WAFL Team of the Week – Round 9Tuesday, June 13, 2023 - 10:25 PM - by Chris Pike

ROUND 9 in the WAFL across the weekend included match winning goals before and after the final siren, two Subiaco forwards combining for 14 goals and a couple of champions, Jye Bolton and Shane Nelson, inspiring their teams to important victories.

Round 9 in the WAFL got underway on Saturday at Mineral Resources Park with Subiaco dominating the West Coast Eagles the longer the game went to end up winning 25.16 (166) to 5.7 (37). 

From that win, Liam Hickmott, Jack Mayo, Jaimon Alone, Ben Sokol and Zac Clarke all earned their place in the Team of the Week.

The other match on Saturday was the battle over top spot between Claremont and Peel Thunder, and thanks to three goals in the last five minutes the Tigers snatched the 9.8 (62) to 8.12 (60) victory.

Talon Delacey kicked three goals including the match winner for Claremont to earn a place in the Team of the Week alongside Jye Bolton. Peel defender Jacob Blight was playing his old side for the first time and also made the team once more.

The other three Round 9 matches took place on Sunday with East Perth impressive in a 16.12 (108) to 11.4 (70) victory against East Fremantle.

Nick Robertson, Angus Scott and Angus Schumacher were named to the Team of the Week from the Royals with the Sharks represented by Cam Eardley and Dillon O'Reilly.

Swan Districts beat Perth 9.11 (65) to 9.5 (59) at Steel Blue Oval thanks to Jarrod Cameron kicking a goal after the siren to break the deadlock. 

Jarvis Pina, Jackson McLachlan and Jehb O'Donohue made the Team of the Week from Swan Districts while Perth had Kane Johnston and Jack Cooley make the side.

West Perth kicked the only six goals of the last quarter to beat South Fremantle 12.14 (86) to 9.5 (59) at Joondalup's Pentanet Stadium.

West Perth had Zac Guadagnin, Joe Hinder and Shane Nelson make the Team of the Week while South Fremantle had Jake Florenca.

That all led into the selection of the Team of the Week for Round 9 from those who performed well in those five matches, so let's get to how it came together.

PLAYER OF THE ROUND – TALON DELACEY (CLAREMONT)

Not only did he kick the winning goal just before the siren for Claremont on Saturday, but he has gone from a fringe enigmatic player coming into this season to now be a crucial part of the Tigers' forward-line.

The 20-year-old Albany product has never been one to shun the spotlight from the moment he made his league debut with Claremont in Round 2 last year in that now famous game were the COVID struck Tigers beat the reigning premiers Subiaco.

Delacey kicked two goals that day and would go on to play five games in his rookie season with Claremont and kicking four goals to show flashes of what he would be capable of moving forward.

However, he was still somewhat of an unknown quantity as to what he could provide for the Tigers at league level but what they did need was to find some answers in the forward-line.

It's a decidedly new-look Claremont forward-line this season especially now with the departure of Jack Buller with Max Minear and George Graham providing the tall targets, and then Anthony Treacy, Zac Mainwaring and Tyron Smallwood at ground level along with the versatile Alex Manuel now back.

What Delacey provides, though, is a bit everything. At 185cm, he's got enough size to be a target and he has proven himself capable of taking a strong overhead mark. He is also good on the lead and has good forward craft about him to know how to make himself dangerous.

It's then at ground level where his cleverness truly shines and he is always in the game, and always a threat to score a goal, and is capable of kicking the flashy and miracle goals.

What he's also proven is that he loves the big moments and the big occasions.

There was no bigger moment than when he clutched a mark late in Saturday's game against Peel with Claremont still four points behind despite having kicked two goals already in the last three minutes to storm back into the contest.

The result was resting on the boot of Delacey and he never looked like missing, Claremont celebrated wildly as they like to do and then seconds after the ruck contest back in the middle, the siren sounded and the Tigers had won the game and they remained in top spot as a result.

He has now kicked 18 goals in the nine games this season for Claremont and will be crucial to the Tigers trying to snap that premiership drought having lost two of the past three grand finals.

Players of the Round
Round 1 – Max Walters (Subiaco)
Round 2 – Tyler Keitel (West Perth)
Round 3 – Ryan Borchet (Subiaco)
Round 4 – Brady Grey (Peel Thunder)
Round 5 – Jaiden Hunter (Perth)
Round 6 – Cody Leggett (East Fremantle)
Round 7 – Zac Clarke (Subiaco)
Round 8 – Nick Robertson (East Perth)
Round 9 – Talon Delacey (Claremont)

WAFL TEAM OF THE WEEK – ROUND 9

BACK: Zac Guadagnin (WP), Kane Johnston (P), Nick Robertson (EP)
HALF-BACK: Jye Bolton (C), Jacob Blight (PT), Cam Eardley (EF)
CENTRE: Angus Scott (EP), Liam Hickmott (S), Jarvis Pina (SD)
HALF-FORWARD: Joe Hinder (WP), Jack Mayo (S), Jaimon Alone (S)
FORWARD: Ben Sokol (S), Dillon O'Reilly (EF), Talon Delacey (C)
FOLLOWERS: Zac Clarke (S), Shane Nelson (WP), Jackson McLachlan (SD)
INTERCHANGE: Angus Schumacher (EP), Jack Cooley (P), Jake Florenca (SF), Jehb O'Donohue (SD)

BACK POCKET – ZAC GUADAGNIN (West Perth)
The premiership defender who is fresh off playing in the WAFL Kia State team last month is having another fine season for West Perth and had a big say in the eventual win against South Fremantle on Sunday. Was rock solid defensively on whichever mid-size Bulldogs forward he was opposed to and also ended the afternoon with 26 possessions, nine marks, three tackles and two entries inside-50.

FULL-BACK – KANE JOHNSTON (Perth)
He will still be pulling his hair out over the controversial free-kick on the siren where he was judged to have tackled Jarrod Cameron high, but he was outstanding in the Perth back-line up until that point as he continues to emerge as one of the league's best young key defenders. Spent much of the game on a Tom Edwards who kicked six goals the previous week for Swan Districts, but held him goalless while having seven touches and two tackles himself.

BACK POCKET – NICK ROBERTSON (East Perth)
The East Perth hard man continues to thrive since being part of the back-line at the Royals and had another significant impact in the eventual win against East Fremantle on Sunday. Kicked a good early goal as he got forward and finished the afternoon with 12 possessions, four marks, three inside 50s and that goal while also have a fascinating battle with Sharks intimidator Jonathon Marsh. Held Marsh to just 11 kicks and one goal for the day as well.

HALF-BACK FLANK – JYE BOLTON (Claremont)
Despite being 141 games into his WAFL career with Claremont that's already seen him win two Sandover Medals, four Simpson Medals and become a three-time fairest and best winner, he remains perhaps the most consistently elite player in the competition. After spending most of the first half on Saturday against Peel at half-back, he started on the ball in the second half and wherever he played, he had a significant impact. Finished the game with 36 touches, six inside 50s, five marks and two tackles to be named to the Team of the Week for a fifth time.

CENTRE HALF-BACK – JACOB BLIGHT (Peel Thunder)
The former Claremont key position player was up against his old team for the first time since joining Peel this season where he has become an important part of their back-line set up. He spent a lot of Saturday's match opposed to former teammate Alex Manuel and helped to limit him to the one goal which came from a quick snap on the boundary. He also finished with 12 touches and seven marks himself to earn a place in the Team of the Week for a third time in 2023.

HALF-BACK FLANK – CAM EARDLEY (East Fremantle)
He is now 156 games into his career and continues to be as important as any other player at East Fremantle with the role he's now made his own across half-back. While he continues to win plenty of the ball and set up plenty of play out of the back-line, an underrated aspect continues to be his courageous acts in the air and running back with the flight of the ball in the back 50. He did all he could in Sunday's loss to East Perth with another 30 touches, nine marks, four inside 50s and two tackles.

WING – ANGUS SCOTT (East Perth)
It's quite the impressive East Perth midfield unit where the players can be switched from on the ball to the wing, to half-back and to half-forward, and he is a key part of that to continue to be as outstandingly consistent as he has been for all his 69 games since he moved west to join the Royals. He put in another terrific performance in the win against East Fremantle with 28 disposals, eight marks and a standout running goal from 50.

CENTRE – LIAM HICKMOTT (Subiaco)
The 23-year-old might only be 48 games into his WAFL career, but he continues to emerge as one of the elite midfielders in the competition. On the back of winning a premiership in 2021, he took the next step as a regular on-baller in 2022 making the WAFL Team of the Year, and he's now gone up another gear in 2023. Was superb again in Saturday's big win over West Coast for Subiaco with 32 touches, seven inside 50s, five marks and four tackles.

WING – JARVIS PINA (Swan Districts)
Since joining Swan Districts for the start of the 2022 season, the former Fremantle-listed running machine has become a key member of the Swans team spending most of his time providing plenty of run and drive coming off half-back. He was right at the peak of his powers in Sunday's eventual after the siren win against Perth finishing the game with 28 possessions, nine marks and four entries inside the forward 50.

HALF-FORWARD FLANK – JOE HINDER (West Perth)
The 23-year-old didn’t make his league debut at West Perth until Round 14 last year, but once he broke into the Falcons team he was so impressive largely as a half-forward with good pace and clean skills that he never looked back. He went on the play in the premiership side and now has continued to improve in 2023 as he further finds his feet in the WAFL. Had the best performance of his 14-game career in Sunday's win against South Fremantle with 23 disposals, nine inside 50s, six marks and two goals.

CENTRE HALF-FORWARD – JACK MAYO (Subiaco)
The 23-year-old key forward has had a horror run with two knee reconstructions, but how highly he's thought of was shown when St Kilda selected him back in the 2019 mid-season draft. His time was marred by a knee injury and then he suffered another serious knee upon returning to Subiaco to start 2022. However, he's back now and ready to show what he can do which did on Saturday kicking a career-best six goals from 17 touches and six marks.

HALF-FORWARD FLANK – JAIMON ALONE (Subiaco)
The tenacious small forward has earned his early opportunities with Subiaco in the forward 50 where he's been good at putting on defensive pressure, and then being a livewire at ground level. However, more opportunity has now presented and that even included more time up the ground on Saturday against West Coast, and he offered a glimpse into the potential he has to offer plenty more. The 23-year-old from Geraldton had the best game of his nine-match career with 28 touches, nine tackles, eight marks and eight inside 50s.

FORWARD POCKET – BEN SOKOL (Subiaco)
There's precious little that he hasn’t done in a triple premiership winning, two-time Bernie Naylor Medal winning career that's now spanned 137 games mostly at Subiaco having started with South Fremantle. However, he had never kicked more than seven goals in a game, which he had done twice back in 2016 and 2019. However, he set a new benchmark on Saturday against West Coast kicking the eight goals for the Lions to take him to 306 goals in his career to go with 14 kicks, five marks and earning seven free-kicks.

FULL-FORWARD – DILLON O'REILLY (East Fremantle)
It's an East Fremantle forward-line that is still a bit of a work in progress this season but now that his body is allowing him to stay out on the park, his form is building nicely. He provided a strong target in attack for the Sharks despite the loss to East Perth on Sunday and ended the afternoon kicking four goals from eight kicks and six marks. It's only the second time in his 34-game WAFL career that he's kicked more than three goals in a game in an encouraging sign for the Sharks.

RUCK – ZAC CLARKE (Subiaco)
What a return to the WAFL it's been from the former AFL ruckman who put together a career made up of 110 games at Fremantle and Essendon. He's returned to Subiaco this season where he'd last played in 2018 in the premiership, and at 33 years of age, he's taken back the mantle as the league's standout ruckman. He dominated once more for Subiaco against West Coast with 17 touches, 46 hit outs, six tackles, three marks and two goals to earn a place in the Team of the Week for a seventh time already in just nine weeks.

RUCK ROVER – SHANE NELSON (West Perth)
It continues to be remarkable to consider that the 30-year-old is having as good a season as at any other point in his career. That's a career that has now spanned 217 matches and seen him play in two premierships with West Perth and win five fairest and best awards with the Falcons. Was once again instrumental in Sunday's important win against South Fremantle with 33 touches, five tackles, four inside-50 entries and a goal.

ROVER – JACKSON MCLACHLAN (Swan Districts)
He made the move west to join Swan Districts this summer on the back of playing in the VFL where he was co-captain for Geelong, and he has fitted in tremendously already spending most of his time in the midfield for Swans. While they are missing key players Sam Fisher and Frank Anderson still, and have been without Josh Cipro and Aidan Clarke, he's stood up strongly and produced his best showing against Perth on Sunday. He finished with 35 touches, eight tackles, four marks and three inside 50s.

INTERCHANGE – ANGUS SCHUMACHER (East Perth)
He was already playing at a high level last year in the East Perth midfield earning a spot in the WAFL Team of the Year, but he's gone up another gear as part of what could be the best on-ball brigade in the competition. Along the way, he won the Simpson Medal in the State game and now earned a spot in the Team of the Week for a third time already in 2023 thanks to 32 touches, six marks, five tackles and four entries inside-50 for the Royals against East Fremantle.

INTERCHANGE – JACK COOLEY (Perth)
He has wasted little time becoming an important part of the Perth on-ball unit and is seemingly getting better week after week as a midfielder with the Demons having crossed from East Perth this off-season. Was terrific once more on Sunday against Swan Districts ending up with 34 possessions, four tackles and a goal. The only downside was the one-week suspension he copped as part of what was quite the heated affair all afternoon.

INTERCHANGE – JAKE FLORENCA (South Fremantle)
The 26-year-old on-baller was playing his third game from an injury layoff and he's wasted no time picking back up where he left off as a prolific ball winner in the South Fremantle midfield. Before his hamstring injury last year that ultimately ended his season, it wouldn’t have surprised to see him be picked up in the mid-season draft. He has come straight back into the team now showing his quality and had another 30 possessions and 11 tackles against West Perth on Sunday.

INTERCHANGE – JEHB O'DONOHUE (Swan Districts)
The 21-year-old from Bunbury is now 24 games into his WAFL career and he continues to be given the biggest jobs on the opposition's best ball winners week after week. Isn't afraid to get under his opponent's skin too and was at the centre of a lot of the heated parts of Sunday's clash with Perth, but in the end did a terrific job limiting Corey Byrne to 16 touches while ending up with 19 disposals, five marks, four tackles and three inside-50 entries himself.

UNLUCKY BUNCH

There were plenty of players who delivered tremendous performances across Round 9 but couldn’t quite fit into the Team of the Round, including:

Subiaco's Max Walters, Stefan Giro and Michael Braut.

West Coast's Jackson Nelson, Josh Browne and Darby McCarthy.

Claremont's Anthony Davis, Lachlan Martinis, Teia Miles, Jack Lewsey, Ben Elliott, Declan Mountford and Oliver Eastland.

Peel Thunder's Joel Hamling, Corey Wagner, Nathan Wilson, Neil Erasmus, Blair Bell, Brady Grey and Ben Hancock.

East Perth's Alex Pearce, Stan Wright, Shayne Hille, Christian Ameduri, Zach Raykos, Sam van Diemen, Corey Watts, Mitch Crowden, Hamish Brayshaw.

East Fremantle's Matthew Jupp, Hugh Dixon, Tom Joyce, Kyle Baskerville and Harry Marsh.

West Perth's Ben Johnson, Tyson Moulton, Aaron Black, Nathan Murray, Luke Meadows and Koopah Todd.

South Fremantle's Noah Strom, Chad Pearson, Jarrod Salmeri, Zac Strom, Tom Blechynden, Dylan Main and George Wessels.

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

Perth's Jack Avery, Sam Stubbs and Charlie Thompson.