WAFL Round 16 WrapSunday, July 30, 2023 - 8:14 PM - by Chris Pike

EAST Perth's winning streak this season and South Fremantle's record derby run both ended in Round 16 of the WAFL on Saturday with strong victories from Subiaco and East Fremantle.

It turned out to be a day where you didn’t want to be trying to extend any type of streak in the WAFL with just the two matches in Round 16 and it turned out to be statement results for both the Lions and the Sharks.

East Perth came into its clash with Subiaco at Leederville Oval on an eight-game winning streak and sitting a game clear on top of the ladder.

However, the Lions dominated the contest from the outset to have now won 17 of the last 19 meetings between the Leederville Oval co-tenants with the 15.5 (95) to 7.12 (54) win.

As a result, East Perth does remain a game clear on top of the ladder with three games to play with an 11-4 record while Subiaco improves to third position just a game behind at 10-5.

South Fremantle's worrisome trend of being overrun in fourth quarters this season continued on Saturday at Fremantle Community Bank Oval and this time it cost the Bulldogs the chance to extend the already longest derby winning streak to 16.

The Bulldogs were leading by seven points at three quarter-time and by 14 points early in the fourth term, but then the Sharks kicked the game's last four goals to win a derby for the first time since 2016 and prevail 9.6 (60) to 7.6 (48).

The result means the Sharks have won five straight now this season to improve to second position with a 10-4 record while the Bulldogs fall further from finals contention at 5-9.

Claremont, Peel Thunder, Perth, Swan Districts, West Coast and West Perth all had the bye in Round 16 of the WAFL.

Meanwhile, Round 16 of the Colts began on Saturday morning with East Fremantle beating South Fremantle 14.4 (88) to 9.7 (61) at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.

Jack Cocking kicked five goals for East Fremantle with Tyler Messina, Jaxon Graham, Taj Forrest and Darcy Wills all adding two each. Declan Pauline collected 23 touches, Sam Otto 20, Harry Pickett 18, Patrick Shaw 18 and Jack Eastaugh 18.

Ruben Hawksley kicked three goals for South Fremantle and Mitch Geier two with Jordan Douglas racking up 26 touches, Jacob Whan 20, Geier 19 and Toby Whan 16.

Subiaco then won a thriller 8.6 (54) to 8.5 (53) against East Perth at Leederville Oval with the Lions holding out the fast finishing Royals who kicked four goals to one in the final quarter.

Riley Wills kicked two goals for Subiaco to go with 24 possessions with Tyler Senge collecting 29 possessions, Lachlan Macrae 25, Charlie Burke 23 and Lachlan O'Keefe 21.

Brody Delaney kicked three goals for East Perth and Seth Matteo two while Alexio Yiannakis picked up 18 disposals, Mitch Miller 18 and Jude Mazzucchelli 18.

Round 16 in the Reserves then began with East Fremantle coming from behind and kicking the game's last three goals to defeat South Fremantle 8.13 (61) to 9.6 (60).

Matthew Burton, Eddie Simpson and Ethan Paholski all kicked two goals each for the Sharks while Corey Holmes gathered 20 possessions, Max Murphy 19, Ryan Lester-Smith 19 and Enrique Aiken-Featherstone 19.

Mitch Sinnott kicked three goals for the Bulldogs and Ed Graham two with Aaron Drage amassing 35 touches, Seth Connor 24 (10 tackles), Sinnott 17, Jaren Carr 17 and Solomon James 14 to go with 39 hit outs.

It was another thriller at Leederville Oval with East Perth beating Subiaco 13.8 (86) to 13.5 (83).

Tom Medhat responded to his demotion for the Royals by kicking four goals with Sandon Page and Tom Graham kicking two apiece. 

Zach Raykos racked up 30 disposals, Adam Boules 19, Spider Lockitt 19, Nathan Eaton 18, Darcy Craven 18 and Jayden Peak 17.

Fillimone Muavou kicked three goals for Subiaco, Richard Farmer two, Jake South two and Richard Bartlett two. Lachlan Vanirsen gathered 23 touches, Jake Stergiou 21, Corey Robinson 20 and Connor Patterson 17.

 

WAFL PREMIERSHIP SEASON – ROUND 16

SOUTH FREMANTLE 7.6 (48) lost to EAST FREMANTLE 9.6 (60)

The longest Fremantle Derby streak in history is over but East Fremantle had to come from behind and kick the last four goals on Saturday at Fremantle Community Bank Oval to overrun South Fremantle for the 12-point victory.

While East Fremantle was on a four-game winning streak this season coming into Saturday's derby, ending the drought against South Fremantle was another story with the Bulldogs having won a record 15 straight matches between the two teams dating back to 2016.

South Fremantle then looked on track to make it 16 consecutive derby wins when leading by 14 points early in the fourth quarter and East Fremantle had to find something special to end the streak.

That's exactly what the Sharks did and with leaders at either end Jonathon Marsh and Matthew Jupp, along with others, just not accepting another defeat, East Fremantle kicked the last four goals to end up winning 9.6 (60) to 7.6 (48).

It gives the Sharks not only a first derby win since 2016 but also five victories in-a-row this season to improve to second spot with a 10-4 record with a game in hand on East Perth above them.

Jonathon Marsh had a fascinating battle with Noah Strom all afternoon and ended up kicking three goals and four behinds for the Sharks from 10 kicks, five marks and five tackles.

Ben McGuire also chimed in with two important goals in the drought breaking win for East Fremantle.

Fraser Turner continued his fine first season for East Fremantle with 25 possessions on the wing while Cam Eardley had 22 touches and nine marks down back along with Jack Cleaver ending up with 22 disposals and six marks.

Jarrad Jansen also had 22 possessions, Harry Marsh 20, Tom Bennett 19 and Hugh Dixon 19 to go with 16 hit outs and a goal.

For just the fourth time in his 112-game career with South Fremantle, Brandon Donaldson kicked four goals to be his team's only multiple goal scorer on the day.

Tom Blechynden spent a lot of the game off half-back for South Fremantle in the absence of Chad Pearson and Toby McQuilkin, and finished with 29 possessions and seven tackles.

Jake Florenca also picked up 24 touches for the Bulldogs, Glenn Byron 23, Caleb Stephens 20, Jordan Boullineau 16 and Jimmy Miller 15 while spending most of the game in the ruck where he also had 40 hit outs, five tackles and kicked a good long goal.

Roan O'Hehir also had 13 touches and 10 tackles while Jermaine Pickett made an encouraging debut as well for the Bulldogs in the derby with his nine possessions, two marks and two tackles.

South Fremantle made the perfect start to the derby hunting that 16th straight victory with a nice goal on the run from Brandon Donaldson at the five-minute mark.

Jonathon Marsh responded for East Fremantle soon after before Ben McGuire soon kicked a second of the game of the Sharks and then Hugh Dixon added a third and the visitors were on top by 12 points.

South Fremantle, though, did get a goal back just before quarter-time thanks to Zac Strom to cut the East Fremantle lead to five points at the first change.

South Fremantle reclaimed the lead with a goal to Aiden Hall inside less than a minute of the second quarter before Donaldson added a second to extend that lead for the Bulldogs to seven points.

Those would be the only two goals of the second term with South Fremantle holding East Fremantle to just three behinds and then going into the half-time break leading the derby by five points.

Jimmy Miller continued his good day in the ruck by going forward to kick a goal for South Fremantle early in the third quarter to stretch the lead to 12 points.

The Sharks did respond with their first two goals in almost two full quarters with Jonathon Marsh adding a second and Brayden Lawler also kicking truly to tie scores up heading towards three quarter-time.

However, Donaldson kicked his third of the day just before the break to push the Bulldogs back to a seven-point lead and when he kicked a fourth, South Fremantle was out to a 14-point advantage and suddenly a 16th straight derby win was looking highly likely.

East Fremantle was staring down the barrel of another tough derby defeat but two goals in the space of two minutes to Jonathon Marsh and Alex Montauban soon changed things.

When a brilliant pass from Cody Leggett found Austin Ball all alone at the top of the goal square, when he kicked truly the Sharks were in front and then Ben McGuire sealed the 12-point win and East Fremantle finally got to celebrate a first derby win in seven years.

 

EAST PERTH 7.12 (54) lost to SUBIACO 15.5 (95)

It was almost a complete reversal on their Round 2 meeting with Subiaco putting together a terrific performance to snap the eight-game winning streak of East Perth with Saturday's 41-point win at Leederville Oval.

The Royals were outstanding with 14 goals to four in the first half of the Round 2 win in the first meeting of the Leederville Oval co-tenants this season, but the Lions turned the tide this time around.

Despite East Perth coming into the game having won eight straight matches, Subiaco took no time working on top and continued to build on that lead all afternoon on the way to the eventual 15.5 (95) to 7.12 (54) victory.

The win gives Subiaco back-to-back victories this season with a 10-5 record to sit in third position while East Perth does remain in top spot at 11-4 but having played a game more than the second placed East Fremantle, the Royals have lost that game advantage.

Ryan Borchet made the most of his chances up forward for Subiaco in a fascinating battle with Harrison Macreadie to end up kicking four goals from six kicks and five marks.

Taj Schofield continued his terrific form for the Lions kicking another three goals to go with 18 possessions while Ben Sokol reclaimed the lead in the Bernie Naylor Medal race by kicking another three goals.

Stefan Giro also kicked two goals for the Lions along with racking up 22 possessions and six marks.

Zac Clarke proved the dominant player on the ground especially after half-time when East Perth lost its ruckman Jedd Edwards. Clarke finished with 24 possessions, 46 hit outs, seven marks and four tackles.

Leigh Kitchin also racked up 18 touches for the Lions, Jack Mayo 18 and Drew Rohde 17 while the defensive unit from Subiaco of Rohde, Aaron Heal, Angus Dewar, Galen Savigni, Michael Braut and Henry Berenger were outstanding.

Angus Schumacher kicked two goals for East Perth to go with 29 disposals, seven tackles and five marks with Tom North going forward late in the game and proving dangerous kicking two goals from his four attempts.

Angus Scott also picked up 27 possessions for the Royals, Stan Wright 24, Nick Robertson 22 and Michael Randall 18.

While East Perth made the flying start in the battle of the Leederville Oval co-tenants back in Round 2, this time it was Subiaco with the fast start including the first goal inside two minutes from Ryan Borchet.

Taj Schofield soon added another before East Perth did get on the board courtesy of Nick Bonomelli, but the Lions continued their charge with a second goal each to Borchet and Schofield.

Ben Sokol then kicked truly as well to stretch the lead to 26 points and it was still 20 by quarter-time despite a late goal to East Perth from Angus Schumacher.

Schumacher then added a second goal to start the second term and the Royals were working back into the contest and did close back to within 10 points when Liam Tedesco kicked a goal at the 15-minute mark as well.

However, Subiaco steadied and kicked the last goal of the first half courtesy of a third to Borchet and as a result the Lions went into the long break on top by 16 points.

The two teams traded goals to start the second half with an early goal to Schofield for Subiaco and to Sam van Diemen for East Perth, but then the Lions took charge to put the game to bed.

They kicked the last five goals of the third term including a fourth of the day to Borchet to take a 45-point lead into three quarter-time.

It was then two goals apiece in the final term with Subiaco winning by 41 points to snap the winning run of East Perth and to continue their dominance of winning 17 of the past 19 against the Royals.