WAFL Team of the Week – Round 18Wednesday, August 24, 2022 - 10:02 AM - by Chris Pike

THERE were legitimately more than 50 players who could make a genuine claim on deserving a spot in the WAFL Team of the Week for Round 18 making it one of the hottest contested sides of the 2022 season.

It was a full round of fixtures once again on Saturday for Round 18 of the 2022 WAFL season and there were not only crucial wins for five teams, but a whole host of standout performers right across the 10 clubs.

The Round 18 Saturday afternoon action got underway with Claremont keeping its winning form going with a fifth consecutive victory to beat Peel Thunder 13.11 (89) to 11.8 (74).

East Fremantle then consolidated third position with a dominant second half performance to end up beating Swan Districts 20.15 (135) to 8.9 (57) at the WACA Ground.

It might have been a strange Perth Derby venue at East Fremantle's New Choice Homes Park on Saturday, but it didn’t stop West Perth maintaining its hold on top spot by defeating East Perth 17.12 (114) to 6.8 (44).

South Fremantle then bounced back from last week's loss with a commanding performance to beat Subiaco 19.18 (132) to 6.8 (44) at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.

Perth then all but consigned the West Coast Eagles to another wooden spoon finish in 2022 with the 13.11 (89) to 6.6 (42) victory on Saturday night at Lathlain's Mineral Resources Park.

There were plenty of defenders to put their hands up for spots in the Team of the Week including key backs Blake Schlensog, Chad Pearson, Matthew Jupp and Kasey Nicholas.

The more attacking defenders Lachlan Martinis, Drew Rohde, Cam Eardley, Kye Willcocks and Matt Taylor also were impressive along with Toby McQuilkin, Galen Savigni, Jehb O'Donohue and Nathan Eaton.

Up the other end of the ground, key forwards Mason Shaw, Tyler Keitel and Jonathon Marsh all had big outings but Tyron Smallwood, Callan England, Jimmy Miller, Ben Sokol, Jed Hagan, Reuben McGuire, Chris Jones, Mitch Dobson, Keegan Knott, Sandon Page, Simon Hayward, Harry Quartermaine and Jed Kemp were among those to deliver standout showings too.

As you would imagine there were no shortage of midfielders to put in first-rate performances either including those on the inside Ben Edwards, Mitch Crowden, Tom Blechynden, Liam Hickmott, Leigh Kitchin, Kyle Baskerville, Milan Murdock, Josh Schoenfeld, Aidan Lynch, Mitch Peirce, Shane Nelson, Hamish Brayshaw and Angus Schumacher.

Outside midfielders to shine included Ryan Lim, Liam Henry, Tyrone Thorne, Brendon Ah Chee, Stefan Giro, Luke English, Jesse Turner, Aaron Black, Angus Scott, Haydn Busher, Andrew Fisher and Patrick Naish.

Other midfielders to catch the eye were Bailey Rogers, Declan Mountford, Jye Bolton, Neil Erasmus, Karl Worner, Haiden Schloithe, Ryan Lester-Smith, Tom Bennett, Tobe Watson, Tristan Hobley, Stan Wright, Regan Clarke and Ethan Hansen.

PLAYER OF THE ROUND – REGAN CLARKE (PERTH)

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) 
Round 12 – Blaine Boekhorst (East Fremantle)
Round 13 – Noah Strom (South Fremantle)
Round 14 – Brandon Erceg (Swan Districts)
Round 15 – Darcy Tucker (Peel Thunder)
Round 16 – Stefan Giro (Subiaco)    
Round 17 – Tyron Smallwood (Claremont)
Round 18 – Regan Clarke (Perth) 

WAFL TEAM OF THE WEEK – ROUND 18
BACK: Toby McQuilkin (SF), Matthew Jupp (EF), Jehb O'Donohue (SD)
HALF-BACK: Cam Eardley (EF), Kasey Nicholas (P), Lachlan Martinis (C)
CENTRE: Haydn Busher (P), Haiden Schloithe (SF), Ryan Lim (C)
HALF-FORWARD: Luke English (EF), Mason Shaw (SF), Mitch Dobson (WP)
FORWARD: Keegan Knott (WP), Tyler Keitel (WP), Jonathon Marsh (EF) 
RUCK: Oliver Eastland (C), Kyle Baskerville (EF), Regan Clarke (P)
INTERCHANGE: Bailey Rogers (C), Ryan Lester-Smith (EF), Liam Hickmott (S), Aidan Lynch (WP)

UNLUCKY BUNCH

There were plenty of players who delivered tremendous performances across Round 18 but couldn’t quite fit into the Team of the Round, including:

Claremont's Ben Edwards, Tyron Smallwood, Declan Mountford, Jye Bolton and Callan England.

Peel Thunder's Liam Henry, Neil Erasmus, Karl Worner, Tyrone Thorne and Mitch Crowden.

South Fremantle's Brendon Ah Chee, Tom Blechynden, Blake Schlensog, Zac Strom, Chad Pearson and Jimmy Miller.

Subiaco's Ben Sokol, Stefan Giro, Leigh Kitchin, Lachlan Delahunty, Galen Savigni and Drew Rohde.

East Fremantle's Milan Murdock, Josh Schoenfeld, Tom Bennett, Jed Hagan and Reuben McGuire.

Swan Districts' Chris Jones, Jesse Turner and Tobe Watson.

West Perth's Mitch Peirce, Aaron Black, Shane Nelson, Zac Guadagnin and Tristan Hobley.

East Perth's Angus Scott, Hamish Brayshaw, Sandon Page, Stan Wright, Angus Schumacher, Kye Willcocks and Nathan Eaton.

Perth's Matt Taylor, Andrew Fisher, Simon Hayward and Harry Quartermaine.

West Coast's Patrick Naish, Ethan Hansen and Jed Kemp.