WITH the arrival of the West Coast Eagles as a standalone team and a 10-side competition for the first time there's plenty of excitement surrounding the opening of the 2019 Optus WAFL season. Round 1 of the 2019 season begins this Saturday with five matches as the 10 teams all lock horns determined to make a winning start. It all gets underway with Perth taking on the West Coast Eagles at Lathlain's Mineral Resources Park with Peel Thunder hosting West Perth, Subiaco taking on East Perth, Claremont facing East Fremantle and Swan Districts playing South Fremantle. Read More ...

The 2019 Optus WAFL Premiership Season was launched into a New Era on Wednesday morning inside the Locker Room at Optus Stadium. More than 150 guests whitnessed a terrific event, with guest appearences from Fremantle AFLW players Evie Gooch and Hayley Miller, WAFL coaches Luke Webster and Bill Monaghan and umpiring manager Dean Margetts.  Read More ...

The official guide to the 2019 Optus WAFL and WAFLW Premiership Season - Bouncedown - is now available for download. Featuring WAFL and WAFLW team lists, club information and statistics, fixtures and feature content, Bouncedown is a must-read publication for all WA Football fans leading into the start of the State League season. Round 1 of the Optus WAFL Premiership season starts this Saturday, April 6 and the WAFLW season kicks off on May 5. Download: 2019 Bouncedown Season Guide  Read More ...

The Optus WAFL season kicks into gear this weekend and we take a look at the ins and outs of each team heading into 2019.  The season begins on Saturday April 6.  Read More ...

THERE is a new coach at Subiaco and some premiership stars have moved on, but as Beau Wardman steps into the hot seat he and everyone at the Lions are not ready to expect any sort of drop off from the WAFL benchmark. Subiaco had a remarkably dominant 2018 season with the Lions going through the league season undefeated on the way to a premiership on the back of the heartbreak of minor premiership seasons the two years before but losing the Grand Finals to Peel Thunder. Not only that, but Subiaco won premierships in the reserves and colts to make their own piece of WAFL history in remarkable fashion. Read More ...

BRANT Colledge is coming off the best and most consistent season of his career in 2018 and now with his body remaining sound entering 2019, he desperately wants to help end the finals drought of Perth. It is likely only a constant run of unlucky injuries that led to Colledge's time on West Coast's list coming to an end following the 2016 season having played just three AFL games. He continued to struggle physically back in the WAFL full-time with his original club Perth too but that all changed in 2018 and with a sound body, his form went through the roof. Read More ...

AFTER three years of being ever so close to a Grand Final appearance, it's a new era at South Fremantle in 2019 after a spate of retirees but coach Todd Curley doesn’t see any reason why they can't continue to perform strongly. Coming off a successful era between 2004-11 under coach John Dimmer where South Fremantle won two premiership and played in finals in each season bar one, it took some time to rebuild with four years out of finals. But by the time 2016 came around in Curley's second season as coach, it was a South Fremantle group ready to perform and over the past three seasons, they have finished second at the end of each home and away season while reaching the preliminary final on every occasion. Read More ...

SWAN Districts coach Adam Pickering learned plenty from his first season in charge in 2018 and is confident the black-and-whites can rise up the ladder in 2019 with the remaining core group and some exciting young players. While Swan Districts have lost some more experience over summer including Todd Banfield, Kirk Ugle, Jarrad Blight and Matthew Rogers from a team that won just six games in 2018, with a question mark over Rhys Palmer's future, Pickering is optimistic over their prospects. Aside from the arrival of two-club fairest and best winner George Hampson and former Fremantle AFL player Josh Simpson along with the return from Carlton of Jesse Glass-McCasker, it's been much about sticking with the group of senior players and those emerging for Swan Districts. Read More ...

THE West Coast Eagles aren’t entering the WAFL just to make up the numbers and to have their players preparing for the AFL with coach Luke Webster making no secret that winning is also a major focus. For the first time, the WAFL will be a 10-team competition in 2019 with the addition of the West Coast Eagles team with their partnership with East Perth coming to an end following the 2018 season. That means that the Royals return to being a standalone club and the Eagles will field their own side for the first ever time.  Read More ...

Racism in any form is completely unacceptable at any level of football and the West Australian Football Commission encourages players, umpires, officials and fans to report any occurrence immediately.   WAFC CEO Gavin Taylor said: "There is no place for this kind of behaviour and it won’t be tolerated at any level of football in Western Australia. We must ensure we offer safe, welcoming and inclusive environments for everyone involved in our game."   "We want to make sure that it is absolutely clear to every club, player and fan in Western Australia that WA Football stands united against racism and will not tolerate it in any form." Read More ...

The WAFL will enter a new era in 2019, as the most exciting season in recent memory gets underway on Saturday at Mineral Resources Park. The West Coast Eagles will play with a standalone team for the first time in their history and the WAFLW is now a reality. With a host of retirements to competition stalwarts, the new era will also see many players step up to become the foundation of the league.  Read More ...

WAFL LEAGUE PRE-SEASON RESULTS West Coast Eagles 13.7(85) def East Fremantle 4.9(33) West Perth 15.10 (100) def East Perth 11.6 (72) Swan Districts 12.2(74) def Claremont 8.8 (56) Peel Thunder 13.11 (89) def Perth 13.10 (88) South Fremantle 11.10 (76) def Subiaco 10.5 (65) Read More ...

The WA Football community's deepest sympathies are with the family and friends of Garry Sidebottom following the news of his passing aged 64 after a battle with cancer. Sidebottom represented WA 15 times in State of Origin matches and was inducted into the WA Football Hall of Fame in 2011.  The powerful ruckman played 114 games with Swan Districts before playing 104 games in the VFL with St Kilda, Geelong and Fitzroy. Read More ...

The AFL advises the 2019 AFL Rio Tinto Footy Means Business program will be held in Perth from April 1-6. Currently in its ninth year, the 2019 AFL Rio Tinto Footy Means Business program brings together a squad of 50 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men, aged 18 to 24 years, from across the country to participate in the six-day camp. Read More ...

CLAREMONT took significant steps forward in 2018 and are expected to be right around the mark by many in the 2019 WAFL season with coach Darren Harris feeling comfortable with how their preparation and player retention has gone. Claremont finished the home and away season in fourth position last year to earn a home elimination final, which they went on to win against East Perth at Claremont Oval before having their season ended a week later in the first semi-final against West Perth. But to reach the second week of the finals showed significant growth for the Tigers under Harris and now the highly-regarded, successful and experienced coach is looking for some further steps forward in 2019. Read More ...