WAFL 2023 Season PreviewWednesday, April 5, 2023 - 7:31 AM - by Chris Pike

THERE is great excitement entering the 2023 WAFL season on a number of fronts with West Perth looking to go back-to-back, Claremont and East Fremantle trying to take that next step, and the rest all trying to make that leap to put themselves in the mix.

On the back of a hugely successful 2022 season with such an even competition, high quality football and capped off with a Grand Final for the ages with West Perth winning a premiership at their spiritual home in front of a huge crowd, the WAFL will look for further growth in 2023.

There's plenty of fascination around the season too and not only with the top teams from 2023. Can South Fremantle overcame starting from behind, will Peel Thunder be a force, are Swan Districts able to pull off redemption, will Subiaco be a force again, what can Peter German do with Perth, and are East Perth and West Coast capable of rapid improvement.

West Perth are reigning premiers with no reason to suggest the Falcons can't make a crack at going back-to-back with the majority of their core group back while Claremont will again look to put themselves in the mix for that first premiership since 2012.

East Fremantle fell just short of the Grand Final last year but the Sharks have added Fraser Turner and Brayden Lawler, and welcome back Hugh Dixon, Tom Joyce and Harry Marsh as they look to end a premiership drought dating back to 1998.

Peel Thunder made an impressive charge into the finals last season before knocking out South Fremantle and then just falling short of Claremont in the first semi-final. 

There's every reason to expect another strong season again from the Thunder with the additions of Victorian youngsters Matt Payne and Aidan Hare along with welcoming back Brady Grey and the graduating colts premiership class.

It is going to be a fascinating season on a number of fronts at South Fremantle with the Bulldogs attempting to reach the finals for an eighth consecutive season.

Not only do the Bulldogs have to come back from starting the season two games behind the competition, but have also lost premiership veterans Haiden Schloithe, Nick Suban, Mason Shaw and Steve Verrier, and reigning WAFL Team of the Year ruckman Hamish Free.

However, South Fremantle does welcome back premiership heroes Brock Higgins and Jacob Dragovich along with the additions of Jordan Gallucci and Jackson Broadbent.

Swan Districts is looking for a season of redemption in 2023 as well after being disappointed to miss out on finals last year. Andrew Pruyn has taken over as coach with motivation at an all-time high at Swans with some handy recruits including Jackson McLachlan, Jesse Glass-McCasker and Jarrod Cameron.

Subiaco had been the dominant WAFL team winning five premierships in eight years up to the end of 2021, but after missing the finals for just the second occasion in the last nine seasons, the Lions are another team primed to hit back in 2023.

While the Lions have added Taj Schofield and Kyron Hayden, they will be looking for improvement from within and getting a host of key players back on the park in 2023 to lead their rejuvenation.

East Perth is another team with a new coach in 2023 with Ross McQueen bringing six premierships from the colts and reserves with him into the role as he attempts to lift the Royals to a first finals appearance since 2018.

It's been a horror two years for the West Coast Eagles but coming off a one win season, they will be looking for a bounce back and the recruiting of Jackson Nelson and Alec Waterman will help in that quest.

CLAREMONT

Last season: Lost Grand Final. 13-5 record, third position
Coach: Ash Prescott (Seventh season, 94-38 record)
Captain: Declan Mountford
Fairest and best 2022: Jye Bolton

Ins – Teia Miles, Jack Maibaum, Joel Western, Anthony Treacy

Outs – Jared Hardisty, Ryan Lim, Jacob Blight, Alex Pearce

CLAREMONT continues its quest for that elusive first premiership since 2012 and the Tigers will again be using the pain of going ever so close in 2022 once more to spur them on to try and achieve that ultimate in 2023.

For each of the past five seasons now, Claremont has put itself in premiership contention playing finals in each of those five years, and winning at least one final in all of them but not quite being able to break through for the club's first flag since going back-to-back in 2011 and 2012.

The Tigers lost a first semi-final to West Perth in 2018, lost the preliminary final in 2019 to South Fremantle and then the Grand Final of 2020 to the Bulldogs by three points. On the back of that, Claremont lost a preliminary final again to South Fremantle in 2021 while going goalless up to three quarter-time.

Then last year, Claremont again put themselves right in the hunt and ended up reaching the Grand Final before losing another heartbreaker by two goals to West Perth at Leederville Oval.

That's been quite the heartbreaking five-year stretch for Claremont in finals, but at the same time the Tigers continue to put themselves in the mix for that breakthrough premiership and 2023 appears to be no different.

While the Tigers have lost a couple of experienced leaders in Jared Hardisty and Ryan Lim, for the most part the majority of the core group is back again to have another tilt at that elusive premiership.

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EAST FREMANTLE

Last season: Lost preliminary final. 13-5 record, second position
Coach: Bill Monaghan (Fifth season, 28-37 record)
Captain: Matthew Jupp
Fairest and best 2022: Milan Murdock

Ins – Fraser Turner, Harry Marsh, Brayden Lawler, Hugh Dixon, Tom Joyce, Josh Cripps, Ben McGuire, Austin Ball, Luke Holian, Orien Kerr, Lennon Marlin

Outs – Jeremy Goddard, Jed Hagan, Sam Medland, Tom Monaghan, Jack Cleaver

IN many ways it was remarkable what East Fremantle achieved in the 2022 WAFL season with everything they had working against them, but now the Sharks will be out to build on that with ending a significant premiership drought the ultimate goal.

Not only did East Fremantle make a return to finals action in 2022, but the Sharks were only half a game off what would have been a first minor premiership since 1998, and then only just running out of gas, and manpower, in the preliminary final saw their season end against Claremont.

However, it was a season where the Sharks overcame an enormous amount and it should always be a season they are tremendously proud of for not only playing finals for the first time since 2014, but for getting all the way to a preliminary final.

In a lot of ways, given what East Fremantle went through in terms of personnel leaving for the AFL or getting injured, they had no right to do as well as they did in 2022 but it showed tremendous heart and a masterful coaching performance by the recently re-signed Bill Monaghan.

Luke Strnadica, Tom Joyce and Hugh Dixon were all signed by the West Coast Eagles before the season and then once it all got underway, the Sharks lost Brynn Teakle to Port Adelaide and then Sandover Medallist Blaine Boekhorst ruptured an ACL in Round 16.

The Sharks also only had Dillon O'Reilly for four games, Cody Leggett for nine, Josh Schoenfeld for 11 and Kyle Baskerville for 15 of the 21 they played.

To top it off, despite it eventuating that their home ground was available for the whole season with the redevelopment delayed, they didn’t play at home except one rescheduled game against West Coast and then two finals.

Now coming into 2023 and at least on a personnel front, things are looking vastly improved for East Fremantle even if powerhouse forward Jonathon Marsh is suspended for the opening two rounds.

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EAST PERTH

Last season: 6-12 record, eighth position
Coach: Ross McQueen (First season)
Co-captains: Hamish Brayshaw, Christian Ameduri
Fairest and best 2022: Hamish Brayshaw

Ins – Harrison McCreadie, Mitch Crowden, Tom North, Nelson Waite, Liam Tedesco, Alex Pearce

Outs – Jackson Ramsay, Harley Sparks, Cooper Sparks, Jack Cooley, Damon Greaves, Ben McGuire

NEW East Perth coach Ross McQueen isn’t afraid to have expectations of playing finals in his first season in charge, but his focus in taking over at the Royals is continuing their improvement, growth and attacking instincts.

McQueen replaced Jeremy Barnard as caretaker coach at the end of the 2022 season before being appointed to a senior coaching role in the WAFL for the first time as he looks to help lead East Perth to a first finals appearance since 2018.

McQueen brings with him strong credentials as not only a long-time assistant coach, but having coached Claremont to three premierships each at colts and reserves level, and is confident that the Royals should have the aim of playing finals in 2023.

It's not going to be easy and McQueen is realistic enough to know that going from six wins last year to making the top five will take a significant leap, but he's confident in the work done both in bringing in new faces and the further development in those remaining.

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PEEL THUNDER

Last season: Lost first semi-final. 11-7 record, fifth position
Coach: Geoff Valentine (Second season, 12-8 record)
Captain: Ben Hancock
Fairest and best 2022: Lloyd Meek

Ins – Matt Payne, Aidan Hare, Jacob Blight, Brady Grey

Outs – Jackson Broadbent, James Ewing

PEEL Thunder finished the 2022 WAFL season full of momentum to storm into the finals and now coach Geoff Valentine feels they are in an even better place to make a run at a successful 2023.

After winning back-to-back premierships in 2016 and 2017, Peel hadn’t played finals over the next four seasons but that all changed last year with the Thunder picking up plenty of momentum to close the home and away season.

Peel thumped Swan Districts in Mandurah in the final round to guarantee their place in the finals before going on to beat South Fremantle in the elimination final.

While the Thunder's season ended a week later with a first semi-final loss to Claremont, things just didn’t quite work out timing wise for them with the unavailability of some Fremantle-listed players.

Now on the back of that improved 2022 season, coach Valentine is looking forward to what 2023 could hold for the Thunder and he feels at least in terms of personnel and preparation, they are better placed than they were 12 months ago.

While naturally Peel will largely have to wait and see who and how many Fremantle AFL-listed players they have available week to week, in terms of the local contingent, Valentine is delighted with how the off-season has gone for the Thunder.

Peel has added young Victorian pair Matt Payne and Aidan Hare along with welcoming back Brady Grey while bringing in Jacob Blight from Claremont, and most importantly limiting the damage on the departure front.

With the colts coming off a premiership too, there's plenty of young talent at the Thunder and Valentine is excited with how they are shaping up coming into 2023.

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PERTH

Last season: 3-15 record, ninth position
Coach: Peter German (First season, previously 72-16 at Subiaco)
Captain: Michael Sinclar
Fairest and best 2022: Corey Byrne

Ins – Trent Manzone, Charlie Thompson, Sydney Stack, Zach Jackson, James Ewing, Jy Lane, Cody Howard, Jacques Barwick

Outs – Fraser McInnes, Andrew Fisher, Kasey Nicholas, Josh Smith, Haydn Busher, Cody Giblett, Jordan Busher, Kieran Hug, Chris Mayne, Brayden Ainsworth

THE challenge of rejuvenating the Perth Football Club has brought Peter German back to the WAFL as a coach and while he's in it for the long haul, he feels the quickest way of turning things around is for the Demons to play an attacking, exciting brand of football.

Subiaco has been the dominant WAFL club this century and it all began for the Lions when German took over as coach back in 2003. 

Over the next four years, German had Subiaco as the competition's benchmark with their professionalism and it delivered two premierships, another Grand Final appearance and they were minor premiers in all four of his seasons at the helm.

That four-year stint at Subiaco saw German back into the AFL system and he has since worked at Fremantle, Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs, and coached in the VFL at the Casey Scorpions, Williamstown and Coburg.

More recently, German spent time both working at AFL Cairns and then coaching Corowa-Rutherglen in the Ovens and Murray Football League, but he always had a pull to return to the WAFL, and the Perth job proved too much of an eye-opening challenge to refuse.

German is now gearing up for his WAFL coaching return and it's only fitting his first game in charge of the Demons will be on Easter Saturday evening against Subiaco at Mineral Resources Park.

While German is fully aware of the task at hand and knows it's going to be a work in progress to ultimately have the Demons competing for a WAFL premiership again, he certainly isn’t going to be going the dour, defensive route from the outset.

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SOUTH FREMANTLE

Last season: Lost elimination final. 12-1-5 record, fourth position
Coach: Todd Curley (Ninth season, 106-1-54 record)
Captain: Dylan Main
Fairest and best 2022: Haiden Schloithe

Ins – Jordan Gallucci, Jackson Broadbent, Jacob Dragovich, Brock Higgins, Robbie Turnbull

Outs – Haiden Schloithe, Mason Shaw, Nick Suban, Steve Verrier, Hamish Free

SOUTH Fremantle has some natural and enforced challenges to overcome entering the 2023 WAFL season, but coach Todd Curley remains optimistic the Bulldogs can be around the mark and play finals for an eighth consecutive season.

South Fremantle finished fourth at the end of the 2022 home and away season before losing the elimination final at home to Peel Thunder in what was their seventh consecutive finals appearance.

It turned out to be their earliest exit in finals during those seven years as well with the stretch including winning a premiership in 2020, making Grand Finals in 2019 and 2021, and then playing in three consecutive preliminary finals in 2016, 2017 and 2018.

By the end of last season, South Fremantle lost premiership heroes Haiden Schloithe, Mason Shaw, Nick Suban and Steve Verrier to retirement with reigning WAFL Team of the Year ruckman Hamish Free drafted to North Melbourne.

It's not all bad news on the personnel front at South Fremantle, though, with the recruitment of Jordan Gallucci and Jackson Broadbent while 2020 premiership pair Brock Higgins and Jacob Dragovich have returned.

South Fremantle was then last month thrown an unexpected curve ball when fined and struck eight premiership points for the 2023 season over a salary cap breach, but now entering his ninth season in charge, Curley is looking forward to their prospects nonetheless.

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SUBIACO

Last season: 7-11, seventh position
Coach: Beau Wardman (Fifth season, 46-20 record)
Captain: Leigh Kitchin
Fairest and best 2022: Stefan Giro

Ins – Zac Clarke, Taj Schofield, Kyron Hayden

Outs – Lachlan Delahunty, Brandon Matera, Jakob Atkinson, Chad Harris, Harry Marsh

IT was a rare down season in 2022 for Subiaco but the Lions have taken some tough lessons from that and implemented them into 2023 with premiership coach Beau Wardman confident of a strong bounce back season.

On the back of winning a fifth premiership in eight years in 2021, Subiaco hit a speed bump in 2022 winning just seven games and missing out on finals for only the second time in the past nine seasons.

It has been an off-season of reflection at Subiaco with the eye on bouncing back emphatically quickly in 2023, and Wardman is confident of that happening now that the work has been done and they prepare to take on Perth in Round 1 at Mineral Resources Park.

While getting important players back from long-term injuries including Jack Mayo and welcoming back premiership ruckman Zac Clarke along with signing Taj Schofield and Kyron Hayden will be important, it's more about improving on where they fell down last year.

Right now with Round 1 approaching, Wardman is feeling good about Subiaco's chances of being right back in the finals hunt in 2023.

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SWAN DISTRICTS

Last season: 10-8 record, sixth position
Coach: Andrew Pruyn (First season)
Co-captains: Brandon Erceg, Chris Jones
Fairest and best 2022: Jesse Turner

Ins – Jackson McLachlan, Jesse Glass-McCasker, Jarrod Cameron

Outs – Nelson Waite

SWAN Districts might have a new coach in 2023 but their quest to get back to finals is all around building on what they have been doing well, making some improvements and using the frustrations from last year as added motivation.

Swans did appear on an upward trajectory under the coaching of Adam Pickering to the point where they reached finals in 2021. In that elimination final, they were on top of West Perth most of the way too and it wouldn’t have taken much to go their way for the result to have been different.

That meant there were high hopes for Swans continuing to improve in 2022 and for much of the season, they did appear on track to play finals but couldn’t quite get there in the end finishing up with a 10-8 record.

On the back of that, Swans have had a change of coach in the off-season with long-time assistant and Swans servant Andrew Pruyn on deck but in terms of the playing stocks, the black-and-whites are largely backing in what they've got.

There are some handy recruits including Jackson McLachlan, Jesse Glass-McCasker and Jarrod Cameron along with returning ruckman Nathan Blakely, but the majority of the core group is back again and will be looking to make up for what happened last year.

Chris Jones and Brandon Erceg were both named co-captains at Swan Districts for the first time in 2022, and there was no hesitation from their teammates to have them continue in the role for 2023 with the black-and-whites determined to return to finals action.

With Erceg the cornerstone of the defence and Jones cementing himself as an impressive forward target, the pair will be leading Swan Districts from either end of the ground once again this season.

The pair will be ably supported in the leadership group with Aidan Clarke and reigning Swan Medallist Jesse Turner named vice-captains for the 2023 WAFL season.

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WEST COAST EAGLES

Last season: 1-17 record, wooden spoon
Coach: Rob Wiley (Second season, 1-17 record)
Captain: Jackson Nelson
Fairest and best 2022: Harry Creasey

Ins – Jackson Nelson, Alec Waterman, Tyler Collins, Jarrod Garlett, Shannon Lucassen, Jack O'Sullivan, Ethan Sambo

IT has been a rough couple of years in the WAFL for the West Coast Eagles but there is plenty of reason for optimism that they can be a vastly more competitive outfit in the 2023 season.

When West Coast first became a standalone club in the WAFL they made an immediate impact on the competition reaching the finals back in 2019 and going on to beat West Perth in an elimination final.

However, Covid ravaged them over the next couple of years and then with the injury troubles the Eagles were having at AFL level in 2022, it flowed down to their WAFL team and it was a struggle to field a team, and be competitive at times throughout the season.

As a result, it's been a last three years from hell in terms of the WAFL for West Coast. The Eagles couldn’t field a team at all thanks to Covid in 2020 before then winning just four of 18 games in 2021, and one of 18 in 2022.

So with just five wins to their name over the last past three years since that finals appearance, it's a long road back for West Coast in the WAFL but it could be a quick path on the back of some strong signings, and if they have a stronger contingent of Eagles AFL-listed players available.

With a Hall of Famer as coach in Rob Wiley, the Eagles will again be well led and they have been able to secure some significant signings for the 2023 season.

West Coast have kept Jackson Nelson after he was delisted from the club's AFL list and he has been appointed captain with Alec Waterman also back at the Eagles after losing his spot on Essendon's list at the end of 2022.

Tyler Collins, Jarrod Garlett, Shannon Lucassen, Jack O'Sullivan and Ethan Sambo are among the other players that West Coast has been able to sign for 2023 in a bid to get some wins on the board, and not only improve, but become a finals contender again.

Wiley is especially excited by the level of quality players they have been able to bring in for this season.

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WEST PERTH

Last season: Premiers. 13-1-4 record, minor premiers
Coach: Darren Harris (Fifth season, 66-1-37 record)
Co-captains: Aaron Black, Dean Munns
Fairest and best 2022: Mitch Peirce, Shane Nelson

Ins – Bailey Thompson, Zac Langdon

Outs – Anton Hamp, Trent Manzone, Ben Delaporte, Mitch Antonio

GOING back more than 30 years and Darren Harris was there when he saw West Perth's culture change which has remained the key component of the club ever since, and he continues to maintain that's the most important aspect that makes the Falcons tick.

Harris was at West Perth when Jeff Gieschen arrived as coach back in 1992 and that's when he began to see the Falcons culture that has now become revered over the last 30 years begin to come to the fore.

It has continued to grow in the coaches since with John Dimmer leading the Falcons to premierships in 1995 and 1999 before Harris took over from him and led them to the 2003 flag.

One of West Perth's favourite sons Todd Curley then spent three years as coach when Harris joined West Coast before Bill Monaghan took over and would become the longest-serving and most winning coach in the rich history of the Falcons.

Geoff Valentine was next and then then Harris returned for his second stint as coach last year taking West Perth to his second premiership in charge in the most memorable of occasions when they beat Claremont in the Grand Final at Leederville Oval.

It's that culture at West Perth that has become famous within the four walls and the envy of rival clubs that Harris believes everything for the Falcons begins and finishes with.

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