WAFLW Round 8 WrapMonday, April 11, 2022 - 1:53 PM - by Chris Pike

EAST Fremantle and Claremont continue to emerge as the teams to beat this WAFLW season after two more impressive wins in Round 8 on the weekend while South Fremantle showed their continued improvement as well.

Round 8 in the 2022 WAFLW season was spread across Friday to Sunday and by the end of it, South Fremantle had recorded its second ever win while Claremont and East Fremantle had won impressively to maintain their hold on the top two positions.

The Round 8 action got underway at Fremantle Community Bank Oval on Friday night with South Fremantle creating another slice of history by beating Subiaco 8.2 (50) to 1.4 (10).

The Bulldogs celebrated the 100th game of inspirational captain Lauren Vecchio with the win with Poppy Stockwell, Rosie Anderson and Casey Byrne all kicking two goals apiece.

The round continued on Saturday afternoon at Mandurah's Lane Group Stadium with East Fremantle maintaining their undefeated start to the season beating reigning premiers Peel Thunder 6.7 (43) to 1.3 (9).

Marni Alston kicked two goals for East Fremantle in the win and Sharon Wong continued her standout form with 23 possessions and eight tackles.

Then on Sunday at Revo Fitness Stadium, Claremont retained second spot on the ladder by snapping the four-game winning streak of Swan Districts with the 9.6 (60) to 2.6 (18) victory.

Tessa Doumanis kicked four goals in the win for the Tigers with Sasha Goranova and Kobi Nichols picking up 18 disposals apiece.

Following eight rounds of the 2022 WAFLW season, it's East Fremantle still clear on top of the ladder with the perfect 7-0 record after their seventh consecutive win.

Claremont (6-1) sits in second spot ahead of Swan Districts (4-3) and Peel Thunder (3-4) who round out the top four in front of South Fremantle (2-5), Subiaco (2-5) and West Perth (0-6).

Meanwhile in the WAFL Reserves Round 8 matches, East Fremantle defeated Peel Thunder 15.9 (99) to 0.2 (2) at Lane Group Stadium and Claremont defeated Swan Districts 6.4 (40) to 4.3 (27) at Revo Fitness Stadium.

And in Round 8 of the Youth Girls Rogers Cup competition, East Perth defeated Subiaco 4.2 (26) to 3.3 (21) in the battle of the Leederville Oval co-tenants and Peel Thunder defeated West Perth 2.6 (18) to 0.2 (2).

WAFLW PREMIERSHIP SEASON – ROUND 8

SOUTH FREMANTLE 8.2 (50) defeated SUBIACO 1.4 (10)

South Fremantle celebrated a memorable night with a big win against Subiaco on Friday night at Fremantle Community Bank Oval in the 100th game of their captain.

South Fremantle has shown encouraging signs of their improvement in 2022 having already recording their first ever victory in their third season in the WAFLW competition, but that was against the newest team West Perth.

The next step for the Bulldogs was to beat one of the foundation WAFLW clubs and they were able to deliver that on Friday night in what was their best performance in their three years of being part of the competition.

South Fremantle had come close a couple of times to a breakthrough win against Subiaco and on Friday night at Fremantle Community Bank Oval they were ready to make it a reality and notch their second ever WAFLW victory.

South Fremantle then couldn’t have possibly started any better with five goals in the opening quarter in their best ever performance against a team that wasn’t West Perth in their WAFLW history.

It was then a goal apiece in the second quarter but the Bulldogs were in control heading into the half-time break leading by 29 points.

The only goal then kicked in the third quarter went the way of South Fremantle to see their lead grow to 35 points by three quarter-time.

The Bulldogs again kicked the only goal of the final term and that saw them create another slice of history by beating the Lions 8.2 (50) to 1.4 (10).

South Fremantle captain Lauren Vecchio celebrated her 100-game milestone with the Bulldogs in the style not only leading her team to the win, but also finishing with 21 possessions, 12 tackles, three marks and three inside-50 entries herself.

Poppy Stockwell also kicked two goals in the win for the Bulldogs as did Rosie Anderson and Casey Byrne.

Kiara Templeman was outstanding as well for South Fremantle with 23 possessions and four tackles with Anderson adding 15 disposals, eight tackles and six inside-50 entries to her two goals.

Molly O'Hehir continued her good form with another 13 touches with Noa McNaughton finishing with 12 disposals, four marks and a goal. 

Kahra Sprylan also had 12 touches, eight tackles and a goal while Ella Ward stepped up in the ruck in the absence of Lauren Wakfer for 10 possessions, 15 hit outs and five tackles.

Subiaco's lone goal in the game came courtesy of Dahna Lee.

It was a tough evening for the Lions but Jayme Harken finished with 24 possessions, Tarnica Golisano 23, Madizen Wilkins 19, Madison Dodd 15, Liana Burchell 13, Ellie Blackmore 12 and Tess Lyons in the ruck 10 to go with 22 hit outs.
 

PEEL THUNDER 1.3 (9) lost to EAST FREMANTLE 6.7 (43)

East Fremantle once again made a statement of just how tough they are going to stop in the 2022 WAFLW season with a dominant win in Mandurah against Peel Thunder on Saturday.

East Fremantle won the WAFLW premiership in 2019 before Peel won the next two in 2020 and 2021 so that naturally set the stage for a tantalising match up on Saturday afternoon at Lane Group Stadium.

However, the Sharks are yet to taste defeat in 2022 as they attempt to make up for missing the finals last year and they produced another standout performance even on the road to the reigning premiers.

The Thunder and Sharks are the only two teams to have won premierships so far in the WAFLW competition and had already done battle earlier this season, but again it was East Fremantle that got off to a strong start.

The Sharks kicked the only two goals of the opening quarter as they attempted to keep their undefeated start to the season going. They held Peel to just the two behinds in the first term.

Neither team was able to kick a goal in the second quarter and that meant the Sharks were still leading by 14 points at half-time.

Peel was then able to kick its only goal of the contest in the third quarter. That was the only goal either side managed for the term as well and the Thunder were still within touch only trailing the Sharks by eight points at three quarter-time.

East Fremantle dominated the final quarter, though, to stamp out the charge from Peel and to keep its unbeaten streak going.

The Sharks kicked four goals to nothing in the fourth quarter to end up beating the Thunder for a second time this season already, 6.7 (43) to 1.3 (9).

East Fremantle was able to keep its dominant form going to start the season with Marni Alston kicking two goals from six kicks, five marks and four tackles.

Julia Teakle, Larissa Versaci, Mylee Leitch and Tiani Teakle all kicked a goal apiece for the Sharks.

Sharon Wong was again outstanding for East Fremantle with 23 possessions and eight tackles with Beth Beckett finishing with 20 disposals and six tackles, Versaci 18 disposals and six marks, Ashleigh Gomes 18 touches and four tackles, and Leitch 17 touches and five tackles.

Laura Catherine also did well in the ruck finishing with 27 hit outs for the game.

Peel's lone goal for the afternoon came courtesy of Kira Phillips.

Chloe Wrigley continued her good form for the Thunder with another 24 possessions, six marks and five tackles. Ebony Dowson also finished with 23 disposals, Greta McKinley 18, Bailey Molloy 17 and Ebony Bilcich 14.
 

CLAREMONT 9.6 (60) defeated SWAN DISTRICTS 2.6 (18)

Claremont returned to action following the bye and picked up from where they left off with another emphatic performance against Swan Districts at Revo Fitness Stadium on Sunday.

Claremont did drop to second spot by having the bye last week falling behind East Fremantle courtesy of that lone loss of the season for the Tigers against the Sharks, but there were again impressive on Sunday.

For the second time already this season the Tigers proved themselves too strong for Swans to retain second place on the WAFLW ladder and to keep the pressure on East Fremantle to keep winning.

Claremont was coming off the bye and having won five of their six matches this season while Swan Districts was on a four-match winning streak so this always loomed as a fascinating contest between two form teams.

However, the Tigers dominated the opening quarter with seven scoring shots to one, and three goals to one to head into the quarter-time huddle leading by 16 points.

Things dried up for both teams in the second term with just the three combined scoring shots, but the only goal went the way of Claremont and that saw the home team take a commanding 22-point advantage into the break at half-time.

Claremont then really dominated the third quarter to put the result beyond doubt with five goals. Swan Districts did manage their second of the game but the Tigers' lead had grown to 45 points by three quarter-time.

Neither team managed a goal in the last quarter but Claremont cruised to the 9.6 (60) to 2.6 (18) victory.

It was another significant victory for Claremont like all six of their wins this season have been to ensure they maintain clearly the biggest percentage across the competition.

Tessa Doumanis was tremendous taking her chances up forward on Sunday kicking four goals from seven kicks to go with four tackles.

Eva Campo also kicked two goals for the Tigers with Ella Smith, Claudia Wright and Claire Ortlepp kicking one apiece.

Claremont had a whole heap of solid contributors to the win too with Sasha Goranova finishing with 18 possessions and seven tackles. Kobi Nichols gathered 18 disposals, Madeleine Scanlon 17, Sara Garstone 15 and Rachel Ortlepp 14.

Matilda Dyke was impressive in the ruck with 14 possessions, 22 hit outs and seven tackles while Claire Ortlepp finished with 14 touches, Katherine Benett 13, Brooke Hongell 13, Ella Smith 12 and Sarah Viney 12 to go with 12 tackles.

Courtney Zappara and Sophie Proudfoot were the goal scorers for Swan Districts.

Amber Ugle-Hayward collected 17 possessions in the loss for Swans while Isabella Edgley picked up 17 disposals, Aimee Ralph 16, Ruby Mahony 12 and Demi Liddle 12.

Sophie Proudfoot battled hard in the ruck for 13 possessions, 13 hit outs and the goal.