Anzac Day WAFL ResultsSaturday, April 25, 2015 - 10:49 PM - by Chris Pike

EAST Perth needed to find goals from somewhere on Anzac Day against Perth at Lathlain Park but not even coach Brian Dawson would have been expecting seven of them from reliable defender Kyle Anderson in the 103-point win.

With West Coast short on defenders in the AFL, the Eagles are looking for readymade replacements from East Perth and that meant that Callum Sinclair, Dylan Main, Paddy Brophy and Tom Barrass all played in the Royals' back-line against Perth on Anzac Day.

Then with Josh Smith, Murray Newman and Josh Hill not there in East Perth's forward-line either, it was time to try something new for Dawson and his answer was to blood debutants Rowen Powell and Shayne Hille, and then surprisingly to throw his best defender Anderson to full-forward.

Anderson has been one of the WAFL's best defenders over his 68-game career, but in that time he has only ever kicked one goal and not much was expected of him going forward on Saturday.

He then looked all at sea with his first two attempts on goal in the first quarter, but eventually nailed one on the run before quarter-time and remarkably ended up with seven goals for the match from 23 possessions and 10 marks in the 20.18 (138) to 5.5 (35) win.

On top of Anderson's seven goals, debutants Powell and Hille hit the scoreboard with two and one goal games respectively while Alec Waterman booted two majors from 24 possessions and Julian Ameduri also kicked two goals.

Ruckman Paul Johnson was at his dominant best as well with 23 disposals, five marks, 29 hit outs, seven inside-50 entries and two goals.

East Perth's midfield got on top as the game wore on with Freddie Clutterbuck racking up 26 possessions, Brendan Lee 24, Steven Payne 22 and Mark Hutchings 19 to go with nine tackles, seven inside 50s and a goal in his first league match of the season after one game back in the reserves.

East Perth's back-line also held up well even if Perth did only have 33 inside 50s and set up some attacks out of the defensive 50 with Main ending up with 21 possessions, Callum Hart 17, Nathan Blee 14, Brophy 12 and Barrass 12 to go with two towering marks.

Perth's hopes of remaining competitive weren’t helped on the injury front. Already without Mitch Morton, Jarryd Morton, Christian Eyres, Chance Bateman, Jarrad Irons, Chris Billings and Callum Collard, things went from bad to worse for the Demons the longer the game went.

Daniel O'Sullivan came off injured in the opening minutes of the game and then Brennan Stack joined him on the sidelines before half-time.

Joel Kalajzic copped a nasty blow to the head in the third quarter and didn’t return and then Michael Sinclair came off just before three quarter-time with what appeared to be a nasty injury.

With no players left on the bench, captain Dene White and wingman Brett Wolfenden had to play as Perth's deep forward options in the last quarter while trouble by injuries as well.

White still managed to kick three of Perth's five goals despite being hobbled, though, while Wolfenden worked hard to finish with 19 disposals, four tackles and four inside-50 entries.

Aidan Tropiano again worked tirelessly in the midfield for Perth racking up another 38 possessions with Liam McKenna another continuing his strong ball-winning form with 32 disposals, seven marks and five inside 50s.

Small defender Jared Bell also continued his good form with 21 disposals while Sinclair was outstanding with 19 possessions and keeping Brant Colledge quite up until going off with his apparent knee injury just before three quarter-time.

Anderson had a couple of early chances to goal for East Perth, but the game's first major came courtesy of Johnson as he pushed forward to put the Royals on the board early on.

Waterman then added another before Perth steadied with the next two goals thanks the Kurtis Chester and Ben Power, but East Perth led by 18 points at quarter-time after late goals to Anderson and Johnson.

Perth then managed just the one behind for all of the second quarter while East Perth kicked four more goals, including two more to Anderson and debutant Hille with one, as the Royals opened up a commanding 44-point half-time lead.

By three quarter-time, Perth was down to no players left to rotate on the bench and with White and Wolfenden resting in the forward-line struggling to move.

White did manage to kick all three of Perth's three second half goals, but East Perth piled on five goals in the third quarter and then another seven in the last to record the first triple-figure victory of the 2015 WAFL season to end up winning by 103 points.

Meanwhile, Perth's reserves started the action on Anzac Day at Lathlain Park with a strong 16.8 (104) to 6.6 (42) victory on the back of scoring 10 goals to three in the second half.

Jarryd Morton returned from injury and should earn a league call up straight away as a result playing at full-forward for the Demons and kicking seven goals from 18 possessions and 10 marks.

Ashley Boyes also finished with 27 possessions and two goals for Perth with Daniel Arangio also kicking two majors and Mitch Browne gathering 27 disposals, Kieran Hug 22, Brent Edmonds 19, Rowan Brookes 18, Rowan Garlett 18, and Kodie Fleay 17.

Tom Omodei continued his strong for East Perth finishing with 29 possessions and eight marks with Zachary Dent also collecting 22 disposals and Brandon Hughes while Scott Jones had 14 touches, six marks and 43 hit outs in the ruck.

And then in the colts match played on Sunday morning at Lathlain Park, Perth recorded a strong 13.11 (89) to 7.7 (49) win over East Perth.

Marshall Jones finished with 21 disposals and three goals for Perth with Quinton Narkle kicking two goals and Corey Byrne gathering 27 possessions, Kayle Phillips 25, Cody Ninyette 21, Zac Hill 20 and John Leven 20.

Tarir Bayok and Sam Boseun kicked two goals each for East Perth while Alex Di Placido finished with 20 disposals, Ben Miller 19, Connor De Campo18 and Kane Hadden 17.

ANZAC DAY WAFL RESULTS
LEAGUE
Perth 5.5 (35) lost to East Perth 20.18 (138)

RESERVES
Perth 16.8 (104) defeated East Perth 6.6 (42)

COLTS
Perth 13.11 (89) defeated East Perth 7.7 (49)