Rio Tinto NAIDOC Round 14 Match ReportsSunday, July 8, 2018 - 1:37 PM - by Chris Pike

SUBIACO, South Fremantle and West Perth all kept winning to move further clear in the top three WAFL positions in NAIDOC Round this weekend while Perth beat Swan Districts to move closer to a spot inside the top five.

The NAIDOC Round in the WAFL got underway with a Grand Final rematch at Leederville Oval on Friday night with Subiaco again showing its dominance, remaining unbeaten with a 9.15 (69) to 2.5 (17) victory over Peel Thunder.

The other three games all took place on Saturday afternoon with Perth further closing in on a finals position beating Swan Districts 14.17 (101) to 11.11 (77) at Steel Blue Oval with Cody Ninyette fittingly kicking five goals in celebration of NAIDOC Week.

East Fremantle then threw the challenge at West Perth at East Fremantle Oval in the last game of the retiring Jamie McNamara leading by 15 points midway through the second quarter. But West Perth kicked nine of the game's last 11 goals to win 15.15 (105) to 11.9 (75) in the 200th game with the Falcons of premiership ruckman Chris Keunen.

The last game of the round then took place at Fremantle Community Bank Oval and was the traditional NAIDOC Round contest for the Jimmy Melbourne Cup.

Claremont started strongly but South Fremantle kicked eight goals to three in the second half to win 10.13 (73) to 6.11 (47).

Friday night's contest never reached any great heights at Leederville Oval, but it did further reinforce Subiaco's dominance as they beat Peel for the second time this season having lost to the Thunder in last year's Grand Final.

Subiaco kicked the only five goals of the first three quarters of the game and had 18 scoring shots to four in the first three terms. Eventually Peel kicked two last quarter goals through Matthew Piggott and Luke Strnadica.

But Subiaco also kicked another four goals in the last quarter to end up winning by 52 points to improve to a perfect 12-0 record while Peel slipped to 5-7 and missed a chance to break into the top five.

Ben Sokol and Lachlan Delahunty kicked two goals apiece while Sokol also had 16 possessions and nine marks, and Delahunty 22 disposals and four marks.

Leigh Kitchin racked up 29 possessions for Subiaco, Chris Phelan 28, Josh Deluca 27, Kyal Horsley 26, Hayden Kennedy 26, Rowen Powell 23, Drew Rohde 22, Greg Clark 20 and Braden Fimmano 20.

It was a night to forget for Peel but Danyle Pearce collected 29 possessions, Taylin Duman 21, Ben Howlett 20, Michael Johnson 20 and Blair Bell 18.

Then on Saturday, Perth was coming off the bye ahead of taking on a Swan Districts team on a three-game losing streak and the Demons were right on top from the outset.

Perth kicked four goals to one in the first quarter and then still led by 13 points at half-time. The Demons then really kicked away with six goals to three in the third term and went on win by 24 points and be just percentage outside the top five again.

In celebration if NAIDOC Round, Cody Ninyette kicked five goals for Perth with Kristian Cary, Michael Bennell and Corey Byrne all kicking two apiece.

Michael Sinclair was superb racking up 35 possessions for the Demons, Clint Jones 32, Brant Colledge 31, Corey Yeo 27, Cody Leggett 27, Ninyette 21, Byrne 20 and Matthew Taylor 20.

It was another disappointing day for Swan Districts with Brayden Noble kicking three goals, Matthew Rogers two and Adam Faulkner two.

Jesse Turner collected 32 possessions for Swans, Matt Riggio 26, Faulkner 22, Steven Payne 19 and Rogers 18.

And at East Fremantle Oval, the signs were ominous early with West Perth kicking the game's first three goals in less than six minutes. But to the Sharks' credit they responded impressively with the last two goals of the term to be only eight points down at the first break.

West Perth again kicked two early goals to start the second term, both to Tyler Keitel, but East Fremantle had warmed to the task and were still in the contest only nine points down at the main break.

East Fremantle then delivered some the best football it has all season in the opening 15 minutes of the third quarter with goals to Jarrad Jansen, Cameron Loersch, George Hampson and Loersch again.

That gave the Sharks a 15-point lead and put the onus back on to West Perth to respond and to the Falcons' credit they did. They kicked the last four goals of the third term to head into three quarter-time leading by 12 points.

West Perth then kicked five goals to two in the last quarter to come away with the 30-point victory.

Corey Chalmers had only managed to kick seven behinds so far in 2018 but he booted a career-high five goals. Keegan Knott also kicked four goals for the Falcons and Tyler Keitel three.

Shane Nelson amassed 44 possessions for West Perth, Luke Meadows 29, Dean Munns 29, Aaron Black 28, Steve Potente 21 and Blake Wilhelm 19.

Chris Keunen worked hard in the ruck for 17 possessions, seven marks and 20 hit outs in his 200th game for West Perth.

Cameron Loersch showed good signs for the future with East Fremantle kicking four goals while George Hampson was brilliant kicking three goals to go with 37 possessions. 

Dion Anthony also had 31 disposals and two goals for the Sharks with Jayden Schofield racking up 33 disposals, Jonathon Marsh 25, Cameron Eardley 24, Nick Kommer 23, Dylan Winton 22 and captain Jonathon Griffin 15 touches and 33 hit outs in the ruck.

Jamie McNamara finished with 15 possessions in his 145th and final game with East Fremantle.

The last game of the round took place at Fremantle Community Bank Oval with South Fremantle hosting Claremont in the traditional NAIDOC Week WAFL contest.

It was the 12th meeting during NAIDOC Week between the two clubs and Claremont has dominated winning nine of the previous 11. The Tigers had also beaten the Bulldogs back in Round 8 at the same venue and started strongly on Saturday with the first two goals to Tom Lee and Matthew Palfrey.

The Bulldogs responded through Ben Saunders against his former side but it was a grind in the first half with Claremont five points up at half-time with just five goals kicked combined.

Things opened up a little in the second half and that suited South Fremantle who went on to kick four goals to two in the third quarter, and another four to one in the last to win by 26 points and further consolidate second position on the WAFL ladder.

Brandon Donaldson kicked three goals for South Fremantle with Haiden Schloithe, Ben Saunders and Matthew Parker all adding two apiece.

Jacob Dragovich collected 24 possessions for the Bulldogs, Schloithe 23, Dylan Main 23, Marlion Pickett 23, Shaun Bewick 20, Shane Hockey 18 and Parker 18.

Brock Higgins battled hard in the ruck for 16 possessions and 52 hit outs while Ryan cook had 22 disposals in his 150th game for South Fremantle that will see him earn life membership.

Tom Lee and Ian Richardson kicked two goals each for Claremont.

Kane Mitchell racked up 34 possessions for the Tigers, Jye Bolton 32, Lachlan Martinis 27, Jared Hardisty 24 and Ryan Lim 21 but injuries to Bailey Rogers and then late in the game Bolton didn’t help their cause of fighting back.

NAIDOC ROUND 14 WAFL RESULTS
LEAGUE
Subiaco 9.15 (69) defeated Peel Thunder 2.5 (17)
Swan Districts 11.11 (77) lost to Perth 14.17 (101)
East Fremantle 11.9 (75) lost to West Perth 15.15 (105)
South Fremantle 10.13 (73) defeated Claremont 6.11 (47)

RESERVES
Subiaco 14.11 (95) defeated Peel Thunder 5.12 (42)
Swan Districts 17.7 (109) defeated Perth 7.9 (51)
East Fremantle 10.6 (66) defeated West Perth 5.14 (44)
South Fremantle 8.10 (58) lost to Claremont 12.5 (77)

COLTS
Subiaco 12.8 (80) defeated Peel Thunder 7.11 (53)
East Fremantle 12.12 (84) defeated West Perth 5.11 (41)
South Fremantle 15.13 (103) defeated Claremont 2.9 (21)

Click the graphics below for specific match reports