wafl.com.au Team and Player of Round 3Tuesday, April 4, 2017 - 4:05 PM - by Chris Pike

IT was another round of outstanding performances in the WAFL on Saturday and while Claremont's Alexander Manuel gets the nod for Player of the Round, he had plenty of tough opposition.

Saturday's Round 3 WAFL action saw Claremont defeat Perth 22.15 (147) to 13.10 (88) at Lathlain Park to remain unbeaten in 2017 under new coach Darren Harris.

Swan Districts also remained unbeaten defeating East Perth 11.7 (73) to 9.9 (63) at Leederville Oval while Subiaco downed West Perth 13.9 (87) to 11.10 (76) at HBF Arena and South Fremantle prevailed over Peel Thunder 12.14 (86) to 5.13 (43) at Bendigo Bank Stadium.

It was again a difficult task to narrow down the Team of the Round but even more challenging for the Player of the Round.

Claremont's Manuel had the breakout game of his career to just take the award ahead of West Perth's Kody Manning, South Fremantle's Jason Maskos and Subiaco's Ben Sokol among others.

WAFL Round 3 match reports 

wafl.com.au PLAYER OF THE ROUND – ALEXANDER MANUEL (Claremont)

He has had to bide his time and show good patience and resilience to remain at Claremont with the league opportunities not presenting greatly the past two seasons, but his performance on Saturday showed he has a big future.

Following playing in the 2014 colts grand final for Claremont while also making six appearances in the reserves that season, he spent a full year playing reserves football in 2015 for 18 games and 25 goals.

He didn’t break through for a league debut until Round 16 last year but he played seven matches to finish the year before ending up in the reserves premiership team.

And now the 22-year-old has started the new season in impressive fashion and his performance on Saturday against Perth at Lathlain Park with five goals from 27 possessions and seven marks showed that he will be a significant part of whatever success Claremont experiences in the near future.

wafl.com.au TEAM OF THE ROUND
BACK: Kody Manning, Declan Jackson, Jason Maskos
HALF-BACK: Matthew Davies, Adam McIntosh, Francis Watson
CENTRE: Ryan Lim, Chris Phelan, Ashton Hams
HALF-FORWARD: Ben Sokol, Corey Gault, Alexander Manuel
FORWARD: Brennan Stack, Tyler Keitel, Jack Richardson
RUCK: Lachlan Delahunty, David Ellard, Trent Manzone
INTERCHANGE: Taryce Stewart, Cory Dell'Olio, Nathan Blee, Kyle Russell

BACK POCKET – KODY MANNING (West Perth) 
Has been named in the back-line of the Team of the Round for the second straight week showing just how important a player he is for West Perth when fully healthy. He was given the big job on Subiaco livewire Liam Ryan and would have been livid that he kicked two first quarter goals when he was on the bench. But kept him goalless the rest of the day while having 23 possessions himself.

FULL-BACK – DECLAN JACKSON (Subiaco)
The usually rock solid full-back had a bit of a tough start to the season in Round 1 matched up against Mason Shaw in a 39-point loss to South Fremantle. But like his team, has had a much better last two games and two wins have been the result with him helping to keep West Perth's Michael Lourey goalless on Saturday at HBF Arena.

BACK POCKET – JASON MASKOS (South Fremantle)
Played the best of his 45-game career in Saturday's win over Peel. Not only did he do a tremendous job of keeping the on-fire Leroy Jetta scoreless and three kicks for the afternoon, but had 19 possessions and seven marks himself. He also kicked the first goal of his career along the way.

HALF-BACK FLANK – MATTHEW DAVIES (Claremont)
Got back to some of his fairest and best winning form of 2015 coming off half-back setting up play for Claremont on Saturday in the big win over Perth. Ended the afternoon with 25 possessions and seven marks in an impressive and composed display.

CENTRE HALF-BACK – ADAM McINTOSH (South Fremantle)
He might not technically be a centre half-back, but deserves his place in the Team of the Round as he continues his strong return from a nasty broken leg last year that he did suffer complications with. Was rock solid in the win over the Thunder finishing with 21 possessions and 12 marks.

HALF-BACK FLANK – FRANCIS WATSON (East Perth)
Is named to the back-line for the second time already this season in the Team of the Round and is showing that he is benefitting from being in a full-time football environment with West Coast. Set up play well again for East Perth off half-back with 30 disposals, seven marks and five tackles.

WING – RYAN LIM (Claremont)
Continues to be one of the best emerging young midfielders in the competition. Deserves another nomination to the Team of the Round following his 26 disposals, six marks, six inside 50s and two goals against Perth at Lathlain Park on Saturday.

CENTRE – CHRIS PHELAN (Subiaco)
The ever-reliable dual premiership winning two-time fairest and best remains one of the very best and most consistent midfielders in the competition. He delivered another tremendous performance on Saturday with 31 disposals, nine inside-50 entries, five marks, five tackles and a goal.

WING – ASHTON HAMS (South Fremantle)
Played in a variety of positions throughout the day. Started at half-back, went through the middle, on the wing and at half-forward and ended up with his best performance of 2017 to date. Finished with 34 possessions, 10 marks and a goal in the impressive win over Peel.

HALF-FORWARD FLANK – BEN SOKOL (Subiaco)
After crossing from South Fremantle last year, he delivered one stunning effort against his old team kicking seven goals but ended up with just 15 goals in his other 11 matches. He started 2017 in the reserves but got the call up on Saturday and delivered a game-winning effort with not just five goals, but 25 possessions, 11 marks and five tackles as well. All five of his goals came after half-time.

CENTRE HALF-FORWARD – COREY GAULT (Swan Districts)
Continues to split his time between the ruck and up forward and is doing so impressively. Troy Yukich was there on Saturday to help with the ruck duties and between his dual roles he ended the afternoon with 20 touches, eight marks, 17 hit outs, four tackles, four inside 50s and a goal.

FORWARD POCKET – BRENNAN STACK (Perth)
With Perth looking for some more options in attack, he received the call up on Saturday to play Claremont after opening the season in the reserves and showed why he is such an important to the Demons moving forward. Kicked five goals from limited opportunities and just the six kicks.

FULL-FORWARD – TYLER KEITEL (West Perth)
Had a strong season in 2016 largely as a key defender for West Perth but the arrival of Scott Simpson in 2017 has allowed him to move forward and he showed what he is capable of in attack on Saturday. He kicked four goals from his 10 possessions and five marks.

FORWARD POCKET – JACK RICHARDSON (Claremont)
It was a dynamic Claremont forward-line to be part of on Saturday with the Tigers booting 22 goals. He was a big part of that booting five majors for the afternoon from seven kicks and five marks. Made the most of his opportunities and was a lively presence.

RUCK – LACHLAN DELAHUNTY (Subiaco)
Had been freed up from his more regular ruck role of the past 18 months in the opening two rounds, but without Damon Guiness on Saturday, moved back into the middle with his usual strong performance delivering 24 possessions and 19 hit outs.

RUCK-ROVER – DAVID ELLARD (Swan Districts)
His time at Carlton especially in recent seasons might have been ravaged by injury, but he is clearly enjoying being back at Swan Districts and so is his body. Has spent most of his time in the midfield and now earns his third straight Team of the Round selection. Finished with another 30 touches, nine tackles, six marks and five inside-50 entries in Saturday's win over East Perth.

ROVER – TRENT MANZONE (West Perth)
He initially was leaving WA at the end of last season, but things changed with his personal situation and it's much to West Perth's benefits because he is now really coming into his own having found his best position as an on-baller. He delivered another 35 possessions, seven marks and five inside-50 entries.

INTERCHANGE – TARYCE STEWART (Swan Districts)
Has taken on the No. 13 jumper from Graham Jetta this year after getting his taste of league football late last season, and looks right at home in 2017 as an exciting young talent. Ended up with four goals from 11 disposals in Saturday's win over East Perth.

INTERCHANGE – CORY DELL'OLIO (South Fremantle)
Has returned this season after being forced to sit out all of 2016 and the 2009 premiership winning small forward got back to some of his best and most dangerous form in Saturday's win in Mandurah. Ended up kicking four goals from 16 possessions in a dynamic display.

INTERCHANGE – NATHAN BLEE (East Perth)
East Perth was crying out for another avenue to goal and looked to the most unlikely of sources. After having kicked only three goals in his previous 87 games for the Royals, he looked right at home in the forward-line kicking four goals from 25 possessions and seven marks.

INTERCHANGE – KYLE RUSSELL (South Fremantle)
Came somewhat from nowhere graduating from the colts to make his debut in Round 1 but he is looking more and more at home every week. Is spending his time on the wing and across half-forward, and was tremendous on Saturday with 25 touches, 11 marks and four tackles in the win over Peel.

UNLUCKY BUNCH
Perth's Spencer White, Clint Jones and Liam McKenna all put themselves in the mix for the Team of the Round.

Claremont's Tom Ledger and Beau Maister. 

West Perth's Corey Chalmers, Shane Nelson and Kris Shannon.

Subiaco's Kyal Horsley and Leigh Kitchin.

East Perth's Steven Payne, Fraser McInnes and Sam Butler.

Swan Districts' Jamie Bennell and Adam Faulkner.

Peel Thunder's Brayden Lawler and Tom Sheridan.

South Fremantle's Shane Hockey.