TABtouch Team of Round 14Wednesday, July 17, 2019 - 5:29 PM - by Chris Pike

ROUND 14 of the 2019 Optus WAFL Premiership Season always promised to be season-defining and it proved the case with Subiaco all but securing top spot, Perth going a long way to securing a finals berth and the West Coast Eagles storming into fifth position.

Round 14 in the WAFL got underway on Saturday afternoon starting with East Fremantle keeping its slim finals hopes alive and ending a three-game losing run to beat Swan Districts 8.11 (59) to 3.12 (30) at East Fremantle's New Choice Homes Park.

The other Saturday afternoon clash saw East Perth also stay in the finals hunt with a 9.10 (64) to 6.9 (45) victory against Peel Thunder at Leederville Oval to give them consecutive wins.

The thriller of the round took place on Saturday night with Perth storming home to kick the last three goals of the game, including the winner after the siren from Gordon Narrier, to storm back from a three-goal deficit to beat South Fremantle 15.5 (95) to 13.11 (89) at Lathlain's Mineral Resources Park.

The other two games of the round took place on Sunday afternoon starting with the top two teams locking horns at Leederville Oval with Subiaco prevailing over Claremont in a tight affair, 10.11 (71) to 9.9 (63).

The West Coast Eagles then continued their hot form to make it four straight wins beating West Perth 20.14 (134) to 10.5 (65) at Mineral Resources Park.

Following Round 14, Subiaco (12-1) is out clear on top of the ladder to be on track for a fifth successive minor premiership.

Claremont (9-4) remains in second position ahead of South Fremantle (8-5), Perth (8-5) and West Coast Eagles (6-7).

West Perth (6-7) slipped just outside the top five in front of Peel Thunder (5-8), East Perth (5-8), East Fremantle (4-9) and Swan Districts (2-11).

PLAYER OF THE ROUND – KANE MITCHELL
The 2012 Sandover Medallist and dual Claremont premiership player simply banged down the door with his form for Tigers earlier this decade to get an AFL chance, and now post that career, he is right back to the same level of performance with the Tigers.

With Claremont dominating the WAFL between 2010 and 2012, Mitchell cemented himself as one of the best midfielders in the competition but without question the fittest and hardest-running player.

That's why his three years of outstanding football that ended up including playing in three straight Grand Finals for two premierships on top of him winning a Sandover Medal, a fairest and best award and pulling on the WAFL State Team jumper.

His level of outstanding performances for three years culminating in that 2012 season where he won the premiership, Sandover Medal and fairest and best meant he was impossible to ignore from an AFL perspective and was snapped up by Port Adelaide.

Over the next four years, he would prove himself more than capable of playing at AFL level as well with the Power playing 13 matches in 2013, 10 in 2014, eight in 2015 and four in 2016 to make up for 35 in total before he left the club at the end of 2016.

Mitchell then spent a year away from football travelling in 2017 but returned to Claremont in 2018 and took little time to recapture some of his previous form from his old Tigers life.

And now in 2019 upon being appointed co-captain alongside premiership teammate Ian Richardson, Mitchell has rediscovered his very best form and over the six weeks with Claremont in hot form, he has been at the forefront of that.

Despite a narrow loss to Subiaco on Sunday at Leederville Oval, it was still an impressive showing by Claremont and they remain in second position on the ladder following Round 14 of the 2019 WAFL season.

His superb form continued on Sunday afternoon with Mitchell finishing the game with 29 possessions, 15 tackles, four inside-50 entries and three marks in what was the 114th game of his WAFL career with Claremont.

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)
Round 5 – Tony Notte (Swan Districts)
Round 6 – Rohan Kerr (East Perth)
Round 7 – Mitch Peirce (West Perth)
Round 8 – Clint Jones (Perth)
Round 9 – Lachlan Delahunty (Subiaco)
Round 10 – Nick Suban (South Fremantle)
Round 11 – Tyler Keitel (West Perth)
Round 12 – Josh Smith (West Coast Eagles)
Round 13 – Jackson Ramsay (East Perth)
Round 14 – Kane Mitchell (Claremont)

TABtouch TEAM OF THE ROUND  
BACK: Zac Dent (SF), Jordan Lockyer (S), Francis Watson (WC)
HALF-BACK: Jackson Ramsay (EP), Haydn Busher (C), Bailey Rogers (C)
CENTRE: Rohan Kerr (EP), Kyal Horsley (S), Clint Jones (P)
HALF-FORWARD: Matthew Rogers (P), Lachlan Delahunty (S), Haiden Schloithe (SF) 
FORWARD: Jack Petruccelle (WC), Jake Waterman (WC), Zareth Roe (P)
RUCK: Brock Higgins (SF), Kane Mitchell (C), Jarrad Jansen (EF)
INTERCHANGE: Nelson Waite (EP), Declan Mountford (C), Cameron Eardley (EF), Jacob Dragovich (SF)

BACK POCKET – ZAC DENT (South Fremantle)    
Returned to South Fremantle's team on Saturday night and despite the eventual one-goal loss to Perth and with the Bulldogs defence having its hands full with Perth's foursome of Indigenous excitement machines, he stood up strongly to continue the best season of his career. Finished the evening with 25 possessions, eight marks and three tackles.

FULL-BACK – JORDAN LOCKYER (Subiaco)
The dual premiership defender is in the middle of what is likely the best season of his career and he put in another standout performance in Sunday's win against Claremont, this time without running partner Angus Litherland alongside him. Not only did he help keep Tom Lee kickless and goalless, but he had 19 possessions and three marks himself

BACK POCKET – FRANCIS WATSON (West Coast)
The dashing defender's progress has only been hindered by his body, not talent, and now that he's back to full health he is playing some exciting football for the Eagles setting up play out of the back-line. If he keeps this run of form up and stays healthy, can still have an AFL future. Was terrific again in Sunday's win over West Perth with 19 possessions, five marks and three tackles.

HALF-BACK FLANK – JACKSON RAMSAY (East Perth)
The reigning WAFL Player of the Round continued his tremendous form for East Perth in the win on Saturday against Peel at Leederville Oval. Whether running off half-back or through the middle, he is in some brilliant form right now for the Royals and delivered 30 possessions, eight tackles, seven marks and six inside-50 entries.

CENTRE HALF-BACK – HAYDN BUSHER (Claremont)
Once again with Claremont using Anton Hamp up forward, he had to step up in a key defensive role and for the second straight week was tremendous in doing so. Not only was he strong defensively against Subiaco's key forwards but also finished with 14 touches, six tackles and five marks himself.

HALF-BACK FLANK – BAILEY ROGERS (Claremont)
The running defender continues to show his quality for Claremont and despite the loss to Subiaco on Sunday afternoon at Leederville Oval, he produced another impressive performance. He finished with 19 possessions, five marks, five tackles and three inside-50 entries.

WING – ROHAN KERR (East Perth)
He bounced back tremendously from a rare quiet outing the previous week against Swan Districts. Was back to his stunning form this season for the Royals on the wing that has to have him a genuine Sandover Medal contender. Racked up another 34 possessions to go with 12 marks and four inside-50 entries.

CENTRE – KYAL HORSLEY (Subiaco)
He's not about to give up his title as the best player in the competition up easily as he approaches the 200-game milestone. Already the most decorated player in the competition, he is far from done yet and was just about best afield once more against Claremont on Sunday with 27 possessions, six inside-50 entries, five marks and two goals.

WING – CLINT JONES (Perth)
Came up against the team he won two fairests and bests with and won a premiership with prior to his 149-game AFL career at St Kilda, and showed that he has plenty of juice left in his tank as one of the best ball winners still in the WAFL. Amassed another 36 possessions, seven marks, four inside 50s and three tackles in the thrilling after-the-siren win.

HALF-FORWARD FLANK – MATTHEW ROGERS (Perth)
Is enjoying his return to Perth in 2019 after time at Swan Districts and his powerful body and deadly left boot were instrumental in Saturday night's win against South Fremantle that went a long way to securing a finals appearance for the Demons. He kicked two goals from 15 kicks and four tackles.

CENTRE HALF-FORWARD – LACHLAN DELAHUNTY (Subiaco)
Whether in the ruck or forward, he continues to deliver some remarkable performances for Subiaco. Again shared the ruck and forward-line role with Clancy Wheeler in Sunday's win against Claremont and provided another 30 possessions, 12 hit outs and a goal. Third consecutive week he has racked up 30 disposals.

HALF-FORWARD FLANK – HAIDEN SCHLOITHE (South Fremantle)
The 2017 Sandover Medallist is having another outstanding season with the Bulldogs despite an injury scare with his knee back on WA Day. Whether playing in the midfield or resting forward, he remains one of the best and most damaging players in the competition. Despite the eventual loss on Saturday night, he had 31 possessions, five marks, four tackles, three inside 50s and a goal.

FORWARD POCKET – JACK PETRUCCELLE (West Coast)
Playing his first WAFL game of the season with the Eagles, the lightning quick small forward put his hand up for an immediate recall to the West Coast AFL team. He kicked five goals on Sunday against West Perth from 11 kicks, four marks and four inside-50 entries.

FULL-FORWARD – JAKE WATERMAN (West Coast)
Is proving himself a standout WAFL spearhead right now but with Jack Darling and Josh Kennedy ahead of him in the Eagles' AFL team, it's tough to find a spot up at the next level which would allow him to display the form he is in the West Coast reserves team. But he can't be more impressive having kicking kicked another six goals from 25 possessions and 15 marks.

FORWARD POCKET – ZARETH ROE (Perth)
It was quite the exciting forward-line for Perth on Saturday night in celebration of NAIDOC Week with him joined by fellow Indigenous excitement machines Gordon Narrier, Michael Bennell and Cody Ninyette. He proved to be the star with the best performance of his career that saw him kick five goals from 12 possessions and seven marks.

RUCK – BROCK HIGGINS (South Fremantle)
The league's leading ruckman again worked tirelessly on Saturday night against Perth to put in another strong showing even though the Bulldogs ended up losing to the Demons after the siren by a goal. He finished with 19 possessions, three marks and 24 hit outs.

ROVER – JARRAD JANSEN (East Fremantle)
Has been a strong and consistent performer all season long in the midfield for East Fremantle and was at the forefront of everything in their win against Swan Districts on Saturday. Finished the afternoon with 31 possessions, five tackles, five inside-50 entries and a goal for the Sharks.

INTERCHANGE – NELSON WAITE (East Perth)
Playing just his third game of the season for the Royals, produced his third straight outstanding performance since breaking into the team during Saturday's victory against Peel Thunder. Racked up another 25 possessions to go with taking 12 marks.

INTERCHANGE – DECLAN MOUNTFORD (Claremont)
Was heralded was a prize recruit when he decided to return to his original club Claremont in 2019 after his time in the AFL with North Melbourne. He hasn’t let the Tigers down either and delivered another standout showing on Sunday against Subiaco with 25 possessions, 15 tackles, six inside 50s and a goal.

INTERCHANGE – CAMERON EARDLEY (East Fremantle)
Having just notched up his 100th WAFL game a couple of weeks ago, remains one of the toughest ball winners in the competition and that was on show in Saturday's home win against Swan Districts. Ended the afternoon with 27 disposals, nine marks, six tackles and five entries inside the forward 50.

INTERCHANGE – JACOB DRAGOVICH (South Fremantle)
Has turned himself into South Fremantle's leading ball winner in 2019 on the back of more opportunities to play permanently in the midfield. Continues his standout season on Saturday night against the Demons by racking up another 36 possessions, seven marks and kicking a goal.
 

UNLUCKY BUNCH
There were plenty of players who delivered tremendous performances across Round 14 but couldn’t quite fit into the Team of the Round, including:

East Fremantle's Michael Tassone, Tom Bennett, Morgan Davies, Kyle Baskerville, Tim Bockman and Jonathon Griffin.

Swan Districts' George Hampson, Matt Riggio, Lachlan Riley, Seb Bright, Alex Howard and Tony Notte.

East Perth's Jaxon Cahill, Kyle Anderson, Ajang Ajang, Kye Willcocks, Stan Wright, Julian Ameduri and Mitch Dobson.

Peel Thunder's Lachie Schultz, Brett Bewley, Bailey Banfield, Jackson Merrett and Tobe Watson.

Perth's Cody Ninyette, Marshall Jones, Corey Yeo, Matthew Taylor, Cody Leggett and Brant College.

South Fremantle's Mason Shaw, Kade Stewart, Dylan Main, Chad Pearson and Caleb Datson.

Subiaco's Ben Newton, Leigh Kitchin and Greg Clark.

Claremont's Jye Bolton, Ryan Lim and Lachlan Martinis.

West Perth's Keegan Knott, Tyler Keitel, Corey Chalmers, Shane Nelson, Mitch Peirce, Aidan Lynch and Zac Guadagnin.

West Coast Eagles' Fraser McInnes, Josh Smith, Brayden Ainsworth, Matthew Allen, Hamish Brayshaw and Keegan Brooksby.