West Coast Eagles forward and Kimberley product Brendon Ah Chee ready to swoop in on finals

Gritty Kimberley footballer Brendon Ah Chee has his eagle eye firmly fixed on the flag as he swoops in on a possible maiden finals berth this weekend. The Derby talent has notched a breakout season with West Coast, having run out in the blue-and- yellow in all but three games in 2020 after years of trying to knock down the selection door. A finals appearance would be the icing on the cake for Ah Chee’s stellar season, where he finally found his feet after nine years and stints at two clubs in the AFL. Speaking to the Broome Advertiser last week, the 26-year-old said he was confident about his side’s chances in the finals series, which will start with a home-ground clash against Collingwood on Saturday night. “Personally I’m very excited, it will be my first finals campaign if I do play,” he said. “As a team, we all know our roles and we have confidence in our abilities and game plan. Each of us have our own roles, not all of us are out there to kick five and get 30 touches.” Ah Chee, who was pushed to the forward line this year, said he was proud of what he had accomplished in 2020, but the hard work was only just beginning. “It’s been a breakout year for my whole career,” he said. “I had never played more than four games in a row or 11 games in a season, so for me to break both those “hoodoos” was really important for me. I thought I had a pretty decent game against Melbourne in round one and was looking forward to building on that momentum, but then was back to square one after the two-month COVID break, so I’m glad I could keep that going.” Ah Chee is one of two Kimberley boys likely to play finals this year — the other being his younger brother Callum, who is busy writing a success story of his own with the Brisbane Lions. The siblings played in opposing sides for the first time when they clashed at the Gabba in round three, and could face off once again in a preliminary final in coming weeks. “It was our fifth year in the system together and to finally tick that off earlier on in the year was really special for me, Callum and our families,” Ah Chee said. “To play each other in the finals would be amazing. With me forward and him down back, there’s a chance we could play on each other, and it would be do or die for both our teams. ‘How good would that be?”