WAFL Team of the Week – Round 3Tuesday, May 3, 2022 - 6:03 PM - by Chris Pike

WE had Jonathon Marsh kicking six goals, Jake Florenca racking up 38 possessions, Wade Derksen showed his potential, Luke Meadows sent a reminder of his capabilities and they were just some of the standout performances in Round 3 of the 2022 WAFL season.

Competition was again hot for spots in the WAFL Team of the Week for Round 3 following the Saturday victories for Claremont, West Perth, Peel Thunder, East Fremantle and Swan Districts.

The Round 3 action begin in Northampton with East Fremantle capitalising on a 10-goal opening quarter to beat East Perth 13.13 (91) to 12.9 (81).

West Perth also inflicted upon Subiaco a third straight loss to open the new season when they won 16.4 (100) to 10.9 (69) at Leederville Oval

Claremont remained the last standing undefeated team this season by beating South Fremantle 10.10 (70) to 8.11 (59) at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.

It was then a double-header at Lathlain's Mineral Resources Park with Peel Thunder beating West Coast 19.6 (120) to 10.5 (65), and Swan Districts defeating Perth 12.6 (78) to 10.13 (73).

Following the Round 3 action, it's Claremont sitting on top of the WAFL ladder with a perfect 3-0 record to be ahead of South Fremantle, East Perth, Peel Thunder, West Perth and East Fremantle who have all won two out of three matches in 2022.

Swan Districts and Perth have won one of their three matches with Subiaco and the West Coast Eagles winless after three games.

Round 4 will see all five matches take place on Saturday afternoon in the 2.10pm time slow with Swan Districts playing Claremont, East Perth taking on Subiaco, Peel Thunder facing Perth, West Perth battling South Fremantle, and East Fremantle playing West Coast at the WACA Ground.

PLAYER OF THE ROUND – LUKE MEADOWS (WEST PERTH)
He played in his first victory for West Perth since the 2020 first semi-final and he sent a reminder of why he was one of the league's most damaging players before he left, and why he can be upon his return in 2022.

Having spent the 2019 and 2021 seasons playing in the VFL, and coming back to West Perth in 2020 when the VFL season didn’t go ahead, he has returned to the Falcons in 2022 and showed just how valuable of an addition he will be in Saturday's win against Subiaco.

Having made his debut back in 2013, Meadows cemented his spot at West Perth by 2015 as a key part of the defensive set up with his lethal kicking off half-back became a real weapon.

By 2017, he started to spend more and more time in the midfield where he became a tough contested ball winner and clearance machine, where his powerful right boot became an even greater weapon to drive the ball into attack.

Following being part of West Perth's Grand Final appearance in 2018, he wanted to test himself in Victoria, but now has committed to return to West Perth in 2022 to continue what was already a 100-game WAFL career.

He made a significant impact back in Round 1 in his first game for West Perth since the 2020 preliminary final loss to South Fremantle where he was unfortunately out of the game early with a nasty concussion.

He had 30 possessions against Claremont at Joondalup's Pentanet Stadium in that game and then after missing last week's win against Peel Thunder through COVID protocols, he tasted his first victory against Subiaco on Saturday at Leederville since the 2020 first semi-final against Perth.

Meadows delivered 22 possessions, seven marks, six inside-50 entries and five tackles in the 31-point win. But it wasn’t about the numbers.

It's what he does with the ball he wins and he's now sending a reminder why he could again become the most damaging and efficient player in the competition in 2022 for West Perth.

Players of the Round
Round 1 – Jake Florenca (South Fremantle)
Round 2 – Ryan Lim (Claremont)
Round 3 – Luke Meadows (West Perth)

WAFL TEAM OF THE WEEK – ROUND 3
BACK: Jacob Blight (C), Noah Strom (SF), Declan Hardisty (C)
HALF-BACK: Cam Eardley (EF), Matthew Jupp (EF), Chad Pearson (SF)
CENTRE: Ryan Lim (C), Jackson Ramsay (EP), Luke Meadows (WP)
HALF-FORWARD: Bailey Rogers (C), Fraser McInnes (P), Greg Ottaviano (SD)
FORWARD: Jonathon Marsh (EF), Wade Derksen (PT), Keegan Knott (WP)
RUCK: Lachlan Delahunty (S), Connor Blakely (PT), Jake Florenca (SF)
INTERCHANGE: Kyle Baskerville (EF), Angus Schumacher (EP), Corey Byrne (P), Tobe Watson (SD)

BACK POCKET – JACOB BLIGHT Claremont)
It was a significant challenge for Claremont's defence to try and keep South Fremantle's key forward options in check, but they did a tremendous job holding both Mason Shaw and Jimmy Miller to the one goal apiece. He was a key part in that and in Claremont's eventual win while also having 12 disposals and three marks himself.

FULL-BACK – NOAH STROM (South Fremantle)
He has started the 2022 strongly once again as the key anchor to South Fremantle's defence on the back of being named to the WAFL Team of the Year in 2021. He had the task on Claremont's main spearhead Timm House on Saturday who was coming off four goals against Subiaco, and did tremendously to hold him to one goal and three kicks while having 14 touches, seven marks and four tackles himself.

BACK POCKET – DECLAN HARDISTY (Claremont)
He has become the leader of the Claremont defensive unit and on the back of a brilliant 2021 season, has started 2022 just as impressively. Not only did he do well holding South Fremantle's Mason Shaw to one goal and nine kicks on Saturday, but he had eight touches, three marks, three tackles and two inside-50 entries himself.

HALF-BACK FLANK – CAM EARDLEY (East Fremantle)
It was around the midway point through last season when the standout midfielder was moved to half-back for the Sharks and it has proved a masterstroke from coach Bill Monaghan. The 132-game veteran has started 2022 in scintillating form and he delivered another 40 possessions, seven marks and three inside 50s in Saturday's win over East Perth.

CENTRE HALF-BACK – MATTHEW JUPP (East Fremantle)
The East Fremantle captain is approaching life membership at the club and is desperate for some elusive success, and he continues to do everything he possibly can to make that happen. Delivered another strong defensive performance in Saturday's win in Northampton against East Perth in his 145th game to go with 14 disposals and eight marks.

HALF-BACK FLANK – CHAD PEARSON (South Fremantle)
Continues to show what a quality all-round defender he is equally proficient in locking down an opponent, cutting off opposition forward attacks and then setting up play going the other way for South Fremantle. Another impressive performance in Round 3 against Claremont with 26 touches, seven marks and five tackles.

WING – RYAN LIM (Claremont)
He stood up brilliantly as captain last week against Subiaco and then with a lot of his star teammates back to join him against South Fremantle on Saturday, he maintained his terrific form in the hard earned win at the port. He ended the afternoon with another 33 touches, eight marks eight tackles and a goal.

CENTRE – JACKSON RAMSAY (East Perth)
The East Perth captain was playing his second game of the season and built his form nicely for a terrific performance in the midfield despite the narrow loss to East Fremantle in Northampton. He finished with 32 possessions, eight tackles, seven inside 50s and four marks.

HALF-FORWARD FLANK – BAILEY ROGERS (Claremont)
The reigning Sandover Medallist hit back impressively after missing last week's win over Subiaco like a whole host of his teammates. Split his time between playing forward and in the middle again for the Tigers, and showed once more why he is the most damaging player in the competition with three goals to go with 27 possessions and seven inside-50 entries.

CENTRE HALF-FORWARD – FRASER MCINNES (Perth)
The Perth co-captain could very well be in some of the best form of his 147-game WAFL career with the way he has started the 2022 season with the Demons. Injury limited him to just seven games last year, but he has started this season on fire and had another three goals from 23 disposals, 10 hit outs, 10 inside 50s and eight marks on Saturday night.

HALF-FORWARD FLANK – GREG OTTAVIANO (Swan Districts)
He might be only six games into his league career with Swan Districts, but he delivered his best performance so far in the win on Saturday night over Perth with his efforts as a small forward. His pressure was outstanding even if the stats sheet didn’t show while he kicked two crucial goals to go with seven inside-50 entries and four marks.

FORWARD POCKET – JONATHON MARSH (East Fremantle)
East Fremantle needs him to stand up and deliver as their spearhead this season and he showed on Saturday just how potent he can be in that role. As the Sharks made it back-to-back wins on the back 10 opening quarter goals, he kicked six on the day in Northampton from 12 kicks and five marks.

FULL-FORWARD – WADE DERKSEN (Peel Thunder)
He was a prized recruit for Peel in the off-season and is already showing those high hopes on him were justified with his all-round abilities and versatile as a big man. Splitting his time between providing a tall forward target and helping out in the ruck, he was superb in the win over West Coast on Saturday with four goals to go with 22 touches, seven marks and five hit outs.

FORWARD POCKET – KEEGAN KNOTT (West Perth)
He keeps on confirming himself as the standout goal sneak in the competition. On the back of kicking 45 goals in 2021, he has started strongly in 2022 for the Falcons and kicked another four goals from eight kicks and four tackles in Saturday's win again Subiaco to mean he already has nine goals in three games this season.

RUCK – LACHLAN DELAHUNTY (Subiaco)
The Sandover Medallist and five-time premiership winner might be in a rare position of lost the first three games of a season with Subiaco for the first time in his 132-game career, but that's through no fault of his own. He produced a brilliant performance on Saturday against West Perth with 31 disposals, 25 hit outs, 10 marks and six inside-50 entries.

RUCK ROVER – CONNOR BLAKELY (Peel Thunder)
The Fremantle Dockers midfielder put his hand up for an AFL call up in the not too distant future with an impressive performance in Saturday's big win against the West Coast Eagles. He ended the afternoon with 31 possessions, 11 marks, seven inside-50 entries and four tackles.

RUCK ROVER – JAKE FLORENCA (South Fremantle)
He sure isn’t holding back on making up for lost time after missing the 2020 premiership and much of last season with a ruptured Achilles. He returned late season with an immediate impact to help South Fremantle to another Grand Final and now has opened 2022 in the best form of his 56-game WAFL career. Racked up a career-best 38 possessions on Saturday along with 12 tackles, six marks and a goal.

INTERCHANGE – KYLE BASKERVILLE (East Fremantle)
He thrived on becoming a permanent midfielder last year with East Fremantle and went on to win the Lynn Medal, and he has continued on exactly where he left off so far in 2022. He put together another game made up of 29 touches, eight inside 50s, three tackles and a goal in Saturday's win against East Perth.

INTERCHANGE – ANGUS SCHUMACHER (East Perth)
He continues to stamp himself as one of the leading on-ballers in the competition and delivered another tremendous performance against East Fremantle in Northampton despite the eventual 10-point for the Royals. He did all he could with 31 disposals, seven marks, four tackles and a goal.

INTERCHANGE – COREY BYRNE (Perth)
The reigning Perth fairest and best winner continues to do all he could to keep Perth competitive early in the new season. They might have suffered a frustrating loss at home to Swan Districts on Saturday night, but he delivered 34 touches, eight tackles and seven inside 50s.

INTERCHANGE – TOBE WATSON (Swan Districts)
He has spent most of his career up to this point as a defender and done a good job at it, but he has stepped up into a midfield role so far this season on return to Swan Districts. He did a tremendous job at it on Saturday night too with some key players missing on his way to a performance made up of 26 touches, 11 tackles, five marks and five inside-50 entries.
 

UNLUCKY BUNCH
There were plenty of players who delivered tremendous performances across Round 3 but couldn’t quite fit into the Team of the Round, including:

Perth's Matthew Taylor and Dakota Baldwin-Wright.

Swan Districts' Sam Fisher, Seb Bright and Chris Jones.

West Coast's Jack Williams, Joey Deegan, Jamaine Jones, Josh Rotham and John Levien.

Peel Thunder's Jye Amiss, Blair Bell, Sam Sturt, James Ewing and Haydn Matthews.

South Fremantle's Haiden Schloithe and Jarrad Doney.

Claremont's Ben Edwards, Jye Bolton and Ben Elliott.

Subiaco's Leigh Kitchin, Chad Harris, Noah Ash, Liam Hickmott and Angus Dewar.

West Perth's Tyler Keitel, Conal Lynch, Aaron Black, Trent Manzone, Shane Nelson and Blake Wilhelm.

East Fremantle's Milan Murdock, Blaine Boekhorst, Jarrad Jansen and Luke English.

East Perth's Nick Robertson, Angus Scott, Hamish Brayshaw, Stan Wright, Scott Jones and Kye Willcocks.