WAFLW Round 3 WrapTuesday, March 8, 2022 - 8:27 AM - by Chris Pike

EAST Fremantle joined Peel Thunder as the only two remaining undefeated teams this WAFLW season with Round 3 victories while both Subiaco and Swan Districts also broke through for their first victories of the new campaign.

The Round 3 action in the WAFLW competition got underway at Fremantle Community Bank Oval on Friday night and that saw Subiaco notch their first win of 2022 by defeating South Fremantle 5.6 (36) to 2.5 (17).

The other two matches of Round 3 took place on Sunday afternoon beginning with a first win of 2022 for last year's minor premiers and Grand Finalists, Swan Districts. They defeated West Perth 15.8 (98) to 1.3 (9) at Steel Blue Oval.

To close out the round, East Fremantle remained undefeated and handed Claremont its first loss of the season with the 4.4 (28) to 4.2 (26) victory at Revo Fitness Stadium.

Meanwhile in Round 3 of the WAFLW Reserves competition, Swan Districts scored a big victory against Peel Thunder, winning 12.11 (83) to 1.0 (6). Claremont also had a strong win against East Fremantle 5.10 (40) to 1.4 (10).

And in the Youth Girls Rogers Cup competition, the action got underway on Friday evening at Fremantle Community Bank Oval with South Fremantle defeating Subiaco 6.6 (42) to 3.1 (19).

The other three matches all took place on Sunday with East Fremantle defeating Claremont 13.17 (95) to 3.0 (18), West Perth beating Swan Districts 5.4 (34) to 4.4 (28), and Peel Thunder downing East Perth 11.13 (79) to 2.1 (13) at Mandurah's Lane Group Stadium.

WAFLW PREMIERSHIP SEASON – ROUND 3

SOUTH FREMANTLE 2.5 (17) lost to SUBIACO 5.6 (36)

South Fremantle and Subiaco opened Round 3 in the WAFLW competition under lights on Friday night with the Bulldogs looking for a second win already of 2022, and the Lions a first.

Subiaco had been unlucky to lose on the siren to Peel Thunder back in Round 1 and then suffered a big loss to Claremont last Sunday at home, so the Lions arrived at Fremantle Community Bank Oval determined to get their 2022 season back on track after those two losses.

However, it was never going to be easy against a vastly improved South Fremantle team who had already won their first ever WAFLW game back in Round 1 and then put in a competitive effort against the reigning premier Peel last Saturday night.

That set the stage for what was to be an intriguing battle on Friday night at Fremantle Community Bank Oval, and it was Subiaco who shot out of the blocks ready to make a statement in the opening quarter chasing that first victory of 2022.

Subiaco kicked four goals in the first quarter alone and held South Fremantle to just the one behind to be leading by 25 points at quarter-time.

Neither team was able to score a goal in the second quarter with the Lions still leading by 23 points by half-time.

South Fremantle was able to kick the only goal of the third quarter and then it was a goal apiece in the last term, but Subiaco had done all the damage in that first term onslaught to end up winning 5.6 (36) to 2.5 (17).

South Fremantle had its chances, though, throughout the evening highlighting their improvement this season. The Bulldogs had nine more inside-50 entries than the Lions but could only convert those 33 forays forward into two goals on the evening.

Subiaco's goals came courtesy of Amy Mulholland, Amy Hunt, Jess Ritchie, Nyra Anderson and Hanna Dethlefsen.

Tarnica Golisano put together an impressive performance for Subiaco with 23 possessions, eight inside-50 entries, six tackles and four marks.

Liana Burchell also gathered 19 disposals, Madison Dodd 18, Ellie Blackmore 15 and Scout McCormack 15.

South Fremantle's two goals on the night were kicked by Noa McNaughton and Ella Ward.

Tahlia Holtze collected 18 possessions for South Fremantle to continue her standout form to start the season to go with seven tackles and five entries inside the forward 50.

Lauren Gauci also picked up 17 disposals for the Bulldogs, Casey Byrne 17, Kiara Templeman 15 and Jess Verbrugge 13.

Lauren Wakfer continued her brilliant start to the season too with 15 touches, 20 hit outs, five marks, five tackles and three inside-50 entries.
 

SWAN DISTRICTS 15.8 (98) defeated WEST PERTH 1.3 (9)

Both Swan Districts and West Perth came into Sunday's Round 3 WAFLW clash at Steel Blue Oval chasing their first wins of the 2022 season.

Swan Districts is coming off reaching the Grand Final last year having claimed the minor premiership on the back of just one loss during the home and away season, but so far their start to 2022 hasn’t gone to plan.

The black-and-whites suffered first up losses in the opening two rounds to Claremont and East Fremantle meaning they were determined to bounce back on Sunday at home to the new competition's newest team, West Perth.

The Falcons made their debut in the WAFLW competition with a loss to South Fremantle at Fremantle Community Bank Oval back in Round 1 before the bye last weekend, so they returned on Sunday for their second ever appearance.

West Perth was still chasing its first score in the WAFLW competition too and while that did come in the first quarter on Sunday with a behind, Swan Districts started well with the only two goals to lead by 13 points at quarter-time.

Swan Districts then kicked away further in the second quarter with four goals to just two behinds from West Perth to see the black-and-whites take a commanding 36-point advantage into the half-time interval.

Swans continued on with their impressive form in the third quarter by keeping the Falcons scoreless and kicking another four goals themselves to open up a 64-point lead by three quarter-time.

While Swan Districts did continue on its merry way with five more goals in the last term, it was a historic occasion for West Perth as they managed their first ever WAFLW goal courtesy of Jess Roper.

But Swans opened their account in the end for 2022 with the 15.8 (98) to 1.3 (9) victory.

Ashley Sharp celebrated her 100th game with Swan Districts in style by kicking three goals in the win to go with 12 possessions and four marks.

Bethany Bond also kicked three goals for Swans with Tara Stribley adding two, Taylah Edwards two, Abbygail Bushby two and one each to Tyla Fitzgerald, Charli Wickstreed and Sonia Dorizzi.

Swan Districts captain Jess Cox had a massive afternoon as she led her team to the victory for the first time on the back of 27 possessions, six marks and four entries inside the forward 50.

Ruby Mahony also gathered 18 disposals, Shanae Davison 18, Stribley 17, Jaime Henry 17, Demi Liddle 17 and Wickstreed 17.

As well as Jess Roper kicking West Perth's first ever WAFLW goal, Kayla Van Den Heever collected 17 possessions, Kaitlyn Roper 16, Nicole Bombardieri 12, Jaymee Duke 11 and Jeevna Heer 11.
 

CLAREMONT 4.2 (26) lost to EAST FREMANTLE 4.4 (28)

Two undefeated teams so far this WAFLW season locked horns at Revo Fitness Stadium with Claremont and East Fremantle out to keep their winning form to start 2022 going.

Claremont had opened the new season on fire with big wins against Swan Districts and Subiaco so the Tigers were full of confidence coming into this clash on home turf on Sunday.

However, the Sharks have high hopes of returning to finals action this year after missing out in 2021 and after the opening round bye, they started impressively last week with a win against Swan Districts as well.

That set the stage for a tremendous battle and it sure didn’t disappoint.

East Fremantle got the better of the early stages and kicked two goals to one in the first quarter to hold a seven-point advantage by quarter-time.

Claremont turned that around in the second term with the only two goals and courtesy of holding East Fremantle scoreless, the Tigers took a five-point lead into half-time.

The Sharks turned things back in their favour with the breeze behind them in the third quarter, kicking two more goals to just one behind from the Tigers to hold a handy seven-point edge at three quarter-time.

That proved a match-winning lead too and while East Fremantle didn’t manage to score in the final quarter, Claremont could only manage one goal for the Sharks to hold on for the 4.4 (28) to 4.2 (26) victory.

The win keeps East Fremantle undefeated this season with two wins from two games and Mylee Leith kicked two goals with one apiece to Kellie Gibson and Tayla Bresland.

Sharon Wong finished with 16 possessions and 12 tackles with Gibson gathering 15 disposals, Beth Beckett 14 and Ashleigh Gomes 14.

Claremont suffered its first defeat of the season but Ella Smith kicked two goals with one each to Emily Elkington and Eva Campo.

Meanwhile, Adele Arnup was impressive in the ruck with 13 possessions and 20 hit outs while Claire Ortlepp gathered 21 disposals, Sasha Goranova 17, Katherine Bennett 16 and Kate Orme 13 to continue her impressive early season form.