Optus WAFL Round 6 WrapSunday, August 23, 2020 - 5:23 PM - by Chris Pike

IT was the most hotly contested round of the Optus WAFL Premiership Season so far with all games up for grabs during the fourth quarter but in the end Perth and West Perth went closer to securing a finals spot and Subiaco's hopes of a third straight premiership took a big hit.

With South Fremantle sitting out the weekend's action with the bye having gone through the opening five rounds of the 2020 WAFL season undefeated and with far and away the best percentage, the other eight teams all did battle on Saturday with four fascinating contests.

By the time the four matches were all over, the season had been broken wide open in ways many wouldn’t have predicted with West Perth and Perth greatly enhancing their finals prospects while Claremont was left as the team most vulnerable inside the top four.

East Perth then snapped a 12-game losing run against Subiaco both keep their finals hopes alive and hurting the chances of the Lions getting to the finals again to even be a chance of defending their premiership.

Swan Districts also got its first win on the board of the season while East Fremantle threw everything at getting their second win of 2020 and Peel did all they could to try and get their first.

The round got underway at Leederville Oval with East Perth prevailing in the battle of the co-tenants with the Royals defeating Subiaco 9.9 (63) to 7.12 (54).

The two winless teams for 2020 locked horns at Bassendean's Steel Blue Oval and in the end, it was Swan Districts opening its account, beating Peel Thunder 9.8 (62) to 4.9 (33).

The game of the round was always going to be at Claremont's Revo Fitness Stadium and it didn’t disappoint between Claremont and Perth – two teams occupying top four positions. 

It was the Demons in the end who prevailed 11.4 (70) to 7.11 (53) to take a giant leap towards ending the finals drought that stretches back to 1997.

The final game of the round saw Bill Monaghan almost pull off another upset as coach of East Fremantle up against the club he is the all-time wins leader at, but West Perth finished all over the Sharks to win 8.11 (59) to 8.7 (55) at Joondalup's Provident Financial Oval.

The Round 6 results mean that South Fremantle (5-0) remains on top of the WAFL ladder but now only percentage ahead of West Perth (5-1) with Claremont (4-2) and Perth (4-1) rounding out the top four.

Subiaco (2-3) remains fifth on percentage in front of East Perth (2-3), Swan Districts (1-4), East Fremantle (1-4) and Peel Thunder (0-6).

OPTUS WAFL PREMIERSHIP SEASON – ROUND 6

SUBIACO 7.12 (54) lost to EAST PERTH 9.9 (63)

The Leederville Oval co-tenants locked horns on Saturday afternoon and in the end it was East Perth with the upset win to snap their losing run against Subiaco and to keep both teams in the finals race.

Subiaco might not be the dominant force that it has been in recent years with a youthful line-up in this shortened WAFL season, but beating the Lions is never an easy feat and no club knows that better than the Royals.

Coming into Saturday's game, Subiaco had won 12 straight matches against East Perth but the Royals ensured it wasn’t extended to 13 as they beat the Lions for the first time since Round 3, 2015.

Subiaco did kick the first goal of the game thanks to Thomas Edwards-Baldwin before East Perth kicked the next two through Matthew Young and Eddie Simpson. But scores were all square by quarter-time when the Lions got one back courtesy of Nick Martin.

Young and Jayden Magro then saw the Royals move ahead to start the second term, though, with a goal each and East Perth would go on to kick four goals to one in the quarter. That included a third for the half to Young and the Royals were in control by 15 points at the break.

East Perth's lead was out to 21 points with a goal to Shayne Hille a minute into the second half too. Subiaco did have the better of the rest of the third term but from seven attempts, only had two goals to Ben Sokol to show for it leaving East Perth still 12 points in front at the last change.

It took more than 13 minutes for a goal to come in the last quarter and when it went the way of Subiaco thanks to Edwards-Baldwin, you could sense a Lions overrun on the way. It didn’t eventuate with Ajang Ajang kicking the sealer for the Royals as they went on to win 9.9 (63) to 7.12 (54).

Matthew Young finished with the three first half goals for East Perth with Eddie Simpson booting two.

Nathan Blee was a standout for East Perth in his 138th WAFL appearance finishing with 31 possessions and eight marks while Jackson Ramsay racked up 29 disposals, Rohan Kerr 28, Angus Scott 26 and Kye Willcocks 26.

There were plenty more impressive performers for the Royals too with Nick Robertson gathering 24 touches, Shayne Hill 22, Aidan Lynch 22 and Nathan Eaton 14 to go with nine marks.

It was a dominant showing by East Perth who finished the game with 85 extra possessions than Subiaco while taking 53 marks.

Reigning Bernie Naylor Medallist kicked Ben Sokol three goals for Subiaco with Thomas Edwards-Baldwin and Nick Martin also kicking two each.

Captain Leigh Kitchin had another 25 possessions for Subiaco with Greg Clark gathering 22 disposals, Hayden Kennedy 17, Max Walters 15 and Michael Braut 15.
 

SWAN DISTRICTS 9.8 (62) defeated PEEL THUNDER 4.9 (33)

Neither Swan Districts nor Peel Thunder had tasted victory yet in 2020 coming into Saturday's clash at Steel Blue Oval, but in the end the home team was too strong prevailing by 29 points.

While Peel did come into the season as the great underdogs following the loss of access to Fremantle's AFL-listed players and little opportunity to top up their list with new arrivals, Swan Districts would have been disappointed in losing their opening four games.

Scoring had been the biggest issue for Swans as they averaged scoring just 44 points a game even though they had been challenging to score against, conceding just the 70 points.

But Saturday presented the black-and-whites a chance to reward their home fans for their on-going support with a drought breaking win. However, Peel got the perfect start with a goal to Hayden Ballantyne after just three minutes.

Brayden Noble got Swan Districts on the board 10 minutes later and then Swans went into quarter-time leading by seven points after a goal from Jiah Reidy.

It turned into a real grind in the second quarter with just the one goal scored between the two teams. That went the way of Swan Districts thanks to Steven Payne in his 150th WAFL appearance and that was enough to give his second club the nine-point lead at the long break.

It was suddenly game on early in the third quarter with Michael Randall kicking a goal for Peel to make it a three-point ball game. The Thunder then took the lead when Ben Hancock kicked truly and the visitors had all the momentum.

Swans had to find something and it was their two veterans who have arrived at the club over the last two years who gave them the steadying goals they need – Payne and George Hampson.

Those goals helped the Black Ducks take the nine-point lead into three quarter-time and Swans were able to run away with it from there to win 9.8 (62) to 4.9 (33) and get their first win on the board for 2020.

George Hampson was outstanding once again for Swan Districts with 25 possessions, five inside 50s, four marks and two goals despite again hurting a hamstring. Jiah Reidy was the other multiple goal scorer for Swans with two.

Sam Fisher picked up another 25 possessions for Swans with Steven Payne picking up 21 disposals, Josh Cipro 21, Jesse Turner 21, Frank Anderson 17 and Matt Riggio 17.

Corey Gault continued his brilliant season in the ruck too with another 18 touches and 35 hit outs.

Peel's four goals for the game came courtesy of Hayden Ballantyne, Michael Randall, Ben Hancock and Jack Sears.

Jackson Merrett racked up another 26 possessions for the Thunder, Hancock 25, James Sturrock 21, Ben Howlett 19, Tyrone Thorne 19, and Randall 18.
 

CLAREMONT 7.11 (53) lost to PERTH 11.4 (70)

Claremont and Perth have played out some cracking contests in recent seasons and Saturday at Revo Fitness Stadium was no different with the Demons ending up prevailing to take a giant leap towards ending their finals drought.

The winner of Saturday's game was always going to take a significant step closer to finals and for Claremont that would mean a fourth straight appearance having returned to finals in 2017, won a final in 2018 and reached the preliminary final in 2019.

But for Perth, reaching the finals will be a significantly bigger achievement with the Demons having not played a single final since 1997.

That set the stage for the game on Saturday With Claremont opening the scoring when Alec Waterman kicked truly. Perth answered courtesy of Lennon Marlin but the Tigers went into quarter-time nine points up after Harry McCracken kicked truly.

Chris Masten closed the gap to four points for Perth with the first goal of the second term which was answered soon after by Anton Hamp who outmarked two Demons defenders, and went back and kicked truly.

However, Marlin soon added a second for Perth and Jack Richardson added another against his former team and that saw the Demons take a three-point edge into the half-time break.

Claremont did retake the lead to start the second half with a goal to Ben Edwards, but that was immediately answered with three in seven minutes for Perth and the Demons were back out to a 13-point advantage.

However, Waterman's second brought Claremont back within six points by three quarter-time.

Perth young gun Logan McDonald put the Demons back up 12 to start the last term but suddenly two goals in as many minutes to Waterman had scores all tied up with the scene set for a big finish.

And it was Perth who answered the call with the last three goals of the contest to Samuel Stubbs, Fraser McInnes and debutant Nathan O'Driscoll to win 11.4 (70) to 7.11 (53).

Lennon Marlin and Logan McDonald kicked two goals apiece in the win for Perth.

Matthew Taylor was superb again for the Demons with 29 possessions while Brady Grey gathered 28 disposals, Chris Masten 24, Jacob Coniglio 23, Andrew Fisher 19 and Michael Sinclair 15.

Alec Waterman kicked four goals for Claremont to continue his tremendous season after a horror run with injury and illness that robbed him of an AFL chance at the West Coast Eagles.

Bailey Rogers amassed another 25 possessions for the Tigers while Jye Bolton picked up 25 disposals, Callan England 24, Kane Mitchell 20, Declan Mountford 19, Jack Lewsey 18 and Ryan Lim 18.
 

WEST PERTH 8.11 (59) defeated EAST FREMANTLE 8.7 (55)

East Fremantle went ever so close to snapping its losing run against West Perth and for coach Bill Monaghan to get a first win against his old side, but the Falcons found a way to escape and all but locked in a finals berth as a result.

East Fremantle last beat West Perth back on Round 4, 2016 and that was when Monaghan was coaching the Falcons on the way to a time at the helm that saw him win a premiership and become the all-time wins leader in the rich history at the club.

But he left the Falcons following the 2018 Grand Final and went on to take over as East Fremantle coach in 2019, and was unable to stop West Perth's winning streak over the Sharks extending to eight heading into Saturday's contest at Joondalup's Provident Financial Oval.

West Perth did kick the game's opening goal thanks to Keegan Knott but East Fremantle then kicked the next three from Tom Bennett, Tim Bockman and Jordan Snadden heading into quarter-time.

Tyler Keitel opened the second term with a goal but again the Sharks remained on top with goals from Jarrad Jansen and Lachlan Bailey to head into half-time with a 17-point edge.

Brody Riach extended East Fremantle's lead to 23 points in the third quarter and it was 29 when Bockman added a second goal with the Sharks appearing on track for the upset victory.

However, all of a sudden by three quarter-time the Falcons were right back into the contest after goals to Conal Lynch, Lachlan Johns, Keitel and Dean Munns.

East Fremantle steadied to an 11-point advantage when Cam Eardley kicked truly in the fourth term leaving the job ahead of West Perth.

The Falcons were up to the challenge kicking the game's last two goals courtesy of Michael Lourey and Knott to secure the 8.11 (59) to 8.7 (55) win to all but secure a finals spot and make it nine wins in-a-row against the Sharks.

Keegan Knott and Tyler Keitel kicked two goals apiece in the eventual win for West Perth.

West Perth captain Aaron Black was again superb in his 198th game with the Falcons. He led from the front with another 26 possessions, six marks, four tackles and four inside-50 entries.

Shane Nelson gathered another 24 disposals for the Falcons while Trent Manzone had 23 touches, Blake Wilhelm 18, Kris Shannon 16 and Luke Meadows 16 to go with eight tackles and six inside-50 entries.

Tim Bockman was East Fremantle's only multiple goal scorer with two while Cam Eardley was tremendous in the midfield with 28 possessions, seven marks and a goal.

Jarrad Jansen also compiled 24 disposals for the Sharks, Jordan Snadden 23, Cody Leggett 23, Blaine Boekhorst 23, Tom Bennett 22 and Milan Murdock 19 to go with 11 tackles.

Captain Jonathon Griffin did what he could in the ruck to lift his side with 11 touches, three tackles and 42 hit outs.