WAFL Round 9 WrapSunday, June 11, 2023 - 10:44 PM - by Chris Pike

CLAREMONT produced a miracle in the last five minutes to storm home to beat Peel Thunder and retain top spot in the WAFL in the process while Swan Districts also snatched one off Perth, West Perth overran South Fremantle and there were commanding wins for East Perth and Subiaco.

Coming off WA Day Round in the WAFL, there was just the two games on Saturday in Round 9 of the season this weekend with the other three matches all taking place on Sunday afternoon.

Round 9 in the WAFL got underway on Saturday and Subiaco put another hammering on the hapless West Coast Eagles winning 25.16 (166) to 5.7 (37) with Ben Sokol kicking eight goals and Jack Mayo six as the Lions shot up to second spot on the ladder.

The other match on Saturday then saw Claremont kick the last three goals including the winner in the dying seconds from Talon Delacey after looking dead and buried to defeat Peel Thunder 9.8 (62) to 8.12 (60).

The win at Revo Fitness Stadium sees the Tigers remain on top of the WAFL ladder with the Thunder slipping to third with consecutive defeats.

The other three matches took place on Sunday with East Perth mighty impressive with 11 goals to five after half-time to defeat East Fremantle 16.12 (108) to 11.4 (70) at Leederville Oval with the Royals improving to fourth spot and the Sharks falling outside the top five.

South Fremantle kicked the only three goals of the first quarter against West Perth and were still leading by 14 points at three quarter-time, but the Falcons then kicked six goals to nil in the final term to win 12.14 (86) to 9.5 (59) at Pentanet Stadium in Joondalup.

Last up on Sunday was at Steel Blue Oval and in what was likely the most spiteful, fiery and dramatic game of the WAFL season so far, Swan Districts kicked two late goals with the breeze to snatch the crucial 9.11 (65) to 9.5 (59) win against Perth.

Meanwhile, in Round 9 of the Reserves the only match on Saturday saw Peel Thunder beat Claremont 17.4 (106) to 4.12 (36).

Corey Tregenza kicked five goals for Peel, Blake Offer four and Matthew Payne two while James Sturrock gathered 23 touches and Jacob Hewitt 18. Rory Charles kicked two goals for Claremont with Morgan Davies finishing with 22 disposals, Menno Inverarity 19 and Max Mumme 17.

Then on Sunday, East Fremantle beat East Perth 14.6 (90) to 6.8 (44) with Austin Ball kicking four goals for the Sharks, Ben McGuire two and Jackson McManus two. Josh Ritchie gathered 30 touches, Jackson McDonald 28, Enrique Aiken-Featherstone 24, James Spadanuda 24 and Matt Williamson 23.

Josh Harris kicked two goals for the Royals with Patrick Reilly collecting 23 possessions, Adam Boules 21 and Jayden Cappeau 20.

Swan Districts also beat Perth 14.9 (93) to 8.5 (53) with Kristian Caporn kicking four goals for the black-and-whites, Mitch Bain two and Tristan McDonald two. Jacob Sideris finished with 27 possessions, Ben Hewett 26, Max Chipper 25, Greg Ottaviano 23 and Tarir Bayok 22 while Brad Lynch marked his return with 14 touches.

Christian Martin kicked three goals for the Demons and Kristian Cary two while Conor McPartland ended up with 23 touches and 14 tackles.

West Perth scored the 13.8 (86) to 8.8 (56) victory at Pentanet Stadium with Jasper Scaife kicking three goals for the Falcons, Tom O'Donnell two and Zarne Robis two. Mark Hutchings racked up 28 touches, Kane Bevan 24, Griffith Julian 23, Rohan Scurria 21 and Blake Garraway 21.

Brock Higgins and Chase Bourne kicked two goals apiece for South Fremantle with Robbie Turnbull finishing with 19 disposals, Seth Connor 18, Aiden Hall 16 and Jacob Sax 15.

Then in Round 9 of the Colts, Claremont beat Peel Thunder 13.10 (88) to 9.7 (61) at Revo Fitness Stadium on Saturday.

Nicolas Langsford kicked five goals for Claremont and Jasper Peace two with Riley Disisto picking up 26 touches, Bailey Banfield 23 and Harry Cole 21.

Toby Jenkins kicked three goals for Peel, Tom Smedley two and Bronson Martin two. Martin also had 18 disposals and Ethan Logan 17.

And on Sunday, East Fremantle beat East Perth 16.5 (101) to 6.9 (45) with Dante Wiseman kicking six goals for the Sharks, Jack Cocking three, Tyler Messina two and Noah Dean two. Kobe Austin had 23 touches, Zac Petersen 23, Declan Pauline 19 and Mitch Zadow 19.

Bienfait Kihusa kicked two goals for East Perth as did Owen Cushing while Will Cassidy collected 24 possessions, Mitch Miller 17 and Jacob De Santis 17.

Perth defeated Swan Districts 11.13 (79) to 5.3 (33) at Steel Blue Oval with Michael Hall kicking three goals for the Demons and Robert Warrell two. Jake Watson also had 21 disposals, Cooper Moore 20, Kalib Dempster-Park 19 and Noah Cachard 19 to go with 11 tackles.

Lewis Zolnier-Owens kicked two goals for Swans and Chayse Martinson racked up 25 possessions, Tom Cathcart 14, Harrison Creighton 12, James Sullivan 12 and Jessie Hollins 12. Owen Carroll finished with 13 possessions and 50 hit outs.

West Perth also downed South Fremantle 9.11 (65) to 6.5 (41) with Jye Skender kicking three goals and Tom Rintoul two while Matt Galjaardt had 27 disposals, Callum Smith 22, Jack Wooden 19, Mitchell Lonnie 18 and Kyle Wilcox 18.

Liam Brandis and Isaiah Hayden kicked two goals apiece for the Bulldogs while Callum Copeland racked up 26 possessions, Liam Piper 21, Brandis 19, Rhyder James 17 and Josh Taylor-Thorpe 16 to go with 11 marks.

 

WAFL PREMIERSHIP SEASON – ROUND 9

WEST COAST EAGLES 5.7 (37) lost to SUBIACO 25.16 (166)

West Coast started well enough at Lathlain's Mineral Resources Park but Subiaco outscored the Eagles 20 goals to two after quarter-time on the way to a 129-point thumping victory.

West Coast was attempting to snap a 16-game losing run, but more realistically just to be more competitive and for a quarter and a bit on Saturday, the Eagles did keep pace to a degree with the Lions.

However, Subiaco would kick seven goals to one in the second term to lead by 51 points at half-time before another 13 goals to one in the second half on the way to the 25.16 (166) to 5.7 (37) victory.

The win improves the Lions to a 7-2 record on the season in second spot on the WAFL ladder while the Eagles have lost 17 straight now with the nine losses in 2023 coming at an average of 100.1 points.

It was a career-best day in attack for Subiaco forwards Ben Sokol and Jack Mayo.

Sokol ended up kicking eight goals for the first time in his 137-game WAFL career from 14 kicks and five marks while receiving seven free-kicks. He has now kicked 306 goals in his career that started at South Fremantle and has seen him win three premierships with Subiaco.

Mayo was playing his fourth match back from a knee reconstruction and also had a career-best performance for the Lions kicking six goals from 13 kicks and six marks. His previous best in his 10-game career had been two goals on three occasions.

Ben Golding also kicked three goals for Subiaco, Max Walters two, Ryan Borchet two and Zac Clarke two as he continued his dominant form in the ruck with another 17 touches, 46 hit outs and six tackles.

Liam Hickmott continued his standout form in the midfield for Subiaco with another 32 possessions while Jaimon Alone had a career-best afternoon with 28 touches, nine tackles and eight inside-50 entries.

Stefan Giro also collected 22 touches, Leigh Kitchin 21 on return, Walters 21, Rylie Morgan 20, Wil Hickmott 20 and Jaxon McGowan 17.

Jackson Nelson kicked two goals for West Coast to go with 16 possessions and five tackles.

Josh Browne gathered another 29 touches for the Eagles, Darby McCarthy 28, Andries Mercer 19 and Cooper Nitschke 18 while Josh Edwards battled hard in the ruck against Clarke for 12 disposals and 30 hit outs.

West Coast made the perfect start with Jack Williams kicking the game's first goal after just three minutes and the signs were there of a more competitive effort.

Then even after Subiaco kicked a couple of goals through Ryan Borchet and Zac Clarke, the Eagles answered through Jackson Nelson and the signs were still encouraging.

However, the Lions began to pull away by kicking the next three goals including a first of the day for both Ben Sokol and Jack Mayo, but the Eagles did get one back before quarter-time to keep the deficit to just 14 points.

Any chances of West Coast staying in the contest was blown away in the second quarter, though, with Subiaco piling on seven goals to one from West Coast with the Lions in control leading by 51 points at the main break.

The dominance of Subiaco was even more stark the longer the game went with the Lions kicking another five goals to one in the third quarter to head into the three quarter-time break leading by 77 points.

It was more of the same from the Lions in the final term with another eight goals with West Coast managing just the one behind and the Lions ran out thumping 129-point victors to shoot to second position on the WAFL ladder as a result.

 

CLAREMONT 9.8 (62) defeated PEEL THUNDER 8.12 (60)

The top two teams in the WAFL locked horns at Revo Fitness Stadium on Saturday and what a contest it proved to be between Claremont and Peel Thunder.

The Tigers replaced the Thunder in top spot last weekend setting the stage for that position to be on the line when they did battle at Tigerland on Saturday.

Little separated the teams all day but Peel did appear on track for the win when leading by 17 points at the 23-minute mark of the last quarter.

Everyone might have thought the game was over except the Claremont players though. The Tigers kicked a couple of quick goals and then suddenly Talon Delacey turned hero. He took a mark directly in front, went back to slot it and the Tigers were in front.

The siren sounded seconds after the ruck contest took place back in the middle and Claremont pulled off the miracle winning 9.8 (62) to 8.12 (60).

The victory keeps the Tigers in top spot with a 7-2 record while the Thunder are now third at 6-3.

Talon Delacey kicked the first and last goals of the game for Claremont, and finished with three majors for the day from six kicks as he proved the hero in his 14th WAFL appearance.

Jye Bolton split his time throughout the game again from playing across half-back to playing on the ball, and was outstanding wherever he was ending up with 36 possessions for the Tigers.

Ben Elliott also picked up 25 touches, Declan Mountford 24 (eight tackles), Lachlan Martinis 24, Teia Miles 23, Jack Lewsey 22 and Joel Western 20.

Oliver Eastland was again clearly the best ruckman on the ground getting the better of his duels with Riley Smith and Liam Reidy to end the game with 22 disposals, 37 hit outs and a goal.

Peel's lone multiple goalkicker on the day was Sebit Kuek who kicked two from five kicks and two marks.

Neil Erasmus finished up collecting 27 possessions for the Thunder, Blair Bell 25, Nathan Wilson 23, Brady Grey 22, Corey Wagner 22, Ben Hancock 21 and Karl Worner 21.

Claremont made the perfect start with an early goal to Talon Delacey as they attempted to hold on to top spot but the Thunder took charge the rest of the opening term starting with a goal to Karl Worner.

Sebit Kuek then marked strongly and kicked another before small forward Guy Barnes kicked truly and the Thunder were leading by 15 points at the first break.

Peel's height in attack was threatening to be a major difference in the contest when Liam Reidy took a couple of strong marks. He converted with an early goal in the second quarter with Peel's lead growing to 23 points.

However, Claremont fired back with Ben Elliott snapping a goal when he got the ball to boot in congestion. Max Minear then added another before Alex Manuel got on the board.

Claremont was right back into the contest and then hit the front thanks to Delacey's second goal of the match before Peel closed the half when big man Riley Smith kicked truly to give the Thunder the four-point edge.

The Tigers made the perfect start to the second half with ruckman Oliver Eastland slamming it on his left boot for a goal inside 45 seconds to put the home team back in front by two points.

However, the Tigers wouldn’t manage another goal until the dying minutes of the contest with Peel taking control. The Thunder kicked the only other goal of the third quarter through Kuek which saw them leading by seven points at the last change.

Peel then managed the first two goals of the fourth term thanks to Jack Sears and Ben Middleton.

The Thunder were still leading by 17 points by the 23-minute mark but Claremont weren't done with and produced the most remarkable finish.

It started with a goal to Sam Alvarez, Anthony Treacy kicked another at the 26-minute mark and then only seconds before the siren, Delacey took the mark straight in front.

He went back and kicked his third goal of the game to prove the hero and Claremont snatched the two-point win with the three goals in less than five minutes to return to top spot.

 

EAST PERTH 16.12 (108) defeated EAST FREMANTLE 11.4 (70)

East Perth continued its push for a return to finals action in 2023 with a commanding second half performance to beat East Fremantle by 38 points on Sunday at Leederville Oval.

Both teams were coming off playing in their WA Day derbies with East Perth impressive in beating West Perth while East Fremantle fell to a 15th straight loss to South Fremantle.

Not much separated the two teams for the first three quarters then at Leederville Oval on Sunday but East Perth then kicked six of the last seven goals of the game to run out 16.12 (108) to 11.4 (70) winners.

The victory improves the Royals to a 6-3 record to be up into fourth position at the end of Round 9 while the Sharks are out of the five altogether now at 5-4.

Shayne Hille, Christian Ameduri, Mitch Schofield and Zach Raykos all kicked two goals apiece in the win for East Perth.

East Perth's star studded midfield was outstanding once more and was instrumental in the win with Angus Schumacher finishing with 32 possessions, Angus Scott 28, Mitch Crowden 27, Stan Wright 22 and Hamish Brayshaw 19.

Sam Van Diemen also collected 23 touches, Alex Pearce 19 and Corey Watts 19 while having to spend the majority of the game in the ruck after an early injury to Scott Jones. Watts also had 22 hit outs and 10 tackles.

Dillon O'Reilly stood tall in attack for East Fremantle kicking four goals from eight kicks and six marks. Cody Leggett and Alex Montauban also kicked two goals each for the Sharks.

East Fremantle's midfield was rocked with the loss of Milan Murdock early with Tom Joyce finishing with 28 touches, Kyle Baskerville 23, Harry Marsh 20, Fraser Turner 18 and Hugh Dixon 17 in the ruck to go with 30 hit outs.

Cam Eardley amassed 30 disposals off half-back to go with nine marks and four entries inside the forward 50.

East Fremantle was desperate to bounce back from that 15th straight derby loss on Monday and to hold on to a place in the top five, and started strongly with two goals inside the first four minutes thanks to Dillon O'Reilly.

East Perth quickly fired back and it started with Nick Robertson running off Jonathon Marsh down back to kick the Royals' first of the day. Liam Tedesco and Sam van Diemen soon added goals too and East Perth were in front.

East Fremantle did get one back before quarter-time, though, courtesy of Cody Leggett and East Perth's lead was just two points by the first break.

Key forwards Mitch Schofield and Jonathon Marsh traded goals to start the second quarter before East Fremantle threatened to open up a handy lead with the next two goals from Alex Montauban and then with Leggett kicking his second.

That saw the Sharks leading by eight points but East Perth did get one back before half-time thanks to co-captain Christian Ameduri to take a one-point lead into the major break.

The Royals then started the second half on fire with three goals in the opening seven minutes starting with one to Shayne Hille, before Michael Randall got on the board with his first of his return to football this year and then Ameduri added another.

Suddenly East Perth was out to a 19-point lead but the Sharks did fire back with a couple of goals to O'Reilly and Brayden Lawler.

But East Perth continued to be building on its advantage and were back up 20 after goals to Hamish Brayshaw and Nick Bonomelli against his former team. The Sharks, though, did stay in touch with a fourth to O'Reilly just before three quarter-time.

The Sharks then set up a big finish with the first goal of the last quarter to Josh Schoenfeld and it was still just an eight-point game by the 15-minute mark.

However, it was all East Perth from there with the Royals producing a dominant finish with five goals over the next 10 minutes including a couple to Zach Raykos to blow the Sharks out of the top five with the 38-point victory.

 

WEST PERTH 12.14 (86) defeated SOUTH FREMANTLE 9.5 (59)

West Perth was staring down three straight losses for the first time in four years but kicked the only six goals of the last quarter to overrun South Fremantle and win by 27 points on Sunday at Pentanet Stadium.

South Fremantle arrived at Joondalup looking for consecutive wins after Monday's 15th straight derby win over East Fremantle and to stay in touch of the top five, and the Bulldogs were in control over the opening three quarters.

The Bulldogs kicked the only three goals of the first quarter, led by as much as 36 points in the second term and then still by 14 points at three quarter-time with West Perth staring down the barrel of a third straight loss for the first time since 2019.

However, the reigning premiers delivered a dominant final term kicking the only six goals to end up winning 12.14 (86) to 9.5 (59) and return to the top five in the process.

West Perth co-captain Aaron Black is spending more time as a half-forward this season and is doing well in the role including kicking three goals on Sunday from 17 disposals, seven marks and four tackles.

Noah Pegoraro also pushed forward for the Falcons to kick two goals for the first time in his career. He had only kicked two goals in 55 games before Sunday where he also had 10 kicks and four marks.

Joe Hinder was West Perth's other multiple goalscorer kicking two from 23 touches, nine inside 50s and six marks.

Shane Nelson was right back to his best after a tough day in the derby on Monday for the Falcons racking up 33 possessions to go with five tackles, four inside 50s and a goal.

Zac Guadagnin also had 26 disposals for West Perth, Nathan Murray 25, Luke Meadows 23 and Koopah Todd 22.

Zac Strom kicked another three goals from full-forward for South Fremantle from seven kicks and six marks. Manfred Kelly and Brandon Donaldson also kicked two goals each for the Bulldogs.

Jake Florenca continued to be picking back up right where he left off in the midfield for South Fremantle racking up 30 possessions and 11 tackles in Sunday's game.

Tom Blechynden also collected another 28 touches, Dylan Main 26, George Wessels 21, Chad Pearson 21, Toby McQuilkin 19 and Noah Strom did well holding Tyler Keitel to one goal, and Jarrod Salmeri kept Keegan Knott to one behind.

South Fremantle has generally enjoyed visiting Joondalup going back over the past 30 years and the Bulldogs started well again on Sunday with the first goal of the contest thanks to Zac Strom.

Manfred Kelly soon added another and then with Caleb Stephens also kicking truly, South Fremantle had the only three goals of the opening term to lead by 16 points at quarter-time.

West Perth did manage a first goal of the game to start the second stanza thanks to premiership youngster Joe Hinder, but the Bulldogs continued to have all the answers and a couple of goals in succession to Brandon Donaldson saw their lead back out to 23 points.

Kelly then kicked his second of the day and Riley Colborne added another to suddenly see South Fremantle in a dominant position leading by 36 points.

West Perth needed to respond and the home team did with the last two goals of the half through Hinder and Noah Pegoraro but the Bulldogs were still in control leading by 23 points at the main break.

The Falcons did take charge for a lot of the third quarter with goals to Aaron Black, Luke Meadows and Shane Nelson to close the margin to just two points, but the Bulldogs responded with two goals to Zac Strom to close the third term.

That saw South Fremantle clinging to a 14-point lead at the last change, but West Perth dominated the last quarter with the only six goals while holding the Bulldogs to just two behinds to see the Falcons end up winning by 27 points after early trailing by as much as 36.

 

SWAN DISTRICTS 9.11 (65) defeated PERTH 9.5 (59)

It was quite the spiteful, feisty and dramatic match up at Steel Blue Oval on Sunday and it was perhaps only fitting it was decided in the most nail-biting fashion with Swan Districts beating Perth by six points.

There was plenty going on between Swan Districts and Perth on Sunday with no love lost between the two sides as they were desperate to score a third win for the season and to remain in touch for a top five position.

The breeze played its part in the fascinating contest too at Bassendean but when Perth kicked the first two goals into the breeze to start the last quarter, the Demons looked on track to score the win.

However, Swans ended up kicking the last two goals of the game with the first from co-captain Chris Jones and then the other from small forward Jarrod Cameron after the siren in the most dramatic of finishes.

Swan Districts ended up winning 9.11 (65) to 9.5 (59) with them improving to a 3-6 record while the Demons slip to 2-7 with the heartbreaking defeat.

Jesse Palmer, Aidan Clarke and returning co-captain Chris Jones all kicked two goals apiece in the win for Swan Districts.

Jackson McLachlan produced his best performance of the season since joining Swan Districts from the VFL by amassing 35 possessions, eight tackles, four marks and three inside 50s.

Jarvis Pina also produced 28 touches for the black-and-whites, Jesse Turner 28, Lawson Humphries 19, Tobe Watson 18 and Josh Cipro 18. Jehb O'Donohue also had 19 disposals while doing well to limiting dual Perth fairest and best winner Corey Byrne to 16 touches.

Matthew Germs came in for his first game of the season to carry the ruck in the absence of Nathan Blakely and had 41 hit outs.

Sam Stubbs kicked three goals for Perth while splitting his time between playing as a forward target and as an on-baller. He also had 13 possessions and six tackles while captain Michael Sinclair kicked two goals as well.

Despite the loss, the Demons had plenty more strong contributors on the afternoon with Jack Cooley racking up another 34 touches while Charlie Thompson finished with 23, Jack Avery 20, Jye Clark 19, Regan Clarke 17, Simon Hayward 17 and Daniel Hill 17.

Perth had the advantage of the strong breeze at Bassendean in the opening quarter and it was captain Michael Sinclair who read the wind the best early to curl a goal through at the 10-minute mark.

Jack Cooley added another seven minutes later when he also read the breeze well from 50. Sam Stubbs added another for the Demons but Swans did get an important one against the wind late in the term thanks to returning co-captain Chris Jones.

Swan Districts were peppering the goals to start the second quarter but only managed a string of behinds before Perth did get one against the tide thanks to Sinclair to be on top by 16 points.

Swans did manage to build some momentum from there, though, with a couple of goals to Jesse Palmer, another to Jiah Reidy, and then another from Aidan Clarke heading into half-time where the black-and-whites had an 11-point lead.

The tempers then boiled over after the siren with a heated finish to the half to set the stage for what would be a fascinating second half with both teams attempting to make it three wins on the season.

Then despite going against the breeze, Swans got the first goal of the second half with a second of the day to Clarke. Swans soon added another through Jesse Turner after a 50m penalty, but then the Demons finished the third quarter strongly.

For Perth to have any chance they would need to be leading at three quarter-time, but the Demons weren't quite able to despite three late goals including a pair to Stubbs.

However, Swans were still clinging to a four-point at the last change with the breeze behind them in the last term but the Demons weren’t going to be denied.

Jye Clark and Jacques Barwick kicked the first two goals of the final quarter to put Perth seven points in front and the Demons were on track for what would be a terrific result away from home.

Swans knew their season was on the line and got one back through co-captain Jones and then suddenly with time running out, Jarrod Cameron was judged to have been tackled high by Kane Johnston.

The siren then sounded as he walked back to take the shot from directly in front. Cameron showed nerves of steel to kick the winning goal to break the deadlock and finally Swan Districts had won a tight one in 2023.