Optus WAFL Round 5 WrapSunday, August 16, 2020 - 8:13 PM - by Chris Pike

WE moved past the halfway mark of the 2020 Optus WAFL Premiership Season on Saturday with South Fremantle and West Perth moving further clear on top while Claremont maintained their spot and Subiaco showed they can't be counted out.

We have just nine rounds to play this WAFL season with each team playing one another once and with a bye thrown in so the Round 5 mark means that some clubs have already played five of their eight matches, and things are beginning to take shape.

We saw some significant winning streaks continue as well with South Fremantle winning an eight consecutive match against Swan Districts while West Perth also made it 18 in-a-row and are still unbeaten at Lathlain since 2004 following the Falcons' win against Perth.

There were some significant individual milestones celebrated in style too with Claremont's Anton Hamp brilliant in his team's win against East Perth as he earned life membership by playing 150 games. 

Tyler Keitel then kicked six goals in his 100th WAFL appearance with West Perth.

FORWARD-DEFENDER-FORWARD HAMP EARNS TIGERS LIFE MEMBERSHIP
THANKFUL KEITEL PROUD TO REACH 100 WITH FALCONS
ROUND 5 OPTUS WAFL PREVIEW
WAFL TEAM OF ROUND 4

All four Round 5 WAFL matches took place on Saturday afternoon with South Fremantle kicking the last four goals of the game to come from behind and beat Swan Districts 10.7 (67) to 7.5 (47) at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.

Subiaco ensured it remains in the finals hunt despite their loss of premiership stars with a 10.15 (75) to 5.8 (38) victory against Peel Thunder at Mandurah's David Grays Arena.

It was then a cracking contest at Lathlain's Mineral Resources Park with West Perth continuing its dominance over Perth with a 13.12 (90) to 12.11 (83) victory.

The last game of the round took place at Leederville Oval and that saw Claremont consolidate its top four spot, beating East Perth 12.14 (86) to 8.4 (52).

That means that after five rounds, South Fremantle (5-0) is out clear on top of the ladder ahead of West Perth (4-1) and Claremont (4-1).

Perth (3-1) is hanging onto fourth position ahead of Subiaco (2-2) while life is getting tough for East Perth (1-3), East Fremantle (1-3), Swan Districts (0-4) and Peel Thunder (0-5).

OPTUS WAFL PREMIERSHIP SEASON – ROUND 5

SOUTH FREMANTLE 10.7 (67) defeated SWAN DISTRICTS 7.5 (47)

Swan Districts might have been yet to win a game so far in the 2020 WAFL season while South Fremantle came into Saturday's game undefeated, but it was a tight game all afternoon.

Swans even managed to lead by as much as 19 points late in the first quarter when they went on their own run of four consecutive goals.

But the Bulldogs eventually worked their way on top and kicked the last four goals of the game to come away with the 10.7 (67) to 7.5 (47) victory.

The win means that South Fremantle now holds a perfect 5-0 record to start this season and to be clear on top of the WAFL ladder with just the three games remaining before finals.

It also continued South Fremantle's recent good run of form against Swan Districts with the Bulldogs claiming a ninth consecutive win against Swans.

South Fremantle made the perfect start to the game back at Fremantle Community Bank Oval with the first goal through Haiden Schloithe when he marked and kicked with his usual dead-eye accuracy.

But Swan Districts had come out as a committed unit to try and cause the upset, and started an impressive run up to quarter-time with a goal from Josh Cipro. 

VFL recruit Frank Anderson then added another and key target Leigh Kohlmann then added two in the space of three minutes to suddenly give the black-and-whites a 19-point advantage which remained 18 by quarter-time.

Things tightened up for both teams in the second quarter with scoring becoming hard to come by. The only two goals of the quarter went South Fremantle's way with Mason Shaw the man to kick both and that closed up the gap by half-time cutting Swans' lead to six points at the main break.

Things remained tight throughout the third quarter and it was just a goal apiece. South Fremantle took the lead briefly when Steve Verrier kicked truly, but Swans answered soon after through George Hampson and the visitors maintain a five-point edge by three quarter-time.

Swans still clung to a four-point lead at the 14-minute mark of the last term when Jacob Sideris snapped truly in the goal square, but from there the Bulldogs flexed their muscles and played their best football of the afternoon to ensure the victory.

It started with a goal to Brandon Donaldson to see South Fremantle back in front before Schloithe again showed his class by kicking a good set shot. Jimmy Miller took a big mark on the goal line and then snapped it through before Shaw's fourth goal ensured a 20-point win for the Bulldogs.

Haiden Schloithe continued his stunning form for South Fremantle so far in 2020 with another 27 possessions, six tackles, five inside-50 entries and two goals.

Jake Florenca continued his big ball-winning ways too with another 26 disposals while Chad Pearson's growth is keeping on going as he finished with 24 disposals, eight marks, four tackles and two inside 50s.

Zac Strom fought hard in the ruck in the absence of Brock Higgins for 21 possessions, eight tackles and 14 hit outs while Dylan Main was tremendous as captain with 21 disposals, seven marks and five tackles.

Nick Suban and Blayne Wilson both had 14 possessions with the veterans showing the way for the Bulldogs while second-gamer Kye Barker was impressive with his 13 disposals and three marks.

Mason Shaw was the best forward on the ground too kicking four goals for South Fremantle from 10 kicks and nine marks in an impressive display.

Jesse Turner had an outstanding game for Swan Districts largely off half-back to finish with 29 possessions, five marks and four tackles while Victorian recruit Sam Fisher continued his good form in the midfield with another 27 disposals.

Reigning fairest and best winner George Hampson played his best game so far of 2020 with 22 possessions and a goal while fellow veteran Matt Riggio had 19 touches and eight marks.

Corey Gault was again impressive in the ruck with 18 possessions and 36 hit outs while Frank Anderson had 17 disposals and Josh Cipro 16.

Leigh Kohlmann kicked three goals in attack for Swans from five kicks and five marks.
 

PEEL THUNDER 5.8 (38) lost to SUBIACO 10.15 (75)

Having been accustomed to playing on the big stage against one another, having one win between them coming into Round 5 was a little different for Peel and Subiaco, but in the end the Lions were too strong to stay in the finals race.

Peel and Subiaco did play one another in the WAFL Grand Finals of 2016 and 2017, and naturally because of that there is a long-standing rivalry between the clubs which was reignited on Saturday at Mandurah's David Grays Arena.

This was always going to be a challenging season for the Thunder once they lost access to Fremantle's AFL-listed players and had little opportunity to find replacements but they've still had their moments of competitiveness.

Missing around half their premiership side from last year too, Subiaco hasn’t been able to dominate as they have been used to so far in 2020 and that meant the Lions could have just about fallen from finals contention without a road win on Saturday.

It's fair to say it wasn’t the most attractive opening to the game either with Peel and Subiaco combining for 10 behinds in the first quarter with the only goal coming courtesy of the Lions' Jack Beverley.

It then took almost 13 minutes of the second quarter for the game's second goal and again it was courtesy of Subiaco though Greg Clark with the Lions ending up 17 points on top.

That grew to 24 points when Nick Martin also kicked truly before Peel's lone first half goal came at the 21-minute mark through Kudzi Motsi to bring the half-time margin back to a manageable 18 points.

It took less than a minute then for the Lions to add their fourth goal in the second quarter through Thomas Edwards-Baldwin as their lead grew to 24 points. Max Walters then made it 31 and by three quarter-time it was out to 39 thanks to another from Martin.

It was then three goals apiece in the last term with Subiaco cruising to the 10.15 (75) to 5.8 (38) to remain in the finals hunt and to keep the Thunder winless in 2020.

Nick Martin continues to thrive in his first season of league football with Subiaco kicking another three goals from 15 possessions and eight marks. 

Ben Newton was the other multiple goal scorer with two goals to go with 20 disposals, five inside 50s, three marks and three tackles.

Subiaco captain Leigh Kitchin was brilliant for 28 possessions, eight tackles and eight inside-50 entries while Max Walters returned to the side for 23 disposals, three tackles and a goal.

Sandover Medallist Lachlan Delahunty was terrific too with 18 possessions and 39 hit outs while Wil Hickmott gathered 18 disposals and Greg Clark 17.

Hayden Ballantyne might continue to struggle to find much of the ball for Peel in the forward-line, but he is working hard and kicked another two goals from four kicks and three tackles.

Reigning Peel fairest and best winner Jackson Merrett continued on his way to making it back to back club champion awards with another 21 possessions and five marks.

James Ewing also had 18 disposals and seven marks for the Thunder, Blair Bell 16 possessions and seven marks, Ben Hancock 15 touches and six marks, and Ben Howlett 14 disposals and 12 tackles.
 

PERTH 12.11 (83) lost to WEST PERTH 13.12 (90)

The build-up suggested it had the makings of being a cracking contest with one loss between Perth and West Perth over the opening four rounds, and they didn’t disappoint on Saturday before the Falcons maintained their dominance over the Demons.

Perth came into the game at Lathlain's Mineral Resources Park undefeated from three matches so far in 2020 while West Perth had won three of its four matches with their lone loss coming in a tight affair against the undefeated South Fremantle.

With the fact being that the winner of the game would take a giant step towards locking in a finals spot as well and the stage was set, and what resulted was an outstanding contest.

Milestone man Tyler Keitel started his 100th game for West Perth with the first goal of the contest after less than 20 seconds. Two minutes later and fellow key forward Michael Lourey kicked truly as well to give the Falcons the flying start.

Perth steadied, though, and young gun Logan McDonald and Jack Richardson kicked goals to level scores up, and the Demons went on with it with three more for the first term to Richardson, Marshall Jones and Kieran Delahunty to be up by 19 points at the first break.

If Perth had the momentum going into the break, West Perth soon regained it with five goals in less than 10 minutes with Keitel adding three of them with Kris Shannon and Mitch Peirce booting the other.

Then a few minutes later and Keitel kicked his fifth goal already of the first half to see West Perth turn that 19-point quarter-time deficit into their own 18-point lead in just 12 minutes.

Keegan Knott then kicked another for West Perth shortly before half-time to give the Falcons a 17-point edge at the main break.

The game took another turn to open the third term with two quick goals to Perth from McDonald and Fraser McInnes and before long it was a three-point ball game once again.

The Demons remained within touch still trailing by only seven points at three quarter-time setting up the last term.

A big finish was then truly set up after Brant College kicked a goal for Perth to tie scores up at the five-minute mark.

Keitel then kicked his sixth of the day before Dylan Yem added another to put West Perth 13 points up. Despite Perth getting one back through McDonald, West Perth had done enough to win 13.12 (90) to 12.11 (83).

Remarkably it means that West Perth has now won its last 18 matches against Perth with the Demons still yet to beat the Falcons since 2011, and not on their home ground still since 2004.

Tyler Keitel had a day out in his 100th game for West Perth kicking six goals from 13 possessions while Michael Lourey and Mitch Peirce kicked two goals apiece for the Falcons.

West Perth captain Aaron Black racked up another 29 possessions, Luke Meadows 27, Trent Manzone 24, Blake Wilhelm 20, Dylan Yem 18 and Laine Rasmussen 17. Perth did well to limit Shane Nelson to 15 touches but he still worked hard to lay 11 tackles for the Falcons.

Perth's two main goal kicking options kicked three goals apiece in the form of Jack Richardson and Logan McDonald while Brant Colledge also kicked a pair as he approaches his 100th WAFL appearance.

Andrew Fisher was tremendous for the Demons off half-back providing great run and drive with 22 possessions and 12 inside-50 entries.

Chris Masten also had 22 disposals, Matthew Taylor 22, Austin Davis 20, Brady Grey 18 (eight tackles), Kasey Nicholas 17 and Brent Edmonds 16.

 

EAST PERTH 8.4 (52) lost to CLAREMONT 12.14 (86)

East Perth turned on a scintillating second quarter against Claremont on Saturday to kick seven goals but the Royals kicked only one goal the other three quarters with the Tigers taking advantage to win by 34 points.

The stunning run of football that East Perth produced in the second quarter might very well have been the most exciting period that any team has produced over the opening five rounds of this WAFL season.

The problem was that outside of kicking those seven goals in a period of 25 minutes in the second quarter, the Royals managed one goal in the first quarter and none at all in the second half as Claremont got the points on the back of a more consistent effort.

There was just the one goal apiece kicked in the first quarter but Claremont did move 11 points ahead less than a minute into the second term thanks to a goal from Alec Waterman.

But East Perth turned it around quickly with goals to Eddie Simpson, Jonathan Freeman and Rohan Kerr to go up by six points before Waterman did respond for Claremont to tie scores up again.

That didn’t deter the Royals, though, with Jayden Magro kicking another and then Matthew Young two more in just over a minute. While Charlie Malone kept Claremont in touch, East Perth went into half-time up by 19 points when Freeman booted another.

It was a remarkably dominant second half, though, for Claremont from there as the Tigers held East Perth to just the two behinds while piling on eight goals themselves to come away winning 12.14 (86) to 8.4 (52) to take another step towards the finals in 2020.

Anton Hamp celebrated earning life membership at Claremont by playing his 150th game in style by kicking three goals from 17 possessions and 11 marks.

Alec Waterman also kicked three goals for the Tigers while exciting debutant Charlie Malone kicked two.

Bailey Rogers was outstanding for Claremont off half-back with 22 possessions, seven marks and a goal while Callan England gathered 21 disposals, Kane Mitchell 20, Declan Mountford 19, Jye Bolton 18, Oliver Eastland 18, Ryan Lim 16 and Tyron Smallwood 16.

Jonathan Freeman and Matthew Young kicked two goals apiece for East Perth.

Rohan Kerr collected 20 possessions for the Royals, Jackson Ramsay 19, Angus Schumacher 19, Kye Willcocks 19 and Nick Robertson 14.