WAFL Team of the Week – Round 15Wednesday, July 26, 2023 - 11:27 AM - by Chris Pike

FOUR games in the WAFL for Round 15 saw a host of standout performers from six goals to Liam Tedesco, five to Tyler Keitel and huge midfield efforts from Mitch Crowden, Luke Meadows, Greg Clark and the battle for Team of the Week spots was again a fascinating one.

With East Fremantle and South Fremantle having the bye in Round 15 ahead of their derby battle this coming Saturday with the Sharks attempting to win for the first time in 16 attempts against the Bulldogs, the other eight clubs were all in action on Saturday afternoon.

The Round 15 action began at Lane Group Stadium in Mandurah with East Perth overpowering Peel Thunder after quarter-time on the way to the eventual 15.6 (96) to 9.15 (69) win to make it eight straight wins to move clear on top of the ladder.

From that victory, Nick Robertson, Mitch Crowden, Angus Scott, Liam Tedesco and Angus Schumacher all made the Team of the Week from East Perth. Hugh Davies and Jack Sears also made it from the Thunder.

Next up on Saturday afternoon was Subiaco snapping a three-game losing run this season but winning a 14th consecutive match against Perth by prevailing 18.14 (122) to 6.7 (43) at Leederville Oval.

From the win, Leigh Kitchin, Aaron Heal, Angus Dewar, Stefan Giro and Taj Schofield all made the Team of the Week from the Lions as did Brodie Gray from the Demons.

West Perth put together a standout performance in the grand final rematch to breathe life back into their premiership defence beating Claremont 17.12 (114) to 9.11 (65) at Revo Fitness Stadium.

From that victory for West Perth, Tyler Keitel, Luke Meadows and Shane Nelson made the Team of the Week as did Claremont ruckman Oliver Eastland.

Then there was the thriller of the day with Swan Districts beating the West Coast Eagles 12.11 (83) to 12.8 (80) thanks to a goal after the siren from Tom Edwards at Steel Blue Oval.

From the win for the black-and-whites, Jarvis Pina, Ryan Kemp and Jesse Turner ended up making the Team of the Week for Round 15. West Coast defender Nick Watson and midfielder Greg Clark earned their places as well.

PLAYER OF THE ROUND – LIAM TEDESCO (EAST PERTH)

It's been quite the ride for Liam Tedesco to have now become what he's long threatened to be and that's a match-winning performer at WAFL level on a premiership contending team.

Tedesco did have a brief foray with the West Perth colts team going back to 2014 and ended up playing in a colts premiership with Wanneroo in 2017 where he was named best on ground and then returned to join the Falcons senior squad in 2018.

Immediately then coach Bill Monaghan saw in Tedesco a player who could come in to make an immediate impact with his big body and versatility, but over the next four years at the Falcons things never quite came fully together.

Tedesco would play 20 league matches over the next four years with West Perth offering a glimpse into what he might be capable of in a variety of roles, but he decided to step away from WAFL football in 2022 citing work commitments.

However, clearly he remained an untapped potential for what he could do in the WAFL and new East Perth Ross McQueen snapped him up in the off-season and he's now become a key part of the Royals' forward-line.

It's a bit of a make shift forward-line the Royals have cobbled together but it's working a treat with Tom Medhat, Nick Bonomelli and Mitch Schofield providing the marking options, and Sam van Diemen and Shayne Hille at ground level.

Midfielders Hamish Brayshaw, Michael Randall, Mitch Crowden, Christian Ameduri and Angus Schumacher are also proving more than handy goalkickers, but it could very well be Tedesco who is making it all work.

He is enough of a physical presence and a good enough overhead mark to be an option for his teammates to kick to, he's strong enough to overpower his smaller opponents and then nimble enough to work off his bigger ones.

Tedesco has now become a crucial part of the East Perth forward-line and that was all on show on Saturday as he kicked a career-best six goals in the win against Peel Thunder in Mandurah as he took the most of his chances from nine kicks and five marks.

That means that the 26-year-old has kicked 24 goals in 14 matches for an East Perth team this season sitting a game clear on top of the ladder before Tedesco prepares to face Subiaco this Saturday in the battle of the Leederville Oval co-tenants.

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)
Round 14 – Harry Marsh (East Fremantle)
Round 15 – Liam Tedesco (East Perth)

WAFL TEAM OF THE WEEK – ROUND 15
BACK: Aaron Heal (S), Nick Watson (WC), Angus Dewar (S)
HALF-BACK: Jarvis Pina (SD), Hugh Davies (PT), Nick Robertson (EP)
CENTRE: Angus Scott (EP), Leigh Kitchin (S), Mitch Crowden (EP) 
HALF-FORWARD: Taj Schofield (S), Liam Tedesco (EP), Stefan Giro (S) 
FORWARD: Ryan Kemp (SD), Tyler Keitel (WP), Jack Sears (PT)
FOLLOWERS: Oliver Eastland (C), Luke Meadows (WP), Greg Clark (WC)
INTERCHANGE: Jesse Turner (SD), Angus Schumacher (EP), Brodie Gray (P), Shane Nelson (WP)

BACK POCKET – AARON HEAL (Subiaco)
The Subiaco four-time premiership winning defender and veteran of 155 WAFL games surprisingly found himself back in the reserves earlier this season, but he's fought back to form impressively to continue to be a key part of the Lions' back-line. He spent much of Saturday's clash with Perth opposed to the dangerous Sam Stubbs and limited him to eight kicks and two goals while ending up with 16 touches and six marks himself to make the Team of the Week for the first time in 2023.

FULL-BACK – NICK WATSON (West Coast)
The versatile big man started his WAFL career playing a couple of games with East Fremantle back in 2018 but has now been a top up player with West Coast the past three seasons. Most of that time has seen him played as a key forward and that's been a mighty tough role to play in a team that's been getting spanked and going forward rarely, and without any sort of real purpose. But in recent weeks he's settled into a key defensive role for the Eagles and has been doing a solid job, and was outstanding on Saturday in limiting Swan Districts' co-captain Chris Jones to two kicks and one goal.

BACK POCKET – ANGUS DEWAR (Subiaco)
The 111-game veteran defender was back in the Subiaco line-up after missing last week's loss to Swan Districts and once again showed how valuable he is in the 79-point win against Perth. He took on the job on Perth captain Michael Sinclair who has proven himself a dangerous forward with his move from defence this year, but he held him to just three kicks and no score while ending up with 11 touches and five tackles himself to make the Team of the Week for a fourth time in 2023.

HALF-BACK FLANK – NICK ROBERTSON (East Perth)
The East Perth powerhouse continued his tremendous season since settling in the back-line this season with another standout performance in Saturday's win in Mandurah against Peel Thunder. His ability to be a steadying influence, a bit of an enforcer, someone to intercept opposition attacks and then set up play going the other way is making him one of the standout backmen in the competition. Finished the game with 30 touches, six marks and four tackles to make the Team of the Week for a sixth time this season.

CENTRE HALF-BACK – HUGH DAVIES (Peel Thunder)
He had to step up in the Peel back-line to take on the job on one of East Perth's tall forward targets in the absence of Joel Hamling and he did a sublime job in his 11th WAFL appearance. Took on the task of matching up on Nick Bonomelli and limited the versatile Royals big man to six kicks and no score while ending the afternoon with 15 touches and three marks to earn himself a place in the Team of the Week for the first time.

HALF-BACK FLANK – JARVIS PINA (Swan Districts)
The Swan Districts running machine is putting together an outstanding second season with Swan Districts after crossing from Peel Thunder and having spent time at Fremantle. His ability to set up play out of the back-line for Swans and to give tremendous run and carry is making him one of the more damaging players across the competition. That was all on show once more against West Coast as he finished with 22 touches, seven marks and a goal while also setting up Tom Edwards match-winning goal and doing well defensively opposed to Tyrell Dewar.

WING – ANGUS SCOTT (East Perth)
The East Perth wingman is having a remarkably consistent season and really he has been playing at a similar level over his entire 74-game career with the Royals since coming west from Casey Demons in the VFL. The only difference now is that he's doing it as part of a team sitting a game clear on top of the ladder after Round 15. He continued his form on Saturday in the win against Peel with 31 disposals, 10 marks and four inside-50 entries to make the Team of the Week for a fifth time this season.

CENTRE – LEIGH KITCHIN (Subiaco)
The inspirational Subiaco captain was playing his sixth game back after missing the previous six matches with a hamstring injury, and he produced his best performance of the season in the thumping win against Perth. The 159-game four-time premiership winner delivered 27 possessions, 11 inside 50s, nine marks and six tackles against the Demons to book himself a spot in the Team of the Week for the first time in 2023.

WING – MITCH CROWDEN (East Perth)
Continues to be one of the recruits of the season for East Perth after they were able to secure his services once he was delisted by Fremantle at the end of 2022. His powerful running, ability to win the contested ball and then not only drive the Royals forward but also kick goals himself is making him one of the great weapons on a team sitting a game clear on top of the ladder. Produced another brilliant performance in the win against Peel on Saturday with 32 touches, 11 tackles and two goals to be named to the Team of the Week for a sixth occasion.

HALF-FORWARD FLANK – STEFAN GIRO (Subiaco)
The former Fremantle-listed hard running wingman is having a fine second season with Subiaco and after a fairest and best winning year in 2022, he looks like he'll get what he was hoping by being part of a team that makes finals in 2023 on the back of the big win against Perth on Saturday. Not only did he rack up plenty of important possessions through the middle with 22 touches along with laying eight tackles, he was dangerous going forward too to kick three goals make the Team of the Week for a fifth time.

HALF-FORWARD FLANK – TAJ SCHOFIELD (Subiaco)
The 20-year-old continues to go from strength to strength in his first WAFL season with Subiaco and while he might be small, if he can keep doing this both as a small forward or high half-forward and then with stints on the ball, he's going to attract attention from AFL clubs come draft time. Put together his best performance of the season so far on Saturday against Perth when he kicked four goals to go with 22 possessions, three tackles, two marks and two inside-50 entries.

FORWARD POCKET – RYAN KEMP (Swan Districts)
He is in his second season at Swan Districts having made the move west from Werribee in the VFL and it's been a bit of an up and down time since, but at his best he has proven he can be a match winner. Playing as a half-forward, his hard running has made him an important link up player when working up the ground and he's also proven himself clever around the goals. He showed all of that on Saturday in the eventual win over West Coast finishing with 17 touches, six tackles, five marks and three goals.

FULL-FORWARD – TYLER KEITEL (West Perth)
The West Perth spearhead is having another fine season and is now the outright leader in the Bernie Naylor Medal race as he chases that award for a third time after his performance in the grand final rematch against Claremont on Saturday. In the 157th game of his career, he took his goals tally to 303 on the back of afternoon where he kicked five goals from just eight kicks to make the most of his chances against the Tigers.

FORWARD POCKET – JACK SEARS (Peel Thunder)
The 21-year-old from South Mandurah has now already racked up 54 games in his career with Peel Thunder that started in 2020, and he delivered one of his better performances on Saturday against East Perth. Spent a lot of the day inside the forward 50 for the Thunder and ended up kicking two goals to go with 16 possessions, seven marks and five tackles to make the Team of the Week for the first time in his career.

RUCK – OLIVER EASTLAND (Claremont)
It was a tough day all-round for Claremont on Saturday in the grand final rematch against West Perth with the eventual 49-point defeat, but he couldn’t have done any more to try and lift his team with what he did in the ruck. Continues to knock down the door to be considered the best ruckman in the competition and produced another 25 touches, 34 hit outs, eight tackles, seven marks and a goal to make the Team of the Week for a sixth occasion in 2023.

RUCK ROVER – LUKE MEADOWS (West Perth)
The West Perth season on the back of last year's premiership might not have gone to plan so far with them still sitting two games outside of the top five, but he is one Falcons player who couldn’t have done much more and he was outstanding once more in the win against Claremont in the grand final rematch. The reigning Simpson Medal winner put together 32 touches, nine inside 50s, six marks and four tackles to earn a place in the Team of the Week for a fifth time.

ROVER – GREG CLARK (West Coast)
While he would be disappointed to find himself back at WAFL level having played 10 AFL matches with the Eagles this season, but the only way get back into that team is to play well when he comes back down a level and that's certainly what he did on Saturday against Swan Districts. The Subiaco Simpson Medal winner from 2021 was superb despite the heartbreaking after the siren loss finishing the afternoon with 37 possessions, eight inside-50 entries, seven marks and five tackles.

INTERCHANGE – ANGUS SCHUMACHER (East Perth)
What an East Perth midfield he is a key member of and the longer Saturday's game against Peel Thunder went in Mandurah, the more they were able to shine and ensure the Royals won an eighth straight match to extend their lead on top of the ladder. He was a pivotal part of that victory once more with this year's State Game Simpson Medallist producing 28 possessions, seven marks, seven tackles and seven inside 50s to earn a place in the Team of the Week for a sixth time.

INTERCHANGE – BRODIE GRAY (Perth)
He has spent most of his 29-game WAFL career with Perth in tagging roles so far but was more in a free-wheeling role on Saturday against Subiaco rather than a purely run-with one, and despite the 79-point loss for his team, he put in a strong showing. He ended the afternoon with 25 possessions and 12 tackles in a tireless effort to earn him a spot in the Team of the Week for a first time this season.

INTERCHANGE – JESSE TURNER (Swan Districts)
The Swan Districts vice-captain and reigning fairest and best winner is having quite the fine season once more for the black-and-whites which continued on Saturday against West Coast with another trademark hard running performance on the wing at Steel Blue Oval. He ended the afternoon with 33 possessions, eight inside 50s, seven marks and seven tackles to book in a place in the Team of the Week for a seventh time already this season.

INTERCHANGE – SHANE NELSON (West Perth)
He was playing the 222nd game of his remarkable career and the 30-year-old continues to show no signs that he's slowing down despite having nothing left to prove in a career that's included two premierships and five fairest and best awards with the Falcons. Produced another first-class performance in Saturday's impressive win against Claremont where he delivered 25 touches, seven tackles and a goal to make the Team of the Week for a seventh time already this year.

UNLUCKY BUNCH

There were plenty of players who delivered tremendous performances across Round 15 but couldn’t quite fit into the Team of the Round, including:

Peel Thunder's Clay Hall, Jacob Blight, Jacob Hewitt, Haydn Matthews and Blair Bell.

East Perth's Sam van Diemen, Harrison Macreadie, Kye Willcocks, Hamish Brayshaw and Jedd Edwards.

Subiaco's Ben Sokol, Noah Ash, Galen Savigni and Zac Clarke.

Perth's Jack Cooley, Charlie Thompson, Corey Byrne and Jack Avery.

Claremont's Zac Mainwaring, Bailey Rogers, Jye Bolton, Lachlan Martinis and Teia Miles.

West Perth's Zac Guadagnin, Tristan Hobley, Conal Lynch, Noah Pegoraro, Aidan Lynch, Mitch Peirce and Nathan Murray.

Swan Districts' Tom Edwards, Jackson McLachlan, Josh Cipro, Aidan Clarke and Tobe Watson.

West Coast's Zane Sumich, Callum Jamieson, Zane Trew, Joey Deegan and Luke Edwards.