M & J Chickens Player of Round 16Wednesday, July 25, 2018 - 2:17 PM - by Chris Pike

CAPTAINCY sure seems to agree with Aaron Black with the first-year West Perth skipper having every bit as good a season in 2018 as at any point in his career and that continued on Saturday with him named M & J Chickens Player of the Round as a result.

It was a dominant performance by West Perth on Saturday at Joondalup Arena hammering Swan Districts by 90 points to replace South Fremantle in second position on the WAFL ladder as a result.

There were starring performances from West Perth players all over the field including Blake Wilhelm off half-back, Shane Nelson, Luke Meadows and Trent Manzone through the middle, and then Tyler Keitel, Andrew Strijk and Jordan Mills up forward.

But it was captain Black who received the acknowledgement as M & J Chickens Player of the Round after he finished the afternoon at Joondalup Arena with 38 possessions, 10 tackles, eight entries inside the forward 50 and four marks.

Black becomes the third West Perth to be named Player of the Round so far in 2018 after Shane Nelson received the honour in Round 4 following the win against Swan Districts as well while Andrew Strijk took out the award after the Round 7 victory against East Fremantle.

His performance on Saturday continued a tremendous season for Black with him also named to the TABtouch Team of the Round for a sixth time in 2018. He was also named after performances in Rounds 1, 6, 7, 11, 12 and 16.

Black is in his first as captain at West Perth and has been tremendous both whether playing as an inside midfielder or on the outside on the wing. He is averaging 30.9 disposals a game and picked up 30 or more possessions in eight of his 14 games including a high of 40 in Round 1 against Claremont.

Having played under captains Jason Salecic, Luke Tedesco and Jay van Berlo, Black looks set now to another long-term captain of the Falcons as his continues to grow even though he now has 165 games under his belt.

Since making his debut in 2010, Black is now a life member of West Perth along with being a premiership player, Sandover Medallist, fairest and best winner and having played five matches for the WAFL State Team, including this year against South Australia in Adelaide.

M & J Chickens Players of the Round

Round 1 – Rhys Palmer (Swan Districts)
Round 2 – Fraser McInnes (East Perth)
Round 3 – Cody Leggett (Perth)
Round 4 – Shane Nelson (West Perth)
Round 5 – Patrick McGinnity (East Perth)
Round 6 – Marlion Pickett (South Fremantle)
Round 7 – Andrew Strijk (West Perth)
Round 8 – George Hampson (East Fremantle)
Round 9 – Nick Suban (South Fremantle)
Round 10 – Ben Howlett (Peel Thunder)
Round 11 – Michael Bennell (Perth)
Round 12 – Kyal Horsley (Subiaco)
Round 13 – Lachlan Delahunty (Subiaco)
Round 14 – Cody Ninyette (Perth)
Round 15 – Brant Colledge (Perth)
Round 16 – Aaron Black (West Perth)