Round 1 WAFL Wrap UpWednesday, March 25, 2015 - 12:58 AM - by Chris Pike

SOUTH Fremantle, Swan Districts, Subiaco and East Fremantle all opened the 2015 McDonald's WAFL Premiership season in style recording impressive Round 1 victories across the weekend.

The opening round of the 2015 WAFL season began on Friday night with South Fremantle beating West Perth 14.6 (90) to 8.7 (55) in front of a strong crowd of 2370 at Fremantle Oval.

Then on Saturday afternoon, Swan Districts thumped Perth 21.21 (147) to 7.9 (51) in front of another good attendance of 2131 at Bassendean's Steel Blue Oval. The Saturday twilight fixtures saw Subiaco beat Claremont 15.16 (106) to 9.7 (61) at Leederville's Medibank Stadium.

And then finally, 5200 people attended Domain Stadium and a strong viewing audience tuned in on 7mate as East Fremantle beat East Perth 13.18 (96) to 5.11 (41).

Click here for the summary of Round 1 of the WAFL

TEAM OF THE WEEK
BACK: Kyle Hams (SF), Kyle Anderson (EP), Nathan Broad (SD)
HALF-BACK: Jordan Lockyer (S), Blayne Wilson (SF), Brock O'Brien (EF) 
CENTRE: Aaron Elari (SD), Leigh Kitchin (S), Liam Anthony (EF)
HALF-FORWARD: Matt Riggio (SD), Clancy Wheeler (S), Bradd Dalziell (EF) 
FORWARD: Craig White (SF), Ricky Cary (SD), Shane Yarran (S)  
RUCK: Paul Johnson (EP), Rory O'Brien (EF), Ashton Hams (SF)
INTERCHANGE: Tom Ledger (C), Aidan Tropiano (P), Mitch Andrews (C), Shane Nelson (WP)

STANDOUT OF THE WEEK
Blayne Wilson has spent the last four years on the West Coast Eagles list and played nine AFL games and amassed 65 WAFL appearances with both Peel Thunder and East Perth, but his debut with South Fremantle was likely the best performance of his career to date.

After being delisted by West Coast at the end of the 2014 season on the back of his second straight WAFL grand final appearance with East Perth, Wilson decided to continue his career with South Fremantle where his father Dean played.

And he certainly made his mark on Friday night in South Fremantle's win over West Perth dominating the game across half-back not only helping to keep the Falcons tall forwards quiet, but reading the play well coming in, and doing a terrific job setting up play going out.

The 23-year-old finished with 28 possessions and eight marks in a dominant performance while his presence also allowed James Sellar to play forward.

And his combination with Kyle Hams, Adam McIntosh, Adam Guglielmana, Dylan Ross and Zac Strom in the back-line was terrific and the Bulldogs also have Nick Borovac and Adam Carter to add into the group as well in coming weeks.

THE SHINING LIGHTS
South Fremantle controlled the game from across half-back and it was former West Coast-listed defender Blayne Wilson in his debut with the Bulldogs and Kyle Hams in his first game in the red-and-white since 2010 who were the standout players on the ground.

Wilson finished the game with 28 possessions and eight marks in a commanding display while Kyle Hams had 27 disposals in his first WAFL game since Swan Districts' first semi-final loss to East Perth in 2013.

Dylan Ross was another rock solid piece of the Bulldogs' defence along with Zac Strom, Adam McIntosh and Adam Guglielmana.

Brock Higgins had a strong game in the ruck as well for South Fremantle finishing with 17 touches and 43 hit outs giving his midfielders good service.

Ashton Hams took good advantage of that with 25 possessions to go with his seven tackles and two goals with Shaun Bewick collecting 25 disposals as well, Haiden Schloithe 21, Ryan Cook 20 (two goals), Brendan Verrier 20, Tim Kelly 18 and Anthony Collica 18.

The Bulldogs' forward-line also functioned well with Craig White leading the way with four goals while Ben Saunders added two and James Sellar provided a strong tall target taking seven strong marks to go with 12 possessions and a goal.

Two-time Breckler Medal winner Shane Nelson worked tirelessly for the Falcons on Friday night finishing up with a game-high 38 possessions while also laying six tackles.

Rohan Kerr also picked up 25 disposals and kicked two goals for West Perth with Jay van Berlo finishing with 20 touches, Matt Guadagnin 19, Luke Tedesco 18, Aaron Black 17 and Andrew Strijk 17. 

Drew Rohde has had six-time leading goalkicker Anthony Tsalikis' old No. 11 jumper passed on to him in 2015 and the half-forward showed encouraging signs on Friday night with 17 possessions and a goal.

Kody Manning worked hard applying pressure in the Falcons' forward-line and had 13 disposals, seven tackles and a goal.

Ruckman Chris Keunen worked hard for 11 touches, 35 hit outs and a goal as well in what was his 150th league appearance with the Falcons to see him earn life membership of the West Perth Football Club.

Ricky Cary was a strong focal point in attack for Swans having nine shots on goal from 11 kicks and five marks. He kicked 4.5 from those opportunities while also putting on strong pressure laying six tackles in the 96-point win over Perth.

East Perth recruit Jackson Slater also kicked three goals in his first game with Swan Districts while Matt Riggio also had three majors, Matt Rogers two, Tim Geappen two and Jason Daniels two.

Former Perth wingman Aaron Elari dominated against his former side with 33 possessions for Swan Districts with Riggio also racking up 27 disposals, Adam Faulkner 27, Nathan Broad 24, Jacob Burnham 23, Rudy Riddoch 19 and Jacob Coniglio 19.

Swans also covered the absence of No. 1 ruckman Nathan Blakely well with Jake Nuich terrific on debut with 10 possessions and 25 hit outs. He received good support from the undersized Joel Houghton who had 16 touches and 10 hit outs in his first game since leaving Perth for Swans.

Tony Notte also dominated in the air across the ground with 22 possessions and 12 marks for Swans.

Aidan Tropiano worked tirelessly for Perth in the midfield with 34 possessions while Jarryd Morton racked up 30 disposals and East Perth recruit Jacob Payne 26.

Michael Sinclair also gathered 24 touches for the Demons, new captain Dene White 21 and former Swan Districts premiership player Brett Wolfenden 19.

Mitch Morton kicked three of Perth's seven goals for the afternoon.

Subiaco's forward-line proved to get more and more potent as the game wore on even in the absence of premiership full-forward Matt Boland in the eventual 45-point win over Claremont.

Shane Yarran and Clancy Wheeler kicked five goals apiece for the Lions with Wheeler having a strong all-round game with 21 points, six marks, four tackles and three hit outs to go with the five goals.

Even with captain Kyal Horsley limited to just 14 possessions, Subiaco had plenty of big ball winners with Reece Blechynden gathering 29 disposals, Leigh Kitchin 28, Chris Phelan 24, Jordan Lockyer 20, Brett Mahoney 19 and East Fremantle recruit Scott Hancock 17.

Subiaco will have to find ways to cover the retired Andrew McDougall and injured Frank Stockley in the ruck this season, but David Madut showed good signs against Claremont with 26 hit outs.

Claremont will hope to welcome back Mark Seaby and Beau Maister into its line-up before too long to add some size and experience, but the Tigers showed plenty of good signs in the first three quarters.

Shane McAdam booted three goals on debut for Claremont with Ian Richardson also kicking two on his return after a year away from the WAFL.

Mitch Andrews was terrific in the ruck for the Tigers with 18 touches and 43 hit outs while Tom Ledger racked up 28 possessions, Corey Yeo 20, Matthew Davies 18 and recruit Kepler Bradley 18.

All of East Fremantle's big names stood tall in the big win on Saturday night over East Perth led by Liam Anthony on return from North Melbourne who finished the night with 28 possessions and two goals.

Bradd Dalziell was outstanding through the middle with 31 disposals, eight tackles and two goals as well while the O'Brien were at their usual productive selves. Captain Rory had 27 touches while Brock dominated across half-back with 21 touches and a terrific goal from 50.

Sean Henson ran hard on the wing for 24 touches and kicked two goals while Cameron Eardley gathered 25 possessions, Boston Williamson 21, Jordan Dorotich 18 and Jamie McNamara 18.

East Fremantle also had some exciting debutants with Jake Schleicher finishing with 17 touches and a goal, and Connor Regan 14 disposals and a goal as well. Andrew Stokes competed hard in the ruck against Paul Johnson with 15 touches, six marks and 10 hit outs.

It was a tough night for East Perth but Johnson gave his all in the ruck ending up with 17 disposals, seven marks and 43 hit outs.

Kane Lucas racked up 31 possessions, Steven Payne 25, Garry Moss 20, Liam Duggan 19, Kyle Anderson 19, Alec Waterman 18, Jarrad Oakley-Nicholls 17, Craig Wulff 17 and Tom Shanahan 17.

RESERVES STANDOUTS
South Fremantle's reserves also recorded a thrilling 8.13 (61) to 8.10 (58) victory over West Perth at Fremantle Oval on Saturday.

John Sgherza kicked three goals for the Bulldogs with Matthew Ah Siu chipping in with two.

Toby Bairstow ensured he put pressure on for a league spot next Saturday against Perth leading the way in the middle with 34 possessions while Sam Lowrie had 25 disposals, Bailey Matera 23, Tim Stewart 18 and Alistair Gillespie 18.

Josh Branchi was a dominant presence in the ruck for South Fremantle with 55 hit outs.

Brayden Antonio, Callum Papertalk and Chris Yarran all kicked two goals apiece for West Perth while Corey Chalmers racked up 22 possessions, Blake Wilhelm 20, Antonio 19, Aidan Lynch 18, Kris Shannon 17, Kaidyn Fullgrabe 16 and Papertalk 16.

Swan Districts' reserves beat Perth by 50 points at Steel Blue Oval with Dylan Nelson booting four goals and Sean Fletcher two with Ben Whitsed racking up 30 possessions, Jesse Turner 26 (two goals), David McKay 25, Levi Ridley 24 and Lindsay Murray 22.

Kane Ransted kicked two goals for Perth while Ryan Gray gathered 26 disposals, Scott Moore 25, Joel Kalajzic 25, Kurtis Chester 21 and Callum Walley 20.

Subiaco's reserves beat Claremont by 11 points at Medibank Stadium with Jeremy Woodley kicking four goals for the Lions, Tom Smith two and Ray Daniels two.

Simon Moore gathered 23 possessions for Subiaco, Will Fetherstonhaugh 23, Daniels 22, Hayden Kennedy 20, Smith 20, Joel Ashman 20 and Matt Bogensperger 20.

Darcy Cameron, Steven Edwards, Sam Bevan and Kaiden Gilbert all kicked two goals apiece for the Tigers with captain Jake Murphy gathering 18 possessions, Isaac Baum 18, Maximillian Bentley 16 and Francis Watson 16.

East Perth won its reserves clash over East Fremantle at ATOM Stadium with Rowen Powell booting five goals and Jordan Dobson three for the Royals.

Tom Omodei racked up 36 possessions for East Perth, Zachary Dent 26, Powell 24, Damian Lee 24, Brandon Hughes 22, Marty Zambotto 21, Dylan Main 20 and Will Young 20.

Dion Anthony booted five goals for the Sharks while Jack Fletcher was impressive in the ruck with 16 possessions and 33 hit outs. Barry Barone gathered 23 disposals and Tom Hooker 21.

COLTS RISING STARS
South Fremantle's colts ensured the perfect start to the season for the Bulldogs with a 13.12 (90) to 7.14 (56) win over West Perth at Fremantle Oval on Saturday morning.

Brandon Colbung was the star for South Fremantle's colts with six goals with Brad Kersten adding two while Callum Ah Chee gathered 23 possessions, Joel McComb 18 and Jake Florenca 17.

Mitch Antonio kicked two goals for West Perth with Scott Nelson racking up 20 possessions, Troy Manners 18, Mitchell Peirce 16, Liam Baker 16 and Conal Lynch 16.

Swan Districts colts beat Perth by 35 points at Steel Blue Oval with Robert Mostert, Dylan Smith and Taryce Stewart all kicking two goals each. Jack Watson racked up 24 possessions, Brayden Hackett 23, Chad Daniels 21 and Josh Cipro 20. Jarred Mason also had 17 touches and 14 hit outs.

Matthew Taylor kicked two goals for the Demons along with 19 possessions and six marks. Kayle Phillips had 29 disposals for Perth, Zac Fisher 21, Corey Byrne 21, Chapman Jones 20 and Daniel Horan 19.

Claremont's colts beat Subiaco by 16 points at Medibank Stadium with Jake Waterman kicking three goals for the Tigers and Declan Mountford finishing with 28 possessions, Bailey Rogers 27, Aden Wilkins 26, Caiden Curtin 26, Jacob Sideris 24 and Sam Petrevski-Seton 24.

East Fremantle's colts defeated East Perth by 29 points at ATOM Stadium with Luke Strnadica, Nick Menegola and Fraser Perry all booting two goals with Kyle Baskerville collecting 26 disposals, Menegola 25, Perry 24, Peter Delaney 22, Tom Bennett 22, Alex Newton 21, Oliver Parish 20 and Jordan Snadden 20.

Sam Powell-Pepper kicked three goals while collecting 20 possessions for the Royals with Kobe Chrisp racking up 32 disposals, Kane Hadden 18, Mitchell Dobson 17, Nathan Eaton 17 and Connor De Campo 17.