WAFL Team of the Week – NAIDOC RoundWednesday, July 12, 2023 - 12:06 AM - by Chris Pike

WE were back to a full round of five WAFL fixtures on Saturday to celebrate NAIDOC Week and there were no shortage of standout performers in wins for Claremont, East Fremantle, East Perth and Peel Thunder, and a draw between Perth and the West Coast Eagles.

After a string of split rounds in the WAFL, there were five games again in Round 13 to celebrate NAIDOC Week with all 10 teams in action. In the end top five teams Claremont, East Perth, Peel Thunder and East Fremantle further consolidated their positions.

Throw in the draw between the Demons and Eagles, and there were players from all 10 teams putting forward plenty of candidates to be in the Team of the Week for NAIDOC Round.

All five WAFL matches took place on Saturday afternoon and the only match up featuring two teams in the top five took place at Leederville Oval, and Peel Thunder kicked the last two goals to beat Subiaco 8.10 (58) to 6.8 (44).

From the win, Jacob Blight and Ben Hancock made the Team of the Week from the Thunder as did Angus Dewar and Taj Schofield from Subiaco.

East Perth made it six straight victories to set up their tilt for top spot this coming Sunday against Claremont by beating Swan Districts 11.14 (80) to 4.8 (32) at Steel Blue Oval.

East Perth's Harrison Macreadie, Angus Scott and Hamish Brayshaw all earned spots in the Team of the Week as a result of the win with Jesse Turner getting in from Swan Districts after another prolific performance on the wing.

East Fremantle kept its form going to consolidate themselves further inside the top five and all but ending the premiership defence of West Perth with the 12.19 (91) to 7.8 (50) victory at Joondalup's Pentanet Stadium.

There was a lot to like in the win from the Sharks with Matthew Jupp, Kyle Baskerville, Milan Murdock and Jonathon Marsh earning spots in the Team of the Week. Ben Johnson also made it from the Falcons.

It was quite the dramatic draw between the bottom two teams Perth and the West Coast Eagles at Mineral Resources Park with both teams finishing on 15.8 (98).

The Demons had Jack Avery, Michael Sinclair and Jack Cooley winning positions in the Team of the Week as did Jed Kemp from the Eagles.

The traditional NAIDOC Week game between South Fremantle and Claremont took place at Fremantle Community Bank Oval and it was the Tigers snatching the 9.6 (60) to 8.8 (56) win against the Bulldogs with a late goal from Bailey Rogers.

Claremont's Oliver Eastland and Ben Edwards were named to the Team of the Week as were Chad Pearson, Jimmy Miller and Jake Florenca from South Fremantle.

PLAYER OF THE ROUND – HAMISH BRAYSHAW (EAST PERTH)

It's out of his control so there's no point thinking about it from his point of view, but it remains bizarre that Hamish Brayshaw didn’t play more AFL football and isn’t still on a list, which he only continues to prove week after week with East Perth.

While his brothers Angus (Melbourne) and Andrew (Fremantle) continue to put together outstanding AFL careers, Hamish found himself only playing one match with the West Coast Eagles back in 2020.

That was during spending three years on the list at West Coast before being delisted at the end of 2020, but then remaining at the Eagles in 2021 to play in the WAFL team and then signing at East Perth in 2022.

He put together a standout season at the Royals last year ending up as the fairest and best winner, but he's perhaps been even better this year and certainly more damaging which is undoubtedly helped by the added quality players around him.

The strong recruiting East Perth did this season has meant that they very likely have the best and deepest midfield brigade in the competition. While that's meant Brayshaw now doesn’t need to spend as long on the ball, it's working out best for the whole team.

Brayshaw can now split his time in the midfield at the Royals with teammates Mitch Crowden, Angus Schumacher, Christian Ameduri and now even Michael Randall while also having Tom North and Stan Wright coming off half-back, and Angus Scott prolific off the wing.

What that's meant is that Brayshaw has been even more effective when in the midfield in his time there because he longer has to push himself to exhaustion by spending virtually the whole game in there.

But then he's proven himself an outstanding goalkicking option when playing forward and that was all again on show in spades on Saturday as East Perth beat Swan Districts by 48 points at Steel Blue Oval.

That means the Royals are now knocking on the door of top spot after six straight wins and what Brayshaw is doing splitting his time between a midfielder and a forward is remarkable.

Whether or not he could be playing well at AFL level seems to have an obvious answer, but his availability is to the great benefit of East Perth and he was brilliant on Saturday kicking three goals while also finishing with 34 possessions, 12 marks and five inside-50 entries.

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)
Round 11 – Nathan Blakely (Swan Districts)
Round 12 – Jack Maibaum (Claremont)
Round 13 – Hamish Brayshaw (East Perth)

WAFL TEAM OF THE WEEK – NAIDOC ROUND

BACK: Chad Pearson (SF), Matthew Jupp (EF), Jacob Blight (PT)
HALF-BACK: Jack Avery (P), Harrison Macreadie (EP), Ben Johnson (WP)
CENTRE: Jesse Turner (SD), Milan Murdock (EF), Angus Scott (EP)
HALF-FORWARD: Hamish Brayshaw (EP), Jonathon Marsh (EF), Taj Schofield (S)
FORWARD: Michael Sinclair (P), Jimmy Miller (SF), Jed Kemp (WCE)
FOLLOWERS: Oliver Eastland (C), Jake Florenca (SF), Jack Cooley (P)  
INTERCHANGE: Angus Dewar (S), Ben Hancock (PT), Ben Edwards (C), Kyle Baskerville (EF)

BACK POCKET – CHAD PEARSON (South Fremantle)
He might be 112 games into his WAFL career now with South Fremantle but the 25-year-old premiership defender only continues to get better and produced another first-rate performance on Saturday in the narrow loss to Claremont. Not only did he finish with 10 possessions himself but also did a tremendous defensive job limiting the dangerous Talon Delacey to three kicks and one behind to make the Team of the Week for a sixth time already in 2023.

FULL-BACK – MATTHEW JUPP (East Fremantle)
The East Fremantle captain is having quite the year having already captained the WAFL State Team for the first time and continuing to lead the Sharks admirably as the standout key defender in the competition. Took on the job on West Perth's Tyler Keitel on Saturday and conceded an early goal, but there was no more the rest of the day in a big win for East Fremantle as he also finished with 16 possessions and five marks.

BACK POCKET – JACOB BLIGHT (Peel Thunder)
He remains one of the recruits of the WAFL season. Peel knew they needed to find a key defender for this season to ensure they were well stocked in that department and weren’t too reliant on having the Fremantle-listed tall defenders available. He has likely surpassed all expectations they had for him and was tremendous once more on Saturday in the win against Subiaco with 15 touches and eight marks while being superb defensively holding Ryan Borchet to two kicks and one to make the Team of the Week for a fourth time.

HALF-BACK FLANK – JACK AVERY (Perth)
The 21-year-old continues to emerge as one of the more exciting players in the competition and put together another standout performance in the back-line for Perth on Saturday in the eventual draw with West Coast. His ability to take intercept marks overhead and provide run coming out of the defensive 50, and deliver on his left boot must be something AFL clubs are noticing. He had another 30 possessions and 10 marks to make the Team of the Week a fifth time.

CENTRE HALF-BACK – HARRISON MACREADIE (East Perth)
Continues to prove what an astute recruiting decision he was to become an anchor of the East Perth defensive unit. Took on another big task on Saturday against emerging gun Tom Edwards from Swan Districts. He did well to hold him to just eight kicks and one behind for the day while having seven disposals, two marks and two inside 50s himself as he ends up named to the Team of the Week for a second time.

HALF-BACK FLANK – BEN JOHNSON (West Perth)
The West Perth premiership winning small defender put in another impressive performance both with ball in hands and defensively despite a tough loss for the Falcons to East Fremantle that pushed them further from finals contention. He finished with 26 possessions and two tackles while doing a good job much of the afternoon limiting Alex Montauban to three kicks and one goal.

WING – JESSE TURNER (Swan Districts)
The Swan Districts vice-captain and reigning Swan Medal winner was right on top of his game once again on Saturday even if it was a tough home loss in the finish for his team against East Perth. Finished the afternoon at Steel Blue Oval with 44 possessions, five marks, five tackles and five inside-50 entries which saw him earn a spot in the Team of the Week for a sixth time already in 2023.

CENTRE – MILAN MURDOCK (East Fremantle)
A fresh colour to his hair didn’t stop him continuing his season as a brilliant on-baller with the Sharks winning all the hard balls, being ferocious at the contest and he's turning himself into a more damaging and attacking player too. Had a significant impact on the big win for East Fremantle against West Perth ending up with 30 possessions and seven tackles to make the Team of the Week a seventh time.

WING – ANGUS SCOTT (East Perth)
The prolific East Perth wingman just continues to go about his business week after week, and he's done it remarkably consistently right across his 72 matches since coming across from Casey in the VFL. He was superb once more in a 48-point win against Swan Districts at Steel Blue Oval ending up with 36 touches, eight marks, four tackles, four inside-50 entries and a goal to make the Team of the Week for a fourth time this season.

CENTRE HALF-FORWARD – JONATHON MARSH (East Fremantle)
It's been a bit of a mixed bag from the East Fremantle powerhouse forward this season which started with a suspension, but he's now working back into some ominous form just at the right time for the Sharks heading towards another finals campaign. Produced a match winning performance in Saturday's victory against West Perth at Joondalup by kicking three goals to go with 21 disposals, 14 marks and six inside-50 entries.

HALF-FORWARD FLANK – TAJ SCHOFIELD (Subiaco)
The 20-year-old is settling wonderfully into life in the WAFL with Subiaco showing what a bright future he has. Spending much of his time across half-forward and then having some stints in the midfield on top of it, he put together another standout performance on Saturday against Peel Thunder ending up with 25 disposals, six marks, six inside-50 entries and three tackles to make the Team of the Week for back-to-back weeks.

FORWARD POCKET – JED KEMP (West Coast)
The small forward delivered the best performance of his 12-game WAFL career so far with the Eagles and even kicked a crucial late goal, the second last of the game, that was instrumental with West Coast being in a winning position before the eventual draw with Perth. The 21-year-old finished the afternoon with 24 possessions, seven marks, six tackles and the two goals to earn a place in the Team of the Week for a first time.

FULL-FORWARD – JIMMY MILLER (South Fremantle)
The South Fremantle big man was right back to his dangerous best in attack and clearly rose to the occasion in celebration of NAIDOC Week for the Bulldogs. Was playing just his second game back from an injury layoff and showed just how much he's been missed with the target he provided by kicking four goals including one in each quarter. Thought he kicked the winner too late in the piece for Claremont snatched the win but he ended up with four goals from 16 touches, seven marks and five tackles.

FORWARD POCKET – MICHAEL SINCLAIR (Perth)
The Perth captain made a career out of being a standout intercept marking defender who would set up play out of the back-line throughout most of his 150-game journey. But new coach Peter German thought with his overhead marking ability, a move forward late in his career might be just what the Demons needed and it's working well. He delivered three goals from his six kicks to take the most of his chances in Saturday's draw with the West Coast Eagles.

RUCK – OLIVER EASTLAND (Claremont)
On the back of his standout performance the week before against Zac Clarke from Subiaco, it didn’t get any easier for him against another premiership ruckman in South Fremantle's Brock Higgins on Saturday. He delivered another first-class performance, though, for the Tigers to end the afternoon with 21 disposals, 40 hit outs, six marks, five tackles and five entries inside the forward 50 to make the Team of the Week for a fifth time.

RUCK ROVER – JAKE FLORENCA (South Fremantle)
It's a shame that injuries have limited him to 66 games in his WAFL career so far that started back in 2016 because when he's up and firing, he's truly one of the best players in the competition. He showed that again in spades on Saturday for South Fremantle both with his ball winning ability, but his attack on the ball, the opposition and the contest. Ended up with 29 touches, 14 tackles and six inside 50s to make the Team of the Week for a third time already in six matches in 2023.

ROVER – JACK COOLEY (Perth)
He might very well be thinking had he stayed at East Perth that it might have been a difficult midfield to break into right now so the move to join Perth this year has proved one that has seen him show just what he can do as a permanent on-baller. He's proving himself one of the most consistent prolific ball winners in the competition and racked up another 34 touches, seven tackles and four entries inside-50 to make the Team of the Week a fourth time already in 2023.

INTERCHANGE – ANGUS DEWAR (Subiaco)
The 110-game experienced Subiaco defender is having an outstanding 2023 season and his strong form continued against Peel Thunder on Saturday. Not only did he finish with 14 touches, five marks and two tackles, but did a standout job defensively to limit Josh Corbett to just seven kicks and no score as he earned a place in the Team of the Week for a third time already this year.

INTERCHANGE – BEN HANCOCK (Peel Thunder)
The Peel Thunder captain is now just five games short of reaching 150 games to become the first ever player to achieve the feat at the club, and the 27-year-old is right at the peak of his powers in some of the form of his career on the back of an injury-interrupted 2022. He had a massive say in the Thunder's hard fought win against Subiaco on Saturday where he ended up with 27 touches, nine marks and seven tackles to book in a place in the Team of the Week for a third time.

INTERCHANGE – BEN EDWARDS (Claremont)
The gun Claremont midfielder had been sidelined since Round 4 through injury but was back last week in the reserves against Subiaco and back in the league line-up on Saturday to take on South Fremantle. He ended up putting in a tremendous performance to be instrumental in the eventual narrow win for the Tigers on the back of 29 possessions and five tackles to make the Team of the Year for the first time in 2023.

INTERCHANGE – KYLE BASKERVILLE (East Fremantle)
The East Fremantle is now splitting his time a little between going back to his old role off half-back along with playing at different times as an inside and outside midfielder, and whatever he's doing he is doing it tremendously. Still a great user of the ball who can run and break the lines, his in tight and physical work is improving all the time. Finished with 29 touches, eight tackles, five marks and four inside 50s in the win for the Sharks against West Perth. 
 

UNLUCKY BUNCH

There were plenty of players who delivered tremendous performances across Round 13 but couldn’t quite fit into the Team of the Round, including:

Swan Districts' Cian Ehlers, Jehb O'Donohue, Jackson McLachlan, Aidan Clarke and Nathan Blakely.

East Perth's Nick Robertson, Corey Watts, Tom Medhat, Mitch Schofield, Angus Schumacher and Michael Randall.

Perth's Kristian Cary, Sam Stubbs, Ajang Ajang, Charlie Thompson and Brodie Gray.

West Coast's Zane Sumich, Josh Browne, Jackson Nelson, Darby McCarthy, Ethan Sambo and Harry Creasey.

South Fremantle's Noah Strom, Glenn Byron, Caleb Stephens and Tom Blechynden.

Claremont's Callan England, Declan Mountford, Bailey Rogers, Jye Bolton, Tyron Smallwood, Jack Maibaum and Lachlan Martinis.

Subiaco's Galen Savigni, Drew Rohde, Zac Chudier, Leigh Kitchin, Stefan Giro, Liam Hickmott and Rylie Morgan.

Peel Thunder's Hugh Davies, Nathan Wilson, Joel Hamling, Ethan Stanley, Corey Wagner and Blair Bell.

West Perth's Nathan Alexandre, Noah Pegoraro, Shane Nelson and Luke Meadows.

East Fremantle's Reuben McGuire, Finn Gorringe, Cam Eardley, Jack Cleaver, Hugh Dixon, Harry Marsh, Jackson McDonald and Fraser Turner.