TABtouch Team of Round 4Wednesday, May 1, 2019 - 12:53 AM - by Chris Pike

ROUND 4 of the WAFL started on ANZAC Day with Perth continuing its stunning start to the season before Subiaco joined them as remaining undefeated on Saturday with victories also for South Fremantle, the West Coast Eagles and Swan Districts.

Going back to ANZAC Day, Perth hosted East Perth at Lathlain's Mineral Resources Park with the Demons remaining undefeated beating the Royals 14.6 (90) to 7.11 (53).

The other four matches took place on Saturday afternoon starting with the West Coast Eagles handing Claremont its first loss of the season, winning 12.5 (77) to 11.9 (75) at Claremont Oval.

Swan Districts scored its first win of the season in the battle of the winless teams at Joondalup Arena, with the Black Ducks beating West Perth 16.12 (108) to 10.4 (64).

South Fremantle made it eight straight derby victories over East Fremantle with the Bulldogs beating the Sharks 19.12 (126) to 5.5 (35) at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.

Subiaco remained undefeated since the 2017 Grand Final following a commanding 18.13 (121) to 9.5 (59) victory over Peel Thunder at Leederville Oval.

The Round 4 results leave Subiaco and Perth on top of the WAFL ladder with 4-0 records with Claremont and South Fremantle just behind with both having 3-1 records.

The West Coast Eagles and Peel Thunder are both 2-2 while Swan Districts and East Perth are 1-3, and West Perth and East Fremantle are 0-4.

PLAYER OF THE ROUND – BRANT COLLEDGE
During his time at the West Coast Eagles, he always appeared a player who could carve out a fine career for himself if he could just stay healthy.

Unfortunately for the now 24-year-old it never quite happened during his time in the AFL system, but it has happened now over the past 12 months for the first extended period during his career and the results have been astounding.

Once he got fully fit last year, he produced a tremendous season with the Demons with his body allowing him to spend more and more time in the midfield where he could use his full array of physical gifts.

With a big body, he is a terrific contested ball player but he also has the finesse of a smaller midfielder on top of having good running capacity, being a good overhead mark and a terrific kick.

That all combined to see him win the fairest and best with Perth last year and now he has backed it up with even better form to start the 2019 season coinciding with the stunning form of the Demons who remain undefeated following wins over West Coast, South Fremantle, Swan Districts and East Perth.

He delivered another tremendous performance back on ANZAC Day helping to lead the way in the midfield for Perth in the 37-point victory over East Perth at Mineral Resources Park.

He produced 35 possessions for the game made up of 24 kicks and 11 handpasses to go with six inside-50 entries, five marks, three tackles and two goals.

It's the kind of all-round performance he always looked capable of and is now producing on a consistent basis.

Players of the Round
Round 1 – Kyal Horsley (Subiaco)
Round 2 –  Anton Hamp (Claremont)
Round 3 – Haiden Schloithe (South Fremantle)
Round 4 – Brant Colledge (Perth)

BACK POCKET – HAYDEN KENNEDY (Subiaco)
The dual premiership winning small defender has opened the 2019 season in tremendous form just like the rest of the undefeated Subiaco team has. He finished with another 28 possessions and seven marks from Saturday's big win over Peel Thunder at Leederville Oval.

FULL-BACK – JESSE GLASS-MCCASKER (Swan Districts)
Has returned to Swan Districts from time with Carlton in the AFL this season and settled right into a key defensive post to combine nicely with experienced pair Tony Notte and Alex Howard for the Black Ducks. Did a good job holding West Perth's Tyler Keitel to one goal and seven kicks in Saturday's win while having nine possessions, four marks and three tackles himself.

BACK POCKET – JAXON CAHILL (East Perth)
In just the eighth league game of his burgeoning career, he was given the task of minding Perth excitement machine Michael Bennell on ANZAC Day and did a tremendous job. Bennell did kick two goals but had only three kicks as he limited his influence and had 12 possessions and laid four tackles himself.

HALF-BACK FLANK – MITCH LAGUE (Perth)
The former East Perth defender enjoyed another strong performance with Perth against his old side on ANZAC Day as he continues to prove that when fully healthy, he's a tremendous backman at WAFL level. Has settled into a key defensive post with the undefeated Demons and also had 23 possessions, six marks and three tackles in Thursday's win.

CENTRE HALF-BACK – JORDAN LOCKYER (Subiaco)
Continues to be rock as a key defender for the undefeated Lions and produced another outstanding performance to repel Peel Thunder time after time in Saturday's big win. As well as being terrific defensively, he had 21 disposals and took 10 marks.

HALF-BACK FLANK – CHAD PEARSON (South Fremantle)
The 21-year-old confirmed himself as a regular league defender last year and now has gone up another level so far in 2019 proving himself as a star down back for the Bulldogs both in terms of being able to play some high-quality opposition forwards and then racking up plenty of the ball to set up play the other way. Had another 20 disposals, eight marks and a goal in Saturday's win over East Fremantle.

WING – KYAL HORSLEY (Subiaco)
The former Subiaco captain is continuing to show that he is enjoying the freedom of just focusing on his football in 2019 without that leadership responsibility. Was huge again in Saturday's big win against Peel Thunder with 29 possessions, seven inside-50 entries, four marks and three tackles.

CENTRE – BRADY GREY (West Coast Eagles)
It was considered a somewhat surprise when he didn’t hold his place on Fremantle's list but the Eagles snapped him up to be vice-captain of their WAFL team and he has started the season strongly in the midfield. Had another tremendous showing in Saturday's win over Claremont with 23 possessions, seven tackles, seven inside 50s and a goal.

WING – COREY BYRNE (Perth)
He is now an established part of a Perth midfield that deserves to be considered among the best in the competition given it includes Corey Yeo, Brant Colledge, Clint Jones and Cody Leggett. But he provides that pace and ball carrying ability that can change a game, and he was brilliant in the ANZAC Day victory over East Perth with 29 possessions, seven marks, six inside-50 entries and three goals.

HALF-FORWARD FLANK – GEORGE HAMPSON (Swan Districts)
Was at his brilliant all-round best in Saturday's win for Swan Districts against West Perth showing just what an influence he is capable of having both in the midfield and forward-line. Ended the afternoon with 31 possessions, seven inside-50 entries, six tackles and three goals.

CENTRE HALF-FORWARD – LACHLAN DELAHUNTY (Subiaco)
The versatile big man continues to deliver for Subiaco whether he's playing inside the forward 50, roaming up the ground or pinch-hitting in the ruck. Has started this season in as a good a form as ever and is instrumental in Subiaco's success. Had 28 possessions, eight hit outs, seven marks, seven inside 50s and a goal in Saturday's win over Peel.

HALF-FORWARD FLANK – STEVEN VERRIER (South Fremantle)
He had a slow start to the season in the reserves following an interrupted pre-season, but the former Richmond-listed hard nut and utility has shown his quality since coming in over the past three weeks for South Fremantle. Played a role mostly across half-forward in the ANZAC Derby win over East Fremantle and produced 21 possessions, six inside 50s, five marks and three goals.

FORWARD POCKET – MATTHEW ALLEN (West Coast Eagles)
He has now strung together 12 months of tremendously impressive football firstly with East Perth last year and now to start the new season with the Eagles in the WAFL and he can't be far away from his long-awaited AFL debut. Looks ready for the next level with his strong all-round game and had 24 touches, eight marks, seven inside 50s and a goal in Saturday's win against Claremont.

FULL-FORWARD – COREY GAULT (Swan Districts)
He has spent more time in the ruck so far this season than Swan Districts might have been able to afford, but settled mostly in the forward-line on Saturday and it proved a match-winning move against West Perth. He kicked five goals to go with 18 touches, 13 hit outs and six marks.

FORWARD POCKET – ANDREW STRIJK (West Perth)
Returned after only missing one week for West Perth through injury and showed his class and importance with a strong showing deep forward despite the Falcons losing to Swan Districts by 44 points. The reigning Bernie Naylor Medallist kicked another four goals from 15 possessions and nine marks.

RUCK – BROCK HIGGINS (South Fremantle)
Continues to cement himself as the best ruckman in the competition with another dominant display against East Fremantle pair Luke Strnadica and Andrew Stokes in Saturday's thumping ANZAC Derby win. Had another 18 touches, 45 hit outs and five tackles to be named the ruckman for the fourth straight time to open the season.

RUCK ROVER – JYE BOLTON (Claremont)
The reigning Sandover Medallist has opened the 2019 season in brilliant form as well further showing that it remains surprising that he's not on an AFL list given his long run of consistently outstanding form now. Claremont might have lost its first game of the season on Saturday but he had 36 possessions, nine inside 50s, seven marks, seven tackles and a goal.

INTERCHANGE – JACKSON RAMSAY (East Perth)
He couldn’t have possibly have started the 2019 season any more impressively given he's coming off 12 months out of the game with a knee reconstruction. Battled hard against the Perth impressive midfield on ANZAC Day and ended up amassing another 33 possessions, six marks and six inside-50 entries.

INTERCHANGE – JACOB DRAGOVICH (South Fremantle)
With the loss of the likes of Shane Hockey, Ryan Cook and Ashton Hams from the Bulldogs over summer, he has picked up the slack in brilliant fashion to be in career-best form over the opening month. That continued on Saturday in the 91-point win over the Sharks with another  32 possessions, eight marks, five tackles and a goal.

INTERCHANGE – RYAN LIM (Claremont)
Is now an 82-game WAFL player and a permanent member of Claremont's midfield, whether playing on the inside or the wing. Produced a terrific performance on Saturday despite the narrow loss to the Eagles finishing the afternoon with 25 disposals, 10 marks and two goals.

INTERCHANGE – NATHAN BLAKELY (Swan Districts)
The Swan Districts ruckman benefited from more time playing in the ruck on Saturday just as Corey Gault enjoyed more time in attack. He got the better of former teammate Troy Yukich in the win against West Perth and ended the afternoon with 24 possessions, 26 hit outs and five tackles.
 

UNLUCKY BUNCH
There were plenty of players who delivered tremendous performances across Round 4 but couldn’t quite fit into the Team of the Round, including:

Subiaco's Rhys Waters, Tom Edwards-Baldwin, Greg Clark, Josh Deluca, Max Walters, Kaidyn Fullgrabe and Angus Litherland.

Peel Thunder's Ryan Bennell, Jason Carter and Stefan Giro.

South Fremantle's Mason Shaw, Haiden Schloithe, Shaun Bewick, Brendan Verrier and Blayne Wilson.

East Fremantle's Jarrad Jansen and Milan Murdock.

West Perth's Corey Chalmers, Blake Wilhelm, Mitch Peirce and Aaron Black.

Swan Districts' Jesse Turner and Matt Riggio.

Claremont's Kane Mitchell, Ryan Murphy, Declan Mountford and Lachlan Martinis.

West Coast's Jake Waterman, Hamish Brayshaw, Jackson Nelson and Keegan Brooksby.

Perth's Kristian Cary, Corey Yeo, Clint Jones, Matt Taylor and Matthew Rogers.

East Perth's Shayne Hille, Patrick McGinnity, Nathan Blee, Angus Scott and Tom Gorter.