The late move that took Swans to prelim

Tom Cathcart had not kicked a WAFL colts goal in more than two years but all of a sudden he was thrown forward for the last 10 minutes and kicked the two winning goals as Swan Districts stormed into the preliminary final.

Cathcart started his colts career with Swan Districts back in 2022 and he did kick a couple of goals across those first six games, but over the past two seasons he has settled into a role as one of the most consistent and reliable defenders across the competition.

The 190cm 18-year-old was content in his role down back, but Swan Districts coach John Armstrong had given Cathcart a heads up going into the first semi-final against West Perth that a shock move forward could be on the cards.

Had the move come even a minute later in the fourth quarter and it might have been too late with the Falcons leading Swans by 14 points thanks to a goal from Austin Chapman at the 16-minute mark.

That's when Armstrong sent his runner out to push Cathcart forward for the first time in the past two years. It would prove the masterstroke that sent Swan Districts into a preliminary final at Steel Blue Oval this Sunday against Subiaco.

Cathcart kicked his first goal in two years at the 23-minute mark to make it a one-point ball game and then with only nine seconds left, he kicked the match winner to live out everyone's boyhood dream.

"I was actually talking to a mate during the week and we talked about how much aura you would gain from kicking the winning goal after the siren," Cathcart said.

"Being a defender for the last two years at colts level, I never would have pictured it and it's just something you joke around about but it was definitely everything I could have imagined that's for sure."

The move to go forward

Playing as a forward wasn’t completely foreign to Cathcart, but doing it in the colts is something that was new to him. He didn’t have time to think about it with 10 minutes to go in the first semi-final – and potentially the season and his colts career.

"I did think it could be on the cards one day and I did play forward for three or four years in my junior career so I do understand the forward craft a little bit. So if I ever was to play forward more in the years ahead then I feel like I am well prepared to do that," Cathcart said.

"I actually got a call from Army from after Thursday's training to give me the heads up that the move may occur during the game because we were a bit undersized in the forward half.

"I still had strong belief in our forward-line and I wasn’t really expecting it to happen, but at three quarter-time he pulled me over and we were down so he told me to be prepared this quarter and he might push me forward.

"The call came out from the runner with about 15 minutes to go in the fourth and that's when the change was made official."

Feeling after two thrilling wins

Not only have Swans now qualified for a preliminary final thanks to their victories against Perth and West Perth by a combined seven points, they get to play it at Steel Blue Oval this Sunday.

Cathcart can sense the excitement in the playing group with a spot in the Grand Final against Claremont at Optus Stadium the following Sunday up for grabs.

"Everyone is definitely feeling up and about, and there's a strong belief in the group that when we are in tight situations we can handle the situation pretty well. So everyone is feeling up and about now about Sunday's game," Cathcart said.

"I still get chills from it and I thought that as a team we all handled the situation pretty well, and I just happened to get on the end of it.

"I couldn’t be prouder of how all 23 of us were able to handle that and even the coaching staff as well. That move for me to go forward has been talked about since whenever I came back in Round 11, and I still get chills thinking about how it worked out.

"We probably had no right with 10 minutes to go to win that game, but everyone's pumped that we did and we are still soaking it up but know we have another job to get to."

Excitement now to get a home final

While nobody at Swan Districts is getting ahead of themselves and they are fully aware how tough it will be to overcome Subiaco to earn a spot in the Grand Final, the excitement is obvious too especially for the preliminary final to be at Bassendean.

"It's definitely exciting and we went to the beach for recovery on Sunday and everyone was just ready to go and could have played another game that day we were that pumped," Cathcart said.

"We're definitely up and about it, and thanks to the league boys for helping us get a home final too which makes it even more exciting.

"We've always had the belief of what we were capable of and even though we finished fourth we knew we were capable, and a big thing we've focused on this year has been us versus me. I feel like during the finals we've really executed that."

Confidence heading into finals

Going into the last round of the home and away season and Swans had already guaranteed fourth position and a finals appearance, and couldn’t move from where they were ahead of the clash with Perth.

What made that fascinating was that their opponents in the last round were the same Demons team they would play a week later in the elimination final, but despite that 44-point Round 21 loss, Cathcart and Swans were always hitting back once finals began.

"That was a very weird experience and as a team we still prepared for it like it was a normal game during the week, and we still wanted to go in and win that obviously," Cathcart said.

"But also because we were playing them again next week, we didn’t want to give away all our cards I suppose and wanted to keep something up our sleeve. Finals is a different story and it's a whole new season so we still had that belief even after losing that game.

"We knew it was going to be a dog fight and that Perth is a quality side, but I think it just came down to belief and preparation.

"We got some really talented players back in that week to start the finals which also helped, but as we are we're a really tight team and we're quite resilient as well having spent two years down the bottom of the ladder. So we felt like it was our time."

Thinking of what might happen after Sunday

While it's hard not to think of the prize on offer in Sunday's preliminary final which would provide Cathcart the first chance to play in a Grand Final and at Optus Stadium, he's not letting himself get too ahead of himself.

"I'm definitely not thinking about Optus or the Grand Final," he said.

"To be honest I'm not even thinking about the game at the moment, I'm focused on Wednesday training and then Friday training, and then we'll look to the game after we've completed all our training this week.

"I think that's the whole team's mindset as well and we never want to look too far ahead, and think about the what ifs. The good thing about our team this year is that we've stayed present moment by moment, and it's definitely paid off to get us this far."

Future outside of football

Having only just turned 18 earlier this year after finishing school at the end of 2023, Cathcart is a busy young man with a part-time job combined with his university where he's still weighing up which career path to ultimately follow.

"I am working at the local Woolies and that has worked good with my footy because I got the job through our neighbour who is a manager there," Cathcart said.

"They hired me knowing about my footy commitments so that's worked out well. And at uni, I'm studying sports science and sports business. I wasn’t really sure if I wanted to go down the strength and conditioning route, or the path of a player manager or talent manager so I decided to do both the degrees."