TABtouch Team of Round 7Wednesday, May 23, 2018 - 11:02 AM - by Chris Pike

BIG Round 7 WAFL wins for Subiaco, South Fremantle and West Perth saw plenty of players in fine form for the top three teams while Perth's one-point win against Claremont saw a host of others put up their hands for the TABtouch Team of the Round.

All four WAFL Round 7 fixtures took place on Saturday afternoon and it saw the top three teams, Subiaco, South Fremantle and West Perth, make quite the statement.

Subiaco made it six straight wins to start the season beating Peel Thunder 21.14 (140) to 7.6 (48) in a Grand Final rematch at Bendigo Bank Stadium.

South Fremantle won its fifth consecutive game too by ending East Perth's four-match winning run with a 18.13 (121) to 8.5 (53) victory at Leederville Oval.

West Perth also made it three wins in its past four games beating East Fremantle 24.14 (158) to 10.10 (70) at Joondalup Arena.

The close contest of the day took place at Claremont Oval with Perth finishing strongly to beat Claremont 15.9 (99) to 14.14 (98).

The results leave Subiaco (6-0) clear on top of the WAFL ladder ahead of South Fremantle (5-1), West Perth (4-3), East Perth (4-2) and Swan Districts (3-3).

Perth (2-4) is in sixth position in front of Peel Thunder (2-4), Claremont (1-5) and East Fremantle (1-6).

M & J Chickens Player of Round 7 

TABtouch TEAM OF THE ROUND (times named)
BACK: Tom Gorter (1), Noah Strom (1), Aaron Heal (2)
HALF-BACK: Brent Edmonds (1), Blayne Wilson (2), Hayden Kennedy (4)
CENTRE: Aaron Black (3), Shane Hockey (4), Kane Mitchell (3)
HALF-FORWARD: Ben Newton (2), Lachlan Delahunty (3), Jye Bolton (3) 
FORWARD: Beau Maister (2), Blake Johnson (1), Andrew Strijk (4)
RUCK: Brock Higgins (2), Clint Jones (2), Kyal Horsley (5)
INTERCHANGE: Oliver Eastland (2), Shane Nelson (4), Dylan Main (1), Ben Howlett (2)

BACK POCKET – TOM GORTER (East Perth)
He had to plug plenty of gaps in the East Perth defence on Saturday against South Fremantle once Will Schofield went off injured and with Kyle Anderson still yet to play a league game in 2018 despite returning in the reserves on the weekend. But he likely played his best game of the season in his first year back at East Perth full-time from West Coast and put in a strong performance with 21 possessions and 10 marks.

FULL-BACK – NOAH STROM (South Fremantle)
Hadn't been able to force his way into the South Fremantle team over the last couple of years as a key defender with the presence of the likes of Josh Pullman, Chris Luff and older brother Zac, but got his chance to start 2018 and hasn’t looked back. He continues to take on the opposition's best tall forward and is getting better week after week. Kept Jarrod Brander goalless and to five kicks on Saturday in the win against East Perth to go with 14 possessions, six marks and three tackles.

BACK POCKET – AARON HEAL (Subiaco)
The State defender might not be receiving some of the accolades of his higher-profile teammates at Subiaco this year, but he continues to be a big reason why they are only conceding 56.5 points a game. Put in another strong showing against his former club Peel Thunder on Saturday in the 92-point victory with 16 possessions and eight marks.

HALF-BACK FLANK – BRENT EDMONDS (Perth)
He has now turned himself into one of Perth's most important and consistent players, and also one of the more experienced with 56 WAFL appearances under his belt now. He put in a strong showing again and was important in the eventual one-point win for the Demons against Claremont with his 20 possessions and three marks.

CENTRE HALF-BACK – BLAYNE WILSON (South Fremantle)
He might be one of the South Fremantle stars who flies under the radar to a large degree, but he continues to be one of the Bulldogs' most important and consistent performers. He was strong again against an East Perth team he played in two Grand Finals with across half-back chopping off the Royals' attacks forward and then setting up play well. He was sure with his hands and by foot with his 18 possessions and nine marks.

HALF-BACK FLANK – HAYDEN KENNEDY (Subiaco)
The premiership winning small defender has returned to career-best form in 2018 after two seasons ravaged by shoulder issues. He put in another impressive and hard running performance in Saturday's big win in Mandurah for the Lions ending the afternoon with 24 disposals, five marks, five inside-50 entries, four tackles and a goal.

WING – AARON BLACK (West Perth)
The West Perth skipper continues to show that the captaincy agrees with him in 2018. Coming off a good performance in the WA State game victory in Adelaide, he was on fire in the 88-point win against East Fremantle at Joondalup Arena racking up 37 possessions to go with 11 marks, four tackles, four inside 50s and getting forward to kick two goals.

CENTRE – SHANE HOCKEY (South Fremantle)
He won South Fremantle's fairest and best award in 2016 in his first season in the WAFL after a strong VFL career with Frankston, but arguably he is in significantly better form now to start 2018. Helping to pick up the slack as an inside midfielder with the departure of Tim Kelly, he has been outstanding and led the way again against East Perth with 27 possessions, eight tackles, four inside 50s and an impressive goal on the run.

WING – KANE MITCHELL (Claremont)
The 2012 Sandover Medallist and dual Claremont premiership player was coming off a key role in the WAFL's State game win last week back on familiar turf at Adelaide Oval, and he continued that strong form against Perth on Saturday back at Claremont Oval. The running machine finished the contest with 40 possessions, seven marks, four tackles and a goal.

HALF-FORWARD FLANK – BEN NEWTON (Subiaco)
Has now found his role nicely at Subiaco in his first season with the Lions splitting his time between playing through the middle and at half-forward. Was coming off 20 touches and two goals against West Perth two weeks ago, and took that up another level against Peel on Saturday with 26 possessions, six marks, five tackles, five inside 50s and five goals.

CENTRE HALF-FORWARD – LACHLAN DELAHUNTY (Subiaco)
The versatile big man ended up spending most of last week's State game in the ruck and did a strong job, and he split his time for Subiaco on Saturday between centre half-forward and the ruck in a dominant display. Ended the game with 28 touches, eight marks, eight hit outs and two goals.

HALF-FORWARD FLANK – JYE BOLTON (Claremont)
Coming off winning his second State game Simpson Medal in three years, the 2016 Sandover Medallist was again at his brilliant best through the midfield and running forward despite Claremont's one-point loss to Perth. He ended the game with 34 disposals, 11 inside-50 entries, seven marks, four tackles and two goals.

FORWARD POCKET – BEAU MAISTER (Claremont)
The veteran Claremont forward of 153 games hadn’t kicked a goal for three weeks after three goals in Round 1, but he has been in strong form the last couple of matches now. After kicking four goals prior to the State game break against Peel, he booted four more goals on Saturday against Perth from seven kicks and six marks. However, his afternoon was soured when knocked out late in the game leaving him set to be sidelined for several weeks due to the number of concussions he has suffered in his career.

FULL-FORWARD – BLAKE JOHNSON (Perth)
Up the other end of the ground from Maister, he gave the Demons what they have been sorely missing in the absence of Spencer White and Sam Garstone with a key marking option in attack. He delivered a career-best performance too in his 16th WAFL game for Perth kicking four goals from 11 disposals and seven marks. He had not previously scored at all in 2018.

FORWARD POCKET – ANDREW STRIJK (West Perth)
It was quite the day out for the 215-game veteran who put in a career-best performance on Saturday as West Perth hammered East Fremantle by 88 points. He earned the M & J Chickens Player of the Round honour after kicking eight goals to go with 23 possessions and 10 marks in an unstoppable performance.

RUCK – BROCK HIGGINS (South Fremantle)
Fresh off being the starting ruckman in the WAFL State Team's win over the SANFL last Saturday, he backed it up against his original club East Perth and got the better of his battle with the in-form Fraser McInnes to be instrumental in South Fremantle's big win. Finished the afternoon with 17 possessions, 41 hit outs, five marks and five tackles.

RUCK ROVER – CLINT JONES (Perth)
The Perth skipper just wasn’t going to let the Demons lose against Claremont on Saturday. He was inspirational all afternoon ending up with 31 possessions, six tackles, four marks and a goal. But it was his behind that was the last kick of the game that broke the deadlock and gave his team the one-point triumph.

ROVER – KYAL HORSLEY (Subiaco)
The Subiaco and WA skipper is just in remarkable form so far in 2018 and it's matching that of his team after their opening six matches. He was at his unstoppable best again in the big win against Peel ending the afternoon with 41 possessions, nine inside-50 entries, seven tackles and four marks.

INTERCHANGE – OLIVER EASTLAND (Claremont)
The emerging Claremont ruckman continues to be one of the real shining lights in a challenging start to the 2018 season for the Tigers. He put in another strong showing despite the one-point loss to Perth at home on Saturday finishing the afternoon with 16 possessions, 46 hit outs, four marks and three tackles.

INTERCHANGE – SHANE NELSON (West Perth)
It was another week and another monster performance from the triple West Perth fairest and best winner as he racked up plenty more of the ball in the Falcons big win against East Fremantle. Fresh off 30 possessions in the State game victory, he had another 39 possessions, seven inside 50s and five marks in the win against the Sharks. He's now averaging 38 disposals in 2018.

INTERCHANGE – DYLAN MAIN (South Fremantle)
The South Fremantle captain led from the front in terms of his attack on the ball and opposition in Saturday's 68-point win against East Perth. The skipper ended up laying 14 tackles for the day along with gathering 20 possessions, taking four marks and driving the ball inside the forward 50 on four occasions.

INTERCHANGE – BEN HOWLETT (Peel Thunder)
His team might have lost to Subiaco by 92 points in the finish but he worked tirelessly through the middle for Peel against the odds. Finished the game with 22 possessions, 13 tackles, four inside-50 entries and three marks.

UNLUCKY BUNCH
There were plenty of players who delivered tremendous performances across Round 7 but couldn’t quite fit into the Team of the Round, including:

Claremont's Haydn Busher and Tom Lee.

Perth's Cody Leggett and Brant Colledge.

West Perth's Luke Meadows, Trent Manzone, Blake Wilhelm, Tyler Keitel and Steve Potente.

East Fremantle's George Hampson, Jarrad Jansen and Dylan Winton.

East Perth's Brayden Ainsworth, Will Maginness, Nathan Blee and Matthew Allen.

South Fremantle's Haiden Schloithe, Marlion Pickett, Nick Suban, Brandon Donaldson, Mason Shaw and Cory Dell'Olio.

Peel Thunder's Stefan Giro, Luke Strnadica and Ethan Hughes.

Subiaco's Leigh Kitchin, Max Walters, Greg Clark, Jacob Miller and Rhys Waters.