WAFL Team of the Week – Round 10Tuesday, June 20, 2023 - 11:08 PM - by Chris Pike

DILLON O'Reilly and Sebit Kuek kicked six goals in wins for their teams in Round 10 of the WAFL, Ben Sokol booted five for Subiaco in another big victory and even Tyler Keitel delivered five in a loss for West Perth and that's just part of the story of the Team of the Week.

The big performances didn’t just come from the forwards in the four matches of Round 10 of the 2023 WAFL season in the victories for East Fremantle, Peel Thunder, East Perth and Subiaco.

Round 10 in the WAFL began on Saturday afternoon with East Fremantle returning to the top five beating Swan Districts 13.13 (91) to 9.13 (67).

From that win, not only did O'Reilly make the Team of the Week from the Sharks but so did big man teammate Hugh Dixon. Aidan Clarke was selected from Swan Districts.

Peel Thunder had to fight hard to overcome Perth but claimed the 13.10 (88) to 10.9 (69) victory at Lathlain's Mineral Resources Park. 

Kuek's six goals saw him in the Team of the Week from Peel along with Brady Grey and Joel Hamling. Jack Avery and Sam Stubbs were picked from the Demons.

The last game on Saturday afternoon saw Subiaco shoot to the top of the WAFL ladder by beating West Perth 17.11 (113) to 8.10 (58) at Leederville Oval.

Subiaco's Jaxon McGowan, Ben Sokol, Zac Clarke and Stefan Giro all made the Team of the Week as did Tyler Keitel from West Perth.

The round wrapped up on Sunday afternoon at Fremantle Community Bank Oval with East Perth making it four wins in-a-row to beat South Fremantle 12.10 (82) to 9.5 (59).

In the win for the Royals, Corey Watts, Nick Robertson, Angus Scott, Sam van Diemen, Angus Schumacher and Tom North produced performances earning a Team of the Week nod. South Fremantle defenders Noah Strom and Toby McQuilkin also made it.

That all led into the selection of the Team of the Week for Round 10 from those who performed well in those five matches, so let's get to how it came together.

PLAYER OF THE ROUND – DILLON O'REILLY (EAST FREMANTLE)

He has long threatened to be a key forward who could tear games apart and he showed all of that potential in spades kicking six goals for East Fremantle against Swan Districts on Saturday at the WACA Ground.

To be fair, it has only been a horrible run of injuries that have limited what O'Reilly has been able to do on a consistent basis at WAFL level so far and even denied him a chance on the AFL stage as well.

The son of former Swan Districts, Geelong, Fremantle and Carlton defender, and occasional forward, Stephen, he was always earmarked a prodigious young talent and had a brilliant colts year in a premiership for East Fremantle in 2017 where he kicked 46 goals.

He made his WAFL debut in that 2017 season as well for the Sharks kicking three goals in two appearances. He kicked another 19 goals in 10 colts games in 2018, and then after a solid start to 2019, Fremantle picked him up in the mid-season draft.

However, his injury curse struck again and he was limited to five WAFL games at Peel after being picked up and two in the reserves, and then wasn’t able to play at all in 2020.

O'Reilly was released from Fremantle during that 2020 season but returned to East Fremantle in 2021 where he showed some encouraging signs once again with 16 goals from 12 games.

Then after an exciting start to 2022 with 11 goals in the opening four matches including five against the West Coast Eagles, he was struck down by injury once more and his season was done.

He was back ready to go for Round 1 of this season and his form has been building impressively leading up to his match-winning performance on Saturday against Swan Districts at the WACA Ground.

O'Reilly kicked four goals the previous week in a losing effort for the Sharks against East Perth, but was even more of a presence against Swans and the black-and-whites had no answers for him in the air.

Having Hugh Dixon spending more time in the forward-line helped East Fremantle have those twin towers and it worked a treat. By the end of the afternoon, O'Reilly had 10 shots on goal and kicked six of them to go with 15 possessions and nine marks.

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)
Round 10 – Dillon O'Reilly (East Fremantle)

WAFL TEAM OF THE WEEK – ROUND 10

BACK: Jaxon McGowan (S), Noah Strom (SF), Corey Watts (EP)
HALF-BACK: Nick Robertson (EP), Joel Hamling (PT), Jack Avery (P)
CENTRE: Aidan Clarke (SD), Harry Marsh (EF), Angus Scott (EP)
HALF-FORWARD: Sam Stubbs (P), Tyler Keitel (WP), Sam van Diemen (EP)
FORWARD: Ben Sokol (S), Dillon O'Reilly (EF), Sebit Kuek (PT)
FOLLOWERS: Zac Clarke (S), Angus Schumacher (EP), Brady Grey (PT)
INTERCHANGE: Hugh Dixon (EF), Toby McQuilkin (SF), Tom North (EP), Stefan Giro (S)

BACK POCKET – JAXON MCGOWAN (Subiaco)
The colts premiership player at Subiaco from 2020 didn’t make his league debut until Round 1 this year but from his very first appearance he instantly looked right at home in the Subiaco back-line. That hasn’t changed over any of his first 10 appearances and he was terrific in the big win against West Perth on Saturday. He did the job on Falcons goal sneak Keegan Knott holding him scoreless and to six kicks while finishing with 15 possessions for the day himself to earn a place in the Team of the Week.

FULL-BACK – NOAH STROM (South Fremantle)
Is settling nicely into this season after a slightly slower than usual start to 2023 as he now approaches his 100-game milestone with South Fremantle. The premiership winning full-back had the job on East Perth's Nick Bonomelli on Sunday and kept him to one goal and three kicks, the majority of which came when he was pinch hitting in the ruck. Also had seven touches and three tackles himself to make the Team of the Week for a second time in the last three weeks.

BACK POCKET – COREY WATTS (East Perth)
The emerging East Perth key defender had to spend most of last week's game in the ruck after Scott Jones went down with a broken leg. He did well in that role too against East Fremantle but was back to his customary role as a key defender on Sunday and was tremendous in limiting South Fremantle's Zac Strom to six kicks and one goal while finishing with 16 touches and eight marks himself.

HALF-BACK FLANK – NICK ROBERTSON (East Perth)
Continues to thrive having settled into his role in the East Perth back-line and is a significant reason why the Royals have been able to string four straight wins together in impressive fashion. Earned a place in the Team of the Week for a fourth time this season and third week in-a-row after a strong showing in the win against South Fremantle where he had 27 possessions and 12 marks while doing a good job defensively once more.

CENTRE HALF-BACK – JOEL HAMLING (Peel Thunder)
The AFL premiership defender might appear unlikely to receive a call up from Fremantle again no matter how well he's playing at Peel, but now that he is fully healthy in 2023, he is having a terrific season and cemented himself as one of the strongest key defenders in the WAFL. Didn’t give young Perth forward Ethan Bakic a chance on Saturday in Peel's win and finished with 12 possessions and six marks himself in another rock solid display.

HALF-BACK FLANK – JACK AVERY (Perth)
The 21-year-old continues to be one of the breakout stars this season in the back-line for Perth and he produced another terrific showing against Peel on Saturday afternoon. He spent a lot of the afternoon opposed to Peel forward Ben Middleton and helped limit him to one kick but it was then with his 27 possessions and 12 marks that he really had his influence to be named to the Team of the Week for a fourth time so far this season.

WING – AIDAN CLARKE (Swan Districts)
It's been quite the impressive return from a hamstring injury over the last four weeks after the powerhouse midfielder was sidelined following Round 2. He did expect to be sharing a midfield with the likes of Sam Fisher and Frank Anderson this season, but it hasn’t proven the case and he's standing up strongly for the black-and-whites. Had another 24 possessions and three inside-50 entries against East Fremantle to make the Team of the Week for the third time in his four matches back. 

CENTRE – HARRY MARSH (East Fremantle)
The star-studded East Fremantle midfield had been decimated coming into Saturday's crucial clash with Swan Districts with Milan Murdock, Tom Joyce and Josh Schoenfeld all going out for the Sharks. That left him with a bigger load to carry and just to make his afternoon tougher, he had Swans tagger Jehb O'Donohue shadowing him for a lot of the game. But he was terrific ending up with 19 touches, eight inside 50s, seven marks and two goals as East Fremantle got back to winning.

WING – ANGUS SCOTT (East Perth)
He has been remarkably consistent on the wing for East Perth ever since arriving in 2019 from Casey Demons in the VFL, but what he hasn’t been able to be part of yet over his 70-game career is finals. That looks set to be changing in 2023 after another impressive Royals win against South Fremantle on Sunday where he finished with another 34 possessions, nine marks, four inside 50s and a goal.

HALF-FORWARD FLANK – SAM STUBBS (Perth)
The 26-year-old from Queensland continues to be one of the more exciting and enigmatic players in the competition. While he's spent most of his time playing forward so far, it's stints in the middle where he's really showing what he is capable of. Coach Peter German threw him onto the ball in the second quarter on Saturday and he was inspirational to will the Demons back into the contest. He's tremendous in winning clearances and his long kicking forward is tremendous. One clearance he won, drove it forward, then got the handpass back for a team lifting goal from 50. Finished the game against Peel with 14 touches, five tackles, five inside-50 entries and a goal.

CENTRE HALF-FORWARD – TYLER KEITEL (West Perth)
His team might not be firing the way they would have hoped as reigning premiers with West Perth slipping outside the top five following Saturday's loss to Subiaco, but it's through no fault of his. Back on the Leederville Oval turf the Falcons won the premiership on last year, he did what he could to keep West Perth in the contest. Kicked their only three goals of the first half to end the game with five from 15 possessions, nine marks and five inside-50 entries.

HALF-FORWARD FLANK – SAM VAN DIEMEN (East Perth)
The 22-year-old from Bridgetown is now finding his feet as a small forward at WAFL level with East Perth and perhaps played the best of his 18-game career in Sunday's win against South Fremantle. He equalled his career-high of kicking three goals for the Royals as they made it four consecutive wins to go with 14 possessions, four tackles and three inside-50 entries to earn a place in the Team of the Week for a first time.

FORWARD POCKET – BEN SOKOL (Subiaco)
Maintained his lead in the Bernie Naylor Medal as he attempts to win the leading goalkicker award for the third time as he proved a tremendous spearhead attack once more in Subiaco's big win against reigning premiers West Perth. Kicked another five goals from 17 kicks and 12 marks in a dominant performance to now give him 34 games on the season and to be named to the Team of the Week for a third time so far in 2023.

FORWARD POCKET – SEBIT KUEK (Peel Thunder)
The 22-year-old delivered the type of performance he's always threatened to as he turned match-winner for Peel against Perth on Saturday. While he ended up kicking a career-best six goals from 12 kicks and eight marks, it was the way he went about it that was most impressive. He marked strongly over his head, did well out on the lead, and then even had a dazzling moment in the last term. He picked it up near the boundary, took on his defender Kane Johnston and got to the goal square where he eventually got the ball to boot while being tackled. It was three goals in a quick burst midway through the last term that secure the win for the Thunder.

RUCK – ZAC CLARKE (Subiaco)
What a dominant return he has made to the WAFL with Subiaco last year. Last played in the league in the premiership year of 2018 before finishing his AFL career at Essendon and then playing suburban football in Melbourne, but the 33-year-old has returned to the Lions and confirmed himself the dominant ruckman in the league once more. Another emphatic performance against West Perth on Saturday made up of 23 touches, 45 hit outs, 12 marks and a goal to reach the Team of the Week an eighth time in 10 rounds.

RUCK ROVER – ANGUS SCHUMACHER (East Perth)
Continues to be in the best form of his life in the East Perth midfield in 2023 and it wouldn’t surprise to see him get another AFL opportunity for 2024, but right now he is focused on continuing to help the Royals charge into the finals for the first time since 2018. He produced another dominant effort in the Royals on-ball brigade against South Fremantle with 38 touches, nine inside 50s, four marks and four tackles to eran a place in th Team of the Week for a fourth time, and third in-a-row since winning the State game Simpson Medal.

ROVER – BRADY GREY (Peel Thunder)
Playing for Peel up against the team he played 20 matches with across 2020 and 2021 before moving back to Melbourne, and now coming back to work at Fremantle and play with the Thunder in 2023, he was at his tough, in and under best in the win on Saturday afternoon. Finished the game with 22 possessions, eight tackles, six inside 50s and five marks to earn a place in the Team of the Week for a second time this season.

INTERCHANGE – HUGH DIXON (East Fremantle)
The East Fremantle big man had been doing well holding down the ruck in recent weeks, but the benefits of him playing forward are significant. He went back to spending most of his time forward on Saturday and having the twin towers worked a treat with Dillon O'Reilly starring, and in turn Reuben McGuire held down the ruck after playing as a key defender of late. It also allowed the Sharks to stretch the Swans back-line and it all worked a treat in the win. He also ended the afternoon with 24 disposals, 15 hit outs seven marks and a goal.

INTERCHANGE – TOBY MCQUILKIN (South Fremantle)
South Fremantle's back-line might have been under siege as Sunday's game against East Perth unfolded, but he again stood tall and did what he could against the tide. Had the job on Zach Raykos and did a good job holding him to just the three kicks and no score for the day while he ended up with 14 possessions and four marks himself to make the Team of the Week for a fourth time in 2023.

INTERCHANGE – TOM NORTH (East Perth)
Has made a tremendous return to the WAFL this season with East Perth and is yet another member of their running brigade instrumental in the Royals having now won four straight matches to be on track to make a finals return in 2023. Has settled in wonderfully to a role as the playmaker running off half-back where his left foot kicking is a treat to watch. He finished Sunday's win against South Fremantle with 22 disposals, nine marks and three inside-50 entries.

INTERCHANGE – STEFAN GIRO (Subiaco)
The Subiaco wingman is having another strong season as the reigning fairest and best winner at the Lions. A big part of him joining Subiaco at the end of 2021 with his time at Fremantle ending was to be part of some team success and while 2022 didn’t go to plan, he's now a key part of a team sitting on top of the ladder after 10 rounds. He had another impressive showing on Saturday with 22 disposals, six inside 50s, five marks, three tackles and a goal to be named to the Team of the Week for a third time.
 

UNLUCKY BUNCH

There were plenty of players who delivered tremendous performances across Round 10 but couldn’t quite fit into the Team of the Round, including:

East Fremantle's Matthew Jupp, Cam Eardley and Jackson McDonald.

Swan Districts' Nathan Blakely, Jesse Turner, Josh Cipro, Jackson McLachlan and Jarvis Pina.

Subiaco's Liam Hickmott, Leigh Kitchin and Taj Schofield.

West Perth's Aaron Black, Nathan Murray, Mitch Peirce, Luke Meadows and Joe Hinder.

South Fremantle's Glenn Byron, Jake Florenca, Tom Blechynden and Jacob Dragovich.

East Perth's Liam Tedesco, Harrison Macreadie, Mitch Crowden and Hamish Brayshaw.

Perth's Connor Sing, Charlie Thompson and Regan Clarke.

Peel Thunder's Travis Colyer, Corey Wagner and Blair Bell.