TABtouch Team of Round 20Wednesday, August 22, 2018 - 1:42 AM - by Chris Pike

THE penultimate round in the 2018 WAFL season saw plenty of standout performances including a dominant showing from a ruckman and a seven-goal haul while Claremont locked away a finals spot leaving East Perth, Perth and Peel Thunder to fight over the remaining position.

While the top three and bottom two positions were locked away heading into Round 20 of the season, the last two finals positions remained on the line with the battle between East Perth, Claremont, Perth and Peel Thunder over the final two weeks.

All four Round 20 match ups took place on Saturday afternoon and three of them featured those four teams locked in a battle to take part in finals action.

The biggest game of the day took place at Claremont Oval and Claremont came from behind to beat Peel Thunder 12.8 (80) to 11.6 (72) on the back of standout performances from Sandover Medallists Kane Mitchell and Jye Bolton.

That result means Claremont is guaranteed of playing finals while Peel has to beat East Perth in the final round to make it.

Perth was then fighting to return to the top five when it took on the second placed South Fremantle at Fremantle Community Bank Oval, but the Bulldogs proved too strong with Mason Shaw kicking seven goals as the home team won 17.13 (115) to 5.7 (37).

East Perth had a chance to guarantee a finals appearance hosting West Perth at Leederville Oval, but it wasn’t to be with the Falcons winning in Trent Manzone's 100th game 16.10 (106) to 13.10 (88).

Aaron Black and Shane Nelson combined for another 74 possessions for West Perth with Bernie Naylor Medal leaders Tyler Keitel and Andrew Strijk kicking three goals each.

The only game without finals implications took place at East Fremantle Oval with Subiaco hammering East Fremantle 20.17 (137) to 6.10 (46) on the back of a dominant display from ruckman Zac Clarke.

M & J CHICKENS PLAYER OF ROUND 20 - ZAC CLARKE

TABtouch TEAM OF THE ROUND (times named)
BACK: Hayden Kennedy (8), Anton Hamp (7), Jason Maskos (1)
HALF-BACK: Tom Ledger (1), Chad Pearson (2), Shaun Bewick (3)
CENTRE: Kane Mitchell (6), Shane Nelson (13), Ryan Cook (1)
HALF-FORWARD: Haiden Schloithe (5), Lachlan Delahunty (13), Alex Manuel (3)
FORWARD: Andrew Strijk (12), Mason Shaw (3), Tyler Keitel (5)
RUCK: Zac Clarke (6), Shane Hockey (7), Josh Deluca (8)
INTERCHANGE: Aaron Black (9), Justin Joyce (1), Nick Suban (6), Danyle Pearce (8)

BACK POCKET – HAYDEN KENNEDY (Subiaco)
If it wasn't for Zac Clarke's performance in the ruck on Saturday or the other Subiaco stars throughout the season shining, he might receive more attention but he is in every bit as good form as anyone in the Lions team in 2018. Still playing down back as a small defender while spending time further up the ground on occasion, he's in stunning form and again against East Fremantle had 34 possessions, nine inside 50s and four marks.

FULL-BACK – ANTON HAMP (Claremont)
He is the form key defender in the competition and stood tall once more on Saturday against Peel Thunder to be instrumental in the important come from behind victory that guarantees a finals appearance for the Tigers. The 125-game veteran ensured Claremont's back-line worked well and he's now been named in the Team of the Round seven times in 2018. Finished the game on Saturday with 16 possessions and seven marks.

BACK POCKET – JASON MASKOS (South Fremantle)
He might not get the attention with a lot of the other stars in the South Fremantle team, but he continues to quietly go about his business and deserves to be in the discussion as one of the best small defenders in the WAFL. Is rarely beaten and is also a good user of the ball going the other way. Was tremendous on Saturday holding Perth's Cody Ninyette to one kick and one goal while having 21 possessions, six marks and four tackles himself.

HALF-BACK FLANK – TOM LEDGER (Claremont)
It has been a rollercoaster season for the former St Kilda player and veteran of 83 WAFL games, including spending time back in the reserves but he has returned to the league side strongly over the past four games and has made himself an important member of the line-up again. He was especially instrumental in Saturday's win over Peel with 25 possessions and a goal.

CENTRE HALF-BACK – CHAD PEARSON (South Fremantle)
Having got a taste of league football late in 2017 playing six matches before falling out of the team for finals, he has played every game in 2018 and is turning into a fine young league footballer. Had a superb showing on Saturday against Perth down back finishing with 28 possessions and 11 marks while he also got forward to kick the first goal of his career.

HALF-BACK FLANK – SHAUN BEWICK (South Fremantle)
The 28-year-old is having one of the best and most consistent seasons of a league career that has now spanned 133 matches overall and 103 with South Fremantle. He has settled into a role in the back-line over the past 12 months having always been a wingman previously and is performing strongly. Was tremendous on Saturday in big win over Perth with 27 possessions, 11 marks and nine inside-50 entries.

WING – KANE MITCHELL (Claremont)
The 2012 Sandover Medallist missed the previous week's win over Perth but returned on Saturday to deliver a trademark hard-running prolific ball-winning display to be instrumental in crucial win against Peel Thunder. He ensured he will celebrate his 100th WAFL game in the finals this year after delivering 32 possessions, seven tackles, six marks and five inside-50 entries.

CENTRE – SHANE NELSON (West Perth)
He has now finished his home and away season for West Perth and despite having won three fairest and best awards before, there's no question it was the best of his career averaging a remarkable 37.6 disposals across those 18 matches. He still has finals to go with the Falcons and he just played to his average in Saturday's win over East Perth with 37 possessions, eight inside 50s and five marks. 

WING – RYAN COOK (South Fremantle)
He has captained South Fremantle to more games than anyone in history before handing it on this year to Dylan Main but he has built into the 2018 season nicely and is in the middle of a strong run of form now. Played on the wing again in big win over Perth and the 155-game veteran finished with 28 possessions and 10 marks.

HALF-FORWARD FLANK – HAIDEN SCHLOITHE (South Fremantle)
The reigning Sandover Medallist has been spending more time permanently on the ball in recent weeks and his form is responding accordingly with him right back to the form that saw him the standout player in the competition in 2017. Was superb against Perth on Saturday with 37 disposals, 10 inside 50s, nine marks and three tackles.

CENTRE HALF-FORWARD – LACHLAN DELAHUNTY (Subiaco)
Is in remarkable form and has been all throughout the 2018 season as a versatile big man who can play deep forward as a marking target, be a hard-leading centre half-forward up the field, pinch-hit ruckman and even a big-bodied wingman or on-baller at times. Was superb again in 91-point win against East Fremantle with 25 possessions, 14 hit outs, five marks and three goals.

HALF-FORWARD FLANK – ALEX MANUEL (Claremont)
Claremont's back-line and midfield has been tremendous right throughout 2018 with the Tigers just needing to find ways to kick more goals and he's been a key part of that in recent weeks. Kicked another two goals from 17 possessions and six marks on Saturday in the win over Peel to have now booted six goals in his past four matches while also setting up plenty of others.

FORWARD POCKET – ANDREW STRIJK (West Perth)
Having spent the first month of the season in his more customary role off half-back, he moved deep into attack after that and has remained since putting together a remarkable season for someone with 224 games under his belt for West Perth. Kicked another three goals to go with 22 possessions and 10 marks in win against East Perth to be sharing Bernie Naylor Medal lead with teammate Tyler Keitel with a bye in the last round.

FULL-FORWARD – MASON SHAW (South Fremantle)
It's a South Fremantle forward-line that looks likely to be without Ben Saunders and Blaine Johnson for the rest of 2018 so he needs to stand up and he showed what he's capable of against Perth on Saturday. Kicked a career-best seven goals from 16 possessions and six marks with his strong overhead marking and locked in set shot kicking on goal a particular standout.

FORWARD POCKET – TYLER KEITEL (West Perth)
Having gone scoreless the past two weeks in losses to South Fremantle and Subiaco, he needed to bounce back and find some form ahead of the finals for West Perth and he did so in the win against his former team East Perth. Kicked three goals from 16 touches and five marks to have kicked 43 goals for the season to share the lead in the Bernie Naylor Medal with Andrew Strijk.

RUCK – ZAC CLARKE (Subiaco)
It took him a little time at the start of the season to get settled at Subiaco and to build up his form and fitness again after missing all of 2017 with a knee injury, but he is in some dominant form in the ruck right now. Was named M & J Chickens Player of the Round on the back of 29 possessions, 32 hit outs, six marks and four goals.

RUCK ROVER – SHANE HOCKEY (South Fremantle)
The tough and tenacious on-baller continued his brilliant run of form for the Bulldogs in Saturday's 78-point win against Perth. He had another big day out made up of 30 possessions, six marks, four inside-50 entries and three tackles to now be averaging over 36 disposals in the past three weeks with South Fremantle recording wins against West Perth, Swan Districts and Perth.

ROVER – JOSH DELUCA (Subiaco)
It's not easy to standout in a midfield with such stars as Kyal Horsley, Leigh Kitchin and usually Chris Phelan, but he is managing to do so as he chases a fourth WAFL premiership in 2018 to go with the one he won at Subiaco in 2014, and then the two the past two years at Peel Thunder. Was tremendous against the Sharks on Saturday again with another 31 possessions, five tackles and five inside-50 entries.

INTERCHANGE – AARON BLACK (West Perth)
The West Perth captain has led his club admirably through some challenging times in the back half of the season and deserves enormous credit for taking his team back into the finals and earning a double chance following the bye in the last round. His performances have been superb too including another 37 touches, nine tackles, seven marks and a goal in win over East Perth.

INTERCHANGE – JUSTIN JOYCE (Subiaco)
Injury meant that 25-year-old didn’t appear in the reserves this year until Round 15 in his first game since playing in Subiaco's Grand Final loss last year. Spent just two weeks in the reserves and now has played the last three games at league level including a standout performance Saturday against East Fremantle with 28 touches, nine marks and eight inside-50 entries.

INTERCHANGE – NICK SUBAN (South Fremantle)
Having started his first season with South Fremantle following his 156-game AFL career at Fremantle playing off half-back, he has spent more time as an inside midfielder in recent times and he's doing a tremendous job winning the hard ball, laying tackles and driving his team forward. Another strong showing against the Demons finishing with 29 possessions, six inside 50s and five marks.

INTERCHANGE – DANYLE PEARCE (Peel Thunder)
He continues to put the understandable disappointment of knowing he's had his papers stamped on a 258-game AFL career by Fremantle to produce some outstanding football for Peel Thunder. Worked tirelessly and productively once more in narrow loss to Claremont finishing with 29 touches, four inside-50 entries and three marks.

UNLUCKY BUNCH
There were plenty of players who delivered tremendous performances across Round 20 but couldn’t quite fit into the Team of the Round, including:

East Fremantle's Dion Anthony, George Hampson, Jayden Schofield and Cameron Loersch.

Subiaco's Kyal Horsley, Leigh Kitchin, Drew Rohde, Jacob Miller, Clancy Wheeler and Angus Litherland.

Claremont's Jye Bolton, Ryan Lim, Haydn Busher, Jared Hardisty and Bailey Rogers.

Peel Thunder's Ben Howlett, Hugh Dixon and Brayden Lawler. 

South Fremantle's Kyle Russell, Steve Verrier, Brandon Donaldson, Blayne Wilson and Noah Strom.

Perth's Clint Jones, Brant Colledge and John Levien.

East Perth's Jake Waterman, Sharrod Wellingham, Luke Partington, Mitch Dobson and Matthew Allen.

West Perth's Corey Chalmers and Zac Guadagnin.