WAFLW Round 7 WrapMonday, April 4, 2022 - 12:56 PM - by Chris Pike

EAST Fremantle has continued their unbeaten start to the 2022 WAFLW season and now sits clear on top of the ladder following Round 7 with Swan Districts winning a fourth straight match, and Peel Thunder snapping their losing slide.

Round 7 in the WAFLW competition saw Claremont sit things out with the bye and the Tigers gave up top spot as a result when East Fremantle won its sixth consecutive match to open the 2022 season.

With Swans also making it four wins on the trot and the Thunder bouncing back from losing their previous three matches, and it was a fascinating weekend of action in the WAFLW competition.

It got underway on Saturday evening at Fremantle Community Bank Oval and South Fremantle showed its continued improvement in their third season in the WAFLW competition, but Swan Districts was still able to prevail 6.5 (41) to 4.3 (27).

The other two matches in Round 7 took place on Sunday afternoon beginning at Mandurah's Lane Group Stadium with Peel Thunder returning to the winner's list, beating West Perth 18.13 (121) to 0.3 (3).

The round then wrapped up with another big win for East Fremantle who moved to top spot with the 7.10 (52) to 0.2 (2) win against Subiaco at Leederville Oval.

The Round 7 results mean that East Fremantle is now on top of the WAFLW ladder with a perfect 6-0 record. Claremont (5-1) slips to second spot having suffered their one loss at the expense of the Sharks.

Swan Districts (4-2) remains in third position following a fourth consecutive win while Peel Thunder (3-3) now round out the top four ahead of Subiaco (2-4), South Fremantle (1-5) and West Perth (0-6).

Meanwhile in Round 7 of the WAFLW Reserves competition, East Fremantle and Claremont couldn’t be separated, playing out a 5.5 (35) to 5.5 (35) draw at East Fremantle's New Choice Homes Park.

The other Reserves clash saw Swan Districts prove too good for Subiaco, winning 6.11 (47) to 0.1 (1) at Leederville Oval.

Then in Round 7 of the Youth Girls Rogers Cup, South Fremantle beat Swan Districts 9.6 (60) to 5.3 (33) at Fremantle Community Bank Oval and Claremont defeated East Perth 6.6 (42) to 3.4 (22) at Leederville Oval.

Then on Sunday at Leederville Oval, East Fremantle downed Subiaco 9.13 (67) to 4.0 (24).

WAFLW PREMIERSHIP SEASON – ROUND 7

SOUTH FREMANTLE 4.3 (27) lost to SWAN DISTRICTS 6.5 (41)

South Fremantle and Swan Districts opened Round 7 of the WAFLW season on Saturday night at Fremantle Community Bank Oval and it turned out to be a hard earned contest.

While Swan Districts ended up doing enough to come away with the eventual 14-point victory to give them four wins in-a-row after losing their first two matches of 2022, it was also an encouraging performance in defeat from the Bulldogs.

South Fremantle came into the Saturday night's game at home determined to show how far they have improved in 2022, and it was a goal apiece in the opening quarter with Swan Districts only holding a one-point lead going into quarter-time.

Swans were able to kick away a little in the second quarter as they built some momentum with three goals to one to head into the half-time break with a 13-point advantage.

The black-and-whites were able to extend their lead further with another two goals to one from the Bulldogs in the third term to be leading by 19 points at three quarter-time.

To South Fremantle's credit they closed out the game strongly with the only goal of the fourth quarter with Swan Districts holding on for a fourth consecutive victory, 6.5 (41) to 4.3 (27).

Showing how far the Bulldogs have improved this season, there wasn’t a whole lot between the teams with Swans going on to win by the 14 points. 

Swan Districts only had 41 more possessions, 11 extra inside-50 entries and four more scoring shots than South Fremantle.

Ashley Sharp continued her lively form in attack for Swan Districts kicking another two goals to go with 13 possessions and three marks. Courtney Zappara also kicked two goals for the black-and-whites.

Lani Pigram and Tannah Lee also kicked a goal apiece for Swans.

Swan Districts captain Jess Cox delivered another brilliant performance made up of 28 possessions, four marks, four tackles and two inside-50 entries.

Ruby Mahony racked 17 touches for Swans, Shannan Rene 15, Emily McGuire 12 and Amber Ugle-Hayward 11 to go with four tackles and three inside 50s.

South Fremantle's goals came courtesy of Noa McNaughton, Hunter Cronin, Poppy Stockwell and Kahra Sprylan.

South Fremantle captain Lauren Vecchio marked her return with 17 possessions and nine tackles while Liusaidh Gilchrist finished with 16 disposals for the Bulldogs, Kiara Templeman 15, Stockwell 12, Ebony Clarkson 12, Sprylan 12, Molly O'Hehir 12 and Pia Durk 12.
 

PEEL THUNDER 18.13 (121) defeated WEST PERTH 0.3 (3)

Peel Thunder and West Perth did battle for the first ever time in the WAFLW competition on Sunday at Lane Group Stadium in Mandurah, and the home team produced quite the emphatic performance.

Despite winning the past two WAFLW premierships, Peel came into the game on their home turf on Sunday having lost their previous three matches after starting the season with two wins over Subiaco and South Fremantle.

So the Thunder weren’t lacking motivation taking on a Falcons team for the first time who were still searching for their first victory, and a more competitive performance.

This was the first ever meeting between the Thunder and Falcons in the WAFLW competition, and Peel was in no mood to take it easy on the league's newest team.

The Thunder were determined and motivated to bounce back from losing their previous three matches and they delivered quite the impressive and dominant opening quarter.

Peel kicked seven goals in the first quarter along while keeping West Perth scoreless to see them lead by 45 points already by quarter-time.

The Thunder didn’t show any signs of letting up in the second quarter kicking another six goals while still refusing to let the Falcons in for a score. That saw Peel open up an 84-point lead by half-time on the back of kicking 13 goals.

West Perth was able to find some more of the football in the third quarter and had the majority of their nine inside-50 entries for the game as a result in the term. While they weren’t quite able to score a goal, they did kick three behinds from their forays forward.

Peel only managed the one more goal in response with their lead only growing to 89 points by three quarter-time.

The Thunder turned dominant once again in the fourth quarter with another four goals while holding the Falcons scoreless to end up romping to the 18.13 (121) to 0.3 (3) victory.

On the way to the 118-point win, Peel finished with 146 more disposals than West Perth along with 50 entries inside the forward 50 to nine, and the 31 scoring shots to three.

Kate Bartlett produced quite the remarkable performance up forward for the Thunder. She ended up with the best individual goalkicking performance in WAFLW history by kicking eight goals from 20 possessions and 10 marks.

Jade Briggs also kicked three goals for the Thunder to go with 23 disposals, nine tackles, six marks and four entries inside the forward 50.

Ebonee Hardie kicked two goals as well from 14 disposals and six marks while Krystal Carter, Gracie Fenton, Aisha Wright, Kaitlyn Hayes and Jorja Haines kicked a goal apiece.

Chloe Wrigley continued her outstanding form for Peel as well with another 31 touches and eight tackles with Ebony Bilcich finishing with 23 disposals, Ebony Dowson 17, Bailey Molloy 15 and Greta McKinley 15.

It was a tough afternoon for West Perth but Jessica Roper battled hard to finish with 21 possessions.

Megan Norbury also finished with 17 disposals and 10 tackles, Keely Byrne 12 touches and three marks, and Kaitlyn Roper 10 possessions and seven tackles.
 

SUBIACO 0.2 (2) lost to EAST FREMANTLE 7.10 (52)

East Fremantle put its undefeated streak on the line against Subiaco at Leederville Oval on Sunday, and the Sharks shot to the top of the ladder with perhaps their most complete and impressive performance so far of 2022.

Subiaco and East Fremantle have already had some fascinating battles in the formative years of the WAFLW competition, but it was the Sharks ready to come out and show what they are fully capable of on Sunday at Leederville Oval.

As the only unbeaten team in the competition coming into Round 7, East Fremantle started strongly holding Subiaco scoreless in the first quarter while kicking two goals themselves and leading by 14 points at quarter-time.

It was two more goals from the Sharks in the second term with the Lions managing just the one behind, and that saw East Fremantle head into the half-time break in control leading by 27 points.

East Fremantle kicked another two goals and kept Subiaco to without a score in the third quarter to build that lead to 42 points by three quarter-time.

There was just the one goal kicked in the last quarter and that went the way of East Fremantle as they remained undefeated and moved to the top of the WAFLW ladder with the 7.10 (52) to 0.2 (2) victory.

East Fremantle ended up with 43 entries inside-50 compared to 17 from Subiaco on the way to the 17 scoring shots to two for the afternoon.

Elle Sanders was the only multiple goal scorer in the game kicking two goals for East Fremantle to go with 13 possessions and four marks.

Sharon Wong, Julia Teakle, Larissa Versaci, Jaya Ingram and Emmelie Fiedler all kicked a goal apiece as well for the Sharks.

Ashleigh Gomes continued her outstanding form for East Fremantle with another 24 possessions, five inside-50 entries, three marks and three tackles.

Versaci also gathered 22 disposals for East Fremantle, Amber Kinnane 21, Wong 17 (10 tackles), Hayley O'Donnell 15 and Mylee Leitch 15.

Laura Catherine did well in the ruck as well opposed to Tess Lyons from Subiaco with nine disposals and 18 hit outs.

Jayme Harken battled hard for Subiaco with 18 possessions and five tackles while Tarnica Golisano gathered 18 disposals, Jamie Rust 17 and Helen Taylor 13.