WAFLW Season 2023 - Team by Team ReviewThursday, July 13, 2023 - 11:56 PM - by Chris Pike

THERE is just the one game to go for the 2023 WAFLW season which is the Grand Final on Saturday between Claremont and East Fremantle at Mineral Resources Park.

It turned out to be the most competitive and high quality of the five WAFLW seasons so far in 2023 with six teams remaining in finals contentions over the last month of the season, and plenty of positive still for the bottom two teams.

WAFLW TEAM OF THE YEAR 2023

CLAREMONT
13 wins, 1 draw, 0 losses – First position (grand final)

Claremont hasn’t lost a game in more than a year backing up the premiership of 2022 with a dominant season in 2023, but the Tigers know as well as anybody that guarantees nothing in this Saturday's WAFLW grand final.

Claremont was in the opposite position going back 12 months ahead of taking on an East Fremantle team in the grand final who had not lost at all throughout the season.

However, the Tigers backed themselves to be able to hand them that first defeat on grand final day and Claremont pulled it off to win the premiership and they've looked near invincible ever since.

It hasn’t been smooth sailing for Claremont though. The Tigers have lost the likes of Mikayla Western, Katherine Bennett, Brooke Hongell and Madeleine Scanlon from that premiership team, and also only got two games out of Ella Smith and six from Jasmin Stewart.

What Claremont does have, though, is terrific depth with the Rogers Cup team also reaching the preliminary final and the resources the club has put into their women's program continues to allow them to shine.

So many Claremont players had standout seasons with Jayme Harken racking up 21.3 possessions a game and Matilda Sergeant 20.5 while Adele Arnup kicked 26 goals, and then Claire Ortlepp was brilliant setting up play out of the defence.

Harken, Sergeant, Ortlepp, Kate Orme, Arnup and Rachel Ortlepp are the Claremont players to all feature in the WAFLW Team of the Year while Jacinta Valentini, Ella Slocombe, Matilda Dyke, Brooke Whyte, Eva Campo, Juliet Kelly, Kobi Nichols and Sarah Garstone also featured in the Teams of the Week as did Scanlon and Stewart who are no longer available.

Claremont won 13 of its 14 matches this home and away season with an average winning margin of 35.7 points before then also beating South Fremantle by 16 points in the second semi-final to move straight into the grand final.

The only non-win they had in 2023 was a draw with East Fremantle at the WACA Ground under lights back in May and it's only fitting for so many reasons that it's the Sharks that Claremont will face off on Saturday in the grand final as they chase back-to-back premierships.

When you consider that the last time Claremont played East Fremantle it was a draw, which came after they played out a thriller in Round 1 to open the new season with the Tigers only winning by a goal on a day where the Sharks had more scoring attempts, and it's the grand final that's only fitting to be the conclusion of the season.

EAST FREMANTLE
8 wins, 1 draw, 5 losses – Third position (grand final)

From the moment East Fremantle lost last year's grand final, they wanted a shot at redemption 12 months later and it wasn’t always a smooth ride, but the Sharks have now got there after winning Sunday's preliminary final.

Having already won the inaugural WAFLW premiership in 2019, East Fremantle was the dominant team of 2022 going through undefeated including winning the second semi-final before then suffering heartbreak in the grand final losing to Claremont.

There was plenty of changes at the Sharks coming into 2023 including Steph Walding taking over as coach, but much of the core remained including Ashleigh Gomes, Sharon Wong, Larissa Versaci, Anjelique Raison, Zippy Fish, Ashlee Atkins, Samara Pluschke and Laura Catherine.

There was also the injection of youth but East Fremantle was left in a fight just to make the finals. After losing to Swan Districts in the second last round, the Sharks had to beat Peel Thunder in the last round.

They did so in a dominant performance and then proved too strong for Swan Districts in the first semi-final, and now are back in another grand final this Saturday on the back of beating South Fremantle in Sunday's preliminary final.

The last three performances could well have been the best of the season for the Sharks as they now look to do something remarkably similar to Claremont this Saturday in the grand final that the Tigers did to them a year ago.

Beth Beckett and Gomes are the two East Fremantle players named to the WAFLW Team of the Year while Fish, Raison, Wong, Georgie Cleaver, Leanne Gubbins, Versaci, Chloe Reilly, Taya Chambers, Mylee Leitch, Elsie Simpson, Catherine, Emmelie Fiedler, Kim Boulton, Jae Flynn, Gabby O'Sullivan, Atkins and Katelyn Catalano were all named to the Team of the Week at least once in 2023.

Reilly ended up East Fremantle's leading goalkicker with the 19-year-old kicking 22 goals in the 16 matches including four in the preliminary final win while Raison was another major goalkicker with 18.

Given East Fremantle has had so many new faces coming into the team this season, so many players have come in and out along the way, and they had to fight so hard just to make finals, the Sharks have the chance to get what they crave to make up for last year.

The ultimate redemption story would be for East Fremantle to be the first team to beat Claremont since they did in last year's second semi-final, and the Sharks have that chance on Saturday at Mineral Resources Park.

SOUTH FREMANTLE
10 wins, 1 draw, 3 losses – Second position (lost preliminary final)

South Fremantle might be disappointed to have had their season end in the preliminary final, but they shouldn’t be and deserve to be proud of how far they've come so quickly in the WAFLW competition.

South Fremantle was coming from a long way back when first entered into the WAFLW competition back in the COVID effected season of 2020. 

The second season was equally as challenging, but it was a vastly more competitive South Fremantle team in 2022 and that growth continued in 2023 with a second place finish at the end of the home and away season.

South Fremantle finished the season with 10 wins, three losses and a draw to make history by getting into the finals for the first time but there was plenty of significant milestones along the way.

The Bulldogs were able to beat every team in the competition throughout the season aside from the undefeated Claremont and that included a first ever WAFLW derby win against East Fremantle in a thriller in Round 7 at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.

Not only did South Fremantle make the finals for the first time in a fourth WAFLW season, but did so by being clear in second position only behind Claremont and to earn a finals double chance.

While that first finals victory just eluded them, the Bulldogs took the challenge right up to the Tigers in the second semi-final and then kicked three of the first five goals in the preliminary final against East Fremantle before ending up losing to see their season come to a close.

The highlights throughout the season for South Fremantle were aplenty and perhaps none more so than the transition from basketball that Ariana Hetherington made. She spent most of the season in the ruck but showed her versatility in different roles in the finals.

She ended up averaging 15.9 possessions, 19.9 hit outs and 3.8 tackles a game on her way to being a lock as the ruck in the WAFLW Team of the Year.

Hetherington was far from the only star of the season with 16-year-old Renee Morgan making a spectacular start to her WAFLW career while at the other end of the spectrum, captain Lauren Vecchio was outstanding in a variety of roles.

Kahra Sprlyan, Noa McNaughton, Kloe Bassett and Bethany Bond were other South Fremantle players to make the Team of the Year with Morgan, Vecchio, Tahlea Mulder, Makaela Tuhakaraina, Molly O'Hehir, Casey Byrne, Charli Wicksteed, Zoe Huggett and Trinity Brown other multiple Team of the Week nominees in a season with so much to like from the Bulldogs.

SWAN DISTRICTS
8 wins, 6 losses – Fourth position (lost first semi-final)

What a rollercoaster ride the 2023 WAFLW season turned out to be for Swan Districts which ended with them losing in the first semi-final.

Just being in that first semi-final had been a significant achievement for Swans after they lost the opening four matches of the season so there's plenty to be built upon for the black-and-whites moving forward.

It was a rough start to the season for Swan Districts with the losses to Peel Thunder, Subiaco, Claremont and South Fremantle leaving them 0-4 and with some soul searching to do over the Easter break.

That's exactly what the playing group did and spent some bonding time together over the break away from the football club. Whatever they did it worked because it was a different Swan Districts team for the rest of the season.

A win against West Perth in Round 6 got things rolling and from there Swans won the next seven matches to put themselves inside the top four and on target for another finals appearance.

A second win of the season against grand finalists East Fremantle in Round 15 under lights at the WACA Ground was a high moment for Swans and locked away that finals appearance.

While the season ended with a loss in the first semi-final to a Sharks team on a mission, there was plenty to like about what Swan Districts did in 2023.

Even more impressive was the way they handled the loss of captain Jess Cox who ruptured her ACL after being in terrific form. The way Demi Liddle stepped as captain from there, Naomi Baker was vice-captain and then recruits Cassie McWilliam and Jasmin Ware especially stood out.

Ruby Mahony was another who was a standout performer in the midfield as the season progressed averaging 17.3 possessions to earn a place in the WAFLW Team of the Year along with Taylah Edwards and Courtney Zappara.

Zappara kicked 23 goals for the season with Edwards adding 17 while Kayley King, Cox, Jaime Henry, McWilliam, Abby Bushby, Ware, Hope Ugle-Hayward, Lauren Quaife, Carys D'Addario, Sarah Wielstra, Isabella Edgley, Lily Paterson and Tyla Fitzgerald were all named to the Team of the Week at least once throughout the season.

Given the way Swan Districts built momentum to finish the season with eight of the last 10 matches to make another finals campaign, they should enter the pre-season ahead of 2024 with great optimism of what they will be capable of for next season should they avoid another slow start.

SUBIACO
7 wins, 1 draw, 6 losses – Fifth position

Subiaco will be disappointed to have missed finals for the second straight WAFLW season, but that doesn't mean it wasn’t a year without plenty of highlights and impressive performances along the way.

The Lions were on a mission to get back into the WAFLW finals in 2023 after narrowly missing out in 2022 on the back of a strong first three years in the competition including reaching the grand final in 2020.

Subiaco did lose some key experienced players coming into the season, but were still well led by Tarni Golisano who had another terrific year and celebrated her 150th game with the club along the way.

Subiaco opened the season with a draw with eventual preliminary finalists South Fremantle before a big win over Swan Districts in Round 2. The Lions then lost the next two games but they were against the grand finalists, East Fremantle and Claremont.

Following the break for Easter, Subiaco beat East Perth in Golisano's 150th game before backing it up to beat Peel Thunder and then a slip up to West Perth. 

A win over East Perth was followed up with a victory against East Fremantle in Round 10 that strengthened Subiaco's finals push before a one-point loss to Swans, and a 15-point defeat to the Tigers in Broome.

Subiaco was still a finals chance over the last three weeks and did beat Peel and West Perth, but a loss to South Fremantle in Round 15 ultimately meant the Lions finished fifth with seven wins, six losses and a draw to be only half a game out of the finals.

Golisano's season was recognised for Subiaco with a spot in the WAFLW Team of the Year along with longtime teammate Tiah Toth who was tremendous once more in her 10 matches averaging 17.9 touches and 4.6 tackles.

Olivia Crane, Madison Dodd, Hanna Dethlefsen, Kelsey Patterson, Hayley Corlett, Eva Popovsky, Beth Schilling, Olivia Wolmarans and Meg Brown are the Subiaco players also named to the Team of the Week multiple times with Jess Ritchie, Clare McCarthy, Fina Dethlefsen, Hali Epis, Joanne Cregg, Amy Mulholland and Liana Burchell making it once.

Patterson was Subiaco's leading goal scorer for the season kicking nine goals from her 10 matches including three on two occasions in the wins against Peel.

While Subiaco will be disappointed to have missed finals for a second straight year, there were plenty of encouraging signs along the way in 2023 and there's plenty for a new coach to build on in in 2024 following the news that Michael Farmer won't be continuing in the role.

WEST PERTH
5 wins, 9 losses – Sixth position

It was a significant season of improvement from West Perth in 2023 and finals were within reach for most of the campaign as they adjusted to life in the competition.

It was a rough first WAFLW season for West Perth in 2022 losing all 14 matches, but that wasn't totally unexpected with the growing pains of joining against well established teams and with a host of players playing at the level for the first time.

West Perth geared up for a vastly improved season in 2023, the makings were there that the talent was coming through following their Rogers Cup success and with the Youth Girls team of this season continuing to be the standard bearers, and be back in another grand final.

The Falcons did add some more than handy recruits including Emily Bennett, Brooke Hongell and Katherine Bennett who made a significant impact but a lot of the growth came from within and the local products making the leap from the Rogers Cup to WAFLW.

In the end, West Perth won five of 14 matches for the season for their first five victories in the WAFLW competition and up until the last couple of weeks of the home and away season, they were still in finals contention.

West Perth's first ever WAFLW win came in Round 1 against East Perth before the Falcons also beat Peel Thunder in Round 4, Subiaco in Round 8, Peel again in Round 11 and the Royals once more in Round 13 on the WA Day long weekend.

West Perth finished up with Emily Bennett, Grace Betti and Jess Roper all named to the WAFLW Team of the Year in recognition of their performances throughout the season while Taylor Ferguson only just missed out having made the Team of the Week on four separate occasions.

Bianca Webb, Natasha Spurr, Kayla Van Den Heever, Katherine Bennett, Karla Stagg, Jeevna Heer and Brooke Hongell were the other players to be named to the Team of the Week at least once throughout the season.

Betti and Tia Bergin both kicked nine goals each throughout the season for the Falcons while Elissa Price kicked six in her 14 matches.

Emily Bennett was the leading ball winner with 16.7 disposals a game with Ferguson just behind with 16.6 a game, Hongell 14.3, Betti 13.8, Heer 13.4 and Megan Norbury 13.3.

Even with a coaching change mid-season with Clint Degebrodt replacing Steve Hazell, there was a lot to like in what West Perth did in its second WAFLW season. With more exciting talent coming out of the Rogers Cup team, the future looks tremendously bright at Joondalup.

PEEL THUNDER
3 wins, 11 losses – Seventh position

Every powerhouse team is allowed a bit of a down period and that was the case for Peel Thunder in the 2023 WAFLW season but it wasn’t totally unexpected considering the premiership stars now having moved on and just how youthful they were.

The Thunder team for much of the 2023 WAFLW season was almost an unrecognisable one to the side that claimed back-to-back premierships in 2020 and 2021, and even that still made the finals in 2022.

It was an increasingly youthful squad full of teenagers that coach Steve Markham had to work with and despite them only finished off winning three games from the 14 matches with an average losing margin of 43.1 points, there were encouraging signs for the future.

Peel did open the season well enough beating Swan Districts in a rematch of last year's elimination final, and then after a win against East Perth the Thunder were 2-1 and things weren’t looking too bad.

However, the Thunder did only manage one more win the rest of the season and that was against the winless Royals in Round 15.

The great strength of the Peel team of 2023 was the back-line and that might have been because of the amount of ball that coming down that way, but Ebony Dowson, Evie Cowcher and Greta McKinley were still especially impressive. 

In a season where Dowson celebrated her 150th game, the Peel captain was superb averaging 20.1 disposals a game, being named nine times in the WAFLW Team of the Week and making the Team of the Year.

What Cowcher did as a 15-year-old was simply remarkable. She was able to become one of the genuine excitement machines of the competition despite her tender age and playing in a struggling side. She went on to average 19.9 touches and also be a lock for the Team of the Year.

McKinley was another important member of the Peel defensive unit and was named to the Team of the Week three times throughout the season while Tanisha Anderson was the other multiple selection on her way to kicking a team high 11 goals.

The experienced Kira Phillips kicked another 10 goals for the Thunder throughout the season while Ebonee Hardie had her moments with Krystal Carter doing a power of work, 16-year-old Dakota Sexton another teenager to shine and Kaitlyn Srhoj racking up 13.9 touches a game.

If you look on the surface at a 3-11 record for a team that won the second of back-to-back premierships only two years ago, and it might be a step backwards, but given the youth blooded the making of more success at the Thunder could have started this year.

EAST PERTH
0 wins, 14 losses – Last position

East Perth might have had a rough introduction to the WAFLW competition in 2023, but if history has taught us anything they will rapidly improve from here and the signs are there of what's possible.

South Fremantle back in both the 2020 and 2021 seasons, and then West Perth in 2022 had similarly challenging starts when first entering the WAFLW competition but now already the Bulldogs are in a preliminary final, and the Falcons were knocking on the door of finals this season.

There's every reason to suggest that East Perth can make a similarly quick rise up the WAFLW ladder now that they have got through the growing pains of their first year in the competition in 2023.

If you look at the raw numbers of what East Perth did in the 2023 WAFLW season and it looks like it was a season where they might not have got much out of it.

The Royals lost all 14 matches of their inaugural WAFLW season by an average of 55.1 points. For the season they were only able to score a total of 15 goals and 15 behinds over the 14 games.

There were five games where East Perth didn’t manage to kick a goal and they didn’t score against Claremont at all in Round 8 while their best scoring performance came when they kicked four goals against Peel Thunder in Round 15.

However, it was never about just the results in the first season. It was all about East Perth getting its footing in the WAFLW competition, giving the majority of the players a first chance to play at the level and then to work out what it will take to be more competitive in 2024 and beyond.

There were plenty of signs of why the future is bright for the Royals despite the way the scoreline read throughout the season.

Chloe Sauzier was one of the standout performers averaging 12.2 possessions in her 11 appearances to end up earning a spot in the WAFLW Team of the Year. 

Julia Uhe was another defender who stood tall to be named to the Team of the Week four times throughout the season while Sarah Madden was named three straight occasions between Rounds 6 and 8.

Jorja Elisseou, Melisha Hardy, Tristin Ogonoski, captain Jess Valvasori and Madeleine Goodman were all players named to the Team of the Week at least once throughout the season.

They will become key players of their emergence in coming seasons along with Lillian Ninyett, Matilda Bennett, Makaya Pugliese-Thompson and plenty others as they now look to build on this inaugural season.