Round 22 WAFL Wrap UpWednesday, August 27, 2014 - 4:30 AM - by Chris Pike

THE four Round 22 WAFL matches across Friday night and Saturday afternoon saw some starring individual performances but in the end it was East Fremantle who made the biggest statement by beating Swan Districts.

The round began on Friday night at Fremantle Oval with South Fremantle beating Subiaco 15.9 (99) to 12.13 (85).

Then on Saturday, East Fremantle thumped Swan Districts 18.14 (122) to 9.6 (60) at East Fremantle's ATOM Stadium while Claremont defeated West Perth 8.6 (54) to 6.12 (48) and East Perth thrashed Peel Thunder 14.21 (105) to 5.9 (39) at Mandurah's Bendigo Bank Stadium.

With just one round now of the 2014 season to go, the weekend's results leave East Perth (16-3) guaranteed of the minor premiership with Subiaco (13-6) certain to finish second.

East Fremantle (12-7) and Swan Districts (12-8) make up third and fourth with the only thing to be decided where their first semi-final meeting will take place.

Outside the top four is Claremont (10-9), West Perth (8-11), South Fremantle (8-11), Peel Thunder (4-15) and Perth (3-16).

Click here for the summary of Round 22 of the WAFL

THE BIG WINNERS
East Fremantle is now all but guaranteed of finishing in third position and of hosting the first semi-final following Saturday's 62-point thumping at home of Swan Districts.

The result moved East Fremantle above Swan Districts on the ladder with the Sharks now simply needing to avoid being thrashed by Subiaco this Sunday in order to play host to Swans in the first semi-final.

THE BIG LOSERS
Swan Districts was the hottest team in the WAFL during an eight-match winning streak between Rounds 3 and 10.

At that stage Swans were fighting over top spot and did look near certainties to at least finish in the top two to earn a finals double chance, but they have now lost four straight matches, and six of their last eight heading into the finals down on form, confidence and momentum.

Swan Districts now has the bye this weekend leading into a first semi-final meeting with East Fremantle that looks set to be at East Fremantle's ATOM Stadium.

THE SHINING LIGHTS
Ashton Hams was outstanding for South Fremantle in its impressive win over Subiaco on Friday night finishing with 33 possessions, nine marks and an outstanding goal on three quarter-time.

Haiden Schloithe also worked hard for 28 disposals while Anthony Collica was particularly strong in the first half and finished the game with 23 touches.

Jarrod Parry not only limited the influence of Subiaco's George Hampson but also picked up 22 disposals himself while Toby Bairstow gathered 20 possessions, Adam Guglielmana 20 and Tim Kelly.

South Fremantle's back-line stood up well against the most potent attack in the WAFL and that was led by Dylan Ross keeping Matt Boland to just the one goal.

At the other end, Ben Saunders kicked five goals for South Fremantle to all but wrap up his second Bernie Naylor Medal in three years.

Alistair Gillespie also kicked two goals from 18 touches and eight marks with Josh Pullman kicking two important goals also.

Brock Higgins had a strong game as well in his 50th league appearance up against Subiaco pair Andrew McDougall and Frank Stockley, and finished with 18 possessions, 25 hit outs and a goal.

Subiaco captain Kyal Horsley again worked tirelessly for his finishing with 28 possessions, four tackles, four inside 50s and a goal.

Jason Bristow worked hard in the Lions' midfield as well with 27 possessions and six tackles while Justin Joyce had a good game across half-forward with 22 disposals and a goal.

Chris Deluca booted three goals for Subiaco with his younger brother Josh kicking two.

Brett Mahoney had 22 possessions, nine tackles and a goal for the Lions as well with Rhys Waters finishing 22 touches and a goal.

East Fremantle went a long way to secure a home first semi-final against Swan Districts with its thumping 62-point win over Swans at home on Saturday.

East Perth recruit Boston Williamson played what was likely the best game of his 11-match league career and was terrific for East Fremantle on Saturday with 20 possessions, seven marks, six inside 50s and three goals.

Brett Peake also kicked two goals for the Sharks from just seven kicks while Jayden Schofield added two majors from 18 possessions and Brock O'Brien booted two goals from 26 touches, seven marks and four inside-50 entries.

Reigning Sandover Medallist Rory O'Brien racked up 33 possessions as well for the Sharks while Bradd Dalziell returned to the team and picked up 29 disposals to go with seven marks, four inside-50 entries and a goal.

Jamie McNamara also compiled 25 disposals, Mark McGough 25, Tyler Chalwell 24, Andrew Stephen 24, Tom Howlett 20 and Sean Henson 19.

It was another tough day at the office for the now fourth-placed Swan Districts particularly with captain and full-back Tallan Ames (hamstring) and wingman Blaine Boekhorst (knee) going down injured early on.

Ricky Cary and Aidan Anderson kicked two goals each for Swans while Ryan Davis was by far his team's best performer with 32 possessions and 11 inside-50 entries.

Connor Blakely returned to the team for the black-and-whites and picked up 25 disposals while Travis Casserly picked up 21 touches, Matthew Jukes 20, Aaron Elari 19, Matthew Rogers 18, Kirk Ugle 17, Adam Faulkner 17, Graham Jetta 17, Nathan Broad 17 and Anthony Stephens 17. 

Claremont won its fifth straight match by beating West Perth at the Showground by six points on Saturday with ruckman Mark Seaby leading the way with 21 possessions, eight tackles, six marks and 29 hit outs.

Luke Blackwell was also outstanding with 30 disposals and six tackles with Matthew Davies racking up 27 touches, Ryan Neates 26, Tom Ledger 25, Jake Murphy 22, Tom Taylor 20 and Andrew Foster 18.

Jackson Starcevich was Claremont's only multiple goal scorer booting two from 11 possessions and five marks.

Aaron Black continued his outstanding season for the Falcons with another 36 possessions, eight marks and five inside-50 entries.

Fellow premiership midfielder Shane Nelson put in another hard-working performance for West Perth with 31 disposals.

Seva Martin and Max Alexander kicked two goals apiece for West Perth with Corey Chalmers and Drew Rohde booting one each.

Luke Meadows continues the strong start to his league career with another 20 disposals and five tackles while Ray Bartholomew racked up 20 possessions, Luke Tedesco 19, Rohan Kerr 19, Mitch van Berlo 17 and Laine Rasmussen 17.

East Perth kept Peel goalless until the 23-minute mark of the third quarter at Bendigo Bank Stadium on Saturday with the Royals kicking the first nine goals of the game, and going on to cruise to the 66-point victory.

It was a dominant showing from the Royals with 100 more disposals, 52 more marks, 12 more inside 50s, 21 extra scoring shots and then ending up with the 66-point advantage by the final siren.

Dean Cadwallader was terrific running off half-back for East Perth finishing with 26 possessions, six marks and five inside-50 entries while Josh Smith kicked four goals and Paul Johnson three at the other end of the ground.

Co-captains Craig Wulff and Brendan Lee were again strong contributors for the Royals with 29 possessions, eight marks and a goal, and 26 disposals and seven marks respectively.

Mitch Howlett also picked up 26 possessions to go with six tackles and six marks in his 12th league match with Steven Payne racking up 24 disposals, Freddie Clutterbuck 23, Nathan Blee 21, Ashley Smith 21 and Brant Colledge 21.

Peel only kicked five goals in just over the last half an hour of the contest with those majors coming courtesy of Anthony Morabito, Brad Walsh, Max Duffy, Kepler Bradley and Jacob Ballard.

Clancee Pearce was clearly Peel's best player on the day with 33 possessions, nine marks, six tackles and three entries inside the forward 50.

Morabito also continued his strong form with another 25 disposals, seven marks and seven inside 50s while Brendon Jones gathered 25 touches, Eddie Dann 21, Ballard 19 and Sam Menegola 17.

PUSHING FOR A SPOT
Subiaco's reserves came out on to Fremantle Oval on Saturday and scored a thumping 22.9 (141) to 7.4 (46) over South Fremantle.

Alliston 'Buddy' Pickett kicked five goals for Subiaco in just his second appearance of the year while Kyle Halligan booted six majors, James Garcia three and Joel Ashman two.

Matt Bogensperger picked up 31 possessions, Reece Blechynden 27, Ryan Wade 23, Ray Daniels 22, Joe Scafidi 22, Craig Hoskins 21 and Rob Forrest 19.

John Sgherza kicked two goals for South Fremantle with Ben Sokol collecting 21 possessions, Adam McIntosh 21, Tim Stewart 19, Shaun Bewick 19, Lewis Harvey 18 and Mitch Carter 17.

East Fremantle's reserves scored a similarly emphatic thumping as its league side against Swan Districts with the Sharks getting over the line by 66 points.

Richard Bourne kicked three goals for East Fremantle while Tom Hooker, Jordan Dorotich, Dion Anthony, Tom Bowey and Brandon Ellis all kicked two.

Jake Schleicher racked up 35 possessions for the Sharks, Mitch Boyle 27, Hooker 22 and Danny Chartres 20.

Brayden Duckworth kicked three goals from five kicks for Swan Districts with Ethan Hughes racking up 36 possessions, Jacob Burnham 35, Jesse Manton 32, Lindsay Murray 28, Rudy Riddoch 27 and David McKay 22.

Claremont also beat West Perth's reserves at the Showground 14.7 (91) to 10.7 (67).

Keegan Knott, Ethan Panizza, Jack Richardson and Kaiden Gilbert all kicked two goals for the Tigers with Ben Taylor gathering 30 possessions, Sam Fong 26, Henry Roberts 25 and Maximilian Bentley 22.

Matt Fowler, Joe Morrow and Blake Wilhelm kicked two goals each for West Perth's reserves with Ben McNamara racking up 25 possessions, Shaun Marusic 24 (25 hit outs, seven inside 50s, six marks, one goal), Trent Manzone 24, Jack Thrum 22, Morrow 20 and Wilhelm two.

East Perth's reserves recorded a comfortable 39-point win over Peel with Agid Gardoud kicked three goals, Lewis Wilson two and Steven Wityk two.

Tom Omodei had 26 possessions, Joel van Dijk 25, Jackson Slater 23, Jacob Payne 21 and Marty Zambotto 20.

Reise Wilkey kicked two goals for Peel while Mitch Green racked up 32 possessions, Aiden Field 27, Liam McKenna 25 and Kyle Westwood 19 to go with seven marks, seven tackles and 29 hit outs in the ruck.