Optus WAFL Round 7 WrapMonday, August 31, 2020 - 12:12 PM - by Chris Pike

IF the finals picture appeared to gain some clarity after Round 6 of the 2020 Optus WAFL Premiership Season, it's fair to say it opened up again in Round 7 with Subiaco's win over Perth and East Perth's against Swan Districts keeping the Lions and Royals alive.

Now suddenly with two rounds of the 2020 WAFL season remaining, there are still six teams right in the finals hunt and only the top four to advance setting the stage for a fascinating final two rounds.

Saturday's Round 7 WAFL results kept things wide open in that finals hunt with back-to-back premiers Subiaco keeping themselves in the mix with a 13.12 (90) to 9.10 (64) victory against Perth at Lathlain's Mineral Resources Park.

The other game that saw a team keep themselves in the hunt took place at Leederville Oval with East Perth proving too strong for Swan Districts, winning 11.9 (75) to 6.4 (40).

Saturday's other Round 7 fixtures saw Claremont consolidate third position with a hard fought 10.5 (65) to 9.6 (60) win against East Fremantle at New Choice Homes Park while South Fremantle remained unbeaten overcoming Peel Thunder 9.16 (70) to 5.5 (35) at Mandurah's David Grays Arena.

That means that only South Fremantle now is guaranteed of playing finals in 2020 with the Bulldogs sitting pretty at 6-0 on top of the ladder with a massively superior percentage.

West Perth is also in a good spot at 5-1 and a good percentage but with Subiaco and Eat Perth both capable of getting to five wins still, the Falcons aren't quite guaranteed of anything.

Claremont won on Saturday to improve to a 5-2 record to remain third but the Tigers only have one game to go and that will be a must-win affair potentially this Saturday against West Perth should the Lion s and Royals keep winning.

Perth remains in fourth position at 4-2 and with games against Swan Districts and South Fremantle to go, the only way the Demons can guarantee ending their finals drought of 23 years is by winning both those games.

The Demons could still play finals without winning both, but that will rely on the Lions and Royals losing given their closeness in percentage.

Both Subiaco and East Perth sit just outside the top four with 3-3 records.

Then the teams out of the finals hunt already are East Fremantle (1-5), Swan Districts (1-5) and Peel Thunder (0-7).

OPTUS WAFL PREMIERSHIP SEASON – ROUND 7
PERTH 9.10 (64) lost to SUBIACO 13.12 (90)

All eyes were on Lathlain's Mineral Resources Park to start Round 7 on Saturday to see if Perth could look in a finals spot or if Subiaco could stay in the hunt, and it was the Lions who came away with a strong 26-point win.

The game presented a chance on home soil for the Demons to guarantee themselves a first WAFL finals appearance since 1997 and in the process ending the finals prospects of a Subiaco team chasing a third straight premiership.

But Subiaco has proven time and time again this century why they are the benchmark club in the WAFL and the Lions kept themselves in the finals race on Saturday with the 26-point win where the final scoreline probably flattered the Demons.

Subiaco fielded a stronger line-up on Saturday too with premiership players Rowen Powell, Aaron Heal and Kyal Horsley returning and as the Lions look better on paper, it's only natural their performances improve and that was the case from the outset against the Demons.

Knowing their season was on the line, Subiaco came out and dominated the first quarter with 11 scoring shots to just two from Perth. 

While the Lions didn’t kick as accurately as they would have liked, they still put up four goals to two and went into the quarter-time break in control by 19 points.

Subiaco continued to dominate in the second quarter and kicked another four goals to just one from Perth and that saw the Lions command a match-winning 32-point advantage by the main break.

Both teams added two goals apiece in the third quarter and then Perth did finish the game well with four goals to Subiaco's three in the last quarter, but the Lions were in control all afternoon and went on to score the 13.12 (90) to 9.10 (64).

It was an eighth win in-a-row for Subiaco against Perth with the Lions improving to a 3-3 record on the season to close in on the fourth placed Demons who are now 4-2.

Perth finishes its season with games against Swan Districts and South Fremantle while Subiaco plays East Fremantle and West Perth.

Jakob Atkinson provided Subiaco with a strong target up forward finishing with three goals from 18 possessions and seven inside-50 entries. Rhys Waters and Max Walters kicked two goals apiece as well.

Kyal Horsley showed how sorely he has been missed for Subiaco over the past three games as he showed he has plenty of gas left in his 205-game tank delivering 23 possessions, four marks, four tackles and four inside-50 entries.

Leigh Kitchin also collected 20 disposals for the Lions, Drew Rohde 19, Walters 17 and debutant Liam Hickmott 16 to go with seven tackles and a goal.

Reigning Sandover Medallist Lachlan Delahunty was terrific as well with 19 possessions, 23 hit outs and a goal.

Fraser McInnes kicked three goals for Perth as did exciting young gun Logan McDonald to now have 17 for the season to be leading the Bernie Naylor Medal race.

Second-gamer Nathan O'Driscoll was especially impressive for the Demons with 20 possessions and six tackles while Matthew Taylor collected 20 disposals, Jacob Coniglio 16, Michael Sinclair 15 and Brady Grey 15.
 

PEEL THUNDER 5.5 (35) lost to SOUTH FREMANTLE 9.16 (70)

It was top against bottom, and winless against unbeaten teams when Peel Thunder hosted South Fremantle in Mandurah on Saturday, but the Bulldogs didn’t have it all their own way in an eventual 35-point win.

It was always going to be a big ask for the Thunder to take it up to the Bulldogs in search of their first win of the 2020 WAFL season even if the game was held at David Grays Arena on Saturday afternoon.

Peel has done its best to be competitive this season but losing access to Fremantle's AFL-listed players on the eve of the campaign and with little ability to find replacements was always going to be a significant hurdle, but they again made it a challenge for South Fremantle on Saturday.

Peel came into the game having lost all six of its matches to date in 2020 while South Fremantle had won five straight and was fresh coming off the Round 6 bye.

While South Fremantle had the better of things in the opening quarter, they couldn’t put that advantage on the scoreboard. They struggled mightily in front of goals and ended up kicking only the entire eight behinds for the first term while Peel went into quarter-time scoreless.

And then as so often happens when one team doesn’t take their chances, the other team does up the opposite end and Peel was the first team to score a goal thanks to Blair Bell to open the second term.

Hayden Ballantyne soon added another for Peel and suddenly the home team was up by five points.

South Fremantle continued to miss golden opportunities in front of goal but eventually it was the left-boot of Kyle Russell that saw him find the major opening 16 minutes into the second quarter.

That would be South Fremantle's lone goal of the first half but the Bulldogs still led by a point at half-time and then started to pull away in the third quarter with goals to Haiden Schloithe, Mason Shaw and Shaw again.

That saw the Bulldogs up by 19 points but Peel kept on fighting and two goals back to Jackson Merrett and Ballantyne before three quarter-time made it a nine-point ball game.

It didn’t take long into the final quarter for South Fremantle to put the game beyond doubt though. Goals to Nick Suban and Shaw put the lead out to 23 points.

Then the Bulldogs finished off with three more including defender Jason Maskos' first of the season and a fourth to Shaw to claim the 9.16 (70) to 5.5 (35) victory.

The win all but guarantees South Fremantle will finish on top of the ladder and earn a home second semi-final while Peel remains the only winless team this WAFL season.

Mason Shaw kicked another four goals for South Fremantle from 13 possessions and eight marks to keep himself right in the hunt for the Bernie Naylor Medal.

Jake Florenca produced a best on ground performance for the Bulldogs with 36 possessions, eight marks, six inside 50s and four tackles while Nick Suban collected 21 disposals, Jacob Dragovich 17, Kade Stewart 17, Chad Pearson 17, Dylan Main 17, Steve Verrier 16 and Zac Strom 16.

In the continued absence of ruckman Brock Higgins, South Fremantle unveiled another debutant in the win too and Jacob Warne showed encouraging signs with six possessions, 21 hit outs and two tackles.

Hayden Ballantyne kicked two goals for Peel from four kicks while Peel's other goals came courtesy of Jackson Merrett, Blair Bell and Robert Schindler-Taylor.

Merrett continued his fine form on the wing for the Thunder with another 25 possessions, eight marks and five tackles while Brayden Lawler had 21 disposals, Josh Bootsma 19, Ben Howlett 18, Ben Hancock 18, Matt Bogensperger 18 and Michael Randall 17.
 

EAST FREMANTLE 9.6 (60) lost to CLAREMONT 10.5 (65)

Another week, another narrow defeat for East Fremantle and this time it was Claremont that clung to a crucial five-point win in a game the Tigers simply couldn’t afford to drop.

East Fremantle might only have one win to show for their efforts so far in 2020 but clearly Bill Monaghan's men have taken a further step forward on what they started to build under him in 2019 after a horror 2018.

The Sharks can now add a five-point loss on Saturday to Claremont on home turf at New Choice Homes Park to a four-point loss last week after leading all day up at Joondalup against West Perth, and back in Round 4 they did everything but win against Perth as well in another strong showing.

That's been a significant improvement from the 95-point derby loss in Round 1 to South Fremantle and the Sharks only needed a bit of luck and right now they could be 4-2 and be right in the mix of playing finals in 2020.

But it isn’t to be and it was a game on Saturday that Claremont themselves had to win in terms of their own finals fortunes. Claremont now only has one game remaining which is against the second placed West Perth this Saturday before the bye in the final round. 

The Tigers might still reach finals now even with a loss to the Falcons, but losing to the Sharks would have made it a must-win game so the win in the end meant everyone at Tigerland could take a significant sigh of relief.

Claremont made the flying start looking to bounce back from a loss at home to Perth the previous start. The Tigers kicked the only three goals of the first quarter and went into quarter-time leading East Fremantle by 17 points.

Even though the Sharks got on the board with a couple of goals of their own in the second quarter, the Tigers remained in control kicking three more of their own to head into half-time leading by 22 points.

East Fremantle might have only kicked two goals the entire first half, but they still had belief and while the margin was still 23 points in favour of Claremont by three quarter-time, the Sharks weren’t done with yet.

East Fremantle came storming home and kicked four goals to one in the last quarter, but Claremont was just able to hold on in the finish to record the critical 10.5 (65) to 9.6 (60) victory.

Anton Hamp kicked another three goals for Claremont from five kicks and five marks before leaving the field injured while Alec Waterman also kicked a pair of goals for the Tigers.

Dual Sandover Medallist Jye Bolton was brilliant for Claremont with 29 possessions, 10 marks, six inside-50 entries and two goals as well in a best on ground performance.

Kane Mitchell added 20 disposals, 10 marks and six tackles for the Tigers while Declan Mountford had 19 touches, Bailey Rogers 18, Jared Hardisty 17, Callan England 17 and Oliver Eastland 15 to go with 22 hit outs in the ruck in the absence of Jeremy Goddard.

Ambrose Ryan and Cody Leggett kicked two goals apiece for East Fremantle with Leggett also compiling 24 possessions, four inside 50s, three marks and two tackles.

Tom Bennett finished with 20 possessions for the Sharks, Jordan Snadden 19, Cameron Eardley 19 and Ryan Lester-Smith in his 100th WAFL appearance.
 

EAST PERTH 11.9 (75) defeated SWAN DISTRICTS 6.4 (40)

East Perth kept its WAFL finals hopes alive with a solid performance to beat Swan Districts by 35 points at Leederville Oval on Saturday.

Both the Royals and Swans were coming into the game off wins with East Perth having beaten Leederville Oval co-tenants Subiaco by nine points last week while Swan Districts recorded its first victory of the season against Peel Thunder by 29 points.

So both sides came into the game with a degree of confidence but it was East Perth that still had a potential finals berth to play for and the Royals kept those hopes alive in the finish with the 11.9 (75) to 6.4 (40) victory.

East Perth started well to kick two goals to one in the first quarter to lead by seven points at quarter-time and that became a 16-point advantage by the main break with the Royals kicking two more goals to one in the second term.

Swan Districts got rolling in the third quarter though. Having only kicked two goals in the entire first half, Swans hit some impressive form after the break to come out and kick four goals to two from East Perth to only trail by three points by three quarter-time.

East Perth had to answer the challenge with its season on the line and the Royals delivered one of their most emphatic quarters of the season. 

They held Swans scoreless while kicking five goals themselves to end up winning by 35 points to remain a chance to play finals still if they win their last two games against South Fremantle and Peel Thunder – the undefeated top-placed and winless bottom-placed teams.

Eddie Simpson had a big day in attack for East Perth kicking four goals from seven kicks and six marks while captain Patrick McGinnity was the other multiple goal scorer with two.

Aidan Lynch has been a sensational recruit for East Perth from West Perth and he delivered another 31 possessions, nine tackles, six marks and five inside-50 entries in a best on ground performance on Saturday for the Royals.

Jackson Ramsay racked up another 30 disposals, Angus Scott 28, Kye Willcocks 18, Nathan Blee 18, Matthew Young 18, Rohan Kerr 17 and Jamie Rudrum 17. Scott Jones was dominant in the ruck against Corey Gault too with 43 hit outs.

Nathan Ireland and Leigh Kohlmann each kicked two goals apiece for Swan Districts.

Victorian recruit Sam Fisher was outstanding for Swan Districts racking up 37 possessions while Frank Anderson had it 18 times, Steven Payne 14, Tony Notte 14 and Corey Gault 14 to go with 23 hit outs and seven tackles.