WAFLW Preliminary Final WrapMonday, June 27, 2022 - 3:16 PM - by Chris Pike

CLAREMONT booked in its place in the 2022 WAFLW Grand Final by winning Sunday's preliminary final against Swan Districts by 18 points.

Claremont hosted Swan Districts in the preliminary final on Sunday at Revo Fitness Stadium with the two teams playing for the right to take on East Fremantle in the Grand Final.

The Tigers proved too strong ending up winning 6.9 (45) to 4.3 (27) to move through to the Grand Final and to end the season of Swans in the process.

That means that Claremont will now take on the undefeated East Fremantle in this Saturday's Grand Final also at Revo Fitness Stadium.

Meanwhile, preliminary final day started at Revo Fitness Stadium with the Youth Girls Rogers Cup contest which saw Peel Thunder defeat South Fremantle 5.11 (41) to 2.7 (19) to move into the Grand Final which will also be against East Fremantle.

The WAFLW Reserves preliminary final was then to follow with Claremont also advancing to the Grand Final against East Fremantle with the 4.8 (32) to 3.5 (23) victory against Swan Districts.

That means that the three Grand Finals on Saturday at Revo Fitness Stadium will see East Fremantle play Peel Thunder in the Rogers Cup while both the Reserves and WAFLW League contests will be between East Fremantle and Claremont.

WAFLW FINALS SERIES – PRELIMINARY FINAL

CLAREMONT 6.9 (45) defeated SWAN DISTRICTS 4.3 (27)

It was a fascinating WAFLW preliminary final at Revo Fitness Stadium but in the end it was Claremont who had a dominant second half to end up beating Swan Districts by 18 points.

Swan Districts was attempting to win its way into a third WAFLW Grand Final of the last four years and while they were away from home and Claremont had put together a standout season, the black-and-whites were tremendous in the first half.

Swans kicked four goals to one in the first half and led by 15 points at half-time, but Claremont took over from there with the only five goals of the second half.

That saw Claremont secure the 6.9 (45) to 4.3 (27) victory and a spot in the Grand Final on Saturday against East Fremantle also at Revo Fitness Stadium.

The Grand Final spot was on the line when the game started on Sunday afternoon at Revo Fitness Stadium and while Claremont had the first couple of shots on goal, it was Swan Districts who kicked the first goal.

That came courtesy of Taylah Edwards at the 16-minute mark of the opening quarter before Claremont immediately responded thanks to Katherine Bennett.

Swans added their second before quarter-time, though, when Tara Stribley kicked truly and that saw last year's Grand Finalists lead by four points at the first change.

The prospects of Swan Districts getting to a second straight WAFLW Grand Final then became a distinct possibility with the black-and-whites kicking the first two goals of the second quarter thanks to Courtney Zappara and Hope Ugle-Hayward.

That saw Swans leading by 17 points and they still led by 15 at the main break having held Claremont to just the one goal in the entire first half.

Claremont needed to respond coming out of the main break if they still wanted to reach their first WAFLW Grand Final. 

While the Tigers did miss their first couple of shots in the third quarter, a goal to Bennett at the seven-minute mark brought the margin back to seven points.

Then shortly before three quarter-time the Tigers got their third goal of the game thanks to Brooke Whyte and that means scores were all square with a quarter to play and the Grand Final spot up for grabs.

Claremont then dominated the last quarter starting with a goal to Sarah Garstone that saw them grab the lead.

Ella Slocombe kicked another at the 13-minute mark and then Mikayla Western kicked truly to close the game to give Claremont the 6.9 (45) to 4.3 (27) win to guarantee them a spot in the Grand Final against East Fremantle.

Katherine Bennett was the only multiple goal scorer in the game kicking two for Claremont from nine kicks and four entries inside the forward 50.

Jasmin Stewart was the leading ball winner on the ground with 20 possessions and five tackles for Claremont.

Kate Orme also gathered 18 touches for the Tigers, Madeleine Scanlon 17, Slocombe 16 and Mhicca Carter 15.

Claremont's other goals were kicked by Mikayla Western, Sarah Garstone, Brooke Whyte and Ella Slocombe.

Swan Districts' goals came from Tara Stribley, Courtney Zappara, Taylah Edwards and Hope Ugle-Hayward.

Ruby Mahony finished with 18 possessions, four marks and four tackles for Swans while Isabella Edgley gathered 15 touches, Jaime Henry 14, Natalie House 13 and Demi Liddle 13 to go with 12 hit outs, four marks, four tackles and three inside-50 entries.