WAFL Round 18 WrapMonday, August 14, 2023 - 9:05 AM - by Chris Pike

EAST Fremantle now has one hand on a first minor premiership in the WAFL since 1998 with a seventh straight victory against East Perth on Saturday with Subiaco and Peel Thunder keeping on winning, and West Perth staying in the finals hunt.

Round 18 in the WAFL was the third last weekend of the 2023 WAFL season and with six teams still fighting over the five finals positions, the results were going to have a big bearing on setting up a massive last fortnight.

That's exactly how it panned out with the Sharks making it seven straight wins, the Lions a third in-a-row, the Thunder winning consecutive games and then it was the Falcons making it four in-a-row too to keep themselves in contention to break into the top five.

The Round 18 action got underway on Saturday afternoon at Lane Group Stadium in Mandurah in a battle of two teams inside the top five with Peel Thunder ending up beating Claremont 13.13 (91) to 8.11 (59).

The victory makes it two in-a-row for Peel to keep them solid in third position at 11-5 with two games to go while Claremont is the vulnerable team sitting fifth at 10-6 having now lost four in-a-row.

Next up on Saturday and top spot went on the line between East Fremantle and East Perth at the WACA Ground. It was the Sharks continuing their winning ways prevailing 15.6 (96) to 12.10 (82).

The win makes it seven in-a-row for East Fremantle to now have them a game and percentage clear in top spot at 12-4. The Royals have now slipped to fourth place at 11-5 with back-to-back defeats.

Swan Districts continued its blistering finish to the season as well by defeating Perth 14.14 (98) to 11.4 (70) at Lathlain's Mineral Resources Park.

The victory is a fourth in-a-row for Swans to improve them to an 8-8 record while the Demons have lost four straight at 2-13 with a draw.

The other two Round 18 matches took place on Sunday afternoon beginning with a big finish from Subiaco to defeat the West Coast Eagles 22.19 (151) to 13.4 (82) at Leederville Oval.

That gives the Lions three wins in-a-row to improve to an 11-5 record in second position while the Eagles remain winless since Round 10 last year.

The last game of Round 18 took place at Fremantle Community Bank Oval and it was West Perth keeping its finals hopes alive beating South Fremantle 14.7 (91) to 8.7 (55).

The Falcons improve to a 9-7 record as a result with the fourth consecutive win to now be just one game behind the fifth placed Claremont with games to finish against Peel Thunder and East Perth.

Round 18 of the Colts began on Saturday morning with Claremont defeating Peel Thunder 9.5 (59) to 6.11 (47) at Lane Group Stadium.

Joe Matthews kicked three goals for Claremont and Sam van Rooyen two with Max Rohr racking up 25 disposals to go with 30 hit outs while Louis Tangney had 24 touches, Riley Disisto 23, Joe Fonti 18 and Cody Angove 18.

Bo Allan and Ethan Logan kicked two goals apiece for Peel with Bronson Martin ending up with 20 touches, Kaed Collard 18, Joel Rush 18 and Allan 16.

East Fremantle also scored the 14.13 (97) to 12.7 (79) victory against East Perth at the WACA Ground with Sam Otto kicking four goals for the Sharks, Declan Pauline two, Dante Wiseman two and Noah Dean two.

Koen Sanchez ended up with 26 touches, Jack Eastaugh 19, Otto 17 and Chadd Dunscombe 16.

Maxx Della Franca kicked four goals for East Perth and Brody Delaney two with William Cassidy collecting 25 possessions, Bailey Harbour 17 and Mitch Miller 15.

Perth was impressive at Mineral Resources Park with the 12.13 (85) to 5.8 (38) win against Swan Districts. 

Michael Hall kicked six goals for the Demons and Robert Warrell two with Jake Watson picking up 26 touches, Coen Livingstone 25 (21 hit outs), Kalib Dempster-Park 24 (11 tackles), Cooper Moore 21 and Connor McDonald 20.

Lewis Zolnier-Owens kicked another two goals for Swan Districts while Chayse Martinson finished with 31 possessions, Luke Kelly 27, Riley Hardeman 21 and Tom Cathcart 18.

West Perth then held on in a thriller on Sunday at Fremantle Community Bank Oval to beat South Fremantle 8.17 (65) to 9.8 (62). The Bulldogs kicked the only three goals of the final quarter but fell just three points short in the finish.

Jye Skender and Austin Crofts kicked two goals each for the Falcons with Matt Galjaardt gathering 22 touches, Kyle Wilcox 20, Bailey Long 20 and Jack Wooden 20.

Hamish Cooper kicked two goals for South Fremantle while Toby Whan finished with 28 possessions, Jacob Whan 20, Zane Triscari 20, Tarkyn Etherington 19, Tyler Rowe 18, Fred Rodriguez 18 and Aiden Carroll 18.

Then Round 18 of the Reserves began with Claremont scoring the 8.13 (61) to 6.10 (46) win in Mandurah against Peel Thunder.

Felix Rogers and Corey Mitchell kicked two goals apiece for Claremont with Menno Inverarity finishing with 31 possessions, 14 tackles and 11 marks. Morgan Davies also had 27 touches, Finn Moloney 24, Sam Gilbey 22 and Rogers 22.

James Sturrock amassed 31 disposals for Peel, Guy Barnes 25, Taj Wyburd 23 and Max Knobel 15 to go with 33 hit outs.

East Fremantle claimed a thrilling 10.10 (70) to 10.7 (67) win against East Perth at the WACA Ground with Josh Schoenfeld and Matthew Burton kicking two goals each for the Sharks.

Enrique Aiken-Featherstone amassed 26 possessions, Schoenfeld 23, Ryan Lester-Smith 20 and Lachlan Blakiston 15 to go with 47 hit outs.

Josh Harris kicked three goals for East Perth and Alex Pearce two with Riley Saunders picking up 23 disposals, Pearce 21, Darcy Miller 18 and Ben Ramshaw 17.

The last game on Saturday was at Mineral Resources Park with Perth defeating Swan Districts 10.6 (66) to 4.7 (31).

Harry Quartermaine put his hand up for a call up for Perth after kicking six goals from eight kicks and seven marks while Matthew Taylor collected 26 disposals, Liam Dellamarta 21, Ned Shannon 20, Daniel Hill 18 and Oliver Zolnier-Owens 18.

Swans' goals were kicked by Mitch Bain, Henrick Alforque, Lachlan Gray and Luke Taylor with Bain picking up 27 possessions, Ben Hewett 22, Seb Bright 22 and the returning Sam Fisher 19.

Sunday's lone Reserves match took place at Fremantle Community Bank Oval with West Perth dominating on the way to the 17.14 (116) to 1.5 (11) win against South Fremantle.

Jack Demarte kicked four goals for West Perth, Zarne Robis three, Noah Farrow three, Zak Patterson two and Jasper Scaife two. Mark Hutchings collected 31 touches, Callum Johnson 23, Alec Johnson 21, Luke Reilly 20, Kane Bevan 20 and Logan Foley 18 to go with 25 hit outs.

South Fremantle's lone goal was kicked by Kaden Harbour with George Wessels finishing with 35 possessions and 14 tackles. Toby Dodds also had 31 touches, Riley Vidovich 25, Harbour 22 and Jaren Carr 16.

 

WAFL PREMIERSHIP SEASON – ROUND 18

PEEL THUNDER 13.13 (91) defeated CLAREMONT 8.11 (59)

Peel Thunder all but locked away a finals position on Saturday thanks to kicking the only three goals of the last quarter to beat the struggling Claremont by 32 points at Mandurah's Lane Group Stadium.

The teams came into the round in fourth and fifth position on the WAFL ladder with the winner to all but secure a finals position for 2023 while the loser would leave themselves vulnerable to reigning premiers West Perth should they keep on winning.

It was a tight game for three quarters with Peel leading Claremont by a goal at quarter-time, by three at half-time and then 13 at three quarter-time before the Thunder kicked the only three goals of the last term to win 13.13 (91) to 8.11 (59).

The victory gives Peel two straight wins to improve to an 11-5 record in third position with two rounds to go. Claremont has now lost four straight matches for the first time since 2018 to be vulnerable at 10-6 in fifth place.

Bailey Banfield put his hand up for an AFL recall with Fremantle by kicking four goals in the win for Peel to go with 16 possessions and seven inside-50 entries.

Ben Middleton also kicked three goals for the Thunder, Matt Taberner two, Brody Wemm two and Liam Reidy two along with 19 touches, 18 hit outs, seven marks and five tackles.

Will Brodie produced another strong performance in the midfield for Peel to end up with 29 possessions and six tackles while Traye Bennell contributed 24 touches, Tom Emmett 24, Ben Hancock 23, Nathan O'Driscoll 22, Clay Hall 20 and Brady Grey 19.

Claremont small forward Zac Mainwaring kicked three goals on the afternoon with Alex Manuel chipping in with two.

Jye Bolton racked up another 30 possessions in the loss for the Tigers with Ben Edwards picking up 26 disposals, Jack Lewsey 23, Lachan Martinis 23, Anthony Davis 22, Daniel Curtin 20 and Ben Elliott 20.

Ruckman Oliver Eastland had another strong showing consisting of 21 possessions, 43 hit outs and a goal.

Claremont was attempting to avoid a fourth consecutive loss and started well with the game's first goal through small forward Zac Mainwaring.

It was Fremantle forward Matt Taberner who got Peel on the board shortly after with his Dockers teammate Bailey Banfield adding another.

Mainwaring responded with his second of the opening term but then Liam Reidy kicked truly and the Thunder went into quarter-time leading by six points.

It was goal for goal in the second quarter with Mainwaring adding a third of the half for the Tigers before Taberner responded with a second for Peel. Banfield then also kicked his second and Alex Manuel added the other for Claremont with Peel clinging to a three-point half-time lead.

After both teams combined to kick just nine goals in the first half, they kicked nine between them in the third quarter alone, and it was the Thunder kicking five of those to head into the three quarter-time huddle leading by 13 points.

Peel then went on with the job with the only three goals of the last quarter to turn the tables on Claremont who overran them in spectacular fashion earlier this season. The Thunder went on to score the 32-point home win to all but secure a finals position for 2023.

EAST FREMANTLE 15.6 (96) defeated EAST PERTH 12.10 (82)

East Fremantle remains the hottest team in the WAFL by winning a seventh consecutive match in a top of the table clash with East Perth on Saturday with the 14-point win putting the Sharks in prime position for the minor premiership.

Top spot went on the line between the two teams at the WACA Ground on Saturday with East Fremantle coming into the game on a six-game winning run while East Perth were fresh off the bye and a loss that ended their own eight-match winning streak.

East Fremantle began to pull away with seven goals to four in the second quarter before maintaining that advantage throughout the second half on the way to the 15.6 (96) to 12.10 (82) victory.

That gives the Sharks seven wins in-a-row to now be a game and percentage clear on top of the ladder with games to finish against Perth and Subiaco.

East Perth has lost consecutive matches to be down in fourth place at 11-5 before finishing against West Coast and West Perth.

Hugh Dixon delivered a commanding performance for East Fremantle both as a key forward target and then when helping out in the ruck to finish with three goals to go with 23 possessions, 27 hit outs and seven marks.

Harry Marsh then continues to be one of the most damaging midfielders in the competition in his first season with East Fremantle ending up kicking three goals from 27 possessions and eight tackles.

Cody Leggett also took the most of his chances to kick two goals for the Sharks from four kicks along with four tackles.

Kyle Baskerville also collected another 21 possessions for East Fremantle, Tom Joyce 20, Cam Eardley 20 and captain Matthew Jupp 17 to go with eight marks and four tackles.

Christian Ameduri kicked three goals for East Perth, Michael Randall two and Hamish Brayshaw two.

Mitch Crowden produced another strong performance in the midfield for the Royals with 26 possessions and nine tackles while Randall finished with 20 disposals, Brayshaw 20, Angus Scott 19, Kye Willcocks 17 and Stan Wright 17.

It took only three minutes for both teams to have a goal on the board and it was former AFL pair Harry Marsh and Mitch Crowden doing the honours. It was then the Sharks who kept the momentum going with the next two goals from Ben McGuire and Brayden Lawler.

However, the swings continued with East Perth kicking the next two thanks to Mitch Schofield and Michael Randall, and by quarter-time it was the Royals leading by four points.

East Fremantle made a hot start to the second quarter with two early goals inside three minutes from big man Hugh Dixon, but East Perth answered once more with a goal to Hamish Brayshaw to grab the lead.

It was the Sharks' turn to regain the lead once more with goals to Luke English and Marsh, and from there they would kick seven goals to four in the second quarter on the way to going into the half-time interval with a 17-point advantage.

Cody Leggett extended that lead to 23 points for East Fremantle to start the second half and it got out to 31 during the third term when Dixon kicked his third of the day, but the Royals weren’t going away.

East Perth closed the third quarter with goals to Tom Medhat, Brayshaw and Christian Ameduri which made it an 11-point ball game by three quarter-time.

When Leggett kicked the first goal of the final stanza, East Fremantle remained in control and would go on to score the 14-point victory to make it seven consecutive wins to move a game clear on top of the ladder with two rounds remaining.

PERTH 11.4 (70) lost to SWAN DISTRICTS 14.14 (98)

Swan Districts continued its impressive finish to the 2023 WAFL season with a fourth straight win beating Perth by 28 points on Saturday afternoon at Mineral Resources Park.

Perth started the game well with the only two goals of the first quarter on home turf and it remained a tight contest with Swans only leading by a point at half-time and by six at three quarter-time.

However, Swan Districts dominated the last term with six goals to two to win 14.14 (98) to 11.4 (70) to make it four straight wins to improve to 8-8 on the season with Perth having lost four in-a-row at 2-13 with a draw.

Aidan Clarke might have been a littler quieter than usual on the possession front with 17 for Swan Districts, but he had a significant impact on the game still with three goals to go with five marks, five tackles and five inside-50 entries.

Forward trio Brayden Noble, Chris Jones and Ryan Kemp also kicked two goals apiece for the black-and-whites.

Swan Districts vice-captain Jesse Turner continued his outstanding form with another 34 possessions and eight marks with Josh Cipro collecting 27 disposals to go with seven marks, five tackles, five inside 50s and a goal.

Jackson McLachlan also had another 27 touches for the black-and-whites, Lachlan Riley 23, Lawson Humphries 20 and Jehb O'Donohue 19 (nine tackles) with Matthew Germs coming in to carry the ruck in the absence of Nathan Blakely for 39 hit outs.

Perth captain Michael Sinclair continues to embrace his new role as a forward this season after building a decorated career as a defender, and kicked four goals from nine kicks and five marks. Simon Hayward also chipped in with two goals for the Demons.

Charlie Thompson continued his outstanding first WAFL season with Perth by racking up another 32 possessions while kicking a goal. 

Trent Manzone also collected 28 disposals, Jack Avery 26, Austin Davis 22, Corey Byrne 21 and Dakota Baldwin-Wright 18 along with 18 hit outs.

Perth kicked the first goal of the game on an opportunistic effort from Jye Clark before Simon Hayward also swooped to give the Demons the first two goals of the contest.

Swans had their opportunities but only managed six behinds for the quarter and as a result the Demons went into the quarter-time break leading by eight points.

It took less than two minutes of the second quarter for Swans to get their first goal of the game courtesy of co-captain Chris Jones.

Tom Edwards then soon added another and so did Aidan Clarke, and all of a sudden Swan Districts had three goals in the first 15 minutes after going goalless in all of the opening term.

Perth hit back quickly, though, with goals from captain Michael Sinclair and big man Ajang Ajang before the goals continued to flow.

Clarke added a second shortly prior to half-time before Sinclair also made it two for the Demons with Swans heading into the half-time interval with the narrowest of leads at a point.

While it took almost 10 minutes of the second quarter for the first goal to be kicked, once Hayward did kick that major to put the Demons back in front, the goals flowed over the next 18 minutes.

Josh Cipro and Brayden Noble both combined to return the black-and-whites to a nine-point lead before Perth was back in front after goals to Sinclair and Sam Stubbs.

It was then Swans' turn to respond once more with goals to Jiah Reidy and Brad Lynch, but Perth stayed in touch thanks to Kristian Cary just before three quarter-time to cut the Swan Districts lead to six points.

A second goal of the day from Jones for Swans pushed the lead for his team back out to 11 points but Sinclair added a fourth for Perth with the skipper bringing his side back to four points.

However, Swan Districts took charge the rest of the afternoon from there and a couple of quick goals to Ryan Kemp, another to Clarke and another to Noble then set up the eventual 28-point victory for the visitors.

SUBIACO 22.19 (151) defeated WEST COAST EAGLES 13.4 (82)

Despite Subiaco extending its advantage over West Coast all afternoon on Sunday at Leederville Oval, it was a significantly more competitive Eagles performance despite the Lions ending up winning by 69 points.

It was quite the entertaining affair on Sunday afternoon at Leederville Oval highlighted by six goals from West Coast's Shannon Lucassen and five from Subiaco's Ben Sokol.

Subiaco ended up leading by nine points at quarter-time, 18 at half-time, 35 at three quarter-time and then ending up winning 22.19 (151) to 13.4 (82).

The victory is a third straight for Subiaco who now sit in second spot on the WAFL ladder at 11-5 with games to finish against South Fremantle and East Fremantle. The Eagles are 0-15 with a draw this season and still winless since Round 10 last year.

Ben Sokol continued to ensure the race for the Bernie Naylor Medal is a fascinating one as the Subiaco spearhead kicked another five goals from 14 kicks and 10 marks to take him to 47 goals for the season to end the round three behind West Perth's Tyler Keitel.

Taj Schofield continued his stunning recent form for the Lions with another 25 possessions, eight tackles, seven marks and three goals with Ryan Borchet also kicking three goals, Luker Kentfield two and Ben Golding two.

Liam Hickmott maintained his strong form this season too for Subiaco in the midfield with 32 possessions while Stefan Giro finished with 29 disposals, Noah Ash 28, Leigh Kitchin 23 and ruckman Zac Clarke another 23 to go with 51 hit outs and a goal.

Shannon Lucassen had a stunning start to the game in the forward-line for West Coast and had five goals to his name already by early in the second term, and he ended up with a career-best six from nine kicks and four marks.

Zane Trew also kicked two goals from 25 possessions for West Coast with Jed Kemp kicking two goals from his four kicks.

Isiah Winder produced a performance that could earn him an AFL call up with 28 possessions for the Eagles while Josh Browne collected 25 disposals, Rhett Bazzo 22, Tyrell Dewar 20, Ethan Hansen 20, Jordyn Baker 19, Greg Clark 19, Jackson Nelson 19 and John Levien 19.

A career-best afternoon for West Coast's Shannon Lucassen began when he kicked the game's first goal in just over 20 seconds. Subiaco did respond less than two minutes later through Ryan Borchet but Lucassen would add his second of the day at the six-minute mark.

Zane Trew added another for West Coast to put his team in front by 11 points and Subiaco needed to respond, and the Lions did with the last three goals of the first quarter from Ben Golding, Jordan Faraone and Stefan Giro.

That had Subiaco leading by nine points at quarter-time before Ben Sokol extended that advantage to 15 points, but with Lucassen in some unstoppable form in attack, the Eagles weren’t going away.

He kicked three goals in a five-minute period to already have five goals to his name for West Coast before 10 minutes had expired in the second quarter, and that had the Eagles back in front by three points.

The Lions did return to the lead when Liam Hickmott kicked truly before Sokol added another couple on the way to half-time which had them leading by 18 points but the Eagles were within striking distance.

It took more than 11 minutes for the first goal of the second half and it went the way of Subiaco from Luker Kentfield. Borchet soon added another but again West Coast wasn't going away and added the next two courtesy of Trew and Tyrell Dewar.

But the Lions added two more heading into three quarter-time including another from Sokol to be leading by 35 points, and it was a goal feast in the last term.

The teams combined to kick 13 goals with Subiaco adding nine of them and West Coast four with the Lions going on to score the 69-point win to improve to second position on the WAFL ladder with two rounds remaining.

SOUTH FREMANTLE 8.7 (55) lost to WEST PERTH 14.7 (91)

West Perth was able to gradually work its way on top of a youthful South Fremantle on Sunday at Fremantle Community Bank Oval to stay in the finals hunt with the 36-point victory.

West Perth just has to keep winning to remain any chance of playing finals still in 2023 and the Falcons were able to build on their lead throughout the afternoon against the Bulldogs on Sunday.

It was a South Fremantle team missing Dylan Main, Brandon Donaldson, Brock Higgins, Matthew Parker, Brendon Ah Chee, Chad Pearson and Jordan Gallucci with three players making their debuts.

The Bulldogs still made a good fist of it but the Falcons had too much to play for and despite losing co-captain Aaron Black to a hamstring injury, ended up prevailing 14.7 (91) to 8.7 (55).

The win improves West Perth to a 9-7 record on the season and the reigning premiers must beat Peel Thunder and East Perth in the last two rounds, and hope for some luck to still play finals.

The newfound West Perth twin towers up forward again delivered with Tyler Keitel and Noah Pegoraro kicking another three goals apiece while opposed to South Fremantle brothers Noah and Zac Strom.

Darcy Dixon also chipped in with three goals for the Falcons and Sasha Kernutt in the win that kept their season alive.

Reigning Grand Final Simpson Medallist Luke Meadows had 32 possessions and a goal for West Perth with Shane Nelson racking up another 29 touches, Tyson Moulton 23, Aidan Lynch 23, Joe Hinder 23, Mitch Peirce 20 and Riley Sprigg 19 to go with 18 hit outs in the ruck.

There were new faces for South Fremantle all over the field but nowhere more so in the forward-line with Dylan Main and Brandon Donaldson not playing, and Jimmy Miller needed in the ruck and Zac Strom in defence. 

There were three debutants on the day for the Bulldogs and the signs from Ashton Ferreira, Mitch Sinnott and Ed Graham were exciting. Graham stepped up to be the main target in the forward-line and kicked two goals from 11 touches and three marks.

Ferreira looked a player well and truly composed and ready for league football with 26 possessions, eight marks and seven inside-50 entries with Sinnott also adding 13 touches.

Second-gamer Aaron Drage was superb once more in a midfield without Jake Florenca, Brendon Ah Chee and Matthew Parker for South Fremantle, and had 30 possessions and five tackles.

Roan O'Hehir continued his emergence for South Fremantle too with another 28 disposals, eight tackles and two goals while Caleb Stephens collected 26 touches, Glenn Byron 24, Toby McQuilkin 21 and Zac Strom 19 to go with 11 marks, 11 hit outs and a goal.

West Perth goal sneak Keegan Knott was back into the line-up and started well with the first goal in the game before his regular partner in crime Tyler Keitel added another soon after to give the Falcons the perfect start.

South Fremantle responded and it was one of a host of new faces doing it with Ed Graham kicking a goal debut at the 11-minute mark. His teammate Roan O'Hehir then snapped truly soon after to put the Bulldogs in front.

Keitel responded with his second before Jacob Dragovic and Noah Pegoraro added another for their respective teams leading into quarter-time with the Falcons leading by four points.

West Perth then got a quick early goal to start the second quarter thanks to Pegoraro and 10 minutes later they had another thanks to Sasha Kernutt with the lead out to as much as 17 points.

South Fremantle, though, did get a goal back before half-time through Graham to cut the deficit to nine points at the main break.

West Perth then took further control in the third quarter beginning with a goal a minute in to Darcy Dixon. Nathan Murray, Pegoraro and then Dixon again also added goals to see the Falcons lead get out to 34 points before a late goal to Aiden Hall for the Bulldogs just prior to three quarter-time.

The game opened up a little more in the last quarter with both teams combining for seven goals with West Perth adding another four to South Fremantle's three on the way to the eventual 36-point win that keeps the reigning premiers alive in the finals race with two rounds remaining.