Team and Player of Round 1Thursday, April 5, 2018 - 8:30 AM - by Chris Pike

ROUND 1 of the 2018 WAFL season got underway across the Easter Weekend and while Rhys Palmer's performance for Swan Districts was the standout individual showing, there were plenty more stars including the Team of the Round made up of four Subiaco forwards who combined for 17 goals.

The 2018 season got underway on Good Friday with reigning premiers Peel Thunder defeating East Fremantle 11.12 (78) to 9.9 (63) at Bendigo Bank Stadium and Subiaco thrashing East Perth 29.14 (188) to 10.10 (70) at Leederville Oval.

Then on Saturday the other two matches of the opening round took place with West Perth beating Claremont 14.9 (93) to 12.3 (75) at HBF Arena and Swan Districts defeating Perth 16.16 (112) to 10.7 (67) at Lathlain Park.

A host of WAFL clubs were keen to secure the services of Rhys Palmer on his return to the WAFL this season and he showed that was justified with a remarkably dominant performance in the midfield for Swan Districts on Saturday.

On the back of his 123-game AFL career at Fremantle, Greater Western Sydney and Carlton, Palmer decided to return to Perth in 2018 and that attracted the attention of a host of clubs.

Swan Districts ended up winning the battle for his services and based on his performance on Saturday in the 45-point win against Perth, will be delighted to have done so.

The 29-year-old delivered a stunningly dominant performance in the midfield finishing with 31 possessions, 19 clearances, eight inside-50 entries and three goals. All while having shaken off an ankle injury just to take his place in the team.

wafl.com.au TEAM OF THE ROUND
BACK: Brennan Cox, Matthew Jupp, Ben Hancock
HALF-BACK: Andrew Strijk, Haydn Busher, Jayden Schofield
CENTRE: Aaron Black, Shane Nelson, Kane Mitchell
HALF-FORWARD: Matthew Rogers, Lachlan Delahunty, Rhys Waters
FORWARD: Todd Banfield, Brad Stevenson, Ben Sokol
RUCK: Fraser McInnes, Rhys Palmer, Kyal Horsley
INTERCHANGE: Corey Yeo, Jye Bolton, Sam Switkowski, Sean Fletcher

BACK POCKET – BRENNAN COX (Peel Thunder)
He might have considered himself unlucky not to be starting the AFL season in the Fremantle team, but the 2017 WAFL premiership player put his hand up for a call up if a spot opens up with a strong showing down back in the Good Friday win against East Fremantle. He finished with 20 possessions and nine marks in a strong performance.

FULL-BACK – MATTHEW JUPP (East Fremantle)
The East Fremantle vice-captain got forward for a rare shot on goal to start the clash against Peel Thunder on Good Friday, kicking a behind, but he settled back into his key defensive role and was tremendous despite the 15-point defeat. Not only did he have 14 possessions and four marks, but was instrumental in holding Michael Apeness to three kicks and one behind.

BACK POCKET – BEN HANCOCK (Peel Thunder)
The 2017 premiership player has now played 63 WAFL games and is finding his feet as a seasoned campaigner. He settled into a familiar role in the Peel back-line in the Good Friday win against East Fremantle and finished the afternoon with 23 possessions and seven marks.

HALF-BACK FLANK – ANDREW STRIJK (West Perth)
Having spent the second half of 2017 settling into a role in attack for the Falcons, the 210-game veteran went back to playing across half-back in Saturday's 18-point win against Claremont and had a big say in the final result. With his usual kicking skills and running ability, he delivered 26 possessions, four marks and four inside-50 entries.

CENTRE HALF-BACK – HAYDN BUSHER (Claremont)
Having cemented himself as one of the leading key defenders in the competition in 2017, he started off 2018 in superb form not only defensively but in a rebounding and intercept role too. Not only did he keep West Perth's Tyler Keitel to one behind, four kicks and one mark, but he had 24 disposals, 11 marks and four tackles himself.

HALF-BACK FLANK – JAYDEN SCHOFIELD (East Fremantle)
The reigning East Fremantle fairest and best winner was brilliant in a tough 2017 season for East Fremantle as a rebound defender, and he picked up right where he left off on Good Friday in Mandurah against Peel. In his 105th WAFL game, he produced a superb 33 possessions and seven marks running off half-back.

WING – AARON BLACK (West Perth)
His first game as captain of West Perth since taking over from Jay van Berlo coming into the 2018 season couldn’t have been any more impressive. Already a premiership player, Sandover Medallist and fairest and best winner, the new skipper has now played 152 WAFL games and could be still improving based on his performance on Saturday. He finished with 40 possessions, 16 tackles and six marks in the three-goal win against Claremont.

CENTRE – SHANE NELSON (West Perth)
The triple West Perth fairest and best winner is showing no signs of slowing down either following another dominant display as an inside midfielder for the Falcons against Claremont on Saturday. He ended the afternoon with 39 disposals and five entries inside the forward 50.

WING – KANE MITCHELL (Claremont)
Playing his first WAFL game since the winning 2012 Grand Final for Claremont, he showed he could very well be every bit as good as he was before joining Port Adelaide in the AFL. The 2012 Sandover Medallist and dual premiership player delivered 41 possessions, seven marks, seven tackles, four inside-50 entries and a goal in his 88th game for the Tigers, and first in more than five years.

HALF-FORWARD FLANK – MATTHEW ROGERS (Swan Districts)
After missing the second half of 2017 with a shoulder injury, the 113-game half-forward put in a big pre-season and delivered a tremendous performance in Saturday's win against his former team. The burly left-footer delivered 19 disposals, four entries inside-50 and two goals in Swans' 45-point win against Perth.

CENTRE HALF-FORWARD – LACHLAN DELAHUNTY (Subiaco)
For a lot of the past couple of seasons, he has been called on to do the majority of the ruck work for Subiaco and has carried the load tremendously, but the recruitment of Zac Clarke for 2018 could make him an even more influential figure. He certainly thrived in Good Friday's big win over East Perth splitting his time between backing up Clarke in the ruck and up forward ending up with 24 possessions, 10 hit outs, four marks and two goals.

HALF-FORWARD FLANK – RHYS WATERS (Subiaco)
Playing his first league game with Subiaco since the losing 2016 Grand Final to Peel, he marked his return to the Lions in 2018 in style with one of the best performances of his 69-match career. As part of a team that won by 118 points against East Perth, he made the most of the ball living in Subiaco's forward-line kicking five goals from 13 possessions, six tackles and four marks.

FORWARD POCKET – TODD BANFIELD (Swan Districts)
The former Brisbane Lions small forward found his feet again in that familiar role in attack in the latter part of 2017 and started 2018 in fine form too in Swan Districts' win against Perth. He ended up kicking three goals to go with 19 possessions and five inside-50 entries.

FULL-FORWARD – BRAD STEVENSON (Subiaco)
With no Liam Ryan, Liam Baker or Clancy Wheeler in attack for Subiaco on Good Friday, others needed to stand up and while he was far from the only one who did so given the Lions kicked 28 goals, he was outstanding. The key forward finished up kicking seven goals from 13 kicks and seven marks in a dominant performance.

FULL-FORWARD – BEN SOKOL (Subiaco)
He might have been overshadowed somewhat by the brilliance of Liam Ryan in 2017 as part of Subiaco's forward-line, but he did have a strong campaign kicking 49 goals and looks capable of improving even further in 2018 based on his effort on Good Friday against East Perth. He finished with 22 disposals, 10 marks, four inside 50s and three goals.

RUCK – FRASER MCINNES (East Perth)
It was quite the challenging start to the season for East Perth on Good Friday and the 118-point margin to Subiaco says it all. Their lack of height all over the field was undoubtedly a big part of the problem but he did all he could. He is only one man but he did his best splitting his time between the ruck and forward finishing with 21 possessions, seven marks, 36 hit outs and two goals in his 103rd WAFL appearance.

ROVER – KYAL HORSLEY (Subiaco)
The Subiaco captain led his team from the front through the midfield once more and looks as ready and motivated as ever to try and get the Lions at least to a fifth consecutive WAFL Grand Final. In his 163rd game for the Lions, he was again superb with 27 possessions, seven inside-50 entries, five tackles, three marks and a goal.

INTERCHANGE – COREY YEO (Perth)
It wasn’t the start to the season Perth was hoping for on Saturday at home to Swan Districts and the absence of the past two fairest and best winners Clint Jones and Michael Sinclair, on top of the departure of Aidan Tropiano over summer, didn’t help, but he did stand tall in the midfield. The former Claremont on-baller marked his return to the WAFL in 2018 with a strong performance made up of 29 possessions, seven tackles and six inside-50 entries.

INTERCHANGE – JYE BOLTON (Claremont)
The 2016 Sandover Medallist started 2018 the way he finished 2017 in brilliant form in the midfield for Claremont enjoying life alongside Kane Mitchell and Tom Curren, among others. In his third season with the Tigers, he showed he is ready to be a star midfielder once again delivering 39 disposals, five marks, five inside 50s, three tackles and a goal against West Perth.

INTERCHANGE – SAM SWITKOWSKI (Peel Thunder)
The 21-year-old was drafted to Fremantle from the Box Hill Hawks as a readymade player and he certainly showed that in his WAFL debut or Peel on Good Friday in the 15-point win against East Fremantle. Playing mostly across half-forward, he finished with 19 possessions, six tackles, seven inside-50 entries and two goals.

INTERCHANGE – SEAN FLETCHER (East Fremantle)
He might have been the least heralded of all East Fremantle's big-name recruits over summer, but the former Swan Districts player showed he could have a lot to offer the Sharks up forward in 2018. He kicked three goals from 15 possessions on Good Friday against Peel.

UNLUCKY BUNCH
There were plenty of players who delivered tremendous performances across Round 1 but couldn’t quite fit into the Team of the Round, including:

Peel Thunder's Darcy Tucker, Taylin Duman, Traye Bennell, Blair Bell, Haydn Matthews, Ethan Hughes, Brayden Lawler and Gerald Ugle.

East Fremantle's George Hampson and Alex Howson.

Subiaco's Josh Deluca and Kyle Halligan.

East Perth's Mark Hutchings and Brayden Ainsworth.

West Perth's Trent Manzone, Luke Meadows, Liam Tedesco, Blake Wilhelm, Kody Manning, Chris Keunen, Tyson Moulton and Rudy Riddoch.

Claremont's Ryan Murphy, Alex Manuel and Beau Maister.

Perth's Cody Leggett, Brant Colledge, Spencer White and Christian Eyres.

Swan Districts' Jesse Turner, Adam Faulkner, Tobe Watson, Corey Gault and Kirk Ugle.