wafl.com.au Team and Player of Round 14Wednesday, June 28, 2017 - 11:57 AM - by Chris Pike

THERE were players kicking bags of nine, seven, six and five goals in Round 14 of the WAFL while the likes of Jamie Bennell, Haiden Schloithe, Rory O'Brien and Ryan Lim were among those who put in starring performances in important victories for their sides.

There were three Round 14 WAFL matches on Saturday afternoon with Swan Districts beating East Perth 14.6 (90) to 9.10 (64) at Steel Blue Oval with Ricky Cary booting seven goals and Swans cementing their place in the top five.

Claremont held on in a nail-biter to beat West Perth 14.6 (90) to 12.16 (88) at Claremont Oval with the Tigers making it three straight wins despite the Falcons having a shot to win the game after the siren.

Peel Thunder kicked five goals to nil in the final quarter to beat East Fremantle 9.12 (66) to 3.12 (30) at East Fremantle Oval.

Then on Sunday afternoon, South Fremantle came from 29 points down just before quarter-time to end up beating Perth 25.13 (163) to 7.11 (53) at Fremantle Community Bank Oval. Blaine Johnson kicked nine goals, Cory Dell'Olio six, Mason Shaw five and Schloithe four.

Subiaco (11-1) had the bye and remain two games clear on top of the ladder ahead of South Fremantle (9-4), Peel Thunder (7-5), Swan Districts (7-5) and West Perth (7-5).

Claremont (6-6) sits in sixth position in front of East Perth (5-7), Perth (2-11) and East Fremantle (1-11).

wafl.com.au PLAYER OF THE ROUND – JAMIE BENNELL (Swan Districts)

It has been no coincidence that Swan Districts' best form this season has been when he has been up and running providing tremendous drive off half-back.

He has returned to his original WAFL club this season after time in the AFL with Melbourne and West Coast, and has settled nicely into life as a running defender.

His form has attracted attention from the opposition and they have played defensive forwards on him at times through the season, but he was right back to his best and most damaging on Saturday against East Perth at Steel Blue Oval.

The result was an important 26-point win for the black-and-whites over the Royals and he finished with a tremendous 31 possessions and 12 marks.

wafl.com.au TEAM OF THE ROUND (times named)
BACK: Matthew Davies (2), Haydn Busher (1), Steven Edwards (1)
HALF-BACK: Jamie Bennell (2), Tony Notte (3), Ethan Hughes (2)
CENTRE: Ryan Lim (5), Jye Bolton (3), Brendan Verrier (2)
HALF-FORWARD: Luke Partington (3), Mason Shaw (1), Rory O'Brien (3)
FORWARD: Cory Dell'Olio (3), Ricky Cary (4), Blaine Johnson (4) 
RUCK: Mitch Andrews (6), Shane Nelson (6), Haiden Schloithe (6)
INTERCHANGE: Mitch Henderson (1), Alex Bray (1), Shane Hockey (1), Corey Gault (3)

BACK POCKET – MATTHEW DAVIES (Claremont)
The 2015 fairest and best winner is getting back to his best form after an injury-curtailed 2016 and Claremont's form is greatly benefitting from that. Not only did he set up play in his usual way out of the back-line on his left foot with 19 possessions, six marks, five tackles and four inside-50 entries. But he also did a strong defensive job on Rudy Riddoch keeping him scoreless and to just four kicks.

FULL-BACK – HAYDN BUSHER (Claremont)
He has been back for the past four games after a couple of weeks out injured and Claremont's back-line looks all the better for it. He was rock solid in his job against Michael Lourey from West Perth keeping him scoreless and to just four kicks most of which came when he was further up the field. He also had 12 disposals and three tackles himself.

BACK POCKET – STEVEN EDWARDS (South Fremantle)
After missing a month through injury, was playing his third game back on Sunday against Perth and gave great run and drive out of the back-line, often through the middle of the ground to set up attacks for South Fremantle's on-fire forward-line. Ended the game with 25 possessions, eight marks and four inside-50 entries.

CENTRE HALF-BACK – TONY NOTTE (Swan Districts)
East Perth had 45 inside-50 entries against Swan Districts on Saturday and at different times had Scott Lycett, Jonathan Giles, Tom Lamb and Fraser McInnes as marking targets, but he proved too hard to pass on a number of occasions. His ability to read the ball coming in was a highlight finishing with 21 possessions and seven marks in his 191st WAFL appearance.

HALF-BACK FLANK – ETHAN HUGHES (Peel Thunder)
Peel's back-line was rock solid conceding just three goals to East Fremantle on Saturday and he was a key part of that putting his name up for a recall into the Fremantle AFL team. Finished with 26 possessions and nine marks in the eventual 36-point victory for the reigning premiers.

WING – RYAN LIM (Claremont)
The prolific ball winner has turned himself into an elite midfielder in the WAFL this season and showed why again in Saturday's win over West Perth with a strong performance on the wing at Claremont Oval. Finished the game with 32 possessions, six marks and five tackles.

CENTRE – JYE BOLTON (Claremont)
As has become customary in Claremont-West Perth battles since his arrival at the start of last year, he was tagged by Dean Munns. He did struggle with that a couple of times last year and again earlier this season, but he was able to shake it this time around and deliver a strong performance in the eventual win with 28 possessions, five marks and a goal. That just happened to be his first win over West Perth as well.

WING – BRENDAN VERRIER (South Fremantle)
Following a three-week stint in the reserves for the Bulldogs, he backed up a 25-disposal effort against West Perth with a terrific effort on the wing in Sunday's 110-point win over the Demons. Ended the game racking up 36 possessions, eight marks and five entries inside the forward 50. 

HALF-FORWARD FLANK – LUKE PARTINGTON (East Perth)
His East Perth team might have lost to miss a chance of breaking into the top five for the first time in 2017, but it was through no fault of his own as he continued his tremendous form to try and break into the West Coast AFL line-up. Ended up kicking four goals to go with 28 possessions for the afternoon.

CENTRE HALF-FORWARD – MASON SHAW (South Fremantle)
The key forward had kicked just five goals in the past four matches but was back to his best form in Sunday's massive win over Perth. Took eight mostly strong contested marks and went back to kick five goals for the fifth time in his 35-game league career with the Bulldogs. Has now kicked 28 goals on the season.

HALF-FORWARD FLANK – RORY O'BRIEN (Peel Thunder)
The 236-game veteran is showing no signs of slowing down and was instrumental in Peel's win over his former side on Saturday. Ended up kicking three goals from 23 possessions to be a key part in the win that moved the Thunder up to third position on the ladder.

FORWARD POCKET – CORY DELL'OLIO (South Fremantle)
The 2009 premiership forward is now right back to his best form this season with South Fremantle after being forced to sit out all of 2016. He booted six goals in Sunday's win over Perth from 16 possessions and six marks. Had previously kicked five goals four times but this was his first time reaching the half-dozen in his 87-game career. Has 31 goals now on the season.

FULL-FORWARD – RICKY CARY (Swan Districts)
The Swans' full-forward started the 2017 in good form kicking 18 goals in the first eight games, including a haul of five against Claremont in Round 7, but his form coming into Saturday's clash with East Perth had been lean. He had kicked just three goals in the past three games and even spent time in defence. But he came out inspired on Saturday and delivered seven goals from eight kicks and five marks to be instrumental in the crucial 26-point victory.

FORWARD POCKET – BLAINE JOHNSON (South Fremantle)
It was somewhat bizarre when he was left out of the state game and he has played like a man with a point to prove ever since and never more so than on Sunday against Perth. Ended up kicking a career-best nine goals from 19 possessions in a dazzling display. He can mark above his head, mark on the lead and at ground level he is tremendously opportunistic. He just has that natural goal sense that you can't teach. Has kicked 17 goals in the four games since missing the state game for 37 on the season.

RUCK – MITCH ANDREWS (Claremont)
He always looks forward to his battles against his former team and the dual premiership 128-game big man dominated with West Perth again electing to not select a genuine ruckman. He had an influential 13 possessions, three marks and 52 hit outs in the eventual two-point win.

RUCK ROVER – SHANE NELSON (West Perth)
Yet another outstanding performance in the midfield for the Falcons giving his team the chance of winning on the back of his in and under work. Racked up another 39 possessions while laying five tackles and driving the ball inside-50 on nine occasions.

ROVER – HAIDEN SCHLOITHE (South Fremantle)
His ability to win the inside ball as a midfielder, get out and run and carry it as well to drive it forward, and then to also spend time forward and kick goals are making him likely the standout player in the WAFL right now and the leading Sandover Medal candidate. Was outstanding again on Sunday in the thrashing of Perth with 32 possessions, 14 marks and then four final quarter goals when he went into attack.

INTERCHANGE – MITCH HENDERSON (Perth)
His team might have lost by 110 points and he might have only had five possessions for the afternoon, but he was perhaps the only Perth player who could claim to have beaten his opponent. He was given the tagging job on South Fremantle midfielder Tim Kelly and limited him to just 18 disposals. Considering the Bulldogs had 408 touches that was a good effort.

INTERCHANGE – ALEX BRAY (Peel Thunder)
The 19-year-old was playing just his 17th league game for Peel and it was the best of them as the small defender gave great run out of the back-line and also at times through the middle. Finished the game with 23 possessions, nine marks and five inside-50 entries.

INTERCHANGE – SHANE HOCKEY (South Fremantle)
He won last year's fairest and best award in his first season with South Fremantle, but had a slow start through injury to 2017 and hasn’t quite been able to recapture that same form, until Sunday. Was tremendous on the ball in the big win over Perth with 36 possessions, five marks and five inside-50 entries.

INTERCHANGE – COREY GAULT (Swan Districts)
He had a big job to do virtually carrying the ruck solo up against Scott Lycett and Jonathan Griffin, and did well holding up his own despite giving up size, weight and experience in the position. Finished the day with 22 possessions, six marks and 19 hit outs as his team scored the win to remain solid inside the top five after Round 14.

UNLUCKY BUNCH
There were plenty of players who delivered tremendous performances across Round 14 but couldn’t quite squeeze into the Team of the Round, including:

Claremont's Keifer Yu, Zac Langdon and Beau Maister.

West Perth's Aaron Black, Luke Meadows, Corey Chalmers, Nick Rodda and Kody Manning.

East Fremantle's Cameron Eardley, Jayden Schofield, Matthew Watson, Dylan Winton and Josh Cuneo.

Peel Thunder's Garrick Ibbotson, Traye Bennell, Michael Humble, Luke Strnadica and Ryan Nyhuis.

Swan Districts' David Ellard, Matt Riggio and Warrick Wilson.

East Perth's Scott Lycett and Chris Masten.

South Fremantle's Shaun Bewick, Blayne Wilson and Dylan Main.

Perth's Callum Papertalk and Aidan Tropiano.