Optus WAFLW Round 13 WrapTuesday, June 1, 2021 - 10:10 AM - by Chris Pike

SWAN Districts locked away top spot once and for all in the WAFLW competition while just about ending the finals hopes of East Fremantle on Saturday while Subiaco and Claremont scored crucial victories as well.

Round 13 of the Optus WAFLW Premiership Season took place on the weekend with it being the third last round in the home and away season, meaning time is running out for teams to make their move.

Now with just two rounds remaining before the finals, it's going to take something remarkable for the top four to change with East Fremantle needing to win their final two matches by massive margins, and for Subiaco to lose both theirs.

However, with the Lions in their best form of the season now and still a chance to take third position to earn a home first semi-final, and with the Sharks coming off a tough loss to Swans, that is looking decidedly unlikely.

The Round 13 action in the WAFLW competition got underway on Saturday afternoon at Bassendean's Steel Blue Oval with Swan Districts guaranteeing the minor premiership once and for all with the 3.4 (22) victory against East Fremantle.

Then on Saturday evening at Leederville Oval, it was a rematch of last year's WAFLW Grand Final and it saw Subiaco turnaround that result with the Lions continuing their impressive form with the 5.4 (34) to 2.7 (19) victory.

The round then concluded on Sunday afternoon at Fremantle Community Bank Oval with Claremont returning to the winner's list and securing the finals position with the 6.5 (41) to 1.6 (12) victory against the still winless South Fremantle.

That means that at the end of Round 13 and with two weeks of the home and away season remaining, Swan Districts is clear out on top with a perfect 13-0 record and a massive percentage edge.

Peel Thunder remains second with a 9-4 record and a good percentage but Claremont still remains an outside chance of taking second position with a 7-6 record.

Subiaco sits fourth at 6-7 while East Fremantle is outside a finals position at 4-9 with South Fremantle bringing up the rear at 0-13.

OPTUS WAFLW PREMIERSHIP SEASON – ROUND 13

SWAN DISTRICTS 11.5 (71) defeated EAST FREMANTLE 3.4 (22)

Swan Districts can't do anything but finish on top of the WAFLW ladder now after Saturday's convincing 49-point victory against East Fremantle.

Swan Districts and East Fremantle have long been powerhouses of female football in WA and that has continued into the WAFLW competition with them playing off in the 2019 Grand Final and the first semi-final of 2020.

East Fremantle prevailed in both those match ups but it's a different case in 2021 with Swan Districts the dominant team up to this point and Swans showed their power on Saturday afternoon at Steel Blue Oval.

While Swans were anchored to top spot coming into the contest, the Sharks were still fighting to stay in finals contention but the black-and-whites started impressively with four goals to one in the opening quarter in front of their home fans.

Swan Districts then further rammed home their advantage with two goals to nil in the second term to end up leading by 31 points at the half-time break.

East Fremantle managed to show some fight during the third quarter by kicking two goals but Swan Districts wouldn’t be denied and added three more goals themselves to lead by 38 points at three quarter-time.

Swans then kicked another two unanswered goals in the last quarter to end up beating the Sharks 11.5 (71) to 3.4 (22).

The result means that Swan Districts are now four games clear on top of the WAFLW ladder with a perfect 13-0 record. They are guaranteed of the minor premiership and hosting the second semi-final in three weeks' time with a spot in the Grand Final up for grabs.

The job for East Fremantle has now got all that harder with the Sharks needing to win their last two matches by huge margins and hope Subiaco lose theirs by similarly massive deficits.

Mikayla Hyde ended up kicking three goals for Swan Districts with Abbygail Bushby adding two.

Dana East, Brianna Hyde, Aimee Ralph, Stephanie Cain, Sarah Wielstra and Taylah Edwards all kicked a goal apiece as well for Swans.

Best players in the big win for Swan Districts included Stephanie Cain, Mikayla Hyde, Jessica Cox, Taylah Edwards and Melisha Hardy.

East Fremantle's goals came courtesy of Madeline Ross, Kahra Sprylan and Gabby O'Sullivan.

Philipa Seth, Madeline Ross, Gabby O'Sullivan, Emily Burton and Ashleigh Gomes were among the best players on the afternoon for the Sharks.
 

SUBIACO 5.4 (34) defeated PEEL THUNDER 2.7 (19)

Subiaco continued its late season revival in the WAFLW competition on Saturday evening knocking off the reigning premiers Peel Thunder by 15 points.

Subiaco and Peel met in last year's WAFLW Grand Final with the Thunder claiming the premiership, and for much of the 2021 backing up that the reigning premiers have been looking a flag threat again while the Lions have been struggling.

But in recent weeks Subiaco has been able to turn things around in impressive fashion to move into the top four, and the Lions were able to further consolidate that position with Saturday night's 5.4 (34) to 2.7 (19) victory over the Thunder at Leederville Oval.

It was one scoring apiece in the opening term as the lights took over at Leederville on Saturday night with Subiaco kicking a goal and Peel a behind.

Subiaco added a second goal during the second term as well with the Thunder heading into half-time goalless and with the Lions leading by 10 points.

Peel did manage a goal in the third term and they were close enough to Subiaco with just the nine-point deficit at three quarter-time.

Subiaco closed the door on the game, though, with two goals to one in the last quarter to secure the 15-point win.

Subiaco's five goals all came from individual scorers as Aimee Schmidt, Holly Hyder, Hayley Miller, Jamie Rust and Hayley Corlett all managed a goal apiece.

The best players in the win for the Lions included Hayley Miller, Lara Filocamo, Claire Ortlepp, Aimee Schmidt and Tarnica Golisano.

Ella Roberts and Kate Bartlett were the two goal scorers for Peel on the evening.

Ebony Bilcich, Sabreena Duffy, Chloe Wrigley, Cassie Davidson and Ella Roberts were the best players on the night for the Thunder.
 

SOUTH FREMANTLE 1.6 (12) lost to CLAREMONT 6.5 (41)

Claremont secured its position in the WAFLW finals for 2021 with a comfortable 29-point victory against South Fremantle on Sunday.

Claremont has looked the team slightly vulnerable inside the top four in recent weeks of the WAFLW competition, but the Tigers are now guaranteed of playing finals after beating South Fremantle at Fremantle Community Bank Oval on Sunday.

The Tigers are now three games clear of the fifth placed East Fremantle so with only two games remaining they can't be knocked out of the top four.

Meanwhile, South Fremantle is still searching for a win before ending their second season in the WAFLW competition, and now the e Bulldogs just have two more opportunities to try and make it happen in 2021.

While South Fremantle did kick a goal in the first quarter, Claremont dominated with nine scoring shots of their own to end up kicking four goals and to head into quarter-time leading by 23 points.

South Fremantle actually played well at times over the last three quarters and had more scoring shots than the Tigers managed, but they only kicked the six behind from their opportunities.

Meanwhile Claremont kicked another two goals and that saw the Tigers end up winning 6.5 (41) to 1.6 (12).

South Fremantle's lone goal of the afternoon came courtesy of Lauren Wafker.

Along with Wafker, Ashleigh Little, Aaliyah Ugle, Breanne Spencer and Liusaidh Gilchrist were among the players to fight hard all afternoon for the Bulldogs.

Tessa Doumanis and Amy Franklin kicked two goals apiece in the win for Claremont while Amber Goodwin-Wissink and Katherine Bennett both booted one each for the Tigers.

Best players in the win for Claremont away from home included Brooke Whyte, Sophie McDonald, Amy Franklin, Jessica Low and Ella Smith.