WAFLW Round 1 WrapMonday, March 13, 2023 - 11:29 AM - by Chris Pike

HISTORY was made to open the 2023 WAFLW season on Saturday with West Perth scoring its first ever win in East Perth's debut appearance with Peel Thunder and Claremont the other Round 1 winners with Subiaco and South Fremantle playing out a draw.

It was always going to be an occasion to savour with the opening of the 2023 WAFLW season with East Perth marking its entry into the competition and coming up against a West Perth in its second season and still chasing a first ever victory.

It was West Perth who took the honours in the season-opener beating East Perth 9.8 (62) to 2.2 (14) at Leederville Oval.

Tia Bergin kicked three goals for the Falcons with two each to Grace Betti and Katherine Benett with Emily Bennett racking up 22 possessions. Tristin Ogonoski kicked both of East Perth's goals with Matilda Bennett finishing with 13 touches and 16 hit outs.

The Round 1 action continued on Saturday evening in Mandurah with Peel Thunder beating Swan Districts 4.3 (27) to 2.10 (22) in a tight tussle at Lane Group Stadium.

Ebonee Hardie kicked two goals for the Thunder while captain Ebony Dowson amassed 24 possessions. Swan Districts captain Jess Cox finished with 28 possessions and eight tackles.

The other two Round 1 match ups took place on Sunday afternoon with a Grand Final rematch which saw Claremont beat East Fremantle 4.3 (27) to 2.9 (21) at Joondalup's Pentanet Stadium.

Jacinta Valentini kicked two goals for Claremont with Claire Ortlepp gathering 19 possessions while Sharon Wong began the new season with another 18 disposals for the Sharks.

The other Sunday contest saw Subiaco and South Fremantle play out a draw, 5.4 (34) to 4.10 (34) at Leederville Oval.

Kelsey Patterson kicked two goals for the Lions with Olivia Crane picking up 22 possessions and captain Tarnica Golisano 20. Casey Byrne kicked two goals for the Bulldogs while Kahra Sprylan had 19 disposals.

Meanwhile in Round 1 of the Rogers Cup Youth Girls competition, it got underway on Saturday with West Perth beating East Perth 5.4 (34) to 2.5 (17).

Swan Districts also scored a 7.11 (53) to 5.4 (34) win against Peel Thunder in Mandurah before on Sunday, Claremont beat East Fremantle 9.5 (59) to 4.7 (31) at Pentanet Stadium, and South Fremantle downed Subiaco 9.4 (58) to 0.7 (7).

Round 2 of the WAFLW season gets underway this Saturday with just the one game with South Fremantle playing East Perth at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.

The other three matches take place on Sunday with West Perth hosting East Fremantle at Pentanet Stadium, Swan Districts taking on Subiaco at Steel Blue Oval, and Claremont playing Peel Thunder at Revo Fitness Stadium.

WAFLW PREMIERSHIP SEASON – ROUND 1

EAST PERTH 2.2 (14) lost to WEST PERTH 9.8 (62)

West Perth made history by recording its first ever WAFLW victory on Saturday proving too good for East Perth and winning by 48 points.

The Falcons had a tough initiation into the WAFLW competition in 2022 going through winless and managing just 105 points through the whole season.

They already had more than half of that in the first three quarters at Leederville Oval on Saturday on the way to beating East Perth 9.8 (62) to 2.2 (14) in what was the Royals debut in the WAFLW competition.

Tia Bergin was impressive in attack for West Perth kicking three goals from her seven kicks with Grace Betti and Katherine Bennett kicking two goals apiece. Betti also finished with 19 possessions and five inside-50 entries.

Emily Bennett was outstanding for the Falcons with 22 touches to go with seven tackles, four marks and four entries inside the forward 50.

Jessica Roper also gathered 18 disposals, Bianca Webb 18, Brooke Hongell 14 and Taylor Ferguson 13 to go with six marks and six inside 50s.

East Perth's first two goals in the WAFLW competition came courtesy of Tristin Ogonoski.

East Perth captain Jessica Valvasori ended her first game leading the Royals with 13 possessions along with four marks and four tackles.

Matilda Bennett put in an impressive performance in the ruck with 13 touches and 16 hit outs while Sarah Madden ended up with 13 possessions, Lillian Ninyett 12, Bianca Glanville 11 and Taylah Suda 11.

West Perth were chasing a first ever WAFLW victory while East Perth was out for a debut to remember entering the competition, but it was all the Falcons in the opening quarter.

West Perth managed to have the only six scores of the term which included goals to Grace Betti, Katherine Bennett and Liza Kneebone in a blistering start all coming in the opening nine minutes.

Bennett added a second goal just before quarter-time and at the first break, West Perth was leading by 31 points.

It might have been a scoreless opening quarter in the WAFLW competition for East Perth but the Royals then scored the only point for either team in the second term. That was just a behind but the score from Taylah Horsham was the first for East Perth in the WAFLW.

After going scoreless the entire second quarter, it didn't take long for West Perth to make the most of going to the scoring end again in the third stanza. The Falcons scored three behinds before Tia Bergin broke through for a goal at the nine-minute mark.

The Falcons would end up closing out the third quarter with a goals to Kayla Van Den Heever and another to Betti, and that saw them leading by 51 points with that first win ever in the competition locked away.

West Perth kicked its last goal of the game early in the fourth quarter through Bergin, but from there East Perth made a piece of history to close the game.

Tristin Ogonoski kicked two goals in the space of six minutes to finish the game which will always go down as the first kicked in the WAFLW by East Perth even though West Perth still went on to win by 48 points.
 

PEEL THUNDER 4.3 (27) defeated SWAN DISTRICTS 2.10 (22)

Peel Thunder is looking to make it three premierships in four WAFLW seasons this year and that quest got off to the perfect start with a five-point home win over Swan Districts on Saturday night.

Peel and Swan Districts have built a significant rivalry in the formative years of the WAFLW competition including the Thunder winning the 2021 Grand Final and then Swans knocking them out in last year's first semi-final.

It was only fitting that the two teams opened the new season at Lane Group Stadium in Mandurah on Saturday night and it proved yet another tight contest.

In the end, Swan Districts had the better of almost every area bar the scoreboard. Swans had 12 scoring shots to seven along with eight extra possessions, and 16 more inside-50 entries.

However, Peel was more efficient including holding Swans goalless in the first half on the way to the 4.3 (27) to 2.10 (22) victory.

Ebonee Hardie was the only multiple goal scorer in the game kicking two for Peel to go with 13 possessions and five tackles. The Thunder's other goals came from Kira Phillips and Holly Britton.

Captaincy clearly agreed with Ebony Dowson as she led the Thunder for the first time and finished the evening with 24 possessions, four tackles, three marks and three free kicks that went her way.

Jade Briggs also finished with 19 touches for Peel to go with six inside 50s and six tackles while Jade Britton gathered 17 disposals, Evie Cowcher 14, Abby Barnden 14 and Chloe Wrigley 13 along with 12 tackles.

Swan Districts' goals in the second half came courtesy of Kayley King and Courtney Zappara.

Second-year Swans captain Jess Cox was outstanding to start the new season finishing with 28 possessions, eight tackles, six inside-50 entries and five marks.

Carys D'Addario made a terrific WAFLW debut for Swans as well with 17 possessions and seven tackles with Kayley King gathering 15 disposals, Tyla Fitzgerald 14 (seven tackles) and Lily Paterson 14.

Lauren Quaife put in a solid performance in the ruck on the evening for Swan Districts too with 20 hit outs.

These two teams have been no strangers to playing one another on big occasions in recent seasons and even though Swan Districts had four of the five scoring shots in the first quarter, the only goal went the way of the Thunder.

That was kicked by Holly Britton at the six-minute mark and helped Peel to a narrow two-point edge by quarter-time.

Peel was then able to kick the second goal of the game midway through the second quarter and this time it was courtesy of Ebonee Hardie.

That would prove the only goal of the second quarter and while the Thunder had just the three scoring shots in the first half to eight from Swans, the black-and-whites didn’t manage a goal and Peel went into half-time leading by five points.

Kira Phillips kicked the third goal of the game to start the second half and the third for the Thunder to stretch the lead for the home team out to 12 points, but then Swans had their best patch of the game to close the third quarter.

Quick goals before three quarter-time to Courtney Zappara and Kayley King not only shut down the deficit but put Swan Districts in front by a point heading into the fourth quarter.

Peel reclaimed the lead with a goal to Hardie 13 minutes into the fourth quarter and that proved enough to seal the five-point victory to open the season for the Thunder on home turf.
 

CLAREMONT 4.3 (27) defeated EAST FREMANTLE 2.9 (21)

It was a Grand Final rematch to open the 2023 WAFLW season and Claremont were able repeat the dose after winning last year's premiership beating East Fremantle by six points.

It might have been a Round 1 contest on neutral turf at Joondalup's Pentanet Stadium, but it didn’t take away from the hotly-anticipated Grand Final rematch after Claremont's upset of the previously undefeated East Fremantle in last year's decider.

Despite a scoreless opening quarter, Claremont was able to hold East Fremantle to just one goal in each of the halves on the way to the eventual 4.3 (27) to 2.9 (21) victory to open their premiership defence.

Jacinta Valentini produced a tremendous start to the season for Claremont with two goals to go with 14 possessions, six marks and five inside-50 entries.

Claremont's other goalkickers for the afternoon were Adele Arnup and Amalie Moe.

Claire Ortlepp started the new season by racking up 19 possessions for the Tigers to go with five marks and three tackles.

Jayme Harken also gathered 17 disposals, Kate Orme 16, Jasmin Stewart 13 and Sarah Viney 12 while Matilda Dyke had 26 hit outs in the ruck.

East Fremantle's goals for the game came courtesy of Gabby O'Sullivan and Anjelique Raison.

Sharon Wong had a standout 2022 season with East Fremantle and started 2023 in similar fashion by racking up 18 possessions to go with four tackles.

Zipporah Fish picked up 17 touches, Jae Flynn 16, Beth Beckett 15, O'Sullivan 15 and Leanne Gubbins 15.

It was all East Fremantle in the opening quarter with the advantage of the famous Joondalup breeze. On the back of that, the Sharks had the only five scoring shots of the first term.

Only one of those were a goal to Anjelique Raison but East Fremantle was still in control of the Grand Final rematch by 10 points by quarter-time.

It took Claremont just over five minutes with the advantage of the breeze in the second quarter to get on the board with a goal to Jacinta Valentini. She added a second just before half-time and that helped the Tigers take a one-point lead into the main break.

East Fremantle knew to win the game it had to have a big third quarter and the Sharks did manage four scores in the opening nine minutes, but again just one of those was a goal through Gabby O'Sullivan.

Claremont managed a crucial goal just before three quarter-time against the breeze to cut the East Fremantle advantage to just two points.

Claremont kicked the only goal of the last quarter and that came through Adele Arnup at the nine-minute mark and that was enough for the Tigers to begin their premiership defence with a six-point victory.
 

SUBIACO 5.4 (34) drew with SOUTH FREMANTLE 4.10 (34)

Subiaco and South Fremantle are creating a habit of playing some of the more entertaining WAFLW matches against one another and it was no different to open the 2023 season on Sunday.

The Lions and Bulldogs are both attempting to break into the finals in 2023 after splitting their wins against one another in 2022, and they couldn’t be separated by the final siren on Sunday at Leederville Oval.

South Fremantle scored the only goal and behind of the fourth quarter to come from seven points behind at three quarter-time to secure the draw with the Lions finishing on 5.4 (34) and the Bulldogs 4.10 (34).

Kelsey Patterson kicked two of the five goals of the game for Subiaco with the other goals coming courtesy of Tiah Toth, Eva Popovsky and Joanne Cregg.

Olivia Crane finished the game with 22 possessions and four tackles for Subiaco with Tarnica Golisano adding 20 disposals, five marks and four tackles, and Cregg 15 touches, four marks, three tackles and three inside-50 entries.

Popovsky also finished with 13 possessions and four tackles, Clare McCarthy 12 disposals, four marks and four tackles, and Grace Hahnel 12 touches.

Casey Byrne kicked two goals for South Fremantle from 11 possessions, five marks and three tackles with the other goals coming from Noa McNaughton and Hunter Cronin.

Kahra Sprylan not only kicked the behind to draw the game in the finish but was terrific for South Fremantle finishing with 19 possessions and four inside 50s.

Liusaidh Gilchrist also had 16 possessions and four tackles with basketballer turned footballer Ariana Hetherington finishing with 15 touches, 15 hit outs, three marks and three tackles in her first WAFLW match after a 138-game NBL1 West basketball career at the Rockingham Flames.

Tahleah Mulder also had 15 possessions and six tackles for South Fremantle, captain Lauren Vecchio 14 touches ad four tackles, and Ella Matthews 13 disposals and six inside-50 entries.

It took just over a minute for Subiaco who put the first goal on the board to start the new season with Joanne Cregg kicking truly. It took only another four minutes and the Lions had a second this time through Kelsey Patterson.

South Fremantle were able to work back into the contest from there and a goal just before quarter-time to Noa McNaughton cut the Subiaco lead to just four points.

South Fremantle was able to assume the lead to start the second quarter with a goal from Casey Byrne but Subiaco responded in quick time thanks to Eva Popovsky.

The lead continued to exchange hands when Byrne kicked her second and there had been three goals in little more than five minutes of the second quarter.

There would be just the one more goal for the rest of the quarter and that went the way of Subiaco through Patterson and little separated the two teams by half-time with the Lions clinging to a one-point edge.

It became tough going throughout the second half with the goals drying up and the only one scored in the third quarter went Subiaco's way thanks to Tiah Toth.

That helped the Lions to a seven-point lead by three quarter-time but South Fremantle would kick the only goal of the fourth quarter. That came from Hunter Cronin and eventually a behind from Kahra Sprylan levelled scores up and that's where things remained by the final siren.