Optus WAFL Round 21 WrapMonday, August 30, 2021 - 9:12 PM - by Chris Pike

SUBIACO, South Fremantle and Claremont all won to now occupy the top three positions while losses for West Perth and Swan Districts left them fourth and fifth with one round of the home and away WAFL season remaining.

Round 21 of the 2021 Optus WAFL Premiership Season saw all five matches take place on Saturday afternoon with plenty at stake for the teams fighting for positions inside the top five ahead of the finals while the rest are trying to finish the campaign with some positivity.

By Saturday evening, Subiaco, South Fremantle and Claremont had all but done enough to secure spots in the top three and a finals double chance but the order will still be up for grabs in the final round while West Perth and Swan Districts lost to make it tough for them to finish higher than fourth.

Meanwhile, East Fremantle ended its season in fine form and bid farewell to this version of East Fremantle Oval in style before its redevelopment while Peel Thunder pulled off a stunning turnaround to move out of the wooden spoon hunt, and East Perth bid farewell to a pair of stars.

The first match up on Saturday took place at Mandurah's David Grays Arena with Perth kicking seven of the game's first eight goals but Peel Thunder then kicked the next 10 goals on the way to the 16.10 (106) to 10.3 (63) victory.

It was then the battle of the Leederville Oval co-tenants with Subiaco battling hard to overcome East Perth 12.13 (85) to 11.5 (71) to maintain top spot on the ladder while it was the Royals last game of 2021 with Nathan Blee and Rohan Kerr calling time on their terrific careers.

East Fremantle then made it three consecutive wins to finish their season with some positivity and momentum. The Sharks were incredibly accurate and West Perth the opposite as the home team won 20.3 (123) to 9.23 (77) at New Choice Homes Park.

The two contest featuring two finals bound teams took place at Fremantle Community Bank Oval and Swan Districts snatched the lead for the first time in the game late in the fourth quarter before Mason Shaw kicked the winner for South Fremantle who prevailed 10.16 (76) to 11.5 (71).

The final game of the round took place at Claremont's Revo Fitness Stadium with Claremont thrashing the West Coast Eagles 19.15 (129) to 4.9 (33).

With one round of the season remaining, Subiaco (13-4) remains a game clear on top of the ladder just ahead of South Fremantle (12-5) and Claremont (12-5). The Bulldogs only lead the Tigers by 0.39 per cent.

West Perth (11-6) is fourth and Swan Districts (10-7) fifth while out of the finals race are East Fremantle (8-10), Peel Thunder (6-11), East Perth (6-12), Perth (4-13) and West Coast Eagles (4-13).

OPTUS WAFL PREMIERSHIP SEASON – ROUND 21

PEEL THUNDER 16.10 (106) defeated PERTH 10.3 (63)

It was quite the remarkable game at Mandurah's David Grays Arena on Saturday with Peel Thunder ending up comfortable 43-point winners over Perth.

The Demons came into the game on a nine-game losing streak, but they started nothing like that kicking seven goals to one in the opening quarter.

However, they would only kick two behinds the entire second and third quarter while the Thunder piled on five goals in the second term and five more in the third to turn things around in remarkable fashion.

Peel turned a 37-point deficit into the 43-point victory to make it back-to-back wins for the Thunder, 16.10 (106) to 10.3 (63).

While finals are out of reach for both clubs, Peel now is also out of wooden spoon contention with six wins for the season while Perth should still be safe given their better percentage than the West Coast Eagles.

It would take just about a 100-point loss for Perth to West Perth this Saturday and a 100-point win for the Eagles against South Fremantle for the Demons to slip to bottom spot.

There was plenty to like from the performance of the Thunder after quarter-time with Brayden Lawler and Jack Sears both kicking three goals, and Blair Bell and Ryan Bennell two apiece.

Stefan Giro responded to his delisting from Fremantle during the week with a brilliant performance for Peel made up of 29 possessions, eight inside-50 entries, seven marks, five tackles and a goal.

Mitch Crowden also racked up 29 disposals, Jackson Merrett 25, Tyrone Thorne 23, Ben Hancock 23 and ruckman Lloyd Meek 16 to go with 39 hit outs, five marks, five tackles and a goal.

Fraser McInnes marked his return from a hamstring injury for Perth to kick three goals while Brady Grey and Corey Byrne kicked two goals each. Byrne also had 26 possessions and six tackles, and Grey 19 disposals and seven marks.

Austin Davis continued his strong finish to the season for the Demons with another 26 possessions with Michael Sinclair finishing with 22 touches and six marks, ruckman Jordon Reid 19 disposals and 28 hit outs, and Conor McPartland 13 possessions, four marks and four tackles.

It was an amazing start to the game from the Demons who did come into it on a nine-game losing streak. In the first 10 minutes alone, Brady Grey, Corey Byrne and Fraser McInnes had all kicked goals before Peel did get on the board thanks to Bailey Banfield.

Perth then continued on its remarkable start with goals to Clayton Giblett, McInnes, Byrne, and Grey to close out the first term with seven goals to one and to hold a 37-point lead.

If Perth felt in control of the game at quarter-time, it wouldn’t last long with Peel turning the tide in incredible fashion in the second quarter, starting with a goal to Blair Bell in under a minute to start the term.

Brayden Lawler soon added another for Peel, so did Tyrone Thorne and then Bell kicked a second at the 11-minute mark to bring the Thunder back within 13 points.

Peel got a sixth goal of the quarter through Lloyd Meek but it was Perth still leading narrowly by five points heading into the half-time interval.

The Thunder took the lead with a goal to Jack Sears to open the third quarter before Stefan Giro and Sears again stretched that advantage out to 15 points.

Peel would hold Perth to just the one behind for the second straight quarter while Ryan Bennell and Lawler added goals to see the home team up by 30 points by three quarter-time.

Perth finally kicked its first goal since the opening quarter a couple minutes into the last term through Zac Sanderson. 

McInnes would soon add his third of the day too and Kristian Cary his first but Peel still finished the game the better with the final four goals including a second to Bennell and third to Lawler to record the 43-point victory.
 

EAST PERTH 11.5 (71) lost to SUBIACO 12.13 (85)

Subiaco took another step towards securing the minor premiership with a hard fought win against East Perth on Saturday in the battle of the Leederville Oval co-tenants.

It was the last game of the season for the Royals and they were determined to farewell retiring greats Nathan Blee and Rohan Kerr in style, and they did push the league-leading the Lions the entire way.

Subiaco did enough to secure the 12.13 (85) to 11.5 (71) but East Perth can be proud of the fighting effort they delivered for the four quarters.

East Perth finishes the season on a 6-12 record while Subiaco remains in top spot at 13-4 and just needs to beat Peel Thunder in Mandurah this Saturday to secure the minor premiership and to earn a week's rest in the opening week of the finals.

Lachlan Delahunty was important for the Lions, with 28 disposals and 21 hit outs in a different role to what he has been playing this season.

Chad Harris continued his fine season, gathering 25 disposals and a goal, while backman Hayden Kennedy provided drive from defence with 23 touches of his own.

Max Walters contributed well across half-forward with two goals to go with 14 touches, five marks and four tackles while Ben Sokol and Ben Golding kicked two goals.

Subiaco's defence was superb with Aaron Heal finishing with 19 possessions and six marks, and Jordan Lockyer 18 disposals and eight marks in the absence of Angus Dewar.

Aidan Lynch was tremendous for East Perth with 29 possessions and two goals while Christian Ameduri added 28 touches and two goals. Jayden Magro also kicked two goals.

Wingmen Angus Scott and Rohan Kerr were terrific once again, with 34 possessions and 31 respectively while Mitch Dobson racked up 28 disposals, Kye Willcocks 25, Angus Schumacher 23 and Nathan Blee 22.

East Perth was determined to end its season on a high and started well with that mission by kicking the game's first goal through Mitch Dobson.

Subiaco kicked a string of behinds in response and East Perth maintained a narrow lead when Aidan Lynch kicked truly. Eventually the Lions did find the goals through Nick Martin and then Ben Golding and Ben Sokol did the same to give them a six-point quarter-time lead.

Sokol added another to start the second term to put them up by 12 points but the Royals weren’t going away with Christian Ameduri halving that deficit with one kick.

But the Lions were warming to the task nicely and had opened up a handy edge by half-time to take a 33-point lead into the main break.

Again, East Perth wasn’t lying down and Matthew Young and Lynch kicked the first two goals of the second half to bring the Royals back within 21 points inside the opening four minutes.

The game was then right on at the 16-minute mark of the final term with a second goal to Ameduri to make it a 15-point game. Nick Merritt missed a chance to bring it back within single figures but the Lions maintained a 19-point lead by three quarter-time.

Eddie Simpson got the Royals within 13 to send a real scare into the Lions, but goals to Max Walters and Brandon Matera steadied things and the Lions went on to win 12.13 (85) to 11.5 (71).
 

EAST FREMANTLE 20.3 (123) defeated WEST PERTH 9.23 (77)

The scenes were remarkable to farewell this version of East Fremantle Oval on Saturday with a remarkable accurate East Fremantle defeating a horrible inaccurate West Perth by 46 points.

West Perth dominated every area of the game at New Choice Homes Park with 32 more possessions than East Fremantle, 55 inside-50 entries to 42 and 32 scoring shots to 23, but still the Falcons lost by 46 points.

That was on the back of the kicking on goal of both teams. East Fremantle kicked 20 goals from 23 shots while West Perth managed just nine goals from 32 attempts, and the end result was the 20.3 (123) to 9.23 (77) win for the Sharks against the Falcons.

It was the last game of the season for East Fremantle and they finish with three consecutive wins while also bidding farewell to East Fremantle Oval before it undergoes a significant redevelopment. It was also the first win over the Falcons for Sharks coach Bill Monaghan.

It's a significant result for West Perth who slipped to fourth position as a result and that's now where they are likely to stay and play in an elimination final against Swan Districts to open the finals.

Hugh Dixon showed his prodigious talent again as a key forward for East Fremantle kicking five goals from 14 disposals and nine marks. Tom Monaghan also kicked three goals for the Sharks, Blaine Boekhorst two, Jonathon Marsh two, Ryan Lester-Smith two and Dillon O'Reilly two.

Kyle Baskerville produced the best game of his career for the Sharks with 42 possessions with Michael Tassone finishing with 32 disposals, Luke English 23, Cam Eardley 22, Boekhorst 21, Marsh 20 and Corey Holmes 19.

Down back, Matthew Jupp was tremendous again limiting the impact of Tyler Keitel while Jamie Meade had another 15 possessions.

Aaron Black, Keegan Knott and Tyler Keitel all kicked two goals for West Perth. But it was their behinds that was the story of the day with Sasha Kernutt kicking five of them, Knott four and Nathan Murray two, and another nine players one each.

Four-time fairest and best winner Shane Nelson racked up another 44 possessions for West Perth with captain Aaron Black gathering 32 disposals, Tristan Hobley 27, Steve Potente 27, Nathan Murray 20 and Zac Guadagnin 18.

The trend of the game was virtually summed up in the opening two minutes with Keegan Knott kicking a behind for West Perth and Hugh Dixon a goal for East Fremantle.

By quarter-time, East Fremantle had kicked four goals from five scoring shots while West Perth had kicked nine behinds from their 11 shots with the Sharks taking a four-point lead into quarter-time.

The trend continued in the second quarter with West Perth having eight scoring to just six from East Fremantle, but the Sharks kicked five goals to three and still maintained a 12-point advantage heading into half-time.

It was more of the same in the third term in one of the more remarkable WAFL games you are likely to see. East Fremantle kicked 6.1 in the third quarter with West Perth managing 2.8 and that saw the Sharks extend their lead to 29 points at three quarter-time.

West Perth captain Aaron Black kicked a goal to start the fourth term and suddenly the 23-point deficit looked within reach for the Falcons, but the Sharks didn’t open that door to them.

Dixon slammed it shut with a goal soon after with Ryan Lester-Smith, Tom Monaghan and Corey Holmes doing the same with the Sharks ending their season in style with the 20.3 (123) to 9.23 (77) victory.
 

SOUTH FREMANTLE 10.16 (76) defeated SWAN DISTRICTS 11.5 (71)

South Fremantle and Swan Districts were two finalists locking horns at Fremantle Community Bank Oval on Saturday, and they played out a thriller with the Bulldogs winning by five points.

The Bulldogs and Swans both had plenty to play for with South Fremantle looking well on top leading by 20 points at three quarter-time. But 20 minutes later, Swans had hit the front and put the onus back on the reigning premiers to respond.

It would be stand-in captain Mason Shaw to kick the winning goal for South Fremantle as the Bulldogs prevailed 10.16 (76) to 11.5 (71).

The win means that South Fremantle has now beaten Swan Districts nine straight times and keeps them in second position on the WAFL ladder with a game against the Eagles to finish while Swans stay fifth before finishing away to Claremont.

Nick Suban had a good afternoon for the Bulldogs with two crucial third quarter goals to go with 17 possessions while stand-in skipper Mason Shaw kicked two goals in a good battle with Chris Jones.

The remarkable return from his ruptured Achilles continued for Jake Florenca with last year's South Fremantle fairest and best runner-up delivering 34 possessions in just his second game back in 2021.

Haiden Schloithe was tremendous as well for the Bulldogs with 33 disposals while Tom Blechynden finished with another 25 touches, Jacob Dragovich 22, Zac Dent 22, Chad Pearson 20 and Brandon Donaldson 18.

Down back, Noah Strom was brilliant holding Nathan Ireland to two kicks for the afternoon while having eight touches, four marks and three tackles himself.

Brayden Noble continued his impressive form for Swan Districts with three goals from seven kicks and five marks while Greg Ottaviano was a second half livewire with three goals.

Sam Fisher battled hard in the midfield again for Swans finishing with 24 possessions and five tackles while Jesse Turner finished with 24 disposals, Aidan Clarke 17 (13 tackles) and Jackson Beck 16.

The Swans' back-line stood up well with Chris Jones finishing with 21 disposals and 10 marks in his match up with Mason Shaw while Brandon Erceg had 20 disposals and seven marks opposed to Jimmy Miller, Alex Howard 16 touches and six marks while playing on Brandon Donaldson, and Tony Notte 14 possessions and six marks on Blake Schlensog.

South Fremantle started impressively with two goals inside the opening seven minutes to Blake Schlensog and Manfred Kelly, but Swan Districts was able to work its way into the game and then kick a goal through Aidan Clarke.

However, when Mason Shaw kicked truly just before quarter-time the Bulldogs were in control on top by 12 points.

It took just 10 seconds into the second quarter for Swan Districts to halve that deficit with a goal to Nathan Ireland.

Both teams would trade goals throughout the second term but late goals for Swans to Jesse Palmer and Brayden Noble saw the visitors close the gap on the Bulldogs to just two points by half-time.

South Fremantle started the second half well again with a goal to Nick Suban to extend their lead to double-figures again, but Swan Districts answered courtesy of Greg Ottaviano.

However, the Bulldogs closed the third term strongly with goals to Chad Pearson and another to Suban to take a game-high 20-point edge into three quarter-time.

Swans quickly worked back into the game with a mark and goal near the top of the goal square to Warrick Wilson. Ottaviano then kicked two goals inside two minutes and suddenly Swans were only five points behind the Bulldogs.

Noble then kicked a beauty from outside the boundary deep in the pocket to put Swan Districts in front at the 21-minute mark.

The onus was back on South Fremantle to respond and they eventually did it with stand-in captain Shaw marking truly at the top of the goal square. He went back to kick the goal and South Fremantle secured the 10.16 (76) to 11.5 (71) victory.
 

CLAREMONT 19.15 (129) defeated WEST COAST EAGLES 4.9 (33)

Claremont needed a win and a big one to enhance their prospects of a top three finish, and even a home qualifying final, and the Tigers got exactly that against the West Coast Eagles on Saturday.

Claremont proved far too good for West Coast at Revo Fitness Stadium and it all started with eight goals to nil in the opening quarter before the Tigers recorded the emphatic 19.15 (129) to 4.9 (33) victory.

The win sees Claremont improve to third position on the WAFL ladder to join South Fremantle on a 12-5 record with a game against Swan Districts at home to finish the home and away season with. 

The Tigers just need to make up 0.39 per cent on South Fremantle to nab second spot and earn the rights to hosting the qualifying final the following weekend.

Meanwhile, the Eagles remain last and can only escape the wooden spoon by hammering South Fremantle on Saturday.

There were star performers everywhere on the afternoon for Claremont and it started in the middle with Bailey Rogers unstoppable with 36 possessions, 16 marks and three goals. Jye Bolton also had 41 disposals, nine marks and a goal.

Ryan Lim finished with 29 disposals, Jack Lewsey 28, Declan Mountford 28, Callan England 25 and co-captain Jared Hardisty 21 to go with 10 tackles and a goal.

Then up forward, Isaac Barton kicked a career-best five goals from 11 kicks and nine marks while Alex Manuel kicked four majors, Jack Buller three and Timm House.

It was a rough afternoon for West Coast but Brayden Ainsworth still racked up 33 possessions, Hamish Brayshaw 28, Ben Johnson 24, Xavier O'Neill 23 and Lennon Marlin 18.

It was quite the dominant opening quarter from Claremont and suddenly the Tigers were looking to not only get the crucial four points from the game, but to pick some percentage that could end up earning them second position and a home qualifying final as well.

It was returning co-captain Jared Hardisty who kicked the first goal of the game for the Tigers before Timm House added another with Bailey Rogers, Alex Manuel, Jack Buller, Jye Bolton, Manuel again and then Isaac Barton for the eight-goal to four-behind opening quarter.

Things quietened down on the goal scoring front in the second quarter with just the one goal apiece with Claremont going into half-time with a 53-point advantage.

Claremont got rolling again in the third quarter by kicking five goals to two from the Eagles, and then the Tigers kicked five goals to one in the last to secure the thumping and important 19.15 (129) to 4.9 (33) victory.