Finals Week 1 McDonald's WAFL Wrap UpTuesday, September 8, 2015 - 12:58 PM - by Chris Pike

THE WAFL is down to four teams in the race for the 2015 premiership with East Perth eliminating Claremont on Sunday while West Perth moved to one win away from a grand final berth by beating Peel Thunder.

Peel Thunder took part in its first ever WAFL finals appearance in the qualifying final at HBF Arena on Sunday and while Peel started well with three goals to one in the first quarter, its undermanned and inexperienced side was overwhelmed by West Perth in the finish.

The Falcons kicked 21 of the last 23 goals of the game to end up winning 22.13 (145) to 5.6 (36).

The other final on Sunday was the elimination final battle between East Perth and Claremont at Medibank Stadium, and that saw the Royals kick the only four goals of the last quarter to win 13.15 (93) to 9.7 (61).

The results mean that Subiaco will now host West Perth in the second semi-final this Sunday at Medibank Stadium while Peel Thunder hosts East Perth in the first semi-final at Bendigo Bank Stadium.

Meanwhile, in the reserves Subiaco won a thriller over Swan Districts at Medibank Stadium 9.10 (64) to 8.14 (62) in the qualifying final while West Perth held off the fast finishing East Perth in the elimination final at HBF Arena to win 9.8 (62) to 8.11 (59).

That means that South Fremantle will play Subiaco in the second semi-final this Sunday and Swan Districts faces West Perth in the first semi-final. Both take place at Medibank Stadium.

And in the colts, Swan Districts beat Peel Thunder in the qualifying final 13.12 (90) to 4.9 (33) at Medibank Stadium and West Perth defeated East Fremantle 10.7 (67) to 6.16 (52) in the elimination final at HBF Arena.

Claremont's colts now take on Swan Districts in the second semi-final on Sunday with Peel Thunder playing West Perth. Both take place at Bendigo Bank Stadium.

Click here for the summary of Week 1 of the WAFL finals 

THE SHINING LIGHTS
East Perth took on Claremont in the elimination final at Medibank Stadium while it was a tight affair most of the afternoon, the Royals never coughed up the advantage and then broke away in the last quarter with the only four goals to win by 32 points.

That sees the Royals move forward to the first semi-final against Peel in Mandurah while Claremont's season is now over after just sneaking into the finals with a last round win over West Perth.

East Perth needed someone to stand up as a target in attack and it was Rowen Powell who answered the call in the first half kicking three goals and ending the game with 16 possessions, eight marks and five inside-50 entries. Fellow young Eagle Tom Lamb also kicked two goals.

East Perth got plenty of goals out of its midfield with Mitch Howlett, Scott Selwood and Kane Lucas all kicking two majors apiece while Howlett finished with 24 possessions and nine tackles, Selwood had 24 disposals, six marks and six tackles, and Lucas 30 touches, eight tackles, five marks and five inside 50s.

Co-captain Brendan Lee continued his blistering second half of the season in the midfield for the Royals with 35 possessions, seven inside 50s, five marks, four tackles and a goal while fellow skipper Craig Wulff finished with 22 disposals, 10 marks, seven tackles and seven inside-50 entries.

Reigning fairest and best winner Steven Payne was also terrific for East Perth with 35 disposals and eight marks with Malcolm Karpany collecting 22 touches, Mitch Fraser 20 and ruckman Paul Johnson had 16 possessions and 25 hit outs.

Beau Maister kicked Claremont's first three goals of the game and he ended up with those three for the game from 10 possessions and five marks.

Oliver Tate also kicked two goals for the Tigers while captain Jake Murphy continued his season-best form to close 2015 with 28 possessions, seven tackles and five marks.

Matthew Davies also did well setting up play again off half-back for Claremont with 28 disposals, six marks, five tackles and five inside 50s while Tom Swift likely played his best game of 2015 with 23 possessions, eight marks and five tackles.

Ryan Neates also finished with 20 disposals for the Tigers, Keifer Yu 19, Ryan Lim 19, Corey Yeo 18 and Tom Ledger 17.

Claremont ruckman Mark Seaby also played the last game of his career that ends with 129 matches in the WAFL with the Tigers and West Perth, including the 2003 premiership, and 120 games in the AFL with West Coast and Sydney, including the 2006 premiership.

Meanwhile, at HBF Arena in West Perth's 109-point win over Peel, the Falcons ended the afternoon with 15 goal kickers led by Nick Rodda who kicked four goals to go with 17 possessions and seven marks.

Michael Lourey also booted three majors with Rohan Kerr and Matt Fowler booting two while Aaron Black, Andrew Strijk, Nelson, Matt Johnson, Laine Rasmussen, Marcus Adams, Ray Bartholomew, Steve Potente, Tyler Keitel, Aidan Lynch and Kody Manning added singles.

It was a day for career-highs for a host of West Perth players as well with Drew Rohde finishing with 30 possessions and 12 marks, Luke Tedesco 30 disposals and 10 marks and Marcus Adams 27 touches and 12 marks.

Aaron Black continued his outstanding form as well for West Perth with another 41 possessions, 12 marks, five tackles, five inside-50 entries and a goal in a best on ground display.

Kerr wasn’t far behind with 33 disposals, seven marks and two goals with Trent Manzone racking up 32 touches, Lynch 24, Bartholomew 22, Strijk 21, Manning 20, Jay van Berlo 20, Nelson 20 and Steven Browne 20.

Rasmussen also marked his return from a hamstring injury by not only kicking a last quarter goal but shutting down Peel goal sneak Leroy Jetta.

Peel Thunder had a vastly new-look side from the one that got them into the finals for the first time with Jake Dowding, Kyle Shanahan, Harrison Tyler, Mitch Wallace and Jack Gomboc all making their debuts, and Brennan Gillam, Corey Morris and Scott Ugle playing their first games of 2015.

Mitch Gill ended up kicking two goals as Peel's only multiple goal kicker while Shanahan will also go down in history as the first player to kick a goal in a final for the Thunder. He ended up having a good debut too with 16 possessions and five tackles.

Craig Moller worked in the ruck in the absence of Zac Clarke and Jack Hannath ending up with 13 possessions and 45 hit outs while his Fremantle teammates Tom Vandeleur had 23 disposals in defence and Sean Hurley had 16 touches, five marks and a good goal in the run in the first quarter.

Gillam had been restricted to 14 reserves game because of injury in 2015 but the 24-year-old showed that he still has plenty to offer at league level in his 35th game with 22 possessions.

Tyler showed some exciting signs on debut with his 18 disposals while Morris worked hard in the midfield running with Shane Nelson ending up with 16 touches.

Captain for the day Eddy Dann also had 17 possessions while spending the majority of the game in the midfield alongside Morris and Brayden Lawler who worked hard for 18 possessions, seven inside 50s and six tackles.

RESERVES STANDOUTS
Subiaco and Swan Districts played out a thriller in the reserves qualifying final with the Lions finishing the stronger with four goals to two to end up winning by two points to advance to the second semi-final against South Fremantle.

Subiaco's team featured league premiership players from last year Rhys Waters, Scott Worthington, Charles Le Fanu and Joel Latham, with Le Fanu the most prominent of the four with 21 possessions and two goals.

Waters had 12 disposals on return from injury, Worthington 17 touches and Latham 14 possessions, six tackles and a goal.

James Garcia and Reece Blechynden also kicked two goals each for Subiaco with Blechynden prolific also gathering 29 possessions, seven inside 50s and six tackles.

Matt Bogensperger also picked up 27 disposals, Joel Ashman 20, Luke Norriss 18, Braden Fimmano 17 and Will Fetherstonhaugh 17.

Swan Districts now has another chance with a first semi-final clash with West Perth after Dylan Nelson did all he could up forward for the black-and-whites against Subiaco with four goals from 16 possessions and five marks.

Jake Nuich also kicked two goals for Swans while Ben Whitsed racked up 23 disposals, David McKay 22 (nine tackles), Jacob Coniglio 21, Jason Daniels 20, Jacob Burnham 20, Jesse Turner 20, Rudy Riddoch 18 and Warrick Wilson 18.

West Perth's reserves began the day at HBF Arena with a thrilling elimination final win over East Perth 9.8 (62) to 8.11 (59) to advance to this Sunday night's first semi-final against Swan Districts at Medibank Stadium.

West Perth kicked the only goal of the first quarter on Sunday morning and then booted five goals to two in the second term to be in control against East Perth leading by 25 points at half-time.

East Perth kicked four goals to West Perth's three in the third quarter but the Falcons still led by 21 points at the last change before the Royals kicked the only two goals of the final stanza but West Perth just managed to hold on by three points to keep its season alive.

Corey Chalmers responded to being dropped from the league side in style with 41 possessions and seven marks for West Perth with Blake Wilhelm also terrific with 31 disposals and 10 marks.

Brayden Antonio also gathered 24 touches, Kaidyn Fullgrabe 24, Luke Meadows 17 and Dean Munns 17 (12 tackles).

Tyson Moulton and Max Alexander kicked three goals apiece to combine for six of the Falcons' nine goals in the three-point victory.

Tom Shanahan worked hard again for East Perth finishing with 22 possessions and two goals with Lewis Wilson also booting two majors for the Royals.

Beau Chatley racked up 26 disposals for East Perth, Zac Dent 20, Shayne Hille 19, Tom Gorter 19, Tom Hodgson 19, Julian Ameduri 19, Tom Omodei 19 and Callum Hart 17.

REDiMED COLTS RISING STARS
Swan Districts colts booked in a second semi-final meeting with Claremont in a rematch of last year's grand final by beating Peel Thunder 13.12 (90) to 4.9 (33) to start the day at Medibank Stadium.

The reigning premiers kicked the only three goals of the second quarter to open up a four-goal half-time gap and then kicked nine goals to three in the second half to beat the Thunder by 57 points.

Robert Mostert kicked five goals in attack for Swan Districts with Griffen Logue and Taryce Stewart adding two apiece.

Ben Gillard racked up 27 possessions for the black-and-whites, Josh Cipro 27, Brayden Hackett 26, Bradley Lynch 23, Vincent Adams 19, Aidan Clarke 18 and Jack Watson 18 to go with seven marks.

Brett Milward kicked two of Peel's four goals for the game with Michael Humble gathering 31 possessions, Keegan Power 28, Josh Schoenfeld 23, Michael Curnow 20 and Nicholas Merritt 19.

West Perth's colts also advance to Sunday's first semi-final against Peel Thunder in Mandurah by beating East Fremantle at HBF Arena on Sunday 10.7 (67) to 6.16 (52).

The Falcons got off to a good start kicking three goals to one in the first term and then still led the inaccurate Sharks by five points at half-time.

Six goals without a miss in the second half for West Perth while East Fremantle kicked just three goals from 11 shots proved the difference and the Falcons won by 15 points to keep their season alive and to eliminate the Sharks.

Conal Lynch and Liam Baker kicked two goals each for West Perth with Josh Rotham, Mitch Walley, Daniel Robertson, Clint Hinchliffe, Angus Allen and Ewan Larmett adding one apiece.

Hinchliffe again led the way for West Perth with 23 possessions and six tackles with Allen contributing 21 disposals, Ben Mountford 20, Baker 18, Lynch 18 and Mitch Peirce 17.

James Harrold and Ambrose Ryan both kicked two goals apiece for East Fremantle while Tom Bennett gathered 25 possessions, Oliver Parish 22, Jayden Quill 19, Fraser Perry 18, Kyle Baskerville 16, Senna Grljusich 16, Peter Delaney 16, Joe Hebiton 15 and Jesse Adamini 15.