Round 1 wafl.com.au Team and Player of the WeekTuesday, March 21, 2017 - 3:14 PM - by Chris Pike

ROUND 1 of the 2017 McDonald's WAFL Premiership Season saw plenty of impressive performances on Saturday leading to the naming of the Team and Player of the Week.

The Saturday action saw Swan Districts defeat Perth 12.11 (83) to 11.5 (71); Claremont beat East Fremantle 19.9 (123) to 9.7 (61); South Fremantle down Subiaco 17.14 (116) to 11.11 (77) and Peel Thunder prevail over East Perth 7.11 (53) to 4.12 (36).

You can find a rundown on all four matches here - WAFL Round 1 match reports 

wafl.com.au PLAYER OF THE WEEK – XAVIER ELLIS (Swan Districts)
Six months ago, Xavier Ellis announced his retirement from the AFL after his career at Hawthorn and West Coast, including being one of the best afield in the Hawks' 2008 premiership.

Soon after he was appointed colts coach at Swan Districts and even he thought his life was now going to be focused around coaching and his playing days were behind him.

But the urge to keep playing was strong once pre-season training got underway and when he informed senior coach Greg Harding he wanted to play with Swan Districts, he couldn’t have been more excited or delighted.

The evidence of why was clearly on display in Swans' win over Perth on Saturday as Ellis delivered a dominant performance with his ability to use the ball a real highlight. He finished with 27 possessions, six marks and four goals in a match-winning performance.

Check out Xavier Ellis' video highlights from Round 1 below:

wafl.com.au TEAM OF THE WEEK 
BACK: Marlion Pickett, Tallan Ames, Francis Watson 
HALF-BACK: Jamie Bennell, Blayne Wilson, Hayden Kennedy
CENTRE: Xavier Ellis, Matt Riggio, Brendan Verrier 
HALF-FORWARD: Zac Langdon, Zac Strom, David Ellard 
FORWARD: Leroy Jetta, Tom Lee, Ben Saunders 
RUCK: Damon Guiness, Jye Bolton, Harley Balic 
INTERCHANGE: Jesse Adamini, Dylan Main, Corey Byrne, Max Walters

BACK POCKET – MARLION PICKETT (South Fremantle)
Has been outstanding now for two years as a defender for the Bulldogs. Has played two years of state football, was second in fairest and best voting and hasn’t lost anything over the summer. Tremendous performance down back against Subiaco with 21 possessions and nine marks.

FULL-BACK – TALLAN AMES (Swan Districts)
He is a veteran of 247 games now and he battled some soft tissue injuries last year, but he remains one of the hardest defenders in the competition to beat. Perth's Spencer White found that out the hard way on Saturday managing just one goal and six kicks.

BACK POCKET – FRANCIS WATSON (East Perth)
Was taken as a Category B Rookie last year by West Coast from Claremont and showed just how much he has benefited from a full pre-season in the AFL at the Eagles. Always talented, quick and skilful, looks to have become better all-round in one summer and from East Perth's back-line on Saturday night had 27 possessions and 10 tackles.

HALF-BACK FLANK – JAMIE BENNELL (Swan Districts)
One of a host of Swan Districts products to return to the club from his AFL career at both Melbourne and West Coast. He played his best game in years in the WAFL as well with 32 possessions and nine marks providing plenty of run and drive off half-back, and through the middle.

CENTRE HALF-BACK – BLAYNE WILSON (South Fremantle)
When he is reading the play well at centre half-back, taking intercept marks and setting up play the other way, South Fremantle look a vastly better team. He did all those things tremendously on Saturday against Subiaco ending up with 26 touches and 10 marks.

HALF-BACK FLANK – HAYDEN KENNEDY (Subiaco)
The premiership-winning small defender couldn’t quite make it back from a shoulder injury for the finals last year. He showed he was back to his best on Saturday against South Fremantle with 18 possessions and five marks. Unfortunately, he again hurt his shoulder just before the final siren.

CENTRE – MATT RIGGIO (Swan Districts)
Coming off winning a second straight Swan Medal last year after battling manfully in the midfield of a struggling team, he enjoyed having more help around him in Saturday's win over Perth. He didn't drop his production or work rate, though, and ended up with 34 possessions, six inside-50 entries and five marks.

WING – BRENDAN VERRIER (South Fremantle)
The hard-running wingman started off the season in fine fashion giving the Bulldogs great run and carry against Subiaco finishing up with 27 possessions, six marks and six inside-50 entries.

HALF-FORWARD FLANK – ZAC LANGDON (Claremont)
Having showed some good signs as a fringe player at the Tigers, looks like he is ready to cement his place in 2017 based on his Round 1 performance in the big win over East Fremantle. Finished with 21 possessions, six marks, five tackles and three goals from half-forward.

CENTRE HALF-FORWARD – ZAC STROM (South Fremantle)
He did a lot of hard work for South Fremantle in 2016 as a leading centre half-forward who often provided a target up on the wing and got the ball into the dangerous marking target. Also he pitch-hit in the ruck but the one thing missing was converting in front of goal. He kicked 15.17 for the season but was on target against Subiaco on Saturday kicking three goals from 12 touches, five marks and 15 hit outs.

HALF-FORWARD FLANK – DAVID ELLARD (Swan Districts)
Another to return to Swan Districts this year after his time in the AFL with Carlton, he was terrific across half-forward and drifting up into the middle for the black-and-whites. Finished with 27 disposals, five inside-50 entries and a goal.

FORWARD POCKET – LEROY JETTA (Peel Thunder)
Missed all of 2016 due to suspension and subsequently missed Peel's history-making WAFL premiership victory. Showed how hungry he is to make an impact with a strong showing as a dangerous small forward on Saturday night kicking four goals in a match-winning performance in a game that only had 11 majors in total.

FULL-FORWARD – TOM LEE (Claremont)
There was talk last week of him not playing at all this week due to a sore shoulder or playing down back. Neither eventuated and Claremont benefited greatly as he starred in his first game with the Tigers since the 2012 winning grand final. Kicked five goals from 19 disposals and seven marks.

FORWARD POCKET – BEN SAUNDERS (South Fremantle)
The reigning Bernie Naylor Medallist was right on top of his game to start the season. Not only was he marking strongly and kicked four goals, but his chasing and tackling pressure was outstanding. He could have easily kicked six or seven.

RUCK – DAMON GUINESS (Subiaco)
The 23-year-old made quite the impressive debut in the ruck for Subiaco. Up against South Fremantle's third-gamer Jake Solomon, it was a glimpse into the future for both clubs and each of them showed good signs. But Guiness' numbers were hard to ignore in the finish with 22 possessions and 31 hit outs.

RUCK-ROVER – JYE BOLTON (Claremont)
The reigning Sandover Medallist showed he has no signs of a hangover with another outstanding performance in the midfield for Claremont. Ended up with 26 possessions and a goal as he set up attack after attack for the Tigers.

ROVER – HARLEY BALIC (Peel Thunder)
Played just five league games last year after making his debut in Round 23. He went on to become a premiership player and strong contributor right through the finals for Peel. Now that he is starting a season healthy, he doesn’t look like it will take him long to be called up by Fremantle. Best midfielder in the game on Saturday night with 30 possessions.

INTERCHANGE – JESSE ADAMINI (East Fremantle)
East Fremantle started strongly at home to Claremont on Saturday but couldn’t maintain it. One player who did put in a four-quarter performance, however, was Jesse Adamini. In just his eighth league game, he finished with 27 possessions, five marks and a goal.

INTERCHANGE – DYLAN MAIN (South Fremantle)
Found his best position in the latter part of 2016 as an inside midfielder and now showed on Saturday again that he is a tremendous ball-winner in that role racking up 27 disposals to go with seven inside-50 entries and six tackles.

INTERCHANGE – MAX WALTERS (Subiaco)
Has never been able to cement a spot in a strong Subiaco team in recent years but showed he is deserving of more opportunities. Playing mostly across half-forward, he had 27 touches, five marks and two goals.

INTERCHANGE – COREY BYRNE (Perth)
Despite losing to Swan Districts, Perth did have plenty of encouraging signs in their young players on Saturday and one of those was Corey Byrne who delivered two goals from 19 possessions and four tackles.

UNLUCKY BUNCH
East Fremantle defenders Jayden Schofield and Ryan Lester-Smith, and ruckman Cameron Symonds.

Claremont's Ryan Neates, Ian Richardson, Ryan Lim, Tom Ledger and Haydn Busher.

East Perth's Patrick McGinnity, Nathan Blee, Luke Partington, Tom Barrass, Tom Gorter, Kurt Mutimer, Jack Redden and Sam Butler.

Peel Thunder's Ethan Hughes, Hayden Crozier and Tom Sheridan.

South Fremantle's Haiden Schloithe, Tim Kelly, Brandon Donaldson, Josh Pullman, Jake Solomon and Ashton Hams.

Subiaco's Leigh Kitchin and Liam Ryan.

Swan Districts' Jarrad Blight, Corey Gault, Alex Howard and Tony Notte. 

Perth's Clint Jones and Michael Sinclair.