wafl.com.au Team and Player of Round 21Tuesday, August 15, 2017 - 1:16 PM - by Chris Pike

IT proved to be a round of big ball winners in the WAFL on Saturday with the Perth captain having it more than 40 times and a host of stars at Claremont, East Perth and West Perth all racking up more than 30 disposals but there were plenty more standout performance than just the kick getters too.

The race towards the finals heated up significantly on Saturday in the Round 21 action with Peel Thunder winning to stay third, East Perth winning to remain fifth and close in on fourth, West Perth staying alive with its win and South Fremantle all but ending the hopes of Claremont.

The Round 21 results saw East Perth win a third straight match beating Swan Districts 17.8 (110) to 8.8 (56) at Leederville Oval with Stan Wright racking up 35 possessions and Nathan Blee 32.

South Fremantle beat Claremont 14.9 (93) to 8.13 (61) at Claremont Oval in what was an eighth straight victory for the second placed Bulldogs with Cory Dell'Olio kicking four goals.

West Perth got over the line against East Fremantle winning 8.15 (63) to 7.8 (50) at HBF Arena with Shane Nelson racking up another 34 possessions.

And Peel Thunder consolidated third position with a ninth straight win against Perth, beating the Demons 11.10 (76) to 8.7 (55) at Bendigo Bank Stadium.

The results leave Subiaco (17-1) and South Fremantle (15-4) well clear in the top two positions.

Peel Thunder (11-7) remains third ahead of Swan Districts (10-8) and East Perth (9-9).

West Perth (9-9) is sixth ahead of Claremont (7-11), East Fremantle (2-16) and Perth (2-17).

wafl.com.au PLAYER OF THE ROUND – STAN WRIGHT (East Perth)

Ever since he won the Jack Clarke Medal as the colts fairest and best player in 2015 there has been high hopes on him turning into a star, and he is grabbing his opportunities and has become just that already in his short career at league level.

The 19-year-old made his league debut in Round 1 of this year and has gone on to play 12 games in his rookie season looking more and more at home in the midfield at senior level as the campaign has gone on.

Delivered the best performance of his short career in Saturday's big win against Swan Districts to keep East Perth in line to play finals in 2017 and there's no doubt he's going to be a key part of the Royals' midfield come September.

He ended up with 35 possessions, eight entries inside the forward 50, five marks and five tackles in a starring performance through the midfield for the Royals on Saturday as he showed he's ready to become a regular strong contributor in league ranks.

wafl.com.au TEAM OF THE ROUND (times named)
BACK: Adam McIntosh (3), Haydn Busher (5), Nathan Blee (3)
HALF-BACK: Andrew Strijk (3), Anton Hamp (2), Ryan Murphy (2) 
CENTRE: Stan Wright (2), Shane Nelson (9), Trent Manzone (3)
HALF-FORWARD: Patrick McGinnity (4), Matthew Watson (4), Tom Sheridan (2)
FORWARD: Willie Rioli (1), Tyler Keitel (6), Cory Dell'Olio (5)
RUCK: Corey Gault (7), Rory O'Brien (5), Clint Jones (6)
INTERCHANGE: Josh Burke (1), Julian Ameduri (2), Dion Anthony (1), Tim Kelly (9)

BACK POCKET – ADAM McINTOSH (South Fremantle)
Without Josh Pullman and Blayne Wilson alongside him in South Fremantle's defence, and then with Jason Maskos out of the game early against Claremont as well, he had extra responsibility as a leader in the Bulldogs' back-line and stood up strongly. Finished with 14 possessions and six marks and ensured South Fremantle remained strong defensively and conceded just eight goals.

FULL-BACK – HAYDN BUSHER (Claremont)
Could very well be the form key defender in the competition and continued that form going on Saturday despite Claremont losing to South Fremantle in the finish at Claremont Oval. Had a good battle with triple Bernie Naylor Medallist Ben Saunders restricting him to 1.3 while having 22 possessions and six marks himself.

BACK POCKET – NATHAN BLEE (East Perth)
He brought up his 100th WAFL game with East Perth just a couple of weeks ago and the 26-year-old continues to be in what very well could be career-best form. He is giving great run and drive out of the back-line but also spending a bit more time up the ground than previously. Ended up with some big numbers on Saturday with 32 possessions, nine marks, five inside-50 entries, four tackles and a goal.

HALF-BACK FLANK – ANDREW STRIJK (West Perth)
The 206-game premiership winning veteran returned from a hamstring injury and slotted back into his familiar role across half-back against East Fremantle on Saturday. Did it well too finishing the afternoon with 24 possessions, five inside 50s, four marks and a trademark long goal in the third quarter with the breeze behind him.

CENTRE HALF-BACK – ANTON HAMP (Claremont)
Is another defender in the league to have recently brought up his 100th game and remains in strong form. Was given the job on Mason Shaw from South Fremantle who had kicked four goals the previous week against East Fremantle, but shut him down impressively holding him scoreless while having 15 disposals and six marks himself.

HALF-BACK FLANK – RYAN MURPHY (Claremont)
Returned to the Claremont line-up for the first time since Round 15 and showed his value even if he is only in his first season of playing league football. Was outstanding again providing run off half-back for the Tigers against South Fremantle finishing the afternoon with 33 possessions, 12 marks and a goal despite his team falling short of the important victory in the finish.

CENTRE – SHANE NELSON (West Perth)
Another strong performance from the competition's leading ball winner on average this season. By numbers it was just an average game for him this season against East Fremantle on Saturday with 34 disposals and eight marks. He is averaging 33.7 touches a game in 2017 and despite being a dual fairest and best winner already at the Falcons, his season has likely been his best and most consistent.

WING – TRENT MANZONE (West Perth)
He is also having the best and most consistent season of his 79-game WAFL career with West Perth since making the move from Queensland. Worked hard again in Saturday's crucial win against East Fremantle amassing 28 possessions, eight marks and five inside-50 entries.

HALF-FORWARD FLANK – PATRICK McGINNITY (East Perth)
The East Perth co-captain has been in tremendous form ever since overcoming his injury troubles that hindered the first half of his season with the Royals after departing West Coast at the end of last year. Is splitting his time between playing on the ball and as a small forward, and doing both roles well. Had another 23 disposals, six marks, four tackles, six inside-50 entries and two goals in Saturday's win against Swan Districts.

CENTRE HALF-FORWARD – MATTHEW WATSON (East Fremantle)
The big man has had a strong season for East Fremantle when all is said and done as he's proven the Sharks' best ruckman and best target in attack. He again was perhaps at his most effective on Saturday against West Perth when on the ball and racked up 19 touches and 27 hit outs. He also kicked a goal and took some strong marks when playing in attack.

HALF-FORWARD FLANK – TOM SHERIDAN (Peel Thunder)
Put his hand up for a recall into Fremantle's AFL team with a strong showing in the solid win against Perth on Saturday both in the midfield and across half-forward. Finished the afternoon with 22 possessions, seven tackles, six inside 50s an two goals.

FORWARD POCKET – WILLIE RIOLI (East Perth)
The first-year draftee has been looked at as the answer to West Coast's small forward dilemma and there seems no doubt when fully fit he could thrive at AFL level at the feet of Josh Kennedy. Always looked talented way back to his time with South Fremantle's colts, it was just a matter of getting in shape which he did in Adelaide the last couple of weeks. Coming off hamstring troubles, was terrific in attack for East Perth kicking four goals and setting up several others with his eight kicks and four handpasses.

FULL-FORWARD – TYLER KEITEL (West Perth)
He kicked three behinds in the first half and that was the story of his team with West Perth managing just 1.8 in the opening half to have its season hanging by a threat at half-time against East Fremantle. But he kicked three goals in the second half and West Perth stayed in the finals hunt winning by 13 points. He also had 16 possessions and 12 marks for the game.

FORWARD POCKET – CORY DELL'OLIO (South Fremantle)
The premiership forward from 2009 is right back to his best form now having had to miss all of 2016. His form has been continuing to build all season and his last patch with 21 goals in his past six matches has been outstanding. He kicked three goals in the first 12 minutes to set up South Fremantle's win on Saturday over Claremont finishing with four majors to go with 18 possessions, four marks and four tackles.

RUCK – COREY GAULT (Swan Districts)
He stood up admirably the week before in a loss to Subiaco and did so again despite Swans' losing to East Perth on Saturday. He took on East Perth pair Jonathan Giles and Fraser McInnes virtually single-handedly, and showed his quality to end the afternoon with 27 possessions, seven marks, 22 hit outs and a goal.

RUCK ROVER – RORY O'BRIEN (Peel Thunder)
Despite being closer to the end of his career than the start, he continues to show no signs whatsoever at slowing down despite having done it all over his 242-game career as a premiership player, five-time fairest and best winner, Sandover Medallist and state representative. Was tremendous again for the Thunder in the win against the Demons with 28 possessions, seven tackles and five marks.

ROVER – CLINT JONES (Perth)
The Perth captain isn’t letting his growing frustrations of being part of a team that seems set for a second straight wooden spoon get to him as he continues to do everything in that power for that elusive third win of the season for the Demons. He racked 41 possessions again on Saturday against Peel to go with five marks and five tackles.

INTERCHANGE – JOSH BURKE (Perth)
Perth does have some emerging young talent coming through to provide some positivity for the future and the 20-year-old from Kenwick is one of those. In just his seventh league game, he finished with 25 possessions and seven marks in the Demons' loss to the Thunder in Mandurah on Saturday.

INTERCHANGE – JULIAN AMEDURI (East Perth)
East Perth might have lost plenty of loyal servants in recent times from Craig Wulff to Freddie Clutterbuck to Jarrod Oakley-Nicholls to Steven Payne, and a host of others but what that has done is allow the next generation of Royals to come through and he's certainly one of those. The gritty midfielder has become an important part of East Perth's team and had another 22 disposals, five tackles and two goals.

INTERCHANGE – TIM KELLY (South Fremantle)
He might not have finished with the huge numbers as some of the Claremont midfielders at Claremont Oval on Saturday, but his impact on South Fremantle's 32-point victory was considerable. Is having an outstanding season and delivered another important performance in the win against the Tigers with 24 possessions, five inside-50 entries, four marks and a goal.

INTERCHANGE – DION ANTHONY (East Fremantle)
East Fremantle had some strong performers on the day in a 13-point loss to West Perth and he was the pick of the bunch making the most of his opportunities to play on-ball late in the season. He ended the game with 32 possessions, five marks, five tackles and four entries inside the forward 50.

UNLUCKY BUNCH
There were plenty of players who delivered tremendous performances across Round 21 but couldn’t quite fit into the Team of the Round, including:

East Perth's Jake Waterman, Chris Masten, Tom Lamb, Tom Cole and Jordan Snadden.

Swan Districts' Adam Faulkner, Todd Banfield, Ryan Crowley, Kirk Ugle, Jesse Turner and Warrick Wilson.

Peel Thunder's Alex Bray, Blair Bell, Taylin Duman, Luke Strnadica and Ryan Nyhuis.

Perth's Liam McKenna, Michael Sinclair, Brant Colledge, Corey Byrne and Devin McFarlane.

Claremont's Jake Murphy, Jye Bolton, Jared Hardisty, Ian Richardson and Harrison McCracken.

South Fremantle's Dylan Main.

West Perth's Aaron Black, Corey Chalmers, Mark Hamilton and Kody Manning.

East Fremantle's Jonathon Marsh and Jayden Schofield.