NAIDOC Week Round 12 WAFL PreviewFriday, July 8, 2022 - 9:17 AM - by Chris Pike

THE 2022 WAFL season resumes on Saturday with Round 12 acknowledging NAIDOC Week with Indigenous culture celebrated across the competition with five fascinating match ups.

The WAFL season took a break last weekend for Round 11 but the action resumes with all five matches taking place this Saturday afternoon as the race for top five spots heats up now that we are in the back half of the 2022 campaign.

With every game having implications for the top five in one way or another and then with all teams decked out in the striking Aboriginal art-inspired jumpers in honour of NAIDOC Week and it is shaping as one of the most fascinating rounds of the 2022 season.

All five WAFL matches for NAIDOC Round take place on Saturday afternoon and it's highlighted by the now annual Jimmy Melbourne Cup fixture between South Fremantle and Claremont at Revo Fitness Stadium.

The broadcast game on Channel 7 for NAIDOC Round will come from Bassendean's Steel Blue Oval with Swan Districts hosting Perth with a big celebration of Indigenous culture planned including the unveiling of a tremendous piece of art work at the entrance gates.

Reigning premiers Subiaco are clinging to staying in touch with the top five ahead of taking on the second placed East Fremantle at Leederville Oval.

The West Coast Eagles are fresh off their first win of the 2022 season before the bye and will be looking to back that up when they host East Perth at Lathlain's Mineral Resources Park on Saturday afternoon.

The league-leading West Perth then puts its hold on top spot on the line when hosting Peel Thunder who are trying to break back into the top five at Joondalup's Pentanet Stadium.

WAFLW TEAM OF THE WEEK – ROUND 10

ROUND 10 WAFL WRAP

 

WAFL PREMIERSHIP SEASON 2022 – ROUND 12

SWAN DISTRICTS v PERTH

Swan Districts is back home at Steel Blue Oval on Saturday to celebrate NAIDOC Week looking to consolidate their spot in the top five ahead of hosting Perth.

Swans are at home to the Demons at Bassendean's Steel Blue Oval with the game to commence at 1.40pm while being broadcast live on Channel 7.

Swan Districts come into the game fresh off an impressive last up win against Subiaco two weeks ago also at Steel Blue Oval which saw them improve to a 6-4 record on the season and to be sitting in fifth position on the WAFL ladder.

Perth, meanwhile, comes into the game on the back of having lost their previous six matches to be struggling in second last position with a 2-8 record.

The two teams met earlier this season in Round 3 and that was at Mineral Resources Park with Swans winning a nail-biter by five points over the Demons.

In that game, Tom Edwards and Chris Jones both kicked three goals for Swans with Sam Fisher picking up 27 possessions, Tobe Watson 26, Lachlan Riley 22, Greg Ottaviano 22 and Seb Bright 22.

Sam Stubbs and Fraser McInnes kicked three goals apiece for Perth with Corey Byrne gathering 34 touches, Matt Taylor 24, McInnes 23, Brayden Ainsworth 22, Austin Davis 22 and Dakota Baldwin-Wright 20 to go with 33 hit outs.

That meant that Swan Districts has won four in-a-row against Perth with the Demons' last win against the black-and-whites coming in Round 8, 2019 at Lathlain.

Swans have also won the last two home matches against the Demons by 24 points in 2021 and 27 points in 2020. Perth's last win at Lathlain was Round 3, 2019.

In celebration of NAIDOC Week, Swan Districts is wearing a jumper designed by Clayton Graham, Jamison Ugle and Edward Lyndon. 

The name of the design is ‘The Swan on the Guernsey.’ It represents the Swan Districts emblem, and also represents the Maali known to Noongar people as the Swan. The Maali swims on the Derbarl Yerrigan River that is located next to Steel Blue Oval.

In the middle of the swan is an oval shape depicting an Aboriginal meeting symbol that represents Steel Blue Oval. The UII symbolises men, each symbol represents one of 10 teams coming together around the football oval. 

The circles on the swan depicts the nine places that the 10 league teams travel to play each other. The swan footprints move to the back representing travelling to play opponent teams. 

On the front of the guernsey in-between the Maali's footprints is the many different traditional water holes and camping places around the city of Perth known as Wadjak Boodja. The Boomerangs (kylee) down the side of the guernsey is a traditional hunting tool.

Meanwhile Perth's jumper design was created by Sam Stubbs, as he describes it.

"The jumper design is my story and the journey of my three brothers. The waterhole in the centre surrounded by the four of us represents our home in the Western Australian desert," Stubbs said.

"The surrounding eight water holes are the places we have travelled and moved to on our journey from the desert to the east coast and back to the west. The red represents the land and the blue, the various Kapi (water) rivers and oceans where we have lived and moved. 

"The two boomerangs represent the east and west coast of Australia, the states my parents call home and we always return home. The Wati (man) on the back standing holding the goal post like a spear is the good spirit watching over us as we play this great game of football. 

"The water holes on the back represent the journeys of our elders and ancestors. They pass on their knowledge to our generation and are the crowd that cheer us on to victory."

Over the first 10 rounds of the 2022 season, Swan Districts were ranked sixth in attack scoring 75.4 points a game but fourth defensively conceding just 70.1. Perth, meanwhile, was ranked ninth in both areas scoring just 62.3 points a game but giving up 88.6.

Swans have been the standout third quarter team so far this season having outscored their opponents by 119 points while they are ranked fourth in first quarters, ninth in second terms and sixth in last quarters.

Perth's best quarter is their second terms where they are ranked seventh but they are ranked eighth for first quarters, and ninth for both third and fourth quarters.

 

CLAREMONT v SOUTH FREMANTLE

The two originators of NAIDOC Week WAFL battles meet at Revo Fitness Stadium in what should be a fascinating match up between Claremont and South Fremantle.

The Tigers and Bulldogs are continuing their tradition of playing one another for the Jimmy Melbourne Cup during NAIDOC Round which began at the urging of then club chief executives Todd Shimmon and Brian Ciccotosto in 2007.

It has now become one of the highlights of any WAFL season and Saturday's match up should be no different between two teams with a fascinating recent rivalry.

Both teams suffered disappointing losses two weeks ago as well leading into the bye with Claremont going down to East Perth by 26 points at Leederville Oval.

South Fremantle, meanwhile, were the first team to lose to the West Coast Eagles so far this season falling afoul of them by 41 points under lights at Mineral Resources Park.

That leaves the Tigers in third position at 7-3 and South Fremantle in fourth at 6-4 coming into a crucial match up as both teams attempt to remain in touch for a top two position behind West Perth and East Fremantle.

South Fremantle and Claremont began the NAIDOC Week concept in the WAFL back in 2007 by playing off for the Jimmy Melbourne Cup and with both teams wearing specially designed Indigenous themed jumpers to mark the occasions.

They have continued to do it every year since and will clash for the 16th time in NAIDOC Week this Saturday at Fremantle Community Bank Oval in what is an important game for both clubs.

Claremont has won 10 of the previous 15 battles over the Jimmy Melbourne Cup since 2007 but South Fremantle has won the last couple both held at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.

This will be the first time the NAIDOC Round match up will take place at Revo Fitness Stadium since 2019.

This will be the second time the two teams have met in 2022 with Claremont winning by 11 points at Fremantle Community Bank Oval back in Round 11.

Prior to that, they did battle twice in the finals last year firstly with South Fremantle winning the qualifying final by a point after Claremont co-captain Jared Hardisty missed the potential winner after the siren.

Two weeks later in the preliminary final and South Fremantle held Claremont goalless for three quarters before winning by 11 points and booking a spot in the Grand Final for a third straight year and breaking the Tigers' hearts once more.

Prior to Claremont's breakthrough win earlier this season over South Fremantle, the Bulldogs had won eight of the past 10 over the Tigers including the 2020 Grand Final, qualifying and preliminary finals of 2019, and then both finals match ups of 2021.

Claremont's jumper design has been created by Lawrence Evans with the yellow background allowing the blue dots to surround the Claremont Football Club logo to represent the other WAFL clubs.

The blue and red dots along with the blue lines then represent the Tigers busting and breaking through those rival WAFL clubs and tearing them apart.

There are then black circles that represent other WAFL teams members and supporters while the black wavy lines are representative of all WAFL clubs linking together or joining forces trying to stop Claremont from winning the premiership because it's the year of the Tiger.

South Fremantle's NAIDOC Week jumper was designed by Shardah Jetta-Farmer.

The Red V represents the path to the meeting place, Fremantle which is portrayed in the centre of the guernsey. Boomerangs are tools used for hunting and protection in battle and therefore symbolises our players going into battle on field each week.

The Swan River is depicted at the bottom and shows where the river meets the ocean in Fremantle. Some personal touches include the family symbol of our designer and footprints along the side of the jersey representing our Indigenous players past and present.

Following the opening 10 rounds of the season, Claremont is the fourth best attacking team at 78.5 points a game and third best defensively at 67.7 points. 

South Fremantle remains the best defensive team conceding just 60.7 points a game but they are only seventh for points for at 70.0.

Claremont is both the best second and fourth quarter team in the competition, having outscored their opponents by 81 points in second terms, and 115 points in fourth terms. They are ranked seventh, though, in first quarters and seventh in third terms.

South Fremantle's best quarter is their third terms across the season where they are ranked fourth while they are ranked fifth in each of the first, second and fourth quarters.

 

SUBIACO v EAST FREMANTLE

It's a rare circumstance coming into Saturday's game at Leederville Oval between Subiaco and East Fremantle where it's the Sharks coming into the match in the higher ladder position and as the form team out of the two sides.

Subiaco has been the dominant team in the WAFL this season and that been emphasised in the control they have held over East Fremantle, but things are different so far in 2022.

It's the Sharks coming into Saturday's game in good form fresh off beating Peel Thunder two weeks ago at the WACA Ground to see them improve to 7-3 on the season in second position on the WAFL ladder.

Subiaco, on the other hand, might be coming off winning another premiership in 2021, but are finding the going tough so far this year sitting in eighth spot at 4-6 and coming off another tough loss to Swan Districts two weeks ago by 51 points.

East Fremantle beat Subiaco in Round 6 of this year by 44 points at the WACA Ground after also knocking off the Lions by 44 points in Round 19 last year even though Subiaco was on the way to another premiership.

However, prior to that Subiaco had won nine matches in-a-row against East Fremantle by an average of 61.4 points. And then even before another shock Sharks upset by 80 points in Round 8, 2016, the Lions also won five straight against East Fremantle.

Subiaco has still won 14 of the last 17 against East Fremantle coming into Saturday's clash, but both are in new situations against the other coming into the meeting at Leederville Oval.

East Fremantle forward Reuben McGuire designed the Sharks' NAIDOC Round jumper with his cousin Barry McGuire, a traditional Aboriginal artist, to tell the tales of the blue shark and its journey along the coast of WA.

The design is focused around the Waarnang-ba, the blue shark which was known to roam up and down the coasts of WA and the McGuires wanted to combine the land and water concepts into the overall design to signify survival.

Waves surrounding the shark symbolise ‘Father Ocean’ to Nyoongar tribes. Flowing white lines represent storylines and the Swan River that intertwines through different lands. 

The subtle red glow around the shark represents ‘Wilgi’ which has become the well-known Perth suburb “Willagee” situated on a mound of red ochre.

Subiaco's design was created by Aboriginal artist Kevin Bynder, as he describes it.

"This painting shows Lake Gwelup which comes from the word Gwellgannow meaning shift position in Aboriginal," Bynder said.

"Lake Karrinyup (Carrenup) is the Aboriginal word meaning where bush kangaroo graze. Surrounding them are the sandhills of Millington Reserve, these areas are where Des Headland played his junior football.

"The seven circles represent the junior district of Subiaco. Grassroots football is absolutely essential for future footballers to become AFL's best. A lot of footballers have come from these areas and made the AFL."

East Fremantle is the most potent team in the competition over the first 10 rounds having averaged 92.8 points a game. They are ranked fifth defensively at 75.3 points.

Subiaco is ranked eighth both in attack and defence having scored just 69.4 points a game while conceding 79.2.

East Fremantle is the second best ball winning team with 347 possessions a game while they concede the fewest against them at 296. Subiaco, meanwhile, gathers just 309 touches themselves and gives up the most at 342.

East Fremantle has generally been better early in games as the second best first quarter team outscoring their opposition by 94 points. They ranked fourth in second quarters and third for third terms, but they struggle in last quarters having been outscored by 38 points.

Subiaco also starts well ranked third in first quarters outscoring their opponents by 45 points but then they are ranked eighth in both second and third terms, and seventh in fourth quarters.

 

WEST COAST EAGLES v EAST PERTH

The West Coast Eagles and East Perth both come into Saturday's clash at Mineral Resources Park coming off wins and looking to string wins together.

The Eagles and Royals might have only combined for five wins so far in the 2022 season, but two of them both came in Round 10 as they now look to build on that when they meet at Lathlain on Saturday afternoon.

West Coast broke its 13-game losing streak two weeks ago also at Mineral Resources Park when they defeated South Fremantle by 41 points for their first victory of 2022.

East Perth also produced its best performance of the season two weeks ago by beating Claremont by 26 points at Leederville Oval to see the Royals improve to a 4-6 record on the season to stay in touch with the top five.

The two teams already met earlier this season in Round 6 at Leederville Oval and it was a massive 78-point victory for East Perth.

The Royals have won three of the five matches the two teams have ever had dating back to 2019 but Saturday's game at Lathlain will be the first time they've ever met anywhere but Leederville Oval.

Coming into the Round 12 match up, East Perth is ranked fifth for points for at 75.9 and sixth for points against at 71.8. West Coast is ranked last in both areas scoring just 52.5 points a game while conceding 98.5.

East Perth has been a strong second quarter team where they are ranked second having outscored their opponents by 78 points. The Royals have also done well in fourth quarters where they are ranked third but in first terms they are ranked sixth and sixth also for third terms.

West Coat is ranked last in all quarters except first terms where they are placed ninth having been outscored by 66 points.

 

WEST PERTH v PEEL THUNDER

West Perth and Peel Thunder generally produce fascinating match ups and Saturday should be no different with the Falcons out to maintain top spot and the Thunder trying to break into the top five.

The Falcons and Thunder meet on Saturday afternoon at Joondalup's Pentanet Stadium as part of the WAFL's NAIDOC Round.

West Perth comes into the contest on home soil sitting on top of the WAFL ladder with an 8-2 record having won their past two matches against Swan Districts and Perth.

Peel slipped outside of the top five with a last up loss against East Fremantle at the WACA Ground which now sees the Thunder sit in sixth position on the WAFL ladder with a 5-5 record.

This will be the second meeting between the two teams this season with West Perth winning by 11 points at Mandurah's Lane Group Stadium back in Round 2.

That made it five consecutive wins for the Falcons against the Thunder with Peel's last win against West Perth coming back in Round 1, 2019 in Mandurah by just three points.

West Perth has also won its last three games at home against Peel with the Thunder's last win at Joondalup coming in Round 16, 2017.

While sitting in top spot on the WAFL ladder, West Perth is the equal best defensive team this season conceding just 60.7 points a game while ranked third in attack with 83.1 points.

Peel sits second for scoring putting up 89.9 points a game while they are ranked seventh defensively conceding 77.2 points.

Interestingly, West Perth is also the highest possession winning team in the league with 351 touches a game while Peel is ranked last gathering 308 per match so far in 2022.

The Falcons are also the best starting team in the competition having won their first quarters by 135 points and are second for final terms outscoring their opponents by 57 points. They are placed sixth in second quarters and fifth for third quarters.

Peel is the worst starting team in the WAFL having been outscored by 78 points in first quarters but from there they are ranked third in second quarters, second in third terms and fourth in last quarters.