WAFLW Round 12 WrapMonday, May 9, 2022 - 6:55 PM - by Chris Pike

EAST Fremantle and Claremont further consolidated their top two positions in the WAFLW competition for 2022 with Round 12 victories while South Fremantle won again to keep themselves in the hunt for a maiden finals appearance.

By winning their Round 12 matches on Saturday, both Claremont and East Fremantle went a long way to ensuring they will finish the 2022 WAFLW season occupying the top two positions while a win for South Fremantle, and losses for Peel and Swan Districts kept the Bulldogs in the top four mix.

The round got underway with two matches on Saturday afternoon starting with Claremont defeating Swan Districts 7.11 (53) to 3.4 (22) at Bassendean's Steel Blue Oval.

Brooke Whyte kicked two goals for Claremont with Ella Smith finishing with 17 possessions while Lauren Osborne collected 18 disposals for Swan Districts.

East Fremantle kept undefeated streak going as well at New Choice Homes Park with the 7.4 (46) to 4.7 (31) win against the reigning premiers Peel Thunder.

Julia Teakle and Anjelique Raison kicked two goals for East Fremantle with Ashlee Atkins and Ashleigh Gomes racking up 23 disposals apiece. Kate Bartlett kicked three goals for Peel while Aisha Wright picked up 20 touches.

The round then wrapped up on Sunday afternoon at Joondalup's Pentanet Stadium with South Fremantle beating West Perth 7.8 (50) to 4.2 (26).

Poppy Stockwell, Aaliyah Ugle and Casey Byrne kicked two goals each for South Fremantle with Liusaidh Gilchrist amassing 31 touches and captain Lauren Vecchio 27. Kaitlyn Roper had 18 disposals for the Falcons.

Following 12 rounds of the 2022 WAFLW season, it's East Fremantle remaining clear on top of the ladder with a perfect 10-0 record with Claremont clear in second spot at 8-2.

Swan Districts remains in third position with a 5-5 record with Peel Thunder rounding out the top four at 4-5 ahead of South Fremantle (4-6), Subiaco (3-6) and West Perth (0-10).

WAFLW PREMIERSHIP SEASON – ROUND 12

SWAN DISTRICTS 3.4 (22) lost to CLAREMONT 7.11 (53)

Claremont was able to bounce back from a slow start to retain second position on the WAFLW ladder with a 31-point victory against Swan Districts on Saturday.

Swans had the chance to keep in touch of second position when hosting the Tigers at Bassendean's Steel Blue Oval on Saturday, and they started well kicking the only two goals of the opening quarter.

However, Claremont kicked seven goals to one after quarter-time to end up winning 7.11 (53) to 3.4 (22) to open up a three-game gap between themselves and Swan Districts in second position after 12 rounds.

Swan Districts started strongly with the only two goals of the opening quarter knowing that a win over Claremont would put them right back in the hunt to snatch second position in the run into the finals. 

Claremont needed to hit back and did that well in the second quarter by holding Swans to just the two behinds and kicking three goals themselves to head into the half-time break leading by nine points.

It was more of the same from the Tigers in the third term as they held the black-and-whites scoreless while kicking two more goals themselves to go into the three quarter-time huddle with a 22-point advantage.

Claremont finished the job in the last quarter with two more goals to one and that saw the Tigers claim the eventual 7.11 (53) to 3.4 (22) victory.

Brooke Whyte kicked two goals from five kicks and two tackles for Claremont while Mikayla Western, Sarah Garstone, Tessa Doumanis, Ella Smith and Mhicca Carter all kicked a goal apiece as well.

Smith also compiled 17 possessions and nine tackles for the Tigers with Madeleine Scanlon racking up 15 disposals, Western 14, Sarah Viney 13, Tayla Thorogood 12, Sasha Goranova 12 and Matilda Dyke 12 in the ruck to go with 29 hit outs.

Courtney Zappara, Hope Ugle-Hayward and Tamzyn Beros were the goal scorers for Swan Districts.

Lauren Osborne collected 18 possessions for Swan Districts while captain Jess Cox had 16 disposals and 12 tackles.

Ruby Mahony gathered 14 touches and five tackles, Jaime Henry 12 touches and eight tackles, and Eliza Gelmi 10 touches and six tackles.
 

EAST FREMANTLE 7.4 (46) defeated PEEL THUNDER 4.7 (31)

East Fremantle continued its undefeated 2022 WAFLW season with a 15-point victory at home to Peel Thunder on Saturday.

East Fremantle were coming off a win that saw them shoot clear in top spot in Northampton last week against Claremont ahead of hosting the reigning premiers Peel on Saturday at New Choice Homes Park.

The two teams are the only ones to have won a premiership in the WAFLW competition so far, and it was East Fremantle who dominated the first three quarters on the way to the 7.4 (46) to 4.7 (31) victory to improve to 10-0 on the season.

There was just the one goal kicked in the opening quarter and that went the way of East Fremantle as the undefeated Sharks took a seven-point lead into quarter-time.

East Fremantle really took charge in the second quarter as well to kick four goals and hold the Thunder to just the one behind and that saw the Sharks with a match-winning 32-point advantage by half-time.

Peel did manage to kick its first goal of the game in the third quarter but East Fremantle added a further two themselves to go into three quarter-time leading by 35 points.

It was a complete turnaround in the fourth term with Peel holding East Fremantle scoreless and the Thunder kicking three goals, but the Sharks had done enough to still win 7.4 (46) to 4.7 (31).

Julia Teakle kicked two goals for East Fremantle to go with two goals while Anjelique Raison also booted two majors from 11 disposals and 15 hit outs.

Larissa Versaci, Doma Fedele and Taya Chambers were the others to kick a goal for the Sharks.

Ashlee Atkins racked up 23 possessions for East Fremantle, Ashleigh Gomes 23, Sharon Wong 22, Amber Kinnane 21, Versaci 21, Hayley O'Donnell 15 and Zipporah Fish 14.

Kate Bartlett continued her standout season up forward for Peel with another three goals from 11 kicks and five marks. Kaitlyn Srhoj also kicked a goal for the Thunder.

Aisha Wright ended up gathering 20 possessions for Peel, Ebony Dowson 18, Gracie Fenton 17, Chloe Wrigley 15, Jorja Haines 13 and Cassie Davidson 13.
 

WEST PERTH 4.2 (26) lost to SOUTH FREMANTLE 7.8 (50)

South Fremantle won its fourth game of the WAFLW season on Sunday and third against West Perth with the 24-point victory.

South Fremantle had already won the opening two clashes between the two teams this season coming into Sunday's clash at Joondalup's Pentanet Stadium.

West Perth was still chasing its first ever WAFLW victory and Sunday wasn’t to be the case with South Fremantle kicking the only five goals of the first half.

The Falcons did win the second half with four goals to two but it wasn’t enough to stop the Bulldogs winning 7.8 (50) to 4.2 (26) to keep themselves in the finals mix in 2022.

The WAFLW's two newest teams did battle once again on Sunday with South Fremantle starting strongly knowing that finals is still not out of reach for 2022.

The Bulldogs kicked two goals in the opening quarter and another three in the second while holding the Falcons scoreless the entire first half to go into the half-time break leading by 34 points.

West Perth came out a different unit after the break and kicked two goals in the third quarter. South Fremantle added just the one but still led by 31 points at three quarter-time.

The Falcons did well in the last term as well with another two goals. The Bulldogs only kicked the one but still ran out 7.8 (50) to 4.2 (26) winners.

Poppy Stockwell, Aaliyah Ugle and Casey Byrne all kicked two goals apiece for South Fremantle while Ella Ward was the other goal scorer for the Bulldogs.

Liusaidh Gilchrist returned for South Fremantle and was outstanding with 31 possessions, seven inside-50 entries, three marks and three hit outs.

Captain Lauren Vecchio racked up 27 disposals for the Bulldogs, Kahra Sprylan 25, Molly O'Hehir 24, Hunter Cronin 20, Kiara Templeman 18 and Ward 15 to go with 12 hit outs.

Grace Betti, Elissa Price, Jeevna Heer and Chanel Scott all kicked a goal each for West Perth.

Kaitlyn Roper picked up 18 possessions, five marks and five tackles for the Falcons while Keely Byrne picked up 17 disposals, Kayla Van Den Heever 16, Lea Caccamo 15, Megan Norbury 14 and Betti 14 to go with four marks and four tackles.