WAFL Team of the Week – Round 10Tuesday, June 28, 2022 - 4:05 PM - by Chris Pike

THERE were career best performances from captains in Round 10 of the 2022 WAFL season, another league record matched and plenty of stars delivering showings making them hard to ignore in the Team of the Week.

The Saturday afternoon Round 10 WAFL action saw East Fremantle bounce back with a hard earned 12.16 (88) to 12.5 (77) victory against Peel Thunder at the WACA Ground.

Swan Districts then booked itself back in the top five on the back of dominating Subiaco after half-time to win 16.8 (104) to 7.11 (53) at Bassendean's Steel Blue Oval.

East Perth snapped its losing run and ended the winning streak of Claremont at the same time with their best performance of 2022 to win 10.12 (72) to 6.10 (46) at Leederville Oval to honour their 20-year premiership anniversary celebrations.

West Perth held Perth goalless in the first half on the way to an eventual 17.10 (112) to 7.9 (51) victory at Lathlain's Mineral Resources Park.

The second half of the Lathlain double-header then saw West Coast snap its 13-game losing streak by beating South Fremantle 13.12 (90) to 7.7 (49).

Once again there were no shortage of standout performances across the five matches in Round 10 of the WAFL who were putting their hands up for selection in the Team of the Week.

That included a career-best 47 possessions from Swan Districts vice-captain Jesse Turner, Harry Edwards taking an equal WAFL record equalling 23 marks for West Coast and Aaron Black kicking four goals for the first time in his remarkable WAFL career.

Nic Naitanui also made a stunning return in limited minutes for the Eagles with his former Eagles teammate Mark Hutchings producing a terrific comeback with West Perth while Angus Schumacher dominated for East Perth and Blaine Boekhorst was brilliant for East Fremantle.

Angus Dewar, Brandon Erceg and Joel Hamling were among those to produce strong defensive performances as well with a whole host of players impressive across the five matches in Round 10 of the WAFL.

PLAYER OF THE ROUND – AARON BLACK (WEST PERTH)

There's precious little that West Perth co-captain Aaron Black hasn’t done in his remarkable 230-game WAFL career, but he hadn’t kicked four goals in a game up until Saturday.

Black had kicked 90 goals in 230 games coming into Saturday's clash with Perth at Lathlain's Mineral Resource Park, but never had he kicked more than three majors in one match.

He had kicked three goals twice previously against Perth at the same venue back in 2015 and then against Claremont at home in 2018, but for the first time since his debut back in 2010 did he kick four goals in a game.

Black booted the four goals during Saturday's 61-point win for West Perth that consolidated the Falcons on top of the WAFL ladder. He also finished the afternoon with 30 possessions and 15 marks as part of the day.

Incredibly, it was the 77th time that he has reached at least possessions in his career that has spanned 230 matches now and is showing absolutely no signs of slowing down.

The 29-year-old West Perth co-captain is putting together another outstanding season as part of a career with the Falcons that has seen him already play in a premiership, win a Sandover Medal, claim three Breckler Medals, earn West Perth life membership and represent the WAFL State team seven times.

Players of the Round
Round 1 – Jake Florenca (South Fremantle)
Round 2 – Ryan Lim (Claremont)
Round 3 – Luke Meadows (West Perth)
Round 4 – Jesse Turner (Swan Districts)
Round 5 – Leigh Kitchin (Subiaco)
Round 6 – Blair Bell (Peel Thunder)
Round 7 – Oliver Eastland (Claremont)
Round 8 – Matthew Jupp (East Fremantle)
Round 9 – Toby McQuilkin (South Fremantle)
Round 10 – Aaron Black (West Perth) 

WAFL TEAM OF THE WEEK – ROUND 10
BACK: Tobe Watson (SD), Brandon Erceg (SD), Angus Dewar (S)
HALF-BACK: Ryan Lester-Smith (EF), Joel Hamling (PT), Harry Edwards (WC)
CENTRE: Jesse Turner (SD), Milan Murdock (EF), Aaron Black (WP)
HALF-FORWARD: Blaine Boekhorst (EF), Harry Quartermaine (P), Mark Hutchings (WP)
FORWARD: Christian Ameduri (EP), Tyler Keitel (WP), Jarrad Jansen (EF)
RUCK: Nic Naitanui (WC), Shane Nelson (WP), Hamish Brayshaw (EP)
INTERCHANGE: Angus Schumacher (EP), Sam Fisher (SD), Angus Scott (EP), Patrick Naish (WC)
 

BACK POCKET – TOBE WATSON (Swan Districts)
Has returned to Swan Districts this season after his time with Fremantle in the AFL and is having a significant impact splitting his time between his usual defensive role and playing through the middle. Produced another standout performance in Saturday's home win against Subiaco with 28 touches, seven marks, six tackles and a goal.

FULL BACK – BRANDON ERCEG (Swan Districts)
The Swan Districts co-captain was named to the WAFL Team of the Year in 2021 and has backed it up with another strong start to 2022, and that continued on Saturday against Subiaco. Did well defensively limiting Ryan Borchet to two goals from only five kicks and two marks while he had 24 touches and 10 marks himself.

BACK POCKET – ANGUS DEWAR (Subiaco)
The going has been more challenging than usual for Subiaco so far in 2022 and that has meant their defence has been under more pressure especially without stalwart Jordan Lockyer. However, he stood firm once again against Swan Districts and despite conceding 51 inside-50 entries, he limited Chris Jones to one goal and three kicks while having nine touches and two tackles himself.

HALF-BACK FLANK – RYAN LESTER-SMITH (East Fremantle)
It has been quite the remarkable resurgence as he continues to be a standout performer for the Sharks whether running off half-back or from the wing where he's using his running and kicking ability to aplomb. The 127-game veteran broke through the 20-possession barrier on Saturday for the first time since Round 15 last year and ended the win against Peel with 23 touches, nine inside 50s, seven marks, four tackles and a goal.

CENTRE HALF-BACK – JOEL HAMLING (Peel Thunder)
The Western Bulldogs AFL premiership defender and current Docker might not be quite able to break into the Fremantle team at the moment, but he's showing he is in-form and healthy enough to take advantage of a call up should it come. Had a fascinating duel with East Fremantle spearhead Jonathon Marsh at the WACA Ground and finished with 10 touches and six marks.

HALF-BACK FLANK – HARRY EDWARDS (West Coast)
He was playing just his second game of the season with the Eagles WAFL team and was superb in their drought breaking victory against South Fremantle on Saturday night. He equalled the recorded league record of 23 marks along the way to go with his 30 possessions.

WING – JESSE TURNER (Swan Districts)
The Swan Districts vice-captain is in the middle of a remarkable run of form and on Saturday he was best afield in what was just the second win he's tasted in 14 attempts against Subiaco in the 111th game of his career. Just two weeks after reaching 40 disposals for the first time, he set a new career mark with 47 touches to go with nine marks, four inside 50s and a goal.

CENTRE – MILAN MURDOCK (East Fremantle)
He is becoming quite the crucial and consistent member of the East Fremantle midfield particularly holding down the fort in the absence of Kyle Baskerville and Josh Schoenfeld. Showing his equally important ability to win his own ball and apply great pressure, he finished Saturday's win over Peel with 29 touches, 12 tackles and four marks in his 38th career game.

HALF-FORWARD FLANK – BLAINE BOEKHORST (East Fremantle)
Playing his 50th game for East Fremantle and 94th overall in the WAFL to go with his 25 in the AFL with Carlton, never has he been in more damaging and consistent form than right now. Critical member of the East Fremantle team with the way he can run and carry the ball, and use it in such damaging fashion. Racked up 40 touches against Peel at the WACA Ground to go with 10 tackles, eight inside 50s, seven marks and a goal.

CENTRE HALF-FORWARD – HARRY QUARTERMAINE (Perth)
In just the third game of his burgeoning WAFL career, the young forward offered a glimpse into his potential with what he did for Perth against West Perth on Saturday at Lathlain. Ended the afternoon despite a hefty loss for the Demons by kicking four goals from his nine kicks and seven marks.

HALF-FORWARD FLANK – MARK HUTCHINGS (West Perth)
What a return it was on Saturday to West Perth in his first game of the season. Has rejoined the Falcons this year on the back of becoming an AFL premiership player during 120 games at West Coast and reached 100 WAFL matches between East Perth, West Coast and West Perth on style in Saturday as the Simpson Medallist produced 27 touches, five tackles and two goals.

FORWARD POCKET – CHRISTIAN AMEDURI (East Perth)
He won a fairest and best award from the midfield last year but through necessity was used more in a small forward role on Saturday and was instrumental in the finish in the breakthrough victory against Claremont. Kicked three clever goals from his 12 touches, five marks and three tackles including a spectacular finish that sealed the deal in the last term.

FULL-FORWARD – TYLER KEITEL (West Perth)
The West Perth spearhead provided a strong target in attack in Saturday's 61-point win against Perth to keep the Falcons on top of the WAFL ladder. Finished the afternoon by kicking three goals from 19 possessions and seven marks in the 133rd game of his career to now give him 17 goals on the season as he attempts to chase down teammate Keegan Knott in the Bernie Naylor Medal race.

FORWARD POCKET – JARRAD JANSEN (East Fremantle)
Has spent the majority of his 66-game WAFL career as a big-bodied midfielder, but given how decimated the East Fremantle forward-line has become without Dillon O'Reilly, Brynn Teakle, Cody Leggett, Hugh Dixon and Luke Strnadica on Saturday who they all envisioned being there coming into 2022, he was thrown forward on Saturday and came up huge. Kicked three crucial and clever goals to go with 14 touches and six kicks.

RUCK – NIC NAITANUI (West Coast)
The 208-game triple All-Australian AFL veteran made his return in spectacular fashion for West Coast against South Fremantle on Saturday. Right from the first centre bounce his impact was significant, he didn’t take long to kick a goal and while he played limited minutes, his role in the breakthrough win was impossible to ignore. Finished with 17 disposals, 26 hit outs, four marks and two goals.

RUCK ROVER – SHANE NELSON (West Perth)
As he approaches his 200-game milestone, the four-time West Perth fairest and best winner showed again in the win against Perth that he remains one of the very best prolific ball winners in the competition. In game No. 198 with the Falcons, he delivered 37 touches, 10 inside-50 entries, four tackles and three marks.

ROVER – HAMISH BRAYSHAW (East Perth)
The East Perth on-ball brigade was right at the peak of its powers on Saturday in the impressive win against Claremont at Leederville Oval. He was right at the centre of it all in the middle for the Royals and he put together a brilliant all-round performance made up of 33 touches, seven marks, six inside 50s and five tackles.

INTERCHANGE – SAM FISHER (Swan Districts)
The 2020 Sandover Medallist is right back to his breathtaking form in the midfield for Swan Districts from that season and that continued in Saturday's big home win against Subiaco. He ended the afternoon with 29 touches, seven marks, six tackles, five inside-50 entries and two goals in a tremendous all-round performance.

INTERCHANGE – ANGUS SCHUMACHER (East Perth)
The East Perth midfielder put together another standout performance in the Royals' win against Claremont as he continued to show his quality and versatility. Ended the afternoon with 34 possessions, eight marks, five inside 50s and three tackles in what was East Perth's best performance of the 2022 season.

INTERCHANGE – ANGUS SCOTT (East Perth)
Was named on the wing in the 2021 WAFL Team of the Year and has been every bit as consistently outstanding so far this season even if it has been a struggle at times for the Royals. However, everything clicked for East Perth in Saturday's win over Claremont and he was a crucial part of that to end up with 30 disposals and eight marks.

INTERCHANGE – PATRICK NAISH (West Coast)
It has been a rollercoaster ride in 2022 for the 23-year-old South Australian. He joined the Eagles' AFL list in March and has played 11 matches at AFL level but has been back trying to find his groove in the WAFL side in recent weeks and did that impressively in Saturday night's win over South Fremantle. Finished with 25 touches, 14 marks and two goals.
 

UNLUCKY BUNCH

There were plenty of players who delivered tremendous performances across Round 10 but couldn’t quite fit into the Team of the Round, including:

East Fremantle's Luke English and Michael Tassone.

Peel Thunder's Haydn Matthews, Neil Erasmus, Matt Johnson and Nathan Wilson.

Swan Districts' Jesse Palmer, Tom Edwards, Aidan Clarke, Josh Cipro, Ryan Kemp, Jarvis Pina and Tony Notte.

Subiaco's Stefan Giro, Liam Hickmott, Wil Hickmott, Lachlan Delahunty and Chad Harris.

East Perth's Damon Greaves, Stan Wright and Kye Willcocks.

Claremont's Jye Bolton, Bailey Rogers, Declan Hardisty and Jared Hardisty.

West Perth's Mitch Dobson, Trent Manzone, Conal Lynch and Tristan Hobley.

Perth's Jye Clark, Regan Clarke, Mitch Browne, Austin Davis and Matt Taylor.

West Coast's Alex Witherden, Xavier O'Neill, Greg Clark, Luke Foley, Josh Browne, Ethan Hansen and Jackson Nelson.

South Fremantle's Toby McQuilkin, Glenn Byron, Tom Blechynden and Dylan Main.