WAFL Team of Round 12Wednesday, June 30, 2021 - 12:05 PM - by Chris Pike

IT was a thrilling Round 12 in the WAFL with nail-biting wins for Swan Districts, East Perth and West Perth while South Fremantle and the West Coast Eagles were also victorious with plenty of players impressing across the board.

It was a remarkable situation where with all games played in the same Saturday afternoon time slot in Round 12 of the 2021 Optus WAFL Premiership Season that that three of the five games had one-point margins with time running out in the last quarter.

It set the stage for heroes to be made and for some cracking finishes including Swan Districts holding on against Subiaco to snap their 12-game losing run against the Lions with the 7.12 (54) to 8.5 (53) victory at Leederville Oval.

East Perth also stormed home to overrun Peel Thunder to win consecutive games for the first time in 2021 as the Royals prevailed 13.10 (88) to 12.9 (81) at Mandurah's David Grays Arena.

West Perth was then able to kick the last two goals of the game to beat Claremont 10.10 (70) to 8.8 (56) at Joondalup's Provident Financial Oval to make it three straight wins and snap the Tigers' four-game winning run.

South Fremantle then snapped their four-game losing run against Perth despite being the reigning premiers by producing a strong showing to down the Demons 15.5 (95) to 8.13 (61) at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.

The West Coast Eagles then also made it consecutive wins for the first time this season by beating East Fremantle 15.9 (99) to 6.12 (48) at New Choice Homes Park.

The results mean that 12 rounds into the WAFL season, Claremont remains a game clear on top of the ladder at 8-2 in front of Subiaco (7-3) and South Fremantle (7-3).

West Perth (6-4) is in fourth position with Swan Districts (6-4) rounding out the top five in front of East Fremantle (4-6), Perth (4-6), Peel Thunder (3-7), East Perth (3-7) and West Coast Eagles (2-8).

PLAYER OF THE ROUND – JACKSON RAMSAY (East Perth)
The East Perth captain made a welcome return from injury on Saturday against Peel Thunder and ended up playing a crucial role in the come from behind victory in Mandurah.

On the back of brilliant seasons in 2019 and 2020 for the Royals, plenty was expected of Ramsay coming into 2021 as captain and he started well back in Round 2 with 28 possessions against Peel.

But he suffered a knee injury and was stuck on the sidelines until making his return on Saturday in Mandurah against the Thunder and he had a big say in the finish in the Royals winning consecutive matches for the first time in 2021.

The Royals skipper delivered 32 possessions, nine inside-50 entries and six marks in a tremendous display on return from his layoff. His day could have been even bigger had it not been for the three behinds but it already was enough to lead East Perth to the seven-point road win over Peel.

After he missed virtually all of 2018 when he returned to the Royals from Collingwood after rupturing his ACL, his last two years were outstanding.

He confirmed himself one of the best players in the competition and was named to the WAFL Team of the Year in both seasons while claiming back-to-back FD Book Medals as the East Perth fairest and best winner.

Ramsay became the first player since the legendary Peter Spencer in 1975 and 1976 to win back-to-back fairest and best awards at East Perth without sharing it in either season with one or more teammates.

That highlights what a significant achievement it is for Ramsay to make it two club champion awards in-a-row. But now he is back in 2021 and is firmly focused on trying to keep the Royals in the mix still for a finals push in the second half of the season.

Players of the Round
Round 1 – Josh Schoenfeld (East Fremantle)
Round 2 – Sam Fisher (Swan Districts)
Round 3 – Greg Clark (Subiaco)
Round 5 – Haiden Schloithe (South Fremantle)
Round 6 – Tyrone Thorne (Peel Thunder)
Round 7 – Keegan Knott (West Perth)
Round 8 – Jye Bolton (Claremont)
Round 9 – Tyler Keitel (West Perth)
Round 10/11 – Jonathon Marsh (East Fremantle)
Round 12 – Jackson Ramsay (East Perth)

BACK POCKET – JASON MASKOS (South Fremantle)
The South Fremantle premiership small defender was likely given the biggest defensive job against Perth on Saturday to try and limit the influence of Demons forward Kristian Cary, and he did a tremendous job. He held Cary to just one goal while having 16 disposals, eight marks and three tackles himself.

FULL-BACK – BRANDON ERCEG (Swan Districts)
He has become an important member of the Swan Districts back-line and he was particularly influential in Saturday's eventual one-point win against Subiaco at Leederville Oval. Not only did well in his own match ups defensively, but was often the third man up to help his teammates including Alex Howard on Ben Sokol. Also finished with 19 possessions and seven marks.

BACK POCKET – ZAC GUADAGNIN (West Perth)
Remains one of the best and most in-form defenders of the competition and produced another standout performance in Saturday's narrow win against Claremont Provident Financial Oval. Finished the game with 27 disposals and nine marks while also being outstanding with his defensive efforts.

HALF-BACK FLANK – CHAD PEARSON (South Fremantle)
The premiership defender continues to improve and grow, and he's turning himself into one of the best and most versatile backmen in the competition. He can play some lockdown roles and do well spoiling the opposition, but is also outstanding at attacking out of the back-line and had another 31 touches and eight marks in Saturday's win against the Demons.

CENTRE HALF-BACK – TONY NOTTE (Swan Districts)
For Swan Districts to only concede eight goals to Subiaco from their 44 inside-50 entries was a big part in the win in the end for the black-and-whites, and he played a big part in it with his ability to play interceptor at centre half-back. Ended up taking eight marks for 13 possessions to go with 13 tackles in the 255th game of his remarkable WAFL career.

HALF-BACK FLANK – BLAKE SCHLENSOG (South Fremantle)
What a recruit he has turned out to be for South Fremantle and he has slotted right into centre half-back with the reigning premiers tremendously. His ability to mark opposition attacks inside their forward 50 could very well be the best in the competition and he's good at setting up play going the other way too. He had another 22 touches, six marks and three inside-50 entries in the win against Perth.

WING – JESSE TURNER (Swan Districts)
He has turned himself into one of the most important and consistent performers in the midfield for Swan Districts. He was tremendous up against Subiaco on Saturday and played a big role in the one-point victory with his 27 possessions, eight marks, two tackles and two entries inside the forward 50.

CENTRE – AARON BLACK (West Perth)
The West Perth captain continues to be a major factor in West Perth's impressive form of having won five of their past six matches now, and he was tremendous in Saturday's thrilling home win against Claremont. In his 212th game, he finished up with 34 touches, 12 tackles, nine marks and six inside-50 entries.

WING – BLAINE BOEKHORST (East Fremantle)
The East Fremantle wingman and running machine might have been fighting against the tide a lot of the game on Saturday with the Sharks losing to the West Coast Eagles, but he couldn’t have done much more individually. He ended the afternoon with 31 disposals, 13 marks and a goal.

HALF-FORWARD FLANK – ZAC LANGDON (West Coast Eagles)
Showed that if a spot opens up in the West Coast AFL team that he's in good enough form to step straight up after a strong showing in Saturday's win against East Fremantle. He put together an impressive four-quarter performance to finish with 20 possessions, six marks and three goals.

CENTRE HALF-FORWARD – EDDIE SIMPSON (East Perth)
The East Perth big man had a fascinating duel with Peel Thunder's Will Schofield for much of the first three quarters, and in fairness did lower his colours. But he stuck to his task and turned match-winner when Schofield left the field and ended the game with 16 disposals, nine marks and two goals – including the match-sealer to close the game in Mandurah.

HALF-FORWARD FLANK – CONNOR BLAKELY (Peel Thunder)
The Fremantle-listed midfielder showed that he's certainly fit and firing, and ready to go if given a call up to the Dockers' AFL team. He was outstanding in the midfield for Peel against East Perth and also got forward to kick goals in a strong all-round showing made up of 27 touches, four inside 50s, three tackles and two goals.

FORWARD POCKET – MANFRED KELLY (South Fremantle)
In just the fifth game of his burgeoning league career and grabbing his chances on Saturday with South Fremantle missing Brandon Donaldson along with Matthew Parker in attack, he produced the best performance so far. The exciting small forward continues to work hard in the forward-line and was rewarded on Saturday with three goals from 14 disposals, four marks and four tackles.

FULL-FORWARD – MASON SHAW (South Fremantle)
The reigning Bernie Naylor Medallist had a rare goalless performance two weeks ago in a South Fremantle loss to East Perth, but he was back as a dangerous threat in attack for the Bulldogs against Perth on Saturday. While captaining the team in the absence of Dylan Main, he kicked four goals from seven kicks and six marks to now have 28 goals on the season to be just four behind Tyler Keitel.

FORWARD POCKET – JAYDEN MAGRO (East Perth)
He might not win a lot of the football but generally when he does win it, he makes the most of it especially on his damaging left boot. He is becoming a cult figure at the Royals with his mullet haircut and he is also becoming a match-winning on that lethal left foot and he kicked another four goals in the win over the Thunder from nine kicks, four tackles, three marks and two inside-50 entries.

RUCK – OLIVER EASTLAND (Claremont)
The Claremont ruckman has been given the responsibility as the Tigers' No. 1 big man this year and he continues to thrive on the responsibility even if at times he is giving up a bit of size and bulk. That wasn’t the case against West Perth on Saturday and he delivered 22 touches, 39 hit outs, four marks, three tackles and two inside 50s as a result.

RUCK ROVER – LEIGH KITCHIN (Subiaco)
Subiaco might have suffered back-to-back losses for the first time this season, but the captain couldn’t have done much more than to try and will them over the line against Swan Districts. He was tremendous for the Lions with 25 disposals, eight tackles, six marks, three inside-50 entries and a goal.

INTERCHANGE – MARK HUTCHINGS (West Coast Eagles)
Continued his terrific form in the WAFL for the West Coast Eagles and it does appear only a matter of time before he earns a recall into the AFL team. He certainly couldn’t be doing any more to earn that recall and he was best afield in the win against East Fremantle with 26 touches, nine tackles, six inside 50s, five marks and a goal.

INTERCHANGE – LLOYD MEEK (Peel Thunder)
The Fremantle-listed ruckman continued his strong form in the WAFL for Peel on Saturday up against East Perth pair Scott Jones and Ajang Ajang. He proved to be the best big man on the field despite East Perth coming away with the win and he finished with 21 disposals, 30 hit outs, five marks and three tackles.

INTERCHANGE – ANGUS SCOTT (East Perth)
The prolific ball winning East Perth wingman continued his impressive form as the Royals won back-to-back games for the first time this season with Saturday's win in Mandurah over Peel. He was instrumental in that result by delivering 29 touches, six marks and four entries inside the forward 50.

INTERCHANGE – BEN EDWARDS (Claremont)
He is having a big year already with Claremont having played in the WAFL State Team and the Tigers wingman was in fine form once again out on the wide spaces at Joondalup against the Falcons. Ended the afternoon with 25 possessions, six tackles, four inside 50s and three marks.
 

UNLUCKY BUNCH
There were plenty of players who delivered tremendous performances across Round 12 but couldn’t quite fit into the Team of the Round, including:

South Fremantle's Cody Ninyette, Tom Blechynden and Nick Suban.

Perth's Michael Sinclair, Brady Grey, Austin Davis and Brant Colledge.

Subiaco's Harry Marsh, Lachlan Delahunty, Chad Harris, Liam Hickmott, Brandon Matera and Greg Clark.

Swan Districts' Josh Cipro, Sam Fisher, Frank Anderson and Mitchell Bain.

Peel Thunder's Nathan O'Driscoll, Tobe Watson, Jarvis Pina, Stefan Giro, Bailey Banfield and Will Schofield.

Esat Perth's Angus Schumacher, Stan Wright, Rohan Kerr, Nathan Blee and Christian Ameduri.

West Perth's Shane Nelson, Tristan Hobley, Nathan Murray, Tyson Moulton, Dean Munns and Mitch Peirce.

Claremont's Jye Bolton, Jared Hardisty, Declan Mountford, Ryan Lim and Bailey Rogers.

East Fremantle's Kyle Baskerville and Morgan Davies.

West Coast Eagles' Alex Witherden, Xavier O'Neill and Jamaine Jones.