Optus WAFL Round 20 WrapMonday, August 26, 2019 - 4:30 AM - by Chris Pike

THE last game of the WAFL season took place on Sunday afternoon and it was only fitting that it decided the finals positions with West Coast Eagles winning to advance break the hearts of Perth in the process.

Perth had started the season in blistering form winning its opening five matches and as a result the Demons have occupied a position in the top five all season long, and were still in fifth position even after losing to Peel Thunder on Sunday night.

But that was with the West Coast Eagles still having to play East Fremantle on Sunday afternoon at Lathlain's Mineral Resources Park.

And while the Sharks put in a competitive showing to end their 2019 season, the Eagles proved too strong to win the game 12.10 (82) to 8.11 (59) and that was enough to see them qualify for the finals in their first season as a standalone WAFL team.

Not only that, but the Eagles moved ahead of both West Perth and Perth on the ladder, but for the Demons that proved a devastating blow. Having been inside the top five all year, Perth now finishes in sixth position and the finals drought that stretches back to 1997 will last at least another year.

But never in those 22 years have the Demons been so close to playing finals and never will the blow of missing out have stung more. 

However, the reality is that Perth lost nine of 13 matches following that 5-0 start to the season including Peel Thunder beating them at Mandurah's David Grays Arena on Saturday, 12.12 (84) to 12.9 (81) in a thrilling, tense and ultimately heartbreaking finish.

The other Round 20 matches on Saturday saw South Fremantle secure second position for a fourth consecutive year holding on to beat West Perth 12.12 (84) to 12.8 (80) at Joondalup's HBF Arena. 

At the time the Falcons thought their season might have been over along with the remarkable career of Andrew Strijk, but that now will extend at least a week into the finals.

Claremont's massive win in the end over Swan Districts at Claremont to the tune of 23.6 (144) to 5.8 (38) in the end could have seen the Tigers move into second spot had South Fremantle lost, but the Tigers end the season in third.

Then Subiaco tuned up for the finals nicely celebrating the 200-game milestone of one of their all-time greats, Kyal Horsley, with an 18.12 (120) to 8.5 (53) win over East Perth at Leederville Oval with Ben Sokol kicking six goals to secure the Bernie Naylor Medal.

Week 1 of the finals will now see South Fremantle host Claremont at Fremantle Community Bank Oval on Saturday while West Perth plays the West Coast Eagles at HBF Arena on Sunday.

ROUND 20 OPTUS WAFL PREMIERSHIP SEASON

WEST PERTH 12.8 (80) lost to SOUTH FREMANTLE 12.12 (84)

West Perth needed to beat South Fremantle at HBF Arena on Saturday to guarantee their place in the finals in 2019, but the Bulldogs came to Joondalup in good form, have always enjoyed venturing north and did enough to record another victory.

Over the past 25 years, South Fremantle had won 18 of its 27 visits to HBF Arena including having won on the past three games at the venue while also having dominated recent clashes with West Perth winning 10 of the past 11 coming into the contest.

The one blemish was last year's preliminary final when West Perth shocked South Fremantle just two weeks after being hammered in the qualifying final, and in the end the Bulldogs enjoyed another trip to Joondalup on Saturday.

West Perth did start well with the first four scoring shots of the game and the first two goals through Corey Chalmers before South Fremantle got on the board through Mason Shaw who was chasing the Bernie Naylor Medal.

After both teams kicked a string of behinds, Shaw and Andrew Strijk traded goals just before quarter-time and the Falcons had a narrow three-point lead at the first break.

Strijk then kicked another for West Perth to start the second quarter but then Shaw also booted his third of the day to keep South Fremantle within a kick.

Josh Collard added another to put the Bulldogs in front but when Strijk kicked his third just before half-time, West Perth maintained a two-point advantage at the major break.

It took only a minute of the second half for South Fremantle to take the lead with a goal to Jacob Dragovich but the trading of goals continuing with Strijk, Collard and then Michael Lourey all kicking truly for their teams.

Shaw was able to boot his fourth soon after to return South Fremantle to the lead before Rudy Riddoch did the same for West Perth. But then just before three quarter-time, the Bulldogs strung goals together between Kade Stewart and Dylan Main to be up by 10 points.

Shaw added his fifth and sixth goals to open the last term with Andrew Haydon adding another as South Fremantle opened a match-winning 28-point advantage.

West Perth's season was potentially on the line so the Falcons didn’t lie down and finished off kicking the last four goals of the game before falling four points short as South Fremantle held on to win 12.12 (84) to 12.8 (80).

The result means that South Fremantle finishes the home and away season on a five-game winning streak with a 13-5 record to be in second position on the ladder for the fourth straight year.

The Bulldogs will now take on Claremont in the qualifying final at Fremantle Community Bank Oval on Saturday.

West Perth did think when leaving the field on Saturday that its season could be over, but other results went their way and the Falcons finish fifth at 9-9 and will even now host an elimination final this Sunday against the West Coast Eagles.

Mason Shaw ended up kicking six goals for South Fremantle to give him 49 for the season, but in the end that left him two short in the Bernie Naylor Medal race of former teammate Ben Sokol.

Josh Collard also showed some good signs as a forward for the Bulldogs kicking two goals.

Jacob Dragovich returned with 29 possessions, eight marks and six tackles while Brock Higgins dominated the ruck with 19 disposals and 48 hit outs.

Jake Florenca gathered 23 touches, Dylan Main 19, Steve Verrier 17 and Kade Stewart 16.

Andrew Strijk kicked four goals from 15 possessions and eight marks in what could have been the last game of his remarkable career. Corey Chalmers also kicked three majors and Rudy Riddoch two.

Aaron Black picked up another 27 possessions for the Falcons, Shane Nelson 26, Tyler Keitel 19, Aidan Lynch 16 and Mitch Peirce 15 to go with 10 tackles.
 

PEEL THUNDER 12.12 (84) defeated PERTH 12.9 (81)

All of Perth's frustrations of missing out on finals for the last 21 years went on the line for the trip to Mandurah on Saturday but in the end Peel Thunder wasn’t in the mood for charity and gave the Demons a horrible wait for the next 24 hours.

Even though Perth had struggled the rest of the season to find wins after opening 2019 with five in-a-row, all the Demons had to do was win at David Grays Arena on Saturday afternoon and they would be guaranteed of playing finals for the first time since 1997.

That proved a task beyond them but it was a game that went right down to the wire.

Peel dominated the opening term with eight scoring shots to one and three goals to one to go into the quarter-time interval with a 17-point advantage.

Perth was able to turn things around with a similarly dominant second quarter which saw them kick four goals to two and be only one-point behind by half-time.

The Demons then continued that momentum in the third term by kicking five goals to four and that saw them in front by two points by three quarter-time.

It just seemed destined for Perth's finals hopes to always go down to the wire and that's exactly how it panned out. Brent Edmonds put the Demons up by six points early in the last term but then Gerald Ugle, in his 100th game for Peel and against his former team, drew scores level.

Blake Johnson and Ben Hancock then traded goals for either side to leave scores tied head into time-on.

In amongst Perth scoring four behinds, Peel kicked the last goal of the game courtesy of Sam Sturt and that was enough to secure the 12.12 (84) to 12.9 (81).

The win sees Peel end the season at 7-11 as they miss finals for a second straight season following the 2016 and 2017 premierships.

But for Perth, it meant they ended the season winning just four of their last 13 games and even after Saturday's loss there was hope of making finals should the West Coast Eagles lose to East Fremantle on Sunday. However, it wasn’t to be and the Demons' finals drought stretches to 22 years.

Peel had to find a new avenue to goals and it was Ben Hancock who coach Cam Shepherd threw forward and it paid dividends as he kicked four goals. Sam Sturt also kicked three goals including the game winner.

Ben Howlett once again led from the front for Peel with 24 possessions and 20 tackles while Brett Bewley compiled 32 disposals, Tom North 20, Jackson Merrett 19, Keegan Power 19, James Sturrock 18, Tobe Watson 17 and Haydn Matthews 15 to go with 10 tackles.

Blake Johnson kicked three goals for Perth while Matthew Rogers and Brent Edmonds booted two apiece.

Clint Jones racked up another 33 possessions for the Demons while Corey Yeo finished with 28 disposals, Brant Colledge 24, Matthew Taylor 23, Michael Sinclair 22, Jacob Payne 20. Meanwhile, Christian Eyres finished with 56 hit outs and Dakota Baldwin-Wright 21.
 

CLAREMONT 23.6 (144) defeated SWAN DISTRICTS 5.8 (38)

Swan Districts might have been in its best patch of form of the season in recent weeks but Claremont geared up for its finals campaign with an emphatic performance on Saturday at Claremont Oval.

Swan Districts came into the last game of the season on the back of winning two of its past three matches to revive hopes for the black-and-whites of still avoiding the wooden spoon for 2019.

A win for Swans would likely be enough to see them climb off the bottom of the ladder with East Fremantle and East Perth up against it opposed to finals bound teams, but it wasn’t to be with Claremont proving too strong on home turf.

The Tigers knew that unless South Fremantle lost to West Perth and they delivered a huge win that they were likely destined to still finished third, but in the end the 23.6 (144) to 5.8 (38) victory almost shot them up into second spot.

The result moved Claremont's percentage beyond that of South Fremantle's but the Bulldogs held on to win against West Perth to stay second with Claremont third setting up a qualifying final meeting between the two teams this Saturday at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.

As for Swan Districts, the 106-point loss was a disappointing way to end the season that has seen so much youth given opportunities and brought abouts wins against the West Coast Eagles and Peel Thunder over the past three weeks.

Swans finishes the season in bottom place with a 4-14 record but it should be a season with the youth given opportunities that sets up a bright future moving forward.

Claremont got on top of the contest from the outset and by kicking five goals to one in the opening quarter, the Tigers were already leading by 26 points at quarter-time.

Swans did well to stick with the Tigers in the second term with two goals apiece and they even managed to bring the half-time deficit back to 25 points.

However, Claremont produced a remarkable third quarter to blow the game wide open. In the best individual quarter of any team this season, the Tigers piled on 12 goals straight while holding Swans to just the one goal and that blew a 25-point lead at half-time to 87 by the last break.

Claremont kicked another four goals to one as well in the final quarter and that saw them beat Swan Districts by 106 points making it the only triple-figure result of 2019.

Claremont captain Ian Richardson kicked six goals from 19 possessions and 13 marks while Jack Bradshaw booted four goals, Alec Waterman three, Matthew Palfrey two and Anthony Treacy two.

Jye Bolton produced a remarkable performance for the Tigers made up of 46 possessions and two goals while Kane Mitchell amassed 37 disposals, Declan Mountford 36 (12 tackles), Ryan Lim 28, Haydn Busher 25, Lachlan Martinis 25, Jared Hardisty 21 and Bailey Rogers 21.

Jeremy Goddard also had 51 hit outs in the ruck to go with 11 possessions and six tackles.

Aidan Clarke was the only multiple goal scorer for Swan Districts booting two majors.

Brayden Noble presented hard for Swans and gathered a season-best 24 possessions and six marks but he could only manage the two behinds on the scoreboard.

Josh Cipro gathered 23 disposals for Swan Districts, Jesse Turner 23, Mitch Howlett 22, Corey Gault 20, George Hampson 19 and Warrick Wilson 17.
 

EAST PERTH 8.5 (53) lost to SUBIACO 18.12 (120)

Subiaco warmed up for another finals campaign with a comfortable and comprehensive 67-point win against Leederville Oval co-tenants East Perth on Saturday.

There was little at stake in context of the season in the clash on Saturday to close to the 2019 home and away season, but that didn’t stop Subiaco from delivering another emphatic performance despite having already racked up the minor premiership.

Subiaco did dominate the first quarter with nine scoring shots to two but didn’t take full advantage kicking just the three goals to two to go into quarter-time leading by 12 points.

The Lions began to pull away in the second term with four goals to two to lead by 25 points at the major break.

Subiaco kicked another five goals to three in the third quarter, and then six to one in the last to run out 18.12 (120) to 8.5 (53) winners.

The win means that Subiaco enters the finals on a 12-game winning streak with a 17-1 record having secured a fifth consecutive minor premiership as they chase a sixth straight Grand Final appearance.

They have the break in the first week of the finals awaiting the winner of South Fremantle and Claremont in the following week's second semi-final at Leederville Oval.

East Perth, meanwhile, finishes the season with a five-game losing slide and a 5-13 record in the Royals' first season back being a standalone club.

Ben Sokol kicked another six goals to continue his remarkable form for Subiaco. That was enough for him to get to 51 goals for the season and win the Bernie Naylor Medal ahead of former South Fremantle teammate Mason Shaw.

Ryan Borchet has also been in brilliant form in attack for the Lions and he kicked another five goals to give him 42 for the season.

Lachlan Delahunty was outstanding again with 32 possessions, 15 hit outs and a goal while Kyal Horsley celebrated his 200th game with 23 disposals, seven marks and a goal.

Max Walters also had another 22 touches, Harry Marsh 18, Jordan Lockyer 16 and Justin Joyce 15.

Eddie Simpson kicked three goals for East Perth as he juggled his time between playing forward and the ruck.

Tom Gorter collected 24 possessions for the Royals, Jackson Ramsay 23, Stan Wright 21, Nathan Blee 21, Nelson Waite 21, Kye Willcocks 20, Rohan Kerr 19, Shaquille McKenzie 19, Christian Ameduri 17, Angus Scott 15 and Ajang Ajang 14 to go with 29 hit outs and a goal.
 

EAST FREMANTLE 8.11 (59) lost to WEST COAST EAGLES 12.10 (82)