WAFLW Round 1 WrapMonday, February 21, 2022 - 9:48 AM - by Chris Pike

THE 2022 WAFLW season got off to a cracking start across the weekend with South Fremantle winning its first ever match, Claremont making quite the statement and Peel Thunder beating Subiaco in a thriller.

The season couldn’t have possibly got off to a more tantalising start with reigning premiers Peel Thunder unfurling their premiership flag, and beginning their assault on a third straight triumph at home in Mandurah to Subiaco on Saturday evening.

The game didn’t disappoint either with the Thunder coming from behind with the only two goals of the final term to claim the 4.8 (32) to 5.1 (31) win against the Lions. Kira Phillips kicked two goals for Peel and Amy Mulholland two for Subiaco.

History was then always going to be made at Fremantle Community Bank Oval on Sunday with South Fremantle and West Perth both searching for their first ever WAFLW victories.

It was the Bulldogs, in their third season, who proved too strong going on to score the 10.14 (74) to 0.0 (0) victory on home turf against the Falcons who were making their WAFLW debuts.

Noa McNaughton and Ashleigh Reidy kicked three goals apiece for the victorious South Fremantle.

The final game of Round 1 took place at Claremont's Revo Fitness Stadium with the Dhara Kerr Cup up for grabs, and it was Claremont who proved too strong for Swan Districts, winning 8.12 (60) to 1.2 (8).

Sasha Goranova and Tessa Doumanis kicked two goals apiece for the Tigers while Bianca Webb was the lone goal scorer for Swans.

ROUND 1 WAFLW PREVIEW

WAFLW 2022 SEASON PREVIEW

Meanwhile in the two Round 1 WAFLW reserves matches, Subiaco defeated Peel Thunder 4.13 (37) to 2.2 (14) on Saturday at Lane Group Stadium. On Sunday at Revo Fitness Stadium, Claremont downed Swan Districts 6.5 (41) to 2.5 (17).

And in the Youth Girls Rogers Cup action, it got underway on Saturday in Mandurah with Peel Thunder defeating Subiaco 6.9 (45) to 3.1 (19).

Then on Sunday, Claremont beat Swan Districts 10.5 (65) to 5.5 (35), South Fremantle won a thriller 3.9 (27) to 3.5 (23) against West Perth, and East Fremantle downed East Perth 8.4 (52) to 2.7 (19).

WAFLW PREMIERSHIP SEASON – ROUND 1

PEEL THUNDER 4.8 (32) defeated SUBIACO 5.1 (31)

It always loomed as a fascinating way to open up the 2022 WAFLW season and Peel Thunder's clash with Subiaco on Saturday evening certainly didn’t disappoint.

It was a significant occasion for the Thunder too at Lane Group Stadium as they unfurled their premiership flag they won in 2021 and began their quest for what will be a historic premiership hat-trick now in 2022.

However, Subiaco has been a strong force in the first three years of the WAFLW competition despite not quite breaking through for a premiership so the Lions were hungry to start their 2022 season in impressive fashion too.

Add in the natural rivalry between these two teams who also played off in the 2020 Grand Final and the stage was set for a terrific contest.

It was a tight start to the game from both teams as well with a goal apiece in the opening quarter. The Lions, though, were able to slightly pull away with two goals to one in the second term to head into the half-time break leading by four points.

Subiaco further pulled away in the third quarter with the only two goals and they held a more than handy 13-point advantage by three quarter-time.

Peel wouldn't be denied on their big night, though, and in front of their home fans, they kicked the only two goals of the final quarter while holding the Lions scoreless to overrun them to claim the 4.8 (32) to 5.1 (31) victory.

Kira Phillips proved that she's ready to be one of the league's leading goalkickers again in 2022 after kicking two goals and having five shots for Peel from her six kicks for the game.

The Thunder's other goalkickers were Kate Bartlett and Ebonee Hardie.

Ebony Dowson was impressive for Peel as well finishing the evening with 19 possessions and eight marks while Gracie Fenton had 17 disposals, Aisha Wright 16, Jaide Britton 15, Bella Mann 15 and Jade Briggs 15.

Meanwhile, Chloe Wrigley put in a power of work with 16 touches and 12 tackles.

Amy Mulholland kicked two goals for Subiaco with Jayme Harken, Nyra Anderson and Hanna Dethlefsen adding one apiece.

Harken also had 20 possessions and eight tackles to go with her goal for the Lions while Mullholland collected 19 disposals, Tarnica Golisano 19, Lara Filocamo 18 and Helen Taylor 18.
 

SOUTH FREMANTLE 10.14 (74) defeated WEST PERTH 0.0 (0)

It was always going to be an historic occasion one way or another when South Fremantle and West Perth locked horns on Sunday at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.

South Fremantle is entering its third season in the WAFLW competition but still chasing that elusive first victory while West Perth was playing its first ever game having been admitted into WAFLW for 2022.

So history was on the line on Sunday down at the port and it was the experience of having two seasons under their belts that paid dividends in the end for South Fremantle.

It was a rough initiation to the WAFLW competition for West Perth but it didn’t start too badly and they were competitive in the first quarter. South Fremantle did have the only four scoring attempts, but only converted one of those into a goal.

South Fremantle was just warming to the task, though, and wasn’t going to let this opportunity of breaking through for their first ever win slip by. The Bulldogs kicked four more goals in the second quarter and went into the half-time break leading by 35 points.

Things continued in favour of the Bulldogs in the second half beginning with three more goals in the third quarter, and another two in the fourth.

West Perth didn’t manage to score the entire game but they did have their moments of competitiveness to indicate they will have their moments to shine throughout the 2022 season.

However, it was a game to savour for South Fremantle and while they would be happy to win 10.14 (74) to 0.0 (0), they could have potentially won by significant more had they kicked straighter.

Despite the scoreline, West Perth didn’t get as dominated on the stats sheet as going scoreless suggested. South Fremantle finished with 160 kicks to West Perth's 117, 81 handpasses to 67, and they even laid more tackles.

However, ultimately West Perth only went inside their forward 50 once the entire match, South Fremantle went inside theirs 61 times and came away with the 74-point triumph.

Noa McNaughton ended up kicking three goals for South Fremantle as did Ashleigh Reidy while Hunter Cronin added two, and Lauren Wafker and Emily Boothman one apiece.

Reigning fairest and best winner Tahlia Holtze racked up 19 possessions as well for South Fremantle while Wafker was tremendous in the ruck with 19 disposals, 16 hit outs, seven tackles, five marks, five inside-50 entries and the goal.

Captain Lauren Vecchio also collected 19 disposals to go with seven tackles for the Bulldogs with Lauren Gauci gathering 18 touches, Kiara Templeman 17 and Rosie Anderson 17.

There were some hard workers on the day for West Perth as well with Megan Norbury gathering 16 possessions, Karla Stagg 14, Nicole Bombardieri 13, Teal Bennett 12, Jessica Roper 12 and Liliana Grassenis 12.
 

CLAREMONT 8.12 (60) defeated SWAN DISTRICTS 1.2 (8)

Claremont and Swan Districts have a rich rivalry in female football and they resumed hostilities at Revo Fitness Stadium on Sunday afternoon with the Dhara Kerr Cup up for grabs.

Claremont comes into the 2022 WAFLW season looking to go from a team just sneaking into the finals to one that can genuinely compete for the premiership, while Swan Districts dominated much of last season before falling short of Peel Thunder in the Grand Final.

That means motivation levels were high for both the Tigers and Swans to make a winning start to the WAFLW season when they clashed at Revo Fitness Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

It was Claremont who came out ready to make the statement, though, and by half-time they had virtually put the game out of reach of Swan Districts.

The Tigers were able to hold Swans scoreless the entire first half. In that time themselves, they kicked three goals in the first quarter and another three in the second to go into the half-time break with a commanding 40-point advantage.

Swan Districts was able to stem the tide in the third quarter and even hold Claremont to just the three behinds, but couldn’t quite make too many inroads on the scoreboard despite kicking their only goal of the match courtesy of Bianca Webb.

The Tigers took back over in the fourth quarter again holding the black-and-whites scoreless while kicking another two goals themselves on the way to the 8.12 (60) to 1.2 (8) victory.

Sasha Goranova kicked two goals from 16 possessions and four tackles for Claremont with Tessa Doumanis also booting two goals from 11 touches and five marks.

Kate Orme, Ella Smith, Brooke Whyte and Mhicca Carter were the other goal scorers.

Smith racked up 23 disposals for the Tigers, Orme 21, Madeleine Scanlon 14, Mikayla Western 14 and Claire Ortlepp 14.

It was a tough way to start the new season for Swan Districts but Lauren Osborne gathered 14 possessions, Webb 13, Emma Nanut 12, Jaime Henry 11 and Sarah Wielstra 11 to go with 25 hit outs.