wafl.com.au Team and Player of Round 11Wednesday, June 7, 2017 - 11:34 PM - by Chris Pike

WHETHER it was Matthew Rogers for Swan Districts, Kyal Horsley for Subiaco, Will Maginness for East Perth or Tim Kelly and Haiden Schloithe at South Fremantle, there were some outstanding Round 11 performances.

Following the WAFL making history with a 63-point win over the VFL in the 2017 State Game as WA beat Victoria in the Melbourne for the first time, the competition resumed over the WA Day long weekend.

It began on Saturday with a grand final rematch between Peel Thunder and Subiaco at Bendigo Bank Stadium, with the Lions prevailing with Horsley kicking the winning goal in the 12.15 (87) to 12.11 (83) victory.

Swan Districts also defeated Perth 14.13 (97) to 9.10 (64) at Lathlain Park.

It was then time for the biggest day on the WA football calendar on the WA Day public holiday Monday.

It started with a season-high crowd of 5289 turning out at Leederville Oval to watch East Perth win a fifth straight game defeating West Perth 14.19 (103) to 7.15 (57).

And in the Foundation Derby at East Fremantle Oval, another good crowd of 4276 saw South Fremantle hammer the winless East Fremantle 28.17 (185) to 6.4 (40).

The results leave Subiaco clear on top of the WAFL ladder with a 9-1 record to be ahead of South Fremantle (7-3).

Only percentage separates Swan Districts (6-3) and West Perth (6-3) with Peel Thunder (5-5) rounding out the top five. East Perth (5-5) is just outside ahead of Claremont (3-6), Perth (2-8) and East Fremantle (0-9).

wafl.com.au PLAYER OF THE ROUND – TIM KELLY (South Fremantle)

He has been a good midfielder with South Fremantle ever since making his league debut in 2013. He broke through for his state debut last year and had been developing nicely as one of the best midfielders in the WAFL coming into 2017.

But what he is delivering this season is remarkable. He is in the type of form that deserves to be rewarded with all the accolades possible and right now he should be drafted into the AFL later this year, should be the Sandover Medal favourite and leading his club's fairest and best voting.

His form is reminiscent only of what Andrew Krakouer did with Swan Districts in 2010 and Sam Menegola did with Subiaco in 2015 in the past decade. He is playing at another level than the rest of the WAFL and it is a delight to watch.

He can do it all. Winning clearances and breaking away from the pack is his trademark, but winning the ball in tight and using his quick hands is equally effective. He is impossible to stop as even when tackled his strength allows him to get his kick or handpass away.

His ability to kick well on the run at high speed is now something he is exceptional at. His disposal once might have been the only mark against him, but his kicking now is every bit as impressive as the rest of his game.

It all came together in a stunning individual performance in the WA Day Foundation Derby win for South Fremantle by 145 points over East Fremantle.

He played in the midfield for the first, second and fourth quarters where he amassed most of his 35 possessions. But in the third term, he played deep in attack and had a remarkable run kicking five of his seven goals for the afternoon. 

Quite simply it was a performance for the ages.

wafl.com.au TEAM OF THE ROUND (times named)
BACK: Ryan Nyhuis (2), Brent Latch (1), Tom Barrass (1)
HALF-BACK: Michael Sinclair (4), Tony Notte (2), Jesse Turner (2) 
CENTRE: Luke Partington (2), Haiden Schloithe (4), Kyal Horsley (4)
HALF-FORWARD: Will Maginness (4), Fraser McInnes (2), Matthew Rogers (2)
FORWARD: Blaine Johnson (3), Clancy Wheeler (1), Cody Ninyette (3)
RUCK: Brock Higgins (2), Tim Kelly (5), Jack Redden (1)
INTERCHANGE: Matt Riggio (2), Scott Jones (1), Aaron Black (4), Jake Florenca (1)

BACK POCKET – RYAN NYHUIS (Peel Thunder)
He played a key role in last year's premiership for Peel Thunder in his first season on Fremantle's list. Now after a slow start to 2017 through injury, he is settling back into some impressive form in Peel's defence and put in another strong showing on Saturday against Subiaco limiting the dangerous Liam Ryan to one goal and eight kicks while having 11 possessions and six marks himself.

FULL-BACK – BRENT LATCH (Perth)
The key defender returned from injury for Perth on Saturday and while it wasn’t enough to help his team overcome Swan Districts, he made his mark strengthening the Demons' back-line. He had a good battle with Swans full-forward Ricky Cary keeping him to 11 touches and two goals, and the defensive unit looked all the better for having him part of it.

BACK POCKET – TOM BARRASS (East Perth)
He might have felt hard done by with his demotion from West Coast in the AFL, but did his chances of earning a recall no harm with a good performance in the East Perth's back-line in the WA Day win over West Perth. Ended the afternoon with 16 possessions and 10 marks.

HALF-BACK FLANK – MICHAEL SINCLAIR (Perth)
The reigning fairest and best winner at Perth continued his outstanding form as a cool head down back who reads the play coming in extremely well, and is calm, collected and skilful setting up play coming out of the back-line. Finished with another 29 possessions and eight marks in Saturday's loss to Swan Districts.

CENTRE HALF-BACK – TONY NOTTE (Swan Districts)
He was coming off the State Game victory for WA in Melbourne and returned to Swan Districts with another rock solid performance at centre half-back. The 188-game versatile veteran proved tough get past for Perth and finished with 20 possessions and nine marks for the black-and-whites.

HALF-BACK FLANK – JESSE TURNER (Swan Districts)
The running defender continued his breakout form this season as part of a defensive unit that is giving up the fourth fewest points this season at 75.6 a game. He is the main attacking option from the back 50 and doing it tremendously well with another 27 possessions, seven marks and a goal in Saturday's victory over Perth.

WING – LUKE PARTINGTON (East Perth)
Continued his outstanding ball-winning and goal kicking form in the 46-point WA Day derby win over West Perth. Must be closing in on an AFL debut with the Eagles after delivering another 22 possessions and three goals for the Royals.

CENTRE – HAIDEN SCHLOITHE (South Fremantle)
On any other weekend and any other day this season, his performance for South Fremantle in the Foundation Derby win would have been the standout individual showing of the weekend had it not been for his teammate Tim Kelly. But his performance can't be overlooked. Like Kelly, he spent three quarters in the middle and one up forward and put in a dominant performance. Finished the 145-point victory with 38 possessions, six marks, six inside 50s and four goals.

WING – KYAL HORSLEY (Subiaco)
It has been a remarkable few weeks for the inspirational triple premiership player and dual-flag winning skipper. He brought up his 150th game for Subiaco to earn life membership back in Round 9 against South Fremantle, led his team to another win over East Fremantle and then captained WA to its historic State Game win in Melbourne. On Saturday he capped another strong game by roving Peel ruckman Sean Darcy's tap in a boundary throw-in to kick the winning goal in the dying stages to go with his 24 possessions, nine tackles and eight inside-50 entries.

HALF-FORWARD FLANK – WILL MAGINNESS (East Perth)
Continues to show just how much quality he possesses now that his body is standing up and allowing him to stay on the field. Was the unlucky travelling emergency for the State Game in Melbourne but his form didn’t drop off on Monday as he finished the WA Day derby with a terrific 29 possessions, seven marks, five tackles, four inside 50s and a goal.

CENTRE HALF-FORWARD – FRASER MCINNES (East Perth)
The big man was able to spend the majority of the game as a focal point up forward for the Royals and providing a target leading up the ground, and it worked a treat. He finished the WA Day derby having had a big say in the final result with 20 possessions, seven marks, six inside 50s, 10 hit outs, five tackles and a goal.

HALF-FORWARD FLANK – MATTHEW ROGERS (Swan Districts)
He seems to grow an extra leg when playing against his old side and put in a tremendous performance at half-forward in Saturday's win over Perth at Lathlain Park. Was a powerful influence and made his mark on the scoreboard ending the afternoon with four goals to go with 24 disposals, eight marks and six inside-50 entries.

FORWARD POCKET – BLAINE JOHNSON (South Fremantle)
He was perhaps the biggest surprise to be overlooked in last week's WAFL State Team but he made his presence felt in a terrific showing in the forward-line in the WA Day hammering of East Fremantle. Again showing he's equally effective on the lead, in the air and at ground level, he kicked five goals from 25 possessions and eight marks. Also directly set up several other goals for teammates.

FULL-FORWARD – CLANCY WHEELER (Subiaco)
Coming off a good showing in the WAFL's State Game triumph in Melbourne as a key forward, he continued his good form in attack for Subiaco in Saturday's win over Peel Thunder. In a round where no tall forwards really had a day out, he was the standout kicking three goals to go with 17 possessions and six marks.

FORWARD POCKET – CODY NINYETTE (Perth)
The exciting small forward has been a great shining light for Perth this season and that continued in Saturday's loss to Swan Districts. He remains the Demons' second leading goal scorer for 2017 having booted three goals at Lathlain Park to go with his 24 possessions and six entries inside the forward 50.

RUCK – BROCK HIGGINS (South Fremantle)
Took on the task virtually solo in the ruck up against East Fremantle where he was giving up size to Cameron Symonds and mobility to Matthew Watson, but was far away the best ruckman in the game. His physicality was something his opponents weren’t either willing or able to match, and he ended up with 16 possessions and 34 hit outs to set up his dominant midfield nicely.

ROVER – JACK REDDEN (East Perth)
Midfielder desperate to regain his place in West Coast's AFL team and he certainly helped that cause with a terrific showing for East Perth in Monday's win over West Perth. Finished with 29 possessions, seven tackles, five marks and two goals in an outstanding all-round performance.

INTERCHANGE – MATT RIGGIO (Swan Districts)
He might have been a somewhat surprise omission from WA's State Team the week before, but the 149-game WAFL veteran delivered another commanding performance in the midfield for Swan Districts in Saturday's win over Perth. Finished with 29 possessions, six marks and two goals.

INTERCHANGE – SCOTT JONES (East Perth)
While he was helped in the ruck by Scott Lycett and Fraser McInnes, was the main ruckman for East Perth on the day and was the best in that position for the game. He has battled away in the reserves at East Perth developing and waiting for a chance, and is grabbing it with both hands. Delivered 14 touches and 31 hit outs in Monday's win.

INTERCHANGE – AARON BLACK (West Perth)
West Perth had plenty of good ball winners in the midfield despite the eventual WA Day derby loss to East Perth and he was the standout. Continued his tremendous season once again with another 36 possessions, 11 marks and a goal.

INTERCHANGE – JAKE FLORENCA (South Fremantle)
Has had to patiently bide his time waiting for a league opportunity this season, but he banged down the door by racking up enormous amounts of the ball in the reserves to break in for his first game of 2017 on Monday. Brought his form with him with the hard-running midfielder racking up 24 possessions and kicking a goal in the 145-point triumph.

UNLUCKY BUNCH
There were plenty of players who delivered tremendous performances across Round 11 but couldn’t quite squeeze into the Team of the Round, including:

Peel Thunder's Tom Sheridan, Josh Deluca, Danyle Pearce and Leroy Jetta.

Subiaco's Leigh Kitchin, Adam Cockie, Max Walters, Lachlan Delahunty and Liam Baker.

Perth's Clint Jones, Corey Byrne and Callum Papertalk.

Swan Districts' Jesse Manton, Alex Howard, Jackson Slater, Jake Nuich and David Ellard.

East Fremantle's Cameron Eardley.

South Fremantle's Cory Dell'Olio, Adam McIntosh, Blayne Wilson and Ashton Hams.

East Perth's Patrick McGinnity, Julian Ameduri, Chris Masten and Daniel Venables.

West Perth's Luke Meadows, Scott Nelson, Trent Manzone, Shane Nelson and Rudy Riddoch.