Can East Fremantle Complete a Perfect WAFLW Season? Friday, July 1, 2022 - 10:34 AM - by Mark Readings

THE two Ccptains of the WAFLW Grand Final teams have come together ahead of Saturday’s premiership decider, with East Fremantle playing Claremont at Revo Fitness Stadium at 2.45pm. 

The 2022 Grand Final will be broadcast live on the Seven Network in WA, and broadcast on 91.3 SportFM. 

East Fremantle is on the cusp of becoming the first WAFLW side in the four-year history of the competition to go through a season undefeated. 

The Sharks enter Saturday’s Grand Final against Claremont with a perfect record in 2022, including 14 wins during the home and away season and a thrilling victory over Claremont in the second semi-final. 

The two sides meet again in the biggest match of the year, this time at Revo Fitness Stadium after Claremont successfully bid to host the Grand Final. 

Claremont coach Jack Schwarze is optimistic his team can reverse the second Semi result. 

“To hold an undefeated team scoreless in the first half in conditions which didn’t suit us was an outstanding effort by the group," Schwarze said.

"The girls battled it out right until the end and never gave up, including a last-ditch effort in the last minute. Maintaining our concentration on Saturday will be our focus.” 

East Fremantle captain Ashleigh Gomes believes her side is well placed to complete the most dominant season in WAFLW history. 

“There’s a mix of emotions, including happiness, excitement, nervousness, and anxiety," Gomes said. 

"But this is what we’ve all been striving and waiting so long for, so to have the opportunity to go out there this weekend and hopefully get the victory is going to be amazing." 

Gomes is wary of what Claremont has to offer but believes the Second Semi-final victory is proof of how resilient her team is. 

“They switched up the way they played last time around," Gomes said.

"We aren’t overly concerned by what they do, we’ll just be concentrating on our game and sticking to what we do best, playing good footy. 

"The tags they put on us and the defensive work they put into us only makes us hungrier to go harder for the ball, so bring it on! 

"We’re ticking down the days to the match, and the whole group is excited and very determined." 

WAFL Operations Manager Luke Sanders says it’s a fitting end to the season. 

“2022 has been another year of growth for the WAFLW with West Perth joining the competition, East Fremantle and Claremont playing a regional fixture in Northampton, WAFLW League matches being available live through Streamer and it's the first season that live statistics were available on the WAFL App and website," Sanders said.

"East Fremantle has been the benchmark side this year, but the Second Semi Final showed us the Tigers will be worthy opponents in the Grand Final."  

Tickets can be bought here:   https://www.intix.com.au/events/waflwgrandfinal