Optus WAFL Round 16 WrapMonday, July 29, 2019 - 5:41 AM - by Chris Pike

THERE were three games in the WAFL on Saturday and that saw the top three teams, Subiaco, Claremont and South Fremantle, all come away with impressive victories.

There were just the three matches as part of Round 16 in the 2019 Optus WAFL Premiership Season with the six teams involved returning to action while the teams that played in Round 15, East Fremantle, East Perth, Peel Thunder and West Perth, sitting out with the bye.

The three Round 16 matches saw the top three teams extend their lead on top of the WAFL as the Lions, Tigers and Bulldogs all further consolidated their holds on the top three positions.

The early starting game took place at Leederville Oval as the league-leading Subiaco hosting a West Coast Eagles team that had been in their best ever form prior to the bye in Round 15. But the Lions proved far too strong running out 15.9 (99) to 4.7 (31) winners.

Then at Fremantle Community Bank Oval, South Fremantle came into its clash on a four-game losing streak against a Swan Districts who had lost six straight, but the Bulldogs returned to form in emphatic fashion.

South Fremantle kicked 13 consecutive goals from when Swan Districts kicked its first goal 12 minutes into the first quarter and then its second in dying minutes of the game.

That saw the Bulldogs dominate the contest and record the 15.17 (107) to 2.10 (22) victory.

It was a significantly closer affair at Claremont Oval in a battle of second against fourth with Claremont ending up prevailing 9.7 (61) to 7.12 (54).

ROUND 16 OPTUS WAFL PREMIERSHIP SEASON

SUBIACO 15.9 (99) defeated WEST COAST EAGLES 4.7 (31)

Subiaco and West Coast both entered Saturday's game at Leederville Oval on the two best winning streaks currently in the WAFL, but it was the Lions that made yet another emphatic statement by the end of the contest.

It was an early starting game at Leederville Oval in order to be broadcast live on Channel 7 with Subiaco coming into the contest still on top of the WAFL ladder on a seven-game winning streak while the Eagles had put themselves in the finals hunt having won four in-a-row prior to the bye.

But with Subiaco ready to pounce having had the week off as well combined with mass changes at West Coast for the game coming off their big win two weeks ago against West Perth, and it turned into quite the emphatic Lions performance.

Subiaco started strongly by kicking the only three goals of the opening quarter, holding the Eagles to just the one behind, and they never looked back from there.

The Lions continued to dominate in the second quarter with three more goals while the Eagles managed just the one with West Coast kicking six first half goals to one to head into the major break with a commanding 33-point victory.

It was more of the same in the second half starting in the third quarter with Subiaco kicking five goals and holding West Coast to just the one.

The Lions then rammed home their advantage with another five goals in the fourth quarter with the Eagles adding two with Subiaco running out 15.9 (99) to 4.7 (31) winners.

The win is an eighth in-a-row for Subiaco as they improve to 13-1 on the season to be all but guaranteed now of a fifth consecutive minor premiership.

The Eagles remain outside the top five with a 6-8 record.

Ben Sokol kicked four goals for Subiaco from 13 possessions and seven marks with Ryan Borchet also booting three majors, Max Walters two and Tom Edwards-Baldwin two.

Lachlan Delahunty continued his remarkable form for Subiaco with another 31 possessions, 15 hit outs and five marks despite kicking three behinds.

Kyal Horsley racked up another 28 possessions, Leigh Kitchin 24, Simon Moore 19, Max Walters 19, Michael Braut 19, Bailey Matera 19, Rhys Waters 18 and Greg Clark 18.

West Coast only managed four goals for the day and they came courtesy of Jarrod Brander, Nathan Vardy, Fraser McInnes and Kieran Hug.

Hamish Brayshaw battled hard in the midfield for the Eagles for 25 possessions and eight tackles with Kurt Mutimer collecting 22 disposals, Matthew Allen 20, Josh Rotham 19, Brendon Ah Chee 19, Tom Cole 18 and Keegan Brooksby 18 to go with 13 hit outs.
 

SOUTH FREMANTLE 15.17 (107) defeated SWAN DISTRICTS 2.10 (22)

South Fremantle and Swan Districts came into Saturday's game at Fremantle Community Bank Oval on the two biggest losing streaks in the WAFL at present, but it was the Bulldogs who delivered a dominant performance to return to the winners list.

Coming off a seven-game winning run and then challenging Subiaco for top spot, South Fremantle was on a four-game losing slide while the increasingly youthful Swan Districts were anchored to bottom spot having lost its previous six matches.

It took seven minutes for the first goal of the game and that went the way of South Fremantle thanks to Zac Strom in his 99th WAFL appearance.

Captain Dylan Main then kicked one on the run too before Swan Districts got on the board courtesy of Aidan Clarke.

The Bulldogs managed another one just before quarter-time thanks to Caleb Datson and that saw the home team hold 17-point advantage at the first break.

Things were relatively quiet for the first 19 minutes of the second quarter even though South Fremantle had extended its lead with goals to Brandon Donaldson, Mason Shaw and Chad Pearson.

But once Zac Strom booted his second at the 19-minute mark, it sparked a scintillating run leading into half-time from the Bulldogs that blew the game right open.

Jake Florenca, Brock Higgins, Shaw and Shaun Bewick all kicked goals leading into half-time virtually one after another as South Fremantle finished up with eight goals to three behinds for the quarter to head into the half-time break with a match-winning 64-point lead.

After kicking 8.2 in the second quarter, South Fremantle only managed 1.7 in the third term and with Swan Districts adding seven behinds, the combined one goal and 14 points didn’t create for the most attractive of affairs.

It was more of the same for the first 20 minutes of the last quarter too until Higgins kicked a second goal for South Fremantle.

Kade Stewart and Haiden Schloithe also added goals in quick succession and a 100-point win was on the cards but Swan Districts would kick its second and last goal of the game at the 25-minute mark thanks to Seb Bright to leave the Bulldogs winning by 85 points.

It was quite the dominant showing from South Fremantle who ended up with 96 more possessions than Swan Districts, 72 extra marks, 27 more inside-50 entries and 32 scoring shots to 12 on the way to the 85-point triumph.

The win improves South Fremantle to a 9-5 record on the season to remain in third position and remain a chance of still moving up into second. 

Swan Districts has now lost seven straight to remain two games clear in bottom place at 2-12.

Usual suspects Mason Shaw and Zac Strom kicked two goals apiece for South Fremantle as did ruckman Brock Higgins to go with 15 possessions and 31 hit outs. It's the first time he's kicked two goals in a game since Round 11 last year and just the fifth time in his 135-game career.

There were a host of standout performers for South Fremantle and none better than Haiden Schloithe despite being well short of 100 per cent. He played on bravely and went on to deliver 32 possessions, 10 marks and a goal.

Nick Suban was especially dominant off half-back in the first half and finished with 31 possessions and nine marks while captain Dylan Main delivered his best game of the season with 32 disposals, nine marks and six tackles.

Jacob Dragovich also gathered 29 possessions for the Bulldogs, Jake Florenca 26, Chad Pearson 25, Steve Verrier 24, Kyle Russell 21 and Blayne Wilson 21.

Swan Districts' lone goals came from Seb Bright and Aidan Clarke.

Tony Notte couldn’t have possibly done more for Swan Districts than he did at centre half-back than delivering 28 possessions, six marks and four tackles.

George Hampson worked hard once again for 27 disposals while Jesse Turner collected 24 touches, Aidan Clarke 19, Mitch Howlett 18, Matt Riggio 17, Alex Howard 16, Brayden Hackett 15 and ruckman Corey Gault 13 to go with 32 hit outs and six tackles.
 

CLAREMONT 9.7 (61) defeated PERTH 7.12 (54)

The tight game of the weekend took place at Claremont Oval and it was no surprise it featured the second placed Claremont up against the fourth placed Perth with both teams trying to further consolidate their finals places.

Claremont came into the game having its five-match winning run ended two weeks ago at the hands of Subiaco, but that was still a strong showing so they had every reason to be feeling good about themselves heading into Saturday afternoon.

But so did Perth with the Demons coming off a miraculous comeback victory against South Fremantle two weeks earlier which went a long way to locking in a first finals appearance since 1997.

So there were reason for both teams to be feeling good coming into Saturday's game and it ended up being tight the entire afternoon in a low-scoring affair.

Perth had the better of the opening half with two goals to one in the first quarter with seven scoring shots to three. The Demons then kicked another two goals to one in the second term to head into half-time leading the Tigers by 15 points.

But Claremont fired up after the break and played some terrific football in the third quarter to kick six goals while holding Perth to two behinds in the process so the Tigers had turned that 15-point deficit at the main break into a 21-point lead at three quarter-time.

Perth wasn’t done, though, and dominated the last quarter with three goals to one but it wasn’t quite enough with Claremont holding on to win, 9.7 (61) to 7.12 (54).

The win keeps Claremont in second position on the ladder holding a one-game edge over South Fremantle with a 10-4 record. Perth is still fourth despite the loss at 8-6.

Alec Waterman returned to the Claremont line-up and kicked three goals from 18 possessions while Ian Richardson and Matthew Palfrey kicked two goals apiece.

Dual Sandover and Simpson Medallist Jye Bolton was brilliant for Claremont amassing 34 possessions, 12 marks and five tackles.

Ryan Lim had another 28 disposals, Bailey Rogers 27, Kane Mitchell 25, Declan Mountford 25, Haydn Busher 25, Anthony Treacy 18 and ruckman Jeremy Goddard 13 to go with 44 hit outs.

Matthew Rogers was Perth's most dangerous forward taking six shots on goal for three majors for the day to go with 15 kicks, six inside 50s and three marks.

Cody Leggett gathered 25 possessions for the Demons, Brant Colledge 24, Clint Jones 22, Corey Yeo 22, Jacob Payne 21 and Michael Sinclair 19 to go with 10 marks.