Round 12 WAFL Wrap UpMonday, June 10, 2013 - 4:00 PM - by Chris Pike

THERE were three games of WAFL Round 12 action on Saturday with Claremont cementing top spot on the ladder, East Fremantle moving back into fourth and Subiaco winnings its third straight match to close in on a position in the top-four also.

Claremont moves four games clear on top of the WAFL with a 18.11 (119) to 15.8 (98) win over second-placed West Perth at Arena Joondalup with East Fremantle regaining fourth spot with a 14.7 (91) to 8.8 (56) win over Peel Thunder at East Fremantle Oval.

Subiaco has now won three straight games to suddenly be just one game and percentage out of second position following Saturday's 15.16 (106) to 7.11 (53) victory against South Fremantle at Leederville's Medibank Stadium.

East Perth, Perth and Swan Districts all had a bye in Round 12.

Click here for the summary of Round 12 of the WAFL

THE BIG WINNERS

Stung by suffering its first loss of the 2013 season the previous week against Subiaco, Claremont came out and made a statement against the second-placed West Perth on Saturday winning by 21 points to now move four games and percentage clear on top of the ladder.

The Tigers have won the last three WAFL minor premierships for two flags and a one-point losing grand final in 2010, and it's now going to take an incredible drop off in form from them and some team to go on an incredible win for them to not finish on top of the ladder for a fourth straight time.

Claremont has won 10 from 11 games this year and even scarier for the rest of the competition is that Luke Blackwell, Trinity Handley, Jeremy McGovern and Ryan Neates are among the players still to return from injury through the second half of the season.

Byron Schammer won't be back, though, with a shoulder injury and Paul Medhurst will miss a month with a rib injury now.

In their absence, young players have stepped up with Matthew Davies and Sam Fong cementing their spots, Tom Taylor taking his chance and on Saturday another youngster made his debut with Neale Daniher's 19-year-old son Ben earning his chance and racking up 23 possessions.

THE BIG LOSERS

South Fremantle now appears to be the only team in the competition this season out of the finals race following Saturday's disappointing 53-point loss to Subiaco.

The Bulldogs were coming off a terrific 67-point Foundation Derby win over East Fremantle and could have begun to build some momentum with a win over the Lions on Saturday.

They certainly had their chances as well and probably should have been in front by half-time, and then totally dominated the first 20 minutes of the third quarter but were unable to capitalise and put a single goal on the board.

Subiaco then responded and kicked nine straight goals either side of three quarter-time to now leave South Fremantle with a 2-9 record with the bye this weekend.

THE SHINING LIGHTS

East Fremantle bounced back from its disappointing Foundation Derby loss to South Fremantle beating Peel by 35 points thanks to kicking the only five goals of the last quarter.

Big man Rob Young kicked three goals in his second game back from his knee injury while Ryan Lester-Smith also added three majors.

West Coast midfielder Bradd Dalziell returned to the side and was outstanding with 36 possessions, seven marks and two goals. Prolific midfielder Rory O'Brien also had 30 disposals, six tackles and two goals.

Captain Mark McGough picked up 30 possessions, Sean Henson 22, Richard Hadley 21, Josh Simpson 21, Brad Cooper 20 and Brett Peake 19.

Fremantle forward Matt Taberner kicked three goals for Peel with Brad Holmes adding two.

Viv Michie racked up 33 possessions, Paul Bower 29, Tom Sheridan 28, Brennan Gillam 25, Kristin Thornton 22, Matt Brown 22, Marlon Motlop 20 and Devin McFarlane 20.

Ian Richardson and Chad Jones kicked four goals apiece in Claremont's 21-point win over West Perth at Arena Joondalup with Anton Hamp adding three, Paul Medhurst two and Jack Bradshaw two.

Mark Seaby dominated the ruck after West Perth's Chris Keunen pulled out just before the match. The former Falcons premiership player finished with 17 possessions and a massive 55 hit outs in a dominant display.

Andrew Foster continued his outstanding form for the Tigers playing as a permanent midfielder finishing with 33 possessions, laying 11 tackles and driving the ball inside-50 on eight occasions.

West Coast's Patrick McGinnity picked up 30 disposals, Jake Murphy 25, Tom Taylor 25, Andrew Browne 25 and debutant Ben Daniher 23, five marks and three entries inside-50.

Jesse Laurie had 19 possessions, Matthew Davies 18 and Sam Fong 18.

Despite being a solid performer for West Coast in his first tastes of action at AFL level, Mark Hutchings was surprisingly dropped back to play with West Perth and certainly didn’t disappoint with 32 possessions, seven marks, seven tackles and three goals.

Fresh off his 150th game last week against East Perth, Matt Guadagnin was a tireless worker also with 26 disposals, six marks, four inside-50 entries and two goals.

Jay van Berlo gathered 24 possessions as well for West Perth with Luke Tedesco picking up 23, Andrew Strijk 22, Aaron Black 21 and Josh Mellington 18 to go with six inside 50s and a goal.

Anthony Tsalikis made the most of his limited chances up forward kicking three goals from 14 possessions and six marks.

Kyle Westwood was the best ruckman on the ground in an encouraging performance for Peel finishing with 16 disposals, five marks, five tackles and 23 hit outs.

Young small forward Michael Wood kicked another four goals in Subiaco's win over South Fremantle while Jason Bristow, Brad Stevenson and Andrew McDougall added two each.

West Coast's Mark Nicoski also kicked two from 17 possessions in his best performance since returning from a horror hamstring injury run.

Jarrod Kayler-Thomson racked up 35 possessions on the wing for Subiaco with George Hampson also picking up 27 touches and Brett Mahoney 26.

The Subiaco back-line held up well also with the ever-reliable Darren Rumble and Aidan Parker there while Joey Daye and Daniel Leishman were outstanding.

Matt Bogensperger was terrific running with South Fremantle captain Ryan Cook and keeping him to 13 possessions.

Jacob Martinez was once again South Fremantle's hardest and most consistent contributor throughout the four quarters. The 20-year-old picked up 20 possessions to go with nine tackles, six clearances, three inside-50 entries and two rebounds from the defensive 50.

Mitch Banner worked hard for 23 possessions and kicked two first half goals while Toby Bairstow finished with 20 disposals, four clearances and five inside-50 entries.

Ruckman Sean Tighe hurt his ankle in last week's win over East Fremantle and battled manfully despite still being hobbled, and was the best big man on the field with 20 possessions, 24 hit outs and seven clearances.

Adam Carter was solid in the back-line picking up 17 touches, five marks and four rebound 50s. Dylan Ross continued his good form at centre half-back for the Bulldogs getting the better of his battle with state player Clancy Wheeler.

PUSHING FOR A SPOT

East Fremantle's reserves beat Peel by 20 points with Alex Howson kicking three goals, and Adrian Ricciardello and Cordell Smith two each. Dion Anthony gathered 21 possessions for the Sharks.

Reise Wilkey booted four goals for the Thunder with Fremantle's Lachie Neale racking up a massive 43 possessions. Liam McKenna also had 40 disposals, 13 marks and a goal. Aiden Field collected 25 touches, Corey Norris 23, Matthew Rubery 22 and Josh Mathers 20.

West Perth's reserves recorded a 21-point win over Claremont with Matt Fowler kicking five goals for the third straight week.

Cameron Branch also kicked two majors with Laine Rasmussen returning to pick up 30 possessions. Joel Latham gathered 22 disposals, Jack Thrum 20, Branch 18 and Brayden Antonio 17.

Josh Tilley, Jeremy McGovern and Coleman Cristinelli all kicked two goals for Claremont with Jared Hardisty picking up 18 possessions and Matthew Goyder 17.

Subiaco's reserves thumped South Fremantle by 94 points with Ryan Herring kicking four goals, Dylan Clarke three, Rowen McDonnell three, Antoni Grover three, Alliston 'Buddy' Pickett two, James Garcia two, Joel Ashman two and Michael Genovese two go with 23 possessions.

Rhett Kerr racked up 33 possessions to go with six marks, eight inside-50 entries and a goal.

Kaiden Matera made the most of his chances for South Fremantle with five goals from nine kicks while Marcus Cronan also kicked three goals. Brendan Verrier picked up 26 possessions, James Laurino 24 and Jarrod Parry 21. Anthony Collica made a return from injury and picked up 13 disposals.