WAFLW Round 9 WrapMonday, May 8, 2023 - 9:39 AM - by Chris Pike

THINGS at the top of the WAFLW competition got more interesting after Round 9 with Claremont and East Fremantle playing out a draw, South Fremantle continuing to win while Subiaco shot up to third place and Swan Districts is banging on the door for the top four.

With the Sharks and Tigers playing out a nail-biting draw in their grand final rematch, the Bulldogs winning again closed the gap at the top of the WAFLW ladder while the Lions moved up to third spot ahead of the Sharks, and Swans are now just half a game out following a fourth straight victory.

Round 9 in the 2023 WAFLW season began on Saturday evening with the second grand final rematch of the season and the teams couldn’t be separated with East Fremantle and Claremont finishing all square at 2.4 (16) apiece at the WACA Ground.

The rest of the round took place on Sunday afternoon beginning with two in-form teams locking horns at Joondalup's Pentanet Stadium. It was South Fremantle who kept its winning form going with the 4.9 (33) to 2.1 (13) win against West Perth.

Subiaco shot up to third position on the WAFLW ladder by beating Leederville Oval co-tenants East Perth 6.11 (47) to 0.1 (1) in an emphatic performance from the Lions on Sunday afternoon.

Swan Districts continued its winning ways with a fourth consecutive victory to be knocking on the door of breaking into the top four. Swans beat Peel Thunder 9.9 (63) to 5.4 (34) at Steel Blue Oval.

In Round 9 of the Rogers Cup Youth Girls competition, East Fremantle kept Perth winless so far in their first season winning 4.5 (29) to 2.4 (16) at Mineral Resources Park.

Elsie Simpson kicked two goals for the Sharks with one each to Lexi Laffrey and Jayda Jones while the goals for the Demons came from Ella McKrill and Paige Linton.

Also on Saturday, South Fremantle beat Peel Thunder 2.7 (19) to 2.3 (15) with the goals for the Bulldogs from Rosie Anderson and Nicole Taylor-Thorpe. Peel's goals were kicked by Shareckah Jones and Arny Pickston.

Then on Sunday, Claremont beat Subiaco 9.8 (62) to 1.0 (6) with Annalise Feilding kicking three goals and Charlotte Tompkin. The lone goal for Subiaco was kicked by Abbey Partridge.

East Perth downed Swan Districts 8.2 (50) to 2.5 (17) with Hannah Challender kicking three goals for the Royals, Annabel Parkinson two and Courtney Paige two. Swans' goals came from Alana Papalia and Brooke Edwards.

 

WAFLW PREMIERSHIP SEASON – ROUND 9

EAST FREMANTLE 2.4 (16) drew with CLAREMONT 2.4 (16)

The second grand final rematch couldn’t have been a more thrilling affair and East Fremantle and Claremont couldn’t be separated at the WACA Ground.

The Sharks and Tigers did battle on Saturday evening to open Round 9 in the 2023 season on the back of wins for Claremont both in Round 1 of this season and going back to the grand final of 2022.

Claremont came into the contest having not lost yet in 2023 either while East Fremantle were attempting to snap a two-game losing run after defeats to South Fremantle and Swan Districts.

The Tigers kicked the only goal of the first quarter but then went scoreless in the second term and the Sharks kicked two goals.

However, East Fremantle didn’t kick another goal and Claremont kicked the only goal of the third quarter, and ultimately a Sharks behind to Ashlee Atkins saw both teams locked at 2.4 (16) apiece when the final siren sounded.

East Fremantle's goals for the game were kicked by Chloe Reilly and Anjelique Raison.

Beth Beckett worked tirelessly for the Sharks and finished with 17 possessions and 13 tackles while Georgie Cleaver had 14 disposals and 28 hit outs in the ruck.

Zipporah Fish ended up with 13 disposals, Sharon Wong 12 (10 tackles), Nadya Browne 10, Ashlee Atkins 10, Larissa Versaci 10 and Leanne Gubbins 10.

Claremont's goals in the draw were kicked by Matilda Sergeant and Ella Slocombe.

Sergeant also racked up 18 possessions for the Tigers, Slocombe 17, Claire Ortlepp 17, Mackenzie Webb 16, Kobi Nichols 15 and Matilda Dyke 14 along with 25 hit outs.

There was only one score from either team in the entire first quarter on Saturday evening at the WACA Ground, and that was a goal for Claremont at the 11-minute mark courtesy of Ella Slocombe.

It was then all East Fremantle in the second term with the Sharks having the only four scores and that included goals to Chloe Reilly and Anjelique Raison to see them take an eight-point lead heading into the half-time break.

If Claremont wanted to keep its undefeated record in 2023 intact then the Tigers had to respond in the second half, and they did begin to work their way on top in the third quarter.

After a run of three behinds, the Tigers did kick their second goal of the game shortly before three quarter-time through Matilda Sergeant to have scores all level at the last change.

Both teams then kicked a behind apiece in the fourth quarter, including one for East Fremantle to Ashlee Atkins at the 15-minute mark that tied scores up and that's where they stayed at the final siren for the second draw of the 2023 season.

 

WEST PERTH 2.1 (13) lost to SOUTH FREMANTLE 4.9 (33)

South Fremantle kept its winning run of 2023 going by making it a fifth win against West Perth with the 20-point victory on Sunday at Pentanet Stadium.

The two teams came into the Round 9 contest at Joondalup in impressive form with West Perth coming off perhaps its best ever WAFLW victory beating Subiaco last week to keep themselves in the top four hunt in their second season.

The Bulldogs, meanwhile, were fresh off their first ever wins against East Fremantle and Peel Thunder to remain solid in second position on the ladder and still in touch of the top placed Claremont.

That set the stage for a mouth-watering clash on Sunday with the Bulldogs kicking three goals to one in the opening term and ultimately went on to score the 4.9 (33) to 2.1 (13) victory.

The win means the Bulldogs have won all five clashes in the WAFLW against the Falcons as they improve to a record of six wins, a loss and a draw this season to be just a game behind Claremont while West Perth is 3-5 and a game and-a-half out of fourth spot.

Bethany Bond continued her terrific form in attack for South Fremantle kicking two goals from 10 kicks, three marks and three tackles with Casey Byrne also booting two early goals.

Ariana Hetherington was again the dominant player on the field as she continues to thrive in her switch from basketball to football. She ended up with 25 possessions, 27 hit outs and five marks.

Kloe Bassett also had 27 disposals for the Bulldogs, Kahra Sprlyan 22, Lauren Vecchio 20, Charli Wicksteed 18 and Molly O'Hehir 18 to go with 10 inside-50 entries.

West Perth's goals were kicked by Taylor Ferguson and Tia Bergin with Ferguson also finishing with 21 possessions, five marks and three tackles.

Emily Bennett finished up collecting 21 disposals for West Perth to go with seven marks and seven tackles. Brooke Hongell also had 19 touches, Jeevna Heer 19, Matilda Bain 16, Bianca Webb 16 and Karla Stagg 16.

West Perth started strongly on their home turf attempting to beat South Fremantle for the first time and kicked the game's first goal thanks to Tia Bergin.

However, the Bulldogs soon steadied and took charge including three goals heading into quarter-time with the last two courtesy of the versatile Casey Byrne to see the visitors lead by 11 points after one.

It took less than four minutes for South Fremantle to pull further ahead with another goal to start the second quarter thanks to Bethany Bond. That would prove the only goal of the term with the Bulldogs in control by 19 points at the half-time break.

South Fremantle continued to control play for much of the third quarter but couldn’t quite convert that dominance on the scoreboard after five behinds.

West Perth did stay in touch with a late goal before three quarter-time through Taylor Ferguson to cut the South Fremantle lead to 17 points.

There wasn’t a goal kicked by either team in the final term, though, with South Fremantle just managing a further three behinds to claim the 20-point win.

 

EAST PERTH 0.1 (1) lost to SUBIACO 6.11 (47)

The Leederville Oval co-tenants locked horns for the second time in the WAFLW competition and Subiaco once again proved too strong for East Perth to win by 46 points.

Just three weeks ago and the Lions also beat the Royals by 57 points, and it was a similar story on Sunday with Subiaco out to bounce back from last week's loss to West Perth to hold onto a spot in the top four.

After Subiaco held East Perth to two behinds three weeks ago, this time the Royals managed just one behind with the Lions going on to score the emphatic 6.11 (47) to 0.1 (1) victory.

The result improves Subiaco to third position on the WAFLW ladder with four wins, three losses and a draw for the season while East Perth slips to 0-8 in their inaugural season.

Hanna Dethlefsen went forward for Subiaco and kicked two goals from 13 possessions with Olivia Wolmarans also kicking two goals from 14 disposals and five marks.

Tiah Toth was back into the Subiaco line-up and was superb with 24 possessions, eight inside-50 entries and five tackles with Eva Popovsky collecting 19 disposals, Madison Dodd 18 and Meg Brown 17.

Madeleine Goodman battled hard for East Perth and finished with 18 possessions and seven tackles.

Julia Uhe also picked up 17 touches for the Royals, Jess Valvasori 13, Jessica Bolton 13 and Matilda Bennett 11 to go with 25 hit outs.

The Leederville Oval co-tenants did battle for the second time in three weeks and Subiaco again started strongly with the only three scores of the opening quarter including a goal to Olivia Wolmarans.

Another goal to start the second term from Meadhbh Moloney stretched the Lions lead to 15 points and that's where it remained at half-time with East Perth managing to get on the board with a behind from Eliza Van De Velde.

Subiaco's dominance continued throughout the second half but the Lions managed just the two goals in the third quarter to go with four behinds. The goals came from Hanna Dethlefsen and Wolmarans to stretch the Subiaco lead to 31 points at three quarter-time.

Another couple of goals in the last quarter to Hayley Corlett and Dethlefsen while keeping the Royals scoreless the entire second half saw Subiaco claim the 46-point victory.

 

SWAN DISTRICTS 9.9 (63) defeated PEEL THUNDER 5.4 (34)

Swan Districts continued its outstanding WAFLW form to be knocking on the door of the top four by scoring a 29-point win against Peel Thunder at Steel Blue Oval on Sunday.

Swans might have lost their opening four games of the WAFLW season, but came into Sunday's clash at Steel Blue Oval having won the past three games against a Peel team that had been struggling in recent times.

The trend continued at Bassendean on Sunday and it was Swans who made the fast start with seven scoring shots to one in the first quarter, and converting those to three goals to one.

Swans went on with the job from there to end up winning 9.9 (63) to 5.4 (34) on home turf on Sunday afternoon.

The victory improves Swan Districts to a 4-4 record this WAFLW season to be just half a game now behind both the third placed Subiaco and fourth placed East Fremantle.

Peel, meanwhile, slipped further out of finals calculations this WAFLW season now sitting in second last place with a 2-6 record.

Courtney Zappara continued her brilliant recent form for Swan Districts kicking three goals from 11 possessions, six marks and three tackles with Abbygail Bushby superb as well with three goals from 22 disposals.

Cassie McWilliam also stepped up to kick two goals from 10 kicks and four marks for the black-and-whites.

Captain Jess Cox finished with 20 possessions as well for Swans with Jaime Henry gathering 18 touches, Hope Ugle-Hayward 17, Ruby Mahony 16 and Kayley King 14 along with four tackles.

Mackinley Minchin kicked two goals from three kicks for the day for Peel while Tanisha Anderson kicked two goals as well from seven kicks.

Evie Cowcher amassed 19 possessions for the Thunder, Ebony Dowson 19, Krystal Carter 16 and Kaitlyn Srhoj 14.

Swan Districts came into the contest on a three-game winning streak and kept that momentum rolling in a dominant start to Sunday's clash with Peel at Steel Blue Oval.

Swans had the first seven scores of the contest including goals to Courtney Zappara, Abbygail Bushby and another to Zappara. Peel did get a goal just before quarter-time through Tanisha Anderson but still Swan Districts were leading by 16 points.

The second quarter followed a similar tune with Swans remaining in charge for much of it but after three behinds, it was the Thunder who kicked the first goal at the 12-minute mark with it coming from Makinley Minchin.

Swans responded with Bushby kicking her second but the Thunder got another just before half-time through Minchin to cut the Swan Districts lead to 13 points at the long break.

Swan Districts pushed its lead back out to 19 points with a goal to Cassie McWilliam to start the second half but the Thunder were staying in touch and got one back with a second of the day to Anderson.

Swans finished the quarter strongly, though, including a third goal to Zappara and another to Bushby to see their lead grow to 24 points by three quarter-time.

Peel did get one back from Holly Bilcich to open the final term but Swans answered through McWilliam and then closed the game with another to Lily Paterson to secure the eventual 29-point victory to make it four wins on the trot.