wafl.com.au Team and Player of Round 19Thursday, August 3, 2017 - 11:00 AM - by Chris Pike

SOME wet weather greeted Saturday's Round 19 WAFL action but there were again some outstanding performers with a host of Subiaco and South Fremantle starring as the top two teams continued winning streaks and veteran midfielder Matt Riggio led Swan Districts to a crucial win.

All four Round 19 WAFL matches took place on Saturday afternoon with Swan Districts finishing strongly to close in on third position with an 11.6 (72) to 8.8 (56) win over Peel Thunder at Steel Blue Oval. Matt Riggio starred with 29 possessions.

South Fremantle won its sixth straight match and beat West Perth for a sixth consecutive time with a 20.6 (126) to 11.13 (79) victory at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.

Subiaco made it 16 straight wins as well by beating East Fremantle 19.8 (122) to 9.7 (61) at East Fremantle Oval.

The round concluded at Claremont Oval with Claremont and East Perth fighting to close in on fifth position. In the end it was the Royals prevailing in a nail-biter 11.8 (74) to 10.10 (70).

The round's results leave Subiaco (16-1) clear on top of the ladder ahead of South Fremantle (13-4).

Peel Thunder (10-7) remains third but only just in front of Swan Districts (10-6) with West Perth (8-8) clinging to fifth. East Perth (7-9) is sixth in front of Claremont (6-10), Perth (2-15) and East Fremantle (2-14).

wafl.com.au PLAYER OF THE ROUND – MATT RIGGIO (Swan Districts)

After injuring his calf early in the Round 15 win against Perth, he missed the games against East Fremantle and South Fremantle prior to last week's bye, but showed his importance for Swan Districts upon return in Saturday's win over Peel Thunder.

He was taking on his original WAFL club but he's now a Swan Districts life member with more than 150 games to his credit on top of the 2010 premiership and is now one of the strongest and most consistent midfielders in the competition.

Showed all of that in Saturday's important win against Peel racking up a team-high 29 possessions to go with six marks, five inside-50 entries and three tackles with that performance a significant reason why Swans stayed in the contest and then pulled away in the last quarter as he gave the small forwards who worked around Ricky Cary to do their thing in attack for the black-and-whites.

wafl.com.au TEAM OF THE ROUND (times named)
BACK: Steven Edwards (4), Sam Collins (4), Haydn Busher (4)
HALF-BACK: Aaron Naughton (3), Jordan Lockyer (4), Keifer Yu (2) 
CENTRE: Adam Cockie (3), Matt Riggio (3), Chris Masten (1) 
HALF-FORWARD: Haiden Schloithe (8), Lachlan Delahunty (5), Matthew Parker (1)
FORWARD: Cory Dell'Olio (4), Brad Stevenson (2), Liam Ryan (8)
RUCK: Brock Higgins (5), Tim Kelly (8), Shane Nelson (8)
INTERCHANGE: Corey Chalmers (2), Scott Jones (2), Max Walters (5), Warrick Wilson (3)

BACK POCKET – STEVEN EDWARDS (South Fremantle)
Continues to confirm himself as an outstanding small defender. He did begin in that role at Claremont before coming to South Fremantle in 2016 but he first cemented his place with the Bulldogs as a small forward. But now that he has moved back he has been outstanding both in winning his one-on-one battles and providing great run and drive out of defence. Had another 21 possessions, seven marks and four tackles in Saturday's win against West Perth.

FULL-BACK – SAM COLLINS (Peel Thunder)
It remains a little surprising that he hasn’t been able to be given a consistent game at AFL level with Fremantle, but that's been to Peel's benefit and he continues to be a strong presence as a key defender. Had another 19 possessions and nine marks against Swan Districts on Saturday.

BACK POCKET – HAYDN BUSHER (Claremont)
He has now turned himself into one of the best and most consistent key defenders in the competition. Put in another strong performance on Saturday against East Perth and finished the game with 19 possessions and 10 marks while also getting forward to kick a goal in the last quarter.

HALF-BACK FLANK – AARON NAUGHTON (Peel Thunder)
The 17-year-old has now played three league matches with Peel since coming back from being involved in the WA State 18s team. For a third straight week he has now found himself in the WAFL Team of the Round on each occasion for his strong performance in Peel's defence. Had another 23 possessions and 11 marks against Swan Districts on Saturday.

CENTRE HALF-BACK – JORDAN LOCKYER (Subiaco)
Has claims to now be the best centre half-back in the competition and has turned himself into a vital cog in the dominant Subiaco line-up. He had another strong performance down back in Saturday's 61-point win against East Fremantle and finished with 19 possessions and three marks.

HALF-BACK FLANK – KEIFER YU (Claremont)
He has been around Claremont a long time having made his league debut in 2010 but he is likely in the middle of his best and most consistent season having settled into a role at half-back. That has allowed him to use his elite kicking and running skills to full effect to set up play from defence. He had 19 possessions, five marks and four tackles Saturday in the narrow loss to East Perth.

WING – ADAM COCKIE (Subiaco)
He might very well be in the best patch of form of his career and that's saying something considering the outstanding football he played in his early Subiaco days to earn an AFL spot at West Coast and then some strong years in the VFL. But having to earn his spot in the first half of 2017, he is now a motivated force wanting to show what he's still capable of. Finished with 27 possessions, four marks, four tackles, four inside-50 entries and two goals in Saturday's big win.

WING – CHRIS MASTEN (East Perth)
The West Coast wingman put his hand up for another recall for the Eagles before the end of the season with a prolific display in Saturday's important win for East Perth against Claremont. Racked up 38 possessions to go with five marks and four entries inside the forward 50.

HALF-FORWARD FLANK – HAIDEN SCHLOITHE (South Fremantle)
Is having a remarkably dominant season largely on the ball but also when resting in attack for South Fremantle. Is showing his ability to win the contested ball more than ever in wet conditions like on Saturday and was tremendous in the 47-point victory against West Perth finishing with 29 disposals, eight inside-50 entries, six marks, five tackles and the first goal of the game.

CENTRE HALF-FORWARD – LACHLAN DELAHUNTY (Subiaco)
Whether he is playing as a mobile ruckman or spending time across half-forward, he continues to be an unstoppable presence in the WAFL with his combination of height, mobility and ball-winning ability. Had another terrific performance on Saturday with 23 disposals, four marks, 19 hit outs, six inside-50 entries and a goal.

HALF-FORWARD FLANK – MATTHEW PARKER (South Fremantle)
The 21-year-old has seemingly come from nowhere in 2017 and earned his debut on Saturday at league level and had a huge impact for South Fremantle. Did originally play 15 reserves matches in 2015 at Perth before returning to Melville to play in the B-Grade Amateurs last year before lobbing at the Bulldogs. After playing 16 reserves games including a host of standout performances, he made his league debut on Saturday and was a star with four goals from 16 possessions and four tackles.

FORWARD POCKET – CORY DELL'OLIO (South Fremantle)
The 2009 premiership forward returned to South Fremantle from Essendon in 2015 and had an outstanding season, and now he's right back to his best in 2017 after being forced to sit out all of 2016. Not only was he dangerous in front of goal kicking four majors himself in the win against West Perth on Saturday, but he also had 14 possessions and set up several other goals for his teammates.

FULL-FORWARD – BRAD STEVENSON (Subiaco)
Had to spend some time down back when Subiaco's defence was down on numbers a couple of weeks ago, but has since returned to the forward-line and will be particularly important the rest of the season without Clancy Wheeler. For the second time in 2017 he kicked five goals to be a strong focal point with 14 possessions and seven marks.

FORWARD POCKET – LIAM RYAN (Subiaco)
The Bernie Naylor Medal leader stretched his lead as the top goalkicker in the WAFL in 2017 proving too elusive for East Fremantle's defence on Saturday. Kicked five goals from 15 possessions and six marks to have now kicked five or more goals on four occasions this season helping his total to 55.

RUCK – BROCK HIGGINS (South Fremantle)
The workhorse ruckman showed that he enjoys the wet weather once again on Saturday. He had a good battle with West Perth veteran Chris Keunen but he ended up with an outstanding afternoon in his 98th WAFL appearance finishing with a career-best 67 hit outs to go with 16 possessions and five entries inside the forward 50.

RUCK ROVER – SHANE NELSON (West Perth)
Coming off his 51 possessions the previous week against Perth, he put in another outstanding performance in the midfield for West Perth on Saturday. Worked tirelessly to give the Falcons a chance to knock off South Fremantle and racked up another 45 disposals to go with seven inside 50s, five tackles and a goal.

ROVER – TIM KELLY (South Fremantle)
Another tremendous display in the midfield from a man who surely must have an AFL future ahead of him. Can simply do it all and is in unstoppable form this season whatever role he plays and whether the opposition tags him or not. Thrived again on Saturday ending up with another 28 possessions, four inside-50 entries and a goal.

INTERCHANGE – COREY CHALMERS (West Perth)
Has well and truly cemented himself now in West Perth's league team and is doing well splitting his time between playing as a small forward and stints in the midfield to give the regulars a rest. Put in a strong showing on Saturday to try and keep the Falcons in touch with the Bulldogs kicking four goals to go with 19 possessions, nine tackles, five marks and four inside 50s.

INTERCHANGE – SCOTT JONES (East Perth)
The ruckman has patiently waited for the chances that have come his way this season at East Perth and he is showing that he has a bright future. He did well when in the ruck again up against Claremont's state ruckman Mitch Andrews finishing with 17 possessions, 10 marks and 23 hit outs. But his biggest impact came at the 26-minute mark when he took a big mark in the goal square and kicked the goal that sealed the crucial win for East Perth.

INTERCHANGE – MAX WALTERS (Subiaco)
Another player who has had to bide his time in the Subiaco reserves in recent seasons but had his chance to start 2017 and has never looked back. Splitting his time between half-forward and the midfield, he has been a strong and consistent performer all season continuing that on Saturday with another 27 possessions, nine marks and six tackles.

INTERCHANGE – WARRICK WILSON (Swan Districts)
He remains one of the great untapped talents in the competitions but does continue to show flashes of the player he could become once he finds the consistency. He has all the tools to be a star with his pace, skill and ability to find the ball inside and out. Had a good impact at half-forward in the win over Peel with 18 disposals, five marks and a goal.

UNLUCKY BUNCH
There were plenty of players who delivered tremendous performances across Round 19 but couldn’t quite fit into the Team of the Round, including:

Swan Districts' Jamie Bennell, Adam Faulkner, Kirk Ugle and Todd Banfield.

Peel Thunder's Gerald Ugle, Rory O'Brien, Brad Walsh, Garrick Ibbotson, Jonathon Griffin, Haydn Matthews and Danyle Pearce.

South Fremantle's Josh Pullman, Ben Saunders and Jason Maskos.

West Perth's Aaron Black, Blake Wilhelm, Nick Rodda and Aidan Lynch.

East Fremantle's Cameron Eardley, Jonathon Marsh, Jayden Schofield and Dion Anthony.

Subiaco's Justin Joyce, Corey Adamson and Wayde Twomey.

Claremont's Ryan Lim, Tom Ledger, Nick Winmar, Anton Hamp, Bailey Banfield and Harrison McCracken.

East Perth's Shayne Hille, Patrick McGinnity, Stan Wright, Julian Ameduri and Fraser McInnes.