AFTER two years straight as runner-up, West Perth captain Jay van Berlo has deservedly broken through to win a second Breckler Medal after being named the Falcons' fairest and best for the 2016 WAFL season on Friday night. At a glittering dinner to celebrate the 2016 season in the Lakeview Ballroom at Joondalup Resort, the night was capped with van Berlo crowned the Breckler Medal winner as the league fairest and best player. Having finished runner-up in Breckler Medal voting in each of the last two seasons behind Shane Nelson and Aaron Black, van Berlo now has a second fairest and best award in his career to go with the one he won back in 2008 prior to being drafted into the AFL by the Fremantle Dockers. Read More ...

EAST Perth has a new FD Book Medallist with small defender Mitch Fraser claiming the Royals' fairest and best award for 2016 on a night when the club paid tribute to four retiring stars who gave their all for the black and blue. East Perth once again played finals football in 2016 for the fifth straight season and it was a new winner of the league fairest and best award with small defender Fraser taking out the FD Book Medal for 2016. The Royals reserves and colts teams both made the Grand Final as well in 2016 despite losing each premiership decider to Claremont at Domain Stadium. Read More ...

Swan Districts Football Club has announced AFL Premiership duo, Steven Armstrong and Xavier Ellis, in coaching positions for the 2017 season. Senior Coach Greg Harding said he was extremely pleased to secure their services. “We are extremely pleased to have secured Steve as our forward line coach for season 2017. He brings with him a wealth of experience as a player and coach. His AFL career at Melbourne and West Coast culminated in a Grand Final victory in 2006 where he was an integral part of the success," he said.  "As a coach he has had great influence at senior and development level. A successful stint coaching the Subiaco colts led to a State 18s coaching berth, and he has spent last season coaching Kalamunda in the A grade amateur system. His vast experience coaching youth and men will be more than a valuable addition to the club. Read More ...

West Australian Football Commission Participation Manager Troy Kirkham has set his sights on improving the retention of youth in sport following his opportunity to learn from some of the leading sporting organisations in the world as part of a Churchill Fellowship. Churchill Fellowships are awarded by The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust to provide an opportunity for Australians to travel overseas to conduct research in their chosen field that is not readily available in Australia. Mr Kirkham said his Churchill Fellowship was an incredible opportunity to investigate innovative and inclusive retention strategies for youth participants in community sport around the world, including Canada, New York, Washington DC, London and the UK. Read More ...

East Perth Football Club has appointed former East Perth Captain and current West Coast Eagles development coach Luke Webster as League Coach for the 2017 season. Webster will replace 2016 League Coach Jaymie Graham, who has taken a senior coaching role at the Eagles. Webster played 107 games for the Royals between 2000 and 2010 including the 2001 Premiership. Read More ...

WAFL Field Umpire Nathan Williamson has been added to the AFL Umpire Panel following an outstanding 2016 season. Williamson, 22, won the WA National Football League Umpire Association’s (WANFLUA) Montgomery Medal as the best WAFL field umpire in 2016 and officiated in his first League Grand Final last month. He has spent that past two years as an AFL Rookie and umpired 78 WAFL League games after progressing from the Peel Football League, where he commenced umpiring juniors at age 12. He said that receiving a phone call from AFL National Development Manager of Umpiring Adam Davis informing him that he’d been added to the AFL’s Umpire Panel was a dream come true. Read More ...

MATT Riggio and Adam Faulkner were two outstanding performers in a difficult year for Swan Districts with the former taking out a second straight Swan Medal while the black-and-whites continue to make significant signings to improve quickly in 2017. Swan Districts' season might have been disappointing with just the two victories and a wooden spoon finish, but the performances of Riggio and Faulkner right throughout the year were a highlight. Therefore it was no surprise to see the pair finish up going neck and neck in the Swan Medal voting to determine the club's fairest and best winner for 2016. Read More ...

A total of 23 West Australian players were selected in the inaugural AFL Women’s Draft held on Wednesday, October 12 in Melbourne. They included Hayley Miller, pictured, at number four to Fremantle Football Club and another three West Australians in the Top 20. This was in addition to the eight West Australians selected as marquee players in July, five WA players recruited as priority signings last month and the signing of free agent Tarnica Golisano following today’s Draft, taking the total number of WA players listed in the AFL women’s competition to 37. WAFC Female Talent Manager Alison Moore congratulated all of the players selected and said it was a terrific outcome for women's football in Western Australia. “We are really proud of all of the players selected today. They are highly deserving of this exciting opportunity as a reward for all of their hard work and commitment,” she said. Read More ...

A total 145 female players will be drafted by the eight AFL Women's teams in the NAB AFL Women's Draft to be held in Melbourne, Wednesday October 12. Depending on their number of pre-signed players, each team will select between 15 and 19 players over the course of the Draft which will take place from 10am - 1pm (WST). Click here for live stream.  The first round will proceed as follows: Read More ...

Over the past two weeks over 1500 players from 50 teams participated in the annual WAFL Talent Carnival for Year 8, 9 and 10s. The carnival is conducted each year between the nine WAFL Clubs and the South West Academy of Sport. Teams in the Year 8 and Year 9 formats were run with two squads with the Year 10 group having one squad only. Games were played right across the metropolitan area with fixtures also scheduled in the South West. Read More ...

The AFL Grand Final is by far the biggest, most exciting event on the Australian Football Rules calendar. It’s a day where the country’s footy family comes together to witness the very best players of the competition battle it out for the Premiership Cup.   Thirteen-year-old West Perth junior umpire Jamie Wedgwood got the chance to experience the major clash in the flesh after he was awarded the 2016 WA Rookie Umpire of the Year award for his outstanding efforts and commitment to the sport.   “I never thought I would ever be involved in something so cool,” Wedgwood said. Read More ...

WA players impressed at the NAB AFL National Draft Combine in Melbourne from October 6 to 9, ranking in the top 10 for numerous skill, agility and endurance tests. Swan Districts player Griffin Logue featured prominently across the four days, finishing equal first in the beep test and running vertical jump (right foot), fourth in the standing vertical jump, fifth in the 3km time trial and seventh in the repeat sprint. East Perth's Sam Powell-Pepper showcased his talent as the only player to score a perfect 30 out of 30 in the goalkicking test, while also coming third in the agility test, sixth in the beep test and scoring 27 out of 30 in the clean hands test. Read More ...

EAST Fremantle's first WAFL season under new coach Rob Wiley didn’t go to plan but Liam Anthony couldn’t have done more to try and get the Sharks back into the finals and was rewarded with the Lynn Medal on Friday night. Anthony took out East Fremantle's fairest and best award in a thrilling vote count with him claiming the Lynn Medal by receiving six votes in the final round to overtake the leader George Hampson who was absent due to a hamstring injury. Hampson's absence didn’t help East Fremantle's cause in attempting to beat East Perth but it was good news for Anthony who picked up 34 possessions in the game. That was enough for him to cap off a strong and consistent season with the Sharks to win his first Lynn Medal. Read More ...

CHRIS Phelan continued to build his reputation as an all-time great of the Subiaco Football Club adding a second fairest and best award to his collection by winning the Outridge Medal for 2016 on Friday night. Phelan became the first man since Dwayne Lamb in 1984-5 to claim back-to-back Outridge Medal awards when he was named Subiaco's fairest and best winner for a 2016 that saw the Lions make another WAFL Grand Final. Subiaco came into 2016 having won the last two WAFL premierships and the Lions were the standout team throughout the season again finishing as minor premiers. Read More ...

JYE Bolton's remarkable first season in the WAFL with Claremont has concluded with the star midfielder claiming the Tigers' fairest and best award to add to the Sandover and Simpson Medals he already received in 2016. Bolton claimed the EB Cook Medal as Claremont's fairest and best player for 2016 to cap an outstanding first season in the WAFL having crossed from Werribee in the VFL. But he wasn’t the only reason for Claremont to celebrate the season at the awards night on Friday with the Tigers' reserves and colts having both won premierships in 2016 with each team defeating East Perth in the Grand Finals at Domain Stadium almost a fortnight ago. Read More ...