91 goals in 73 Reserves games with Swan Districts and never once has he thought about leaving since first coming to Bassendean.

“Naturally of course I’d have loved to play more league footy at Swans and that’s still the ultimate goal and it can get disappointing at times for sure when not selected,” Caporn said.

“But it’s been a long journey to this point and no matter what grade I’m playing I’m just incredibly thankful to the club for letting me make my debut last year and continuing to let me play footy here.

“In terms of what keeps on motivating me to play at WAFL level it’s probably a mix between the players, the club itself and also just wanting to play at the highest level I can for as long as I can and if that’s only reserves footy for now then so be it.

“But we’ve got a great bunch of lads at the club that really get around and look out for each other so there’s no place I’d rather be right now than at swans with them.”

Not only is Caporn an integral part of the senior playing group at Swan Districts, but he has thrown himself into helping in other areas of the club including working with disability and inclusion coordinator Jorja Perdija.

It’s that sort of work and helping people that make Caporn realise just the sort of impact footballers can have far beyond just what they do on the field on a weekend.

“The work I get to do at the club is great,” Caporn said.

“There’s maybe a rotation of four or five of us that go around to the local schools in the Swans area and just teach the kids some basic footy skills and hopefully pique the interest of a few of them to come down to the games and see what the Swans football club is all about.

“No day is ever the same and that’s what I love about it. More recently we’ve got to do some work with Jorja and her crew around the All Abilities/Elevate program and just seeing some of the kids’ faces light up when you’re there for the two or three hours makes it all worth it.

“There’s more to life than footy and the behind the scenes stuff that swans offers for our youth and their future is second to none.”