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WAFLW Grand Final WrapSaturday, July 15, 2023 - 5:41 PM - by Chris Pike
IF the old saying is true that glory is best celebrated after going through pain then East Fremantle is going to cherish the WAFLW premiership immensely on the back of turning the tide on Claremont in the 2023 Grand Final.
What a remarkable story it is. If you go back 12 months, East Fremantle was undefeated in the 2022 WAFLW season including beating Claremont in the second semi-final to move straight into the Grand Final.
However, on Grand Final day, Claremont turned the tables on the Sharks in remarkable and dramatic fashion to hand East Fremantle a first loss of the season when it mattered most.
Now in 2023, it was Claremont on the back of that premiership who didn’t lose a game this season in the WAFLW competition. The Tigers did have a draw along the way with the Sharks, but hadn’t lost a game coming into Sunday's Grand Final at Mineral Resources Park.
In front of a crowd of more than 4000 people, it was East Fremantle who put together a tremendous Grand Final performance to turn the tide remarkably on Claremont to claim the eventual 4.2 (26) to 2.2 (14) victory.
It's a second WAFLW premiership for the Sharks to go with the triumph of 2019 and young gun Zippy Fish won the Lou Knitter Medal after being judged best afield.
WAFLW SEASON 2023 - TEAM BY TEAM REVIEW
The Grand Final day started at Mineral Resources Park with the Rogers Cup decider and that saw West Perth shake off a goalless first half to complete their perfect season to secure the premiership.
South Fremantle took it right up to West Perth and kicked the only goal of both the first and second quarters to take a 16-point lead into the half-time break.
That threw the challenge right back at West Perth who had won all 14 games during the home and away season before also defeating South Fremantle in the second semi-final.
The Falcons did respond to kick the only two goals of the third quarter to close the gap to two points at three quarter-time before kicking the only goal of the last term to end up winning a thrilling Grand Final, 3.4 (22) to 2.7 (19).
West Perth's goals were kicked by Chloe Shearing, Samara Sallie and Kyra Abbott. South Fremantle's goals came from Renee Morgan and Alira Fotu.
WAFLW GRAND FINAL 2023
CLAREMONT 2.2 (14) lost to EAST FREMANTLE 4.2 (26)
From the moment East Fremantle was stunned by Claremont in last year's WAFLW Grand Final, the Sharks were on a mission for redemption and came full circle on Saturday as they beat the Tigers by 12 points.
After East Fremantle went through undefeated last season before losing to Claremont in the Grand Final, it was the ultimate revenge mission for the Sharks on Saturday taking on a Tigers team who hadn't lost in 2023 as they did battle at Mineral Resources Park.
East Fremantle was able to put together a tremendous Grand Final performance to win a second WAFLW premiership in the end with the 4.2 (26) to 2.2 (14) victory.
It was a great clash of styles from the two teams in the Grand Final as well and ultimately it was East Fremantle that was able to play the game more on their terms to end up claiming the premiership.
The Sharks put the Tigers under great pressure to be able to deny them their possession game where they love to move the ball precisely with their kick and mark game to have clean inside-50 entries.
However, the pressure of the Sharks denied them that chance and East Fremantle was happy to play the territory game to get the ball forward any way, any how, and clearly it worked just as it did last Sunday in the preliminary final win against South Fremantle.
Zippy Fish won the Lou Knitter Medal having been judged best afield in the Grand Final with the 17-year-old East Fremantle excitement machine showing once again just what a remarkably bright future she has.
She finished the afternoon with 26 possessions, seven tackles, four inside-50 entries and three marks.
Chloe Reilly was another crucial player in the premiership triumph for East Fremantle kicking two goals from eight kicks with the other goals coming from Mylee Leitch and Georgie Cleaver.
There were plenty more stars in the premiership triumph for the Sharks including a dominant performance in the ruck from Laura Catherine who finished with a remarkable 60 hit outs to go with eight possessions and two marks.
Along with the goal she kicked, Cleaver finished with 12 touches, eight tackles and 14 hit outs while Ashlee Atkins had 11 disposals and eight tackles, Larissa Versaci 11 possessions and six tackles, Nadya Browne nine touches and 10 tackles, and Sharon Wong disposals and 10 tackles.
Claremont's goals in the Grand Final were kicked by Rachel Ortlepp and Bec Anderson.
While it was a tough loss for the Tigers to stomach, they still had strong performers with Claire Ortlepp finishing with 19 possessions, four marks and three tackles.
Kate Orme also had 17 touches for Claremont, Kobi Nichols 16, Jacinta Valentini 14, Andie Payne 14, Matilda Sergeant 13 and Taylah Angel 13 to go with seven tackles.
East Fremantle made a dazzling start to the Grand Final when inside less than two minutes, Chloe Reilly opened the scoring with a goal fresh off kicking four goals in the preliminary final last Sunday against South Fremantle.
Claremont responded shortly after thanks to Rachel Ortlepp and there was already a goal on the board to either team in the opening five minutes.
There wouldn’t be another score the rest of the first term with East Fremantle holding on to a one-point by quarter-time.
A nice finish from Georgie Cleaver five minutes into the second quarter ensured the Sharks remained in front by six points before that was out to 12 by half-time thanks to a second goal to Reilly shortly before the main break.
That had the Sharks putting the pressure right back on Claremont to hit back in the second half to try and avoid suffering a first loss in the season in the Grand Final.
The Tigers had to respond and they did with the first goal of the second half thanks to Bec Anderson and they were soon back within five points and a big finish was set for the Grand Final.
However, there would only be two scores the rest of the way and they both went the way of East Fremantle.
Zippy Fish did miss a golden chance with a behind just before three quarter-time having not given it over to her teammate to run into an open goal, but still the Sharks were leading by six points at the final break.
Then the only score in the last term was the premiership clinching goal for East Fremantle to Mylee Leitch and the Sharks would win by that 12-point margin to earn the ultimate revenge.