Ian McMurray was outstanding for the champions, with his best afield performance earning him the inaugural Gary Marocchi Medal.

In some pre-match drama, 2009 Gold Medal winner David Micevski was declared a non-starter for the Knights after coming down with a severe case of the flu and he sat on the bench.

Despite an even start to the match, Perth began to grab the ascendency and had a penalty appeal when Hayden Doyle's cross into the box appeared to be handled by Garth Lecky, but referee Mathew Cheeseman waved away Perth's protests for a penalty.

There was more drama minutes later when Knights goalkeeper Frazer Siddall appeared to handle the ball outside the area and Perth's Antonio Naglieri stepped up to take the resulting free kick directly in front of goal on the edge of the 18-yard box.

His effort thumped the right-hand goal post, much to the relief of Siddall who was well-beaten.

It took 32 minutes for the opener to come and Dom De Felice was on hand to tap in from close range after a wonderful free kick from Perth captain Robbie Puca and downward header from McMurray.

The deserved lead put the Knights into attack, but they struggled to trouble Perth custodian Devon Spence.

An outside of the foot effort from Daniel Micevski saw the Perth defence scramble inside the box as he tried to find a teammate, but the danger was cleared by the reliable Sean Kilkelly.

Just as the Knights seemed to be coming back into the match towards the end of the half, Perth killed the Western Knights momentum with McMurray bagging his team's second on the cusp of half time.

David Onoforo's shot was well saved by Siddall in goals for the Knights, but McMurray was on hand pick up the crumbs and shoot into an empty net to make it 2-0 at the interval.

The second half saw a revitalised Western Knights continue to press at the Perth defence.

Coach Carl Medica's prayers were answered when he made an attacking change, bringing on Daniel Trim for defender Garth Lecky.

As the Knights went all guns blazing in the final third, they were rewarded after Stuart Montgomery crossed to Simon Versacio, who was able to head home from close range with less than half an hour to play.

Medica continually tried to inspire his troops from the sidelines with his flamboyant gesturing as the Knights searched for an equaliser.

The Knights coach then made a somewhat surprising change, taking off goal scorer Versacio and replacing him with the noticeably-ill David Micevski.

The reigning Gold Medallist poured his heart and soul into his brief stint on the field and his influence was definitely noticeable throughout the middle of the park.

With less than a quarter hour to go, David Micevski then went on a dangerous run and played the ball across the face of goal, only for Kilkelly to yet again stand tall for Perth.

As the Knights through everyone forward to take the match to extra time, it was Perth that extended its lead in injury time after Onoforo was fouled in the penalty area by Jack Doyle.

Referee Cheeseman had no hesitation in pointing to the spot and Onoforo made no mistake from 12 yards to seal back-to-back championships for his side.