WAFL Week 1 Finals WrapSunday, September 3, 2023 - 7:22 PM - by Chris Pike

THE WAFL finals began with a bang this weekend at Leederville Oval with two terrific contests which ultimately saw Claremont end the season of East Perth and Peel Thunder beat Subiaco to move to within one win of a Grand Final berth.

Leederville Oval became the home of the WAFL universe on the weekend with both co-tenants Subiaco and East Perth earning the rights to host the match ups in the first week of the finals after finishing second and fourth respectively at the end of the home and away season.

East Fremantle was the team able to sit back and let the other four finals teams fight it out on the weekend having finished two games clear on top of the ladder to claim a first minor premiership since 1998 while West Perth, Swan Districts, South Fremantle, Perth and West Coast missed making finals.

The qualifying final took place on Saturday afternoon and even though Subiaco opened up a lead of as much as 29 points early in the third quarter, Peel Thunder kicked the only six goals of that term to set up the eventual 12.12 (84) to 10.14 (74) win.

The victory means that Peel has won all four finals meetings it's had now with Subiaco to advance to a second semi-final against East Fremantle. Subiaco stays alive, though, and will play host to Claremont in a first semi-final.

Claremont booked its place in that first semi-final next week by winning a hard fought contest in the elimination final on Sunday against East Perth, eventually prevailing 11.6 (72) to 9.6 (60).

The Tigers were able to outscore the Royals nine goals to five after half-time to score the 12-point win to now set up a first semi-final battle with Subiaco back at Leederville Oval.

COLTS

The finals in the Colts began on Saturday morning at Leederville Oval with the elimination final which saw Subiaco end the season of West Perth with the 12.9 (81) to 7.2 (44) victory.

Lance Collard kicked five goals in the win for Subiaco while Malakai Champion and Josh Reid kicked two apiece. Riley Wills amassed 26 disposals, Ethan Barbieri 21, Dylan O'Dea 20, Xavier Hickey 20, Oscar Dees 19 and Riley Mayfield 18.

Trent Hiscock kicked two goals for West Perth while Kayle Gerreyn collected 18 possessions (19 hit outs), Odin Jones 17 (25 hit outs), Callum Smith 16 and Codan Daddow 14.

The qualifying final then took place on Sunday morning and it was Claremont advancing to a second semi-final against Perth by beating East Fremantle 8.7 (55) to 6.6 (42).

Hamish Davis kicked three goals for Claremont with Joe Fonti finishing with 22 touches, Ashton Bryant 22, Kai Dehavilland 20 and Josh Howard 19.

Dante Wiseman kicked two goals for East Fremantle with James Spadanuda racking up 25 touches, Presley Campbell 24, Mitch Zadow 22, Zac Petersen 20, Kobe Austin 19, Harry Pickett 18 and Phoenix Knight 18.

RESERVES

The finals in the Reserves got underway on Saturday at Leederville Oval with the qualifying final which saw Swan Districts defeat Subiaco 9.10 (64) to 5.11 (41) in the battle of the second and third ranked teams.

Tyrell Metcalf ended up kicking three goals for Swan Districts as did Lewis Zolnier-Owens with all three of his kicks in the game turning out to be goals.

Mitch Bain also racked up 22 touches for the black-and-whites, Lawson Humphries 21, Max Chipper 18, Ayden Cartwright 18 and Jacob Sideris 16.

Subiaco had five single goal scorers in the game while Corey Robinson collected 20 possessions, Rylie Morgan 20, Corey Bellouard 19, Corey Hitchcock 17 and Lachlan Vanirsen 17.

The elimination final then took place on Sunday also at Leederville Oval and it was East Fremantle who ended the season of Claremont with the 11.10 (76) to 10.3 (63) victory.

The Sharks advanced to a first semi-final against Subiaco with the win on the back of three goals from Luke Yeo and two from Elijah Burrows. Corey Homes racked up 19 touches, Matt Williamson 19, Ryan Lester-Smith 18 and Max Murphy 17.

Anthony Treacy kicked three goals for Claremont with Joel Western collecting 27 possessions, Ben Clarke 17, Felix Rogers 16 and Finn Moloney 16.

The results mean that Swan Districts advance to a second semi-final against West Perth with Subiaco to play East Fremantle in a first semi-final.

 

WAFL PREMIERSHIP SEASON – WEEK 1 FINALS

QUALIFYING FINAL – SUBIACO 10.14 (74) lost to PEEL THUNDER 12.12 (84)

Peel Thunder hit back from a 29-point deficit early in the third quarter to kick the only six goals of that term which ultimately set up the 10-point qualifying final victory against Subiaco at Leederville Oval.

Subiaco took charge of the qualifying final with four goals to nil with the breeze behind them in the second quarter to lead Peel by 28 points at half-time, and then by 29 early in the third.

However, the Thunder went on to kick the only six goals of the third quarter from there and then with local forwards Ben Middleton and Jack Sears standing up huge, they went on to score the 12.12 (84) to 10.14 (74) win.

The victory advances Peel to the second semi-final against East Fremantle while remaining unbeaten in finals against Subiaco with the Lions into a first semi-final against Claremont.

In the 59th game of his career with Peel, Jack Sears had the afternoon of his life in the qualifying final kicking four goals for the first time in the WAFL. He did it from 10 kicks along with three marks and three tackles.

He was the leading goalkicker in the game while Josh Corbett also contributed two goals for the Thunder as did Ben Middleton with the trio combining for eight of the 12 goals from Peel in the contest.

The ruck battle was a fascinating one with Peel duo Riley Smith (five touches, 24 hit outs) and Liam Reidy (14 disposals, 23 hit outs) doing well to take the challenge to Subiaco's Zac Clarke (12 possessions, 47 hit outs, 10 tackles).

That helped Peel's midfield break even with Subiaco with Will Brodie terrific in the tough conditions both from the pressure of the final and thanks to the weather with 28 possessions and six tackles.

Blair Bell also delivered 24 disposals, four tackles and a goal for the Thunder with Ben Hancock adding 20 touches and seven tackles while Michael Sellwood had 18 possessions, Karl Worner 18 and Brady Grey 15.

Joel Hamling did well down back to hold Ryan Borchet to one behind while Jacob Blight also restricted Luker Kentfield to no score and no marks.

Ben Sokol had been held goalless each of the past two weeks by South Fremantle's Noah Strom and East Fremantle's Matthew Jupp, and then for three quarters on Saturday as well by Peel's Hugh Davies. 

However, he came to life in the final term with three goals to give Subiaco a chance with Jack Mayo and Max Walters also adding two goals apiece for the Lions.

Stefan Giro racked up 26 possessions and seven tackles for Subiaco with Liam Hickmott also finishing with 25 disposals and seven tackles while Jack Mayo had 17 touches, Walters 15 and Angus Dewar 15.

Drew Rohde did well down back to limit Tom Emmett to 10 kicks and a goal while kicking a goal himself as well while Galen Savigni did well keeping Brody Wemm quiet with Jordan Lockyer doing well in his first game since Round 6 last year.

Max Walters earned the recall to add his premiership experience to the Subiaco forward-line after a late season stint in the reserves, and he repaid the faith from coach Beau Wardman by showing his poise with the quick snap to goal inside 45 seconds.

He added another goal eight minutes later and the Lions had the fast start and the momentum, but the longer the first quarter went the more the Thunder were able to settle and get some flow into their game.

Eventually it was Josh Corbett delivering their first goal with a strong kick from 50m out and he added a second soon after which was enough for Peel to take a three-point lead into the opening break.

However, Subiaco had the breeze in the second quarter and the Lions were able to take full advantage even if it took until more than nine minutes into the term for Michael Braut to kick truly.

That set off a run of goals for the Lions with Zac Clarke, Drew Rohde and Jack Mayo also adding majors with Subiaco ending up kicking the only four goals of the term.

The Lions could have been further ahead also kicking eight behinds in the stanza but the 28-point advantage at the main break was still threatening to be almost a match-winning edge.

Peel's only hope was to have a big third quarter with the advantage of the breeze and Subiaco did well to hold firm for the first seven minutes until the Thunder did get a goal through Jack Sears.

It wasn’t quite the start of the momentum turning yet and it took another eight minutes for the next goal and that was a beauty from Travis Colyer who swooped on the loose ball at half-forward, and drove home the goal from well outside 50.

That was the start of things turning with Brady Grey showing poise in traffic to add another for Peel before Sears kicked his second and Ben Middleton added another and the Thunder had five goals in 14 minutes to take a 10-point lead into three quarter-time.

That set the game up nicely with Subiaco having the breeze in the final term but Peel got the all important first goal thanks to key forward Middleton to stretch the lead to 16 points.

Ben Sokol had been goalless in his last two games and the first three quarters of the qualifying final, but he hit back when it mattered most to start Subiaco's fightback.

However, his first goal was followed by Peel responded thanks to Sears once more. But Subiaco pounced starting with Mayo kicking his second and then Sokol added two more, and suddenly the Lions had the lead, the breeze and the momentum.

Peel wasn’t going to be denied, though, and it was Sears who added his fourth goal to put the Thunder back in front and then Tom Emmett sealed the deal to send his team into a second semi-final with East Fremantle.

ELIMINATION FINAL – EAST PERTH 9.6 (60) lost to CLAREMONT 11.6 (72)

Claremont's finals experience and desire to avoid more September heartbreak saw them work on top of East Perth the further Sunday's elimination final went at Leederville Oval with the Tigers ending up prevailing by 12 points.

It was a tremendous battle all afternoon with both teams possessing powerful midfield units and desperate to keep their season alive.

East Perth was able to start strongly with four goals to two into the breeze in the opening quarter, but Claremont was gradually able to work on top from there to end up winning 11.6 (72) to 9.6 (60).

The victory advances the Tigers into a first semi-final also back at Leederville Oval against Subiaco while the season is over for the Royals who are still yet to win a final since 2015.

Talon Delacey, Zac Mainwaring and Declan Hardisty kicked two goals apiece for Claremont in the win with the late season move of regular defender Hardisty continuing to pay dividends. 

The Tigers have struggled for a key forward target since the departure to Sydney of Jack Buller and given the majority of his 105-game career has been as one of the league's premier defenders, Hardisty didn’t seem a likely option but it's working well.

The Claremont back-line stood up well too with stand-in captain Jack Lewsey holding Sam van Diemen scoreless and Anthony Davis spending a lot of the game opposed to Mitch Schofield and limiting him to one goal.

It wasn’t a game for big possession tallies but Claremont's Jye Bolton was important spending the game on the ball with 22 possessions while Ben Elliott had 17 disposals, Teia Miles 16, Curtin 15 and Anthony Davis 15.

Ruckman Oliver Eastland continued the best season of his 96-game WAFL career as well for the Tigers finishing with 21 touches, 40 hit outs, four inside-50 entries, four tackles and three marks.

Tom Graham made a spectacular return to the East Perth league side for his first game since Round 20 last year. He had battled a hip injury since and had managed just five reserves games in the second half of the season, but he was backed in for Sunday's elimination final.

The Royals backed in Graham ahead of fellow key forwards Tom Medhat and Nick Bonomelli, and he delivered four goals from seven kicks and seven marks opposed to quality Claremont defender Jack Maibaum.

He was East Perth's only multiple goal scorer in the game but early on Liam Tedesco did threaten to tear the game apart and finished with 16 touches, four tackles and a goal.

Harrison Macreadie had another strong defensive performance for East Perth holding Claremont 100-gamer Alex Manuel to one goal, two kicks and one mark while Brad Fullgrabe did well on Kieran Gowdie most of the afternoon in his first league appearance of the season in the absence of Corey Watts.

East Perth co-captain Christian Ameduri battled hard in the midfield for 24 possessions and five tackles with Angus Scott racking up another 23 disposals, Hamish Brayshaw 23, Mitch Crowden 20, Stan Wright 20 and Schofield 18 to go with eight marks and a goal.

Claremont made the perfect start when 100-game forward Alex Manuel kicked the elimination final's first goal inside 90 seconds, but from there East Perth worked on top of the contest around the ground and started to be rewarded.

Despite going against the breeze, the Royals kept driving the ball inside-50 and eventually it was Tom Graham who got them on the board playing his first game of the season as the main forward target.

He kicked a second soon after in a lively start before fellow forwards Mitch Schofield and Liam Tedesco added goals for East Perth to stretch the lead to 18 points.

Claremont did get one back with a crafty snap from Zac Mainwaring after a terrific handpass from Jye Bolton, but East Perth was still up by 12 points at half-time on the back of having 13 inside-50 entries to five.

Claremont made a flying start with a quick goal to Talon Delacey into the breeze. Declan Hardisty and Anthony Davis added goals too and in less than seven minutes, the Tigers had opened up a seven-point advantage.

The Royals did get the only other goal of the second term thanks to Graham who kicked his third in a sparkling first game of the season taking the place of both Nick Bonomelli and Tom Medhat as the main forward target.

That saw scores all level going into the half-time break and the stage was set for a tremendous second half battle.

Claremont had to make better advantage of the breeze in the third quarter with its season on the line and that happened with an early goal in the second half to the lively Mainwaring.

However, East Perth responded with the next two goals through Shayne Hille and Riley Saunders who was crafty on the goal line with the Royals back on top, and putting the onus back on the Tigers to respond.

Claremont did answer with the next three goals of the third quarter through Ben Elliott and then a second each to Hardisty and Delacey, but the Royals kept close enough to strike with a late goal to Mitch Crowden to cut the Tigers advantage to a straight kick.

Callan England kicked an impressive long goal with the breeze dying down late in the afternoon to give Claremont its biggest lead of the contest by that point of 11 points.

Graham answered soon after for East Perth with his fourth goal and the Royals kept peppering and after having a strong afternoon, it was Tedesco who had a moment to forget at the 16-minute mark.

Running towards goal with plenty of space inside-50, he had the choice to kick the goal himself or find teammate Hamish Brayshaw. Unfortunately for the Royals, he did neither and his in between kick led to a Claremont turnover.

The Tigers took the ball up the other end and big man Kieran Gowdie was too big and strong for his defender Brad Fullgrabe to take the contested grab. 

The Claremont forward and pinch-hit ruckman went back to kick the goal which ultimately sealed the win for the Tigers to keep their season alive.