Round 7 McDonald's WAFL Wrap UpTuesday, May 3, 2016 - 4:40 PM - by Chris Pike

ROUND 7 of the 2016 McDonald's WAFL Premiership Season saw Subiaco assert itself as the only remaining undefeated team while Peel Thunder, West Perth and East Fremantle scored impressive victories.

The round began with three matches on Saturday afternoon highlighted by the clash of the unbeaten teams South Fremantle and Subiaco at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.

Despite the Bulldogs closing to within two points early in the last quarter, the Lions kicked away to win 15.16 (106) to 10.15 (75).

Peel Thunder also won comfortably 19.9 (123) to 7.4 (46) over Perth at Bendigo Bank Stadium and West Perth prevailing in a thriller over Claremont in Kulin 15.11 (101) to 15.4 (94).

The round concluded on Sunday and despite East Perth kicking the opening four goals, East Fremantle responded to record an impressive 13.15 (93) to 8.8 (56) win.

The results leave Subiaco (6-0) clear on top of the ladder following Round 7 ahead of South Fremantle (5-1), Peel Thunder (4-2), East Fremantle (3-3) and East Perth (3-4).

West Perth (3-4) sit just outside the top five followed by Claremont (2-4), Swan Districts (1-5) and Perth (1-5). 

Click here for the summary of Round 7 of the WAFL

TEAM OF THE WEEK (Club, times named)

BACK: Ethan Hughes (PT, 2), Aaron Heal (S, 2), Joel Latham (S, 2) 
HALF-BACK: Luke Meadows (WP, 1), Tanner Smith (PT, 2), Brock O'Brien (EF, 1)
CENTRE: Clancee Pearce (PT, 2), Leigh Kitchin (S, 3), Steven Payne (EP, 3)
HALF-FORWARD: Joel Leeson (WP, 1), Clancy Wheeler (S, 1), George Hampson (EF, 2) 
FORWARD: Ben Sokol (S, 2), Darcy Cameron (C, 4), Andrew Strijk (WP, 3)
RUCK: Lachlan Delahunty (S, 3), Shane Nelson (WP, 2), Cameron Eardley (EF, 3)
INTERCHANGE: Shane Hockey (SF, 2), Nathan Blee (EP, 2), Michael Sinclair (P, 1), Rohan Kerr (WP, 1)

PLAYER OF THE WEEK – BEN SOKOL
Ben Sokol always showed talent as a colts premiership player with South Fremantle and then by becoming a reserves premiership last season for the Bulldogs.

However, he managed just two league appearances in 2015 on the back of nine in 2014 and as a result he was after somewhere that he might get more of a look in, and it was two-time reigning premier Subiaco that made the offer that he couldn’t refuse.

Subiaco might have won the last two premierships, but lost star forwards Matt Boland, Shane Yarran and Chris Deluca following last year's triumph and were looking for some replacements.

Sokol has settled into the role now of Yarran having kicked 14 goals in six games while Shepheard has stepped into the main target role of Boland with 16 goals from six matches and Shaquille McKenzie has shown good signs in Deluca's crumbing role with six goals in four games.

On Saturday in his first game against his former side, Sokol had a day out kicking seven goals from nine kicks and eight marks. He took some tremendous overhead marks and nailed most of his opportunity to lead the Lions' to the 31-point win to remain unbeaten in 2016.

THE SHINING LIGHTS
Subiaco stretched its winning run to 11 with a 31-point win in the battle of the unbeaten teams against South Fremantle on Saturday at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.

Despite losing Kyle Halligan from the forward-line and Jordan Lockyer from defence Subiaco suffered no ill-effects with players stepping up at both ends of the ground.

Ben Sokol was the star in the forward-line against his former side with seven goals from nine kicks and eight marks while Hamish Shepheard booted another three majors to be equal leader in the Bernie Naylor Medal race with 16 majors.

Then in the back-line, Declan Jackson kept Mason Shaw to one behind and four kicks, Aaron Heal held Ben Saunders scoreless from four kicks and Jordan Lockyer restricted Steven Edwards to one behind and six kicks.

Hayden Kennedy returned to the side to also have 22 possessions out of the back-line.

Lachlan Delahunty had another strong game in the ruck for the Lions with 23 possessions, six marks and 11 hit outs with Clancy Wheeler offering support with 24 disposals, 20 hit outs and a goal while doing well from centre half-forward as well.

Leigh Kitchin was again outstanding in the middle with 27 possessions while Adam Cockie gathered 23 disposals, Brett Robinson 22, Chris Phelan 21 and Kyal Horsley 20.

South Fremantle was looking to challenge a Subiaco team coming off winning the last two WAFL premierships and that was on a 10-game winning streak. Despite coming up short in the finish there was plenty of positive signs for the Bulldogs.

Without question the standout performer of the afternoon was Shane Hockey. The tough-as-nails midfielder dominated at stoppages and his clearance work was what helped inspired the Bulldogs back into the game in the third quarter. He finished with 24 possessions, six marks, six tackles and five inside-50 entries.

Ashton Hams was particularly effective after half-time when he moved to half-back and finished the afternoon with 26 possessions while Marlion Pickett moved forward in the second half and was lively ending up with 18 touches, 10 tackles and a goal.

Jacob Dragovich kicked three goals in his first league game of the season and Blaine Johnson added two but Ben Saunders, Mason Shaw and Steven Edwards were kept goalless by Aaron Heal, Declan Jackson and Joel Latham respectively.

Matthew Gundry continued his career-best form in defence for the Bulldogs finishing with 17 possessions while Adam McIntosh competed hard and had 18 disposals while Steven Verrier compiled 19 touches in the midfield to go with six marks and six tackles.

Josh Branchi had two versatile Subiaco big men to try and combat, and while both Lachlan Delahunty and Clancy Wheeler were god for the Lions, Branchi did all he could finishing with 12 touches, 33 hit outs and a skilful final quarter goal when he dribbled it through from the boundary.

On top of Andrew Strijk and Joel Leeson standing up to kick four goals apiece in West Perth's thrilling win over Claremont in Kulin, Kody Manning marked his return for his first game since injuring a leg in Round 2 by kicking two goals to go with 19 possessions.

Michael Lourey was well held but stood up to kick the winning goal at the 30-minute mark.

Shane Nelson showed that he hasn’t missed a beat despite missing the first five games of the season racking up 36 possessions in his second game back from a fractured finger.

Luke Meadows is now in career-best form for the Falcons giving tremendous drive off half-back particularly with Strijk spending the afternoon forward. Meadows finished with 33 disposals and eight marks.

Rohan Kerr also racked up 30 touches for West Perth, Jay van Berlo 28, Trent Manzone 27, Aaron Black 26, Drew Rohde 23 and Aidan Lynch 21 to go with six tackles.

Seva Mozhaev returned after a week in the reserves and after copping a nasty knock that saw him stretchered off and taken to hospital to be checked out. He had a good battle with Mitch Andrews as well with Mozhaev finishing with 14 possessions and 19 hit outs in the ruck.

Dean Munns also did a good job for West Perth limiting Claremont midfielder Jye Bolton to just 10 disposals after he had averaged 29 the last four games.

Darcy Cameron was again a strong target for Claremont in attack kicking four goals from 15 possessions from seven marks while Beau Maister booted three majors from 13 disposals and five marks. Jack Richardson and Ryan Neates also booted two goals each for the Tigers. 

Mitch Andrews had a strong game in the ruck for Claremont with 16 possessions, five marks, 37 hit outs and a goal.

Tom Ledger finished with 20 possessions for the Tigers, Keifer Yu 20, Jared Hardisty 18, Neates 18 and Jack Bradshaw 17.

Peel got off to a flying start with seven goals to two at home to Perth on Saturday and went on with the job winning by 77 points through a good blend of local and Fremantle-listed players having standout afternoons.

Shane Yarran played his first game with Peel after being drafted by Fremantle following two premierships with Subiaco. He had been out with a knee injury all season to date but returned strongly with three goals from eight kicks on Saturday.

Captain Gerald Ugle, Matthew Uebergang and Nick Suban all kicked three goals each for Peel as well with Matt De Boer chipping in with two.

The Thunder got on top through the middle with ruckman Jack Hannath finishing with 14 possessions, nine marks and 42 hit outs with Clancee Pearce racking up 30 disposals and 11 marks, Ed Langdon 25 touches and De Boer 24, Suban 22, Brad Walsh 19 and Josh Deluca 18.

Peel's defence dominated the undermanned Perth forward-line with Tanner Smith ending up with 25 possessions and 12 marks and Ethan Hughes 20 touches and 10 marks.

It was another tough afternoon for Perth but again they got good service in the midfield with ruckman Angus Graham finishing with 11 touches, 33 hit outs and a goal.

Clint Jones gathered another 30 possessions, Liam McKenna 26, Brett Wolfenden 20 and Michael Sinclair 25 from half-back to go with nine marks.

Marshall Jones kicked two of Perth's seven goals for the game.

East Fremantle's midfield was led by Cameron Eardley who delivered a best on ground performance with 34 possessions, 11 marks, six tackles, six inside-50 entries and a goal.

George Hampson wasn’t far behind in best on ground honours ending up with 26 disposals, eight marks and three goals.

Liam Anthony had another strong performance with 23 touches and two goals while Jesse Crichton racked up 21 disposals and seven tackles, Sean Henson 19 touches and Dion Anthony 19 disposals.

James Bristow did well in the ruck with 18 possessions and 13 hit outs opposed to Paul Johnson and Jonathan Giles in a virtual lone hand performance.

East Fremantle's back-line stood tall even in the absence of Matthew Jupp and Brock O'Brien (22 possessions) and Ryan Lester-Smith (19 touches, eight marks) set up play well off half-back after quarter-time.

Craig Wulff and Fraser McInnes kicked two goals apiece for East Perth but the longer the game went the less likely to score the Royals became largely because of only getting the ball inside-50 39 times for the match to 53 for East Fremantle despite having 37 more disposals than the Sharks.

Steven Payne had a strong game on the wing for East Perth with 30 possessions, seven marks and a goal with Kane Lucas gathering 27 disposals, Luke Partington 27, Xavier Ellis 24 and Corey Adamson 20.

East Perth also got some good drive off half-back with Nathan Blee amassing 28 disposals, Paddy Brophy 25, Jackson Nelson 23, Tom Cole 20 and Mitch Fraser 20 while also doing well to keep Brett Peake to the one goal.

RESERVES STANDOUTS
South Fremantle's reserves put its undefeated streak on the line to start the day at Fremantle Community Bank Oval and it was perhaps a bad omen for what was to come, with Subiaco taking out a 15.7 (97) to 12.16 (88) victory.

It was South Fremantle's reserves first defeat since Round 14 last year. The Bulldogs won nine straight matches on the way to the 2016 reserves premiership and then stretched the winning run to 14 before Saturday's loss to Subiaco.

Hayden Yarran kicked three goals for the Lions, Jordan Bestry two, Jeremy Woodley two, Dylan Clarke two and Mitch McPhee two.

Matt Bogensperger racked up 30 possessions for the Lions, Simon Moore 19, Ethan Burnett 17, Chad Barns 17 and Braden Fimmano 16.

Brandon Donaldson and Tyson Pickett kicked three goals apiece for the Bulldogs and Jordan Matera two.

Brock Higgins showed he's ready for his first league game of the season finishing with 21 possessions and 38 hit outs while Tim Stewart racked up 31 disposals, Jake Florenca 27, Matthew Ah Siu 18, James Laurino 18 and Jacob Martinez 17.

Perth's reserves scored a 19.12 (126) to 11.7 (73) victory over Peel Thunder at Bendigo Bank Stadium with Guy Piggott kicking six goals, Jarrad Irons three, Kurtis Chester three, Zachary Hill two, Rowan Brookes two and Brennan Stack two.

Brookes finished with 29 possessions, Kieran Hug 29, Irons 28, Bradley Keast 24, Toby Gianatti 22 and Stack 21.

Brad McGowan kicked four goals for Peel with Andrew Gaydon collecting 24 possessions, Keegan Power 21, Josh Mathers 18 and Ben Hancock 18.

The reserves then took to HBF Arena and Claremont also won that over West Perth 13.16 (94) to 11.9 (75).

Gerrick Weedon continued his good form on return for Claremont kicking four goals from 18 possessions and eight marks with Ben Higgins adding three majors.

Tom Shanahan racked up 30 disposals, Rowen Powell 29, Harry Sinclair 22, John Williams 18, Hugo Breakey 17, Ian Rowe 17 and Francis Watson 17.

Keegan Knott played against his former side for the first time and kicked three goals from 16 possessions for West Perth with Tyson Moulton and Martin Geraghty booting two goals each.

Mitch Peirce responded to being dropped following the first two league games of his career with 23 possessions while Ben Mountford gathered 17 disposals, Alexander Coe 16 and Shane Bonney 15.

The day began at Medibank Stadium with the reserves doing battle and that saw East Perth prevail 18.9 (117) to 8.8 (56) over East Fremantle.

Daniel Perkins kicked four goals for East Perth, Lewis Wilson three, Jarrad Oakley-Nicholls three, Will Maginness two, and Tom Omodei two. The game was the first Maginness since 2014 following a horror run of injuries that saw him delisted by West Coast. He also had 19 possessions along with two goals.

Tom Omodei gathered 31 possessions for the Royals, Callum Hart 24, Tom Gorter 24, Jordan Snadden 21 and Will Young 21.

Jacob Green and Fraser Perry kicked two goals apiece for the Sharks while Jake Schleicher piled up 36 possessions, Jayden Schofield 31, Julian Locantro 27, Jesse Adamini 23, Tom Bennett 21 and Matthew Bannister 20.

REDiMED COLTS RISING STARS
The colts then took to Fremantle Community Bank Oval following the league game on Saturday night with South Fremantle beating Subiaco 15.13 (103) to 6.13 (49).

Jarren Colpitts kicked five goals from 16 possessions for South Fremantle with Jimmy Miller and Alex Robinson also kicking three goals apiece.

Antionne Forrest-Yarran added 21 possessions and two goals while Dylan Brown compiled 29 disposals, Daniel Burke 27, Kyle Russell 21 and Tim English 18 to go with eight marks and 24 hit outs in the ruck.

Wyvern McDiarmid kicked two goals for Subiaco with McKenzie Lawrence finishing with 24 possessions, Jacob Miller 23, Max Dennis 20 and Jarrod Turner 19.

Perth's colts went to Bendigo Bank Stadium and came away with a 14.11 (95) to 8.7 (55) victory with Cody Ninyette kicking three goals and two each to Blake Johnson, Joseph Ugle, James Bereyne, Brodey Eades and Quinton Narkle.

Narkle also compiled 32 possessions for the Demons, Tom Gooch 25, Ninyette 20, Ugle 20 and Chris Leonard 20.

Brett Milward kicked four goals for the Thunder and Nicholas Merritt two with Michael Humble racking up 29 disposals, Brandon Penny 19, Kyren Gavin and Noah Hura 17.

The colts began on Sunday at HBF Arena with Claremont running out 18.15 (123) to 3.6 (24) winners.

Chris Oakley kicked four goals for Claremont and Tom Lawrence four with Jake Waterman booting three, Dylan Wallam two and Keanu Shandley two.

Matt Guelfi racked up 30 possessions for the Tigers, Bailey Banfield 30, Waterman 24, Bailey Bennett 19 and Caiden Curtin 18.

Ewan Larmett, Eamon Gilbert and Hunter Onn were West Perth's goal kickers.

Liam Baker gathered 24 possessions for the Falcons, Kurt Hindmarsh 21, Josh Rotham 20, Nick Marinovich 17, Zac Guadagnin 16 and Onn 16.

The colts match then followed the league contest at Medibank Stadium with East Perth defeating East Fremantle 13.10 (88) to 9.7 (61).

Sam East kicked three goals for East Perth and Stan Wright two to go with 23 possessions.

Mitch Dobson finished with 25 disposals for the Royals, Tarir Bayok 22, Alex Di Placido 22, Nelson Waite 21, Sam Powell-Pepper 20 and Ben Miller 20.

Corey Homes kicked three goals for East Fremantle, Luke Strnadica two and Drew Blurton two.

Matthew Burton gathered 26 disposals for the Sharks, Dean Barone 18, Corey Holmes 17, James Valentine 16 and Peter Delaney 16.