WAFL Round 8 WrapMonday, June 13, 2022 - 1:47 PM - by Chris Pike

EAST Fremantle beat West Perth in a tremendous top of the table WAFL contest at the WACA Ground to highlight the Round 8 action which also included wins for Claremont, Swan Districts, Subiaco and South Fremantle.

The Sharks pipped the Falcons in the match of the round at the WACA Ground on Saturday to reclaim top spot but it was far from the only exciting Round 8 match up.

Swans just held off Peel Thunder also on Saturday before then on Sunday, the Bulldogs held out against the Royals as well in what was another terrific weekend of WAFL action.

It got underway on Saturday at Claremont's Revo Fitness Stadium with Claremont stringing consecutive wins together overcoming a strengthened West Coast 13.10 (88) to 7.8 (50).

Bailey Rogers racked up 35 possessions for Claremont, Ryan Lim 34, Jye Bolton 29 and Lachlan Martinis 28 while Dom Sheed had 34 touches for the Eagles.

Then later on Saturday afternoon, Swan Districts returned to the top five at the expense of the team they defeated, Peel Thunder, 12.6 (78) to 11.8 (74) at Bassendean's Steel Blue Oval.

Chris Jones stepped up to kick five goals in the win for Swan Districts while Jesse Turner had a career-best 40 touches. Ben Middleton and Guy Barnes kicked three goals each for Peel with Connor Blakely racking up 38 disposals.

Subiaco then scored its third win of the season to stay in touch of the top five with a 12.9 (81) to 10.7 (67) victory against Perth at Lathlain's Mineral Resources Park.

Ryan Borchet kicked three goals in the win for Subiaco with Stefan Giro gathering 34 possessions and Lachlan Delahunty 30 to go with 21 hit outs. Kristian Cary kicked three goals for Perth and Corey Byrne picked up 36 disposals.

That all led into the WACA Ground hosting top spot going on the line between East Fremantle and West Perth, and it was the Sharks winning a nail-biter 13.12 (90) to 12.16 (88) against the Falcons.

Cody Leggett delivered the second best haul of his career with five goals for East Fremantle with Cam Eardley finishing with 32 touches. Keegan Knott kicked four goals for West Perth with Shane Nelson collating another 28 disposals.

The Round 8 action then wrapped up on Sunday afternoon at Leederville Oval with South Fremantle maintaining its hold on fourth position with the 8.9 (57) to 6.10 (46) win against East Perth.

Jimmy Miller kicked two goals for South Fremantle while defender Toby McQuilkin racked up 42 possessions. Tom Medhat kicked three goals for East Perth with Angus Scott racking up 40 disposals for the first time in his 50-game WAFL career.

Following the Round 8 results, it's East Fremantle back on top of the WAFL ladder to be percentage ahead of West Perth with both teams sitting on 6-2 records.

Claremont also has a 6-2 record to be in third position while South Fremantle and Swan Districts make up the last two positions in the top five at 5-3 with the Bulldogs just ahead of the Swans courtesy of a better percentage.

Just outside the top five are Peel Thunder at 4-4 in front of East Perth (3-5), Subiaco (3-5), Perth (2-6) and the West Coast Eagles (0-8).

WAFL PREMIERSHIP SEASON – ROUND 8

CLAREMONT 13.10 (88) defeated WEST COAST EAGLES 7.8 (50)

It took until the last quarter for Claremont to shake off the West Coast Eagles on Saturday to end up winning by 38 points at Revo Fitness Stadium.

It was the early starting game on Saturday to open Round 8 in the WAFL season and it was a tight game for three quarters with Claremont looking to keep pace with the top two teams, and West Coast searching a first win of 2022.

In the end, Claremont kicked five goals to nil in the final quarter to win 13.10 (88) to 7.8 (50) to improve to a 6-2 record on the season while the Eagles remain winless after eight matches.

The Eagles were desperate for their first win of the season and had a strong looking line-up to take on the Tigers with, and they started well on Saturday with the game's first two goals through Ambrose Ryan and Liam Ryan inside the opening three minutes.

Claremont did manage the next goal courtesy of Zac Mainwaring but the Eagles ended the first term impressively with a goal to Darby McCarthy to lead by 12 points at quarter-time.

Claremont came out a fired up unit to start the second quarter with the Tigers having the opening five scoring shots, but only one of those were converted into a goal through Bailey Bennett at the eight-minute mark.

Soon after debutant Coen Jackman kicked truly to put the Tigers further in front but Ambrose Ryan immediately responded for the Eagles. The lead continued to seesaw with goals to Claremont from Tyron Smallwood and Mainwaring, and one for the Eagles from Joey Deegan leading into half-time.

West Coast were then back in front to start the third term when Liam Ryan kicked a second goal, but Claremont soon took over with the next three majors to be up 15 points shortly before three quarter-time.

However, West Coast stayed in touch with a late goal to Luke Strnadica to close the third term.

Claremont had all the answers late and a pair of long bombs from well outside 50 from Sandover Medallists Jye Bolton and Bailey Rogers ended up securing Claremont the 13.10 (88) to 7.8 (50) victory.

Bailey Bennett had his moments as a small forward kicking two clever goals for Claremont with Tyron Smallwood also kicking two majors as did Zac Mainwaring and debutant Coen Jackman.

Reigning Sandover Medallist Bailey Rogers had another standout performance in the middle for Claremont racking up 35 possessions with six inside 50s and a long range goal.

Ryan Lim continued his terrific form with another 34 touches while Jye Bolton racked up 29 disposals, Lachlan Martinis 28, Ben Elliott 25, Declan Mountford 22, Max Spyvee 20 and Jack Lewsey 19.

Oliver Eastland had another good performance in the ruck in his second game of the season with 14 touches and 36 hit outs.

Liam Ryan made his return from injury for West Coast and geared up for an AFL return with two goals while Ambrose Ryan also kicked two goals from 22 possessions and nine marks.

Dom Sheed showed that he's ready for an AFL return with the Eagles by racking up 34 possessions while Luke Foley gathered 22 touches, Rhett Bazzo 21, Zane Sumich 20, Harry Creasey 20, Josh Rotham 18, Patrick Naish 18 and Ethan Hansen 18.

Luke Strnadica also did well in the ruck ending up with 13 possessions, 29 hit outs and a goal.
 

SWAN DISTRICTS 12.6 (78) defeated PEEL THUNDER 11.8 (74)

Swan Districts fought back from the death to kick the last two goals of the game courtesy of Chris Jones to snatch the four-point win from Peel Thunder.

Peel was on top most of the afternoon at Bassendean's Steel Blue Oval on Saturday and led by as much as 22 points, and still by 14 midway through the fourth term.

However, Swan Districts refused to be denied in front of their vocal home fans and with Chris Jones kicking the last two goals of the contest to give him five for day, they snatched the 12.6 (78) to 11.8 (74) win.

The result means Swan Districts improves to 5-3 on the season to replace the now 4-4 Peel in fifth position on the WAFL ladder after Round 8.

Peel started well away from home with the game's first goal courtesy of second-gamer Guy Barnes. Swan Districts hit back soon after through Lachlan Riley but the teams continued to trade goals.

Majors to Sam Fisher and Sebit Kuek saw Peel hold a narrow four-point lead heading into the quarter-time huddles.

Blair Bell then extended the Thunder lead with the first goal of the second quarter and just before time-on, Sam Sturt pushed the Peel advantage out to 20 points, but Swans got one crucial goal back just before half-time thanks to Chris Jones.

However, Peel's lead got to a game-high 21 points to start the second half with a goal to Ben Middleton. While Swans did get a goal back through Nathan Ireland, Peel remained on top and set a new biggest margin at 22 points with Barnes adding another for the visitors.

The onus was on the Swans to respond and they did so in impressive fashion with three quick goals to Ryan Kemp, Seb Bright and Jones, but the Thunder remained nine points to the good at the three quarter-time thanks to a third goal to Barnes just before the siren.

Peel was back out to a 14-point lead when Liam Henry kicked truly at the 10-minute mark of the final term as well, but Swan Districts weren’t about to lie down.

Palmer brought the deficit back to seven points and Fisher one point, but again Sturt provided a steadier for the Thunder.

However, Swans weren’t done and two goals to Jones in the space of less than two minutes to give him five for the afternoon put the home team in front and they went on to win 12.6 (78) to 11.8 (74).

The move of Chris Jones forward this season has been a masterstroke by Swan Districts coach Adam Pickering and he turned match winner on Saturday. Not only did he kick the last two goals of the game to win it for Swans, but had five for the afternoon from 10 kicks and seven marks.

Swan Districts' vice-captain Jesse Turner continued his brilliant form this season by having 40 possessions for the first time in his 109-game career to go with eight tackles, four marks and four entries inside the forward 50.

Sam Fisher also finished with 27 disposals and two goals while Aidan Clarke gathered 27 touches, Josh Cipro 22, Tobe Watson 20, Ryan Kemp 19 and Lachlan Riley 17.

Ben Middleton stood tall for Peel to kick three goals while small forward Guy Barnes made the most of his chances to kick three goals as well with six scoring shots from seven kicks in his second WAFL league appearance.

Sam Sturt also kicked two goals for the Thunder from 16 possessions, five marks and three tackles.

Connor Blakely put his hand up for a Fremantle AFL call up by racking up 38 disposals for the Thunder with Haydn Matthews picking up another 27 touches, Mitch Crowden 26, Karl Worner 22, Neil Erasmus 21, Liam Henry 21 and Lloyd Meek 21 to go with 44 hit outs.
 

PERTH 10.7 (67) lost to SUBIACO 12.9 (81)

Subiaco was able to continue its recent dominance against Perth with a hard earned 14-point victory at Lathlain's Mineral Resources Park on Saturday.

Both teams came into Saturday's game having just two wins to their credit so far in the 2022 season so a win was huge to see them maintain touch with the top five teams.

It turned out to be a four-goal to nil third quarter where Subiaco pulled away and that saw the Lions secure the eventual 12.9 (81) to 10.7 (67) victory.

The win means that Subiaco has now won 18 of the last 19 games against Perth including 11 in-a-row now with the Demons not having beaten the Lions still since Round 16, 2016.

Both Perth and Subiaco desperately needed a win coming into the contest and it was the Lions who struck first blood through Liam Hickmott. The Demons answered thanks to Simon Hayward, but then Subiaco kicked away.

Goals to Stefan Giro, Aaron Breman and Ryan Borchet put Subiaco up by 18 points and the lead was still 12 by quarter-time following a goal to the Demons by debutant Harry Quartermaine.

Quartermaine's impressive debut continued with his second goal to start the second term before Kristian Cary kicked truly to bring the Demons back within a point.

Subiaco's lead was soon back out to 16 points following goals to Ben Sokol and Wil Hickmott, but Perth stayed in touch leading into half-time with another to Cary. Two quick goals to Marshall Jones then gave the Demons a two-point lead at the major break.

Subiaco fired back impressively with the only four goals of the third quarter including two of them from Lachlan Vanirsen to see the Lions set up a match-winning 20-point advantage by three quarter-time.

The Lions held firm in the last quarter to go on and record the 12.9 (81) to 10.7 (67) victory to stay in touch of the top five and to make it 18 of the last 19 against the Demons.

Ryan Borchet stepped up again in attack for Subiaco to kick another three goals from 10 kicks and six marks. Aaron Breman added two goals from five kicks while Lachlan Vanirsen played the best game of his young career with two goals from 15 touches and eight tackles.

Stefan Giro again showed his quality for the Lions racking up 34 possessions while Lachlan Delahunty dominated the ruck with 30 disposals, 21 hit outs, seven marks and a goal.

Liam Hickmott racked up 27 touches for the Lions, Wil Hickmott 25, Aaron Heal 18, Chad Harris 17 and Drew Rohde 17.

Kristian Cary is getting back to the form from last year for Perth kicking three goals from 18 possessions, eight marks and three tackles.

Marshall Jones and Harry Quartermaine also kicked two goals each for the Demons.

Reigning fairest and best winner Corey Byrne amassed 36 possessions for Perth while Michael Sinclair had 23 touches, Regan Clarke 23, Matt Taylor 23, Jack Avery 23, Sam Perkusich 20 and Kasey Nicholas 18.
 

EAST FREMANTLE 13.12 (90) defeated WEST PERTH 12.16 (88)

What an occasion it was for the second game of the season at the WACA Ground with East Fremantle and West Perth putting on quite the show with top spot on the line.

The Sharks and Falcons were doing battle over top spot at the end of Round 8 of the WAFL season with the WACA Ground the venue in the second game of the season there upon WAFL football's return to the famous ground for the first time since 1994.

It ended up being a game full of drama, full of spectacular plays and precious little separating the two teams all the way through but it was East Fremantle holding on to win 13.12 (90) to 12.16 (88) to grab top spot on the table at the end of Round 8.

The WACA Ground provided a fitting venue to host the top of the table clash and while West Perth had the first couple of scoring shots of the game, it was East Fremantle who kicked the first goal through usual defender Finn Gorringe.

Cody Leggett then added another and so did Ryan Lester-Smith to give the Sharks the flying start with top position on the line. 

Rudy Riddoch was the one to get West Perth on the board with a couple of goals before quarter-time but when Reuben McGuire kicked a fourth for East Fremantle it was the Sharks leading by 14 points.

It was the Falcons who opened the second quarter on fire with two goals in the first two minutes through Luke Meadows and Nathan Alexandre, and when Anton Hamp kicked truly and Knott added a second, West Perth grabbed the lead.

It didn’t last for long, though, with East Fremantle responding with goals to Luke English, Leggett and Blaine Boekhorst to head into the half-time break on top by 15 points.

The Falcons flew out of the blocks to start the second half firstly with Tyler Keitel marking well within kicking distance but dishing off to Aaron Black who was able to slot the goal under pressure.

Knott then kicked another for West Perth and not even he would have been able to believe his luck when he received a second shot after a push and shove with defender Matthew Burton.

Knott took full advantage to kick the goal, though, and that put West Perth in front, but the dramatic start to the half continued when Leggett outlasted a tackle from Noah Pegoraro to then bounce one home from the boundary to regain East Fremantle's lead.

Another goal to Knott put the Falcons back in front and when the dust settled it was West Perth leading by two points at three quarter-time.

Leggett's fourth goal of the day started the fourth quarter with East Fremantle going back in front and Victorian recruit Jackson McDonald pushed that lead out to 11 points.

Both teams then traded goals through Hamp and Leggett, and that was enough for the Sharks to end up holding on to win 13.12 (90) to 12.16 (88) despite the last couple of scores coming from West Perth.

Given how creative East Fremantle has had to become with its forward-line with the swag of departures they've had from the team they expected to have in 2022, the move forward of Cody Leggett has proven a trump card.

He came up huge again on Saturday showing not only his kicking skills but his craftiness and creative abilities to kick five goals from 17 kicks and eight marks to be the Sharks' only multiple goal scorer on the afternoon.

Cam Eardley continued his stunning form for the Sharks this season racking up another 32 possessions and nine marks while Tom Bennett gathered 27 touches, seven marks and seven inside 50s.

Milan Murdock had another 26 disposals, Jackson McDonald 24, Michael Tassone 24, Matthew Jupp 20, Jonathon Marsh 19, Jamie Meade 18 and Matt Williamson 18.

Keegan Knott was quite the lively influence on the West Perth forward-line but couldn’t quite capitalise on all his chances to play match-winner. He had nine scores for the afternoon to end up kicking 4.5 from his 11 kicks.

Anton Hamp and Rudy Riddoch also kicked two goals apiece for the Falcons.

Shane Nelson picked up another 28 possessions for West Perth with Blake Wilhelm gathering 25 disposals, Aidan Lynch 21, Tyler Keitel 20, Aaron Black 19, Luke Meadows 19 and Mitch Peirce 19.
 

EAST PERTH 6.10 (46) lost to SOUTH FREMANTLE 8.9 (57)

It was tough going at Leederville Oval on Sunday to close Round 8 of the 2022 WAFL season but South Fremantle managed to prevail by 11 points against East Perth.

The last game of Round 8 of the 2022 WAFL season took place at Leederville Oval on Sunday and while both teams struggled to get much flow going with just the 14 goals for the day, and only four the entire second half, the Bulldogs got an important win.

South Fremantle opened up a 26-point advantage when Brandon Donaldson kicked truly to start the fourth quarter before going on to win 8.9 (57) to 6.10 (46).

The win stabilises South Fremantle inside the top five while also continues the Bulldogs' good run against the Royals in recent times having now won eight of the last nine games with East Perth, and 16 of the past 18.

It was an ominous start to the game in attack for South Fremantle from Jimmy Miller who looked ready and able to tear the game apart in the absence of fellow tall forward from the Bulldogs, Mason Shaw.

He took a pair of strong marks and kicked two goals inside the game's first nine minutes to give the Bulldogs the perfect start, but the Royals gradually worked their way back into the contest from there.

East Perth's first goal came courtesy of their own key forward target Tom Medhat, but South Fremantle ruckman Hamish Free added another just before quarter-time to give the Bulldogs the 11-point advantage.

Medhat's second goal brought the Royals closer to open the second term before Jake Florenca steadied South Fremantle to a 13-point advantage when he kicked truly.

Zac Strom then stretched the South Fremantle lead to 19 points before East Perth finished the term strongly with goals to Medhat and Ben McGuire to be within seven points at the major break.

Goals proved tough to come by for either team in the second half but South Fremantle kicked the only two of the third quarter courtesy of Haiden Schloithe and Caleb Datson to lead by 22 points at three quarter-time.

South Fremantle kicked away further through Brandon Donaldson to start the final term and while East Perth got one back thanks to Damon Greaves, it was one of their only two majors of the second half.

South Fremantle went on to win 8.9 (57) to 6.10 (46) to make it eight wins in the last nine clashes with the Royals.

Jimmy Miller ended up kicking two goals for South Fremantle but they both came in the opening nine minutes and he finished the afternoon with just the three kicks and two marks.

Toby McQuilkin produced a stunning performance out of the back-line for South Fremantle to rack up a career best 42 possessions to go with 11 marks.

Haiden Schloithe also gathered 24 disposals for the Bulldogs, Tom Blechynden 23, Glenn Byron 23, Steve Verrier 21, Zac Strom 21, Blake Schlensog 21, Chad Pearson 18, Brendon Ah Chee 17, Jordan Boullineau 17 and ruckman Hamish Free 17 along with 33 hit outs and a goal.

Tom Medhat ended up kicking three goals for East Perth all coming in the first half to go with five kicks and four marks. Ben McGuire also kicked two goals for the Royals from five kicks.

Angus Scott played the 50th game of his WAFL career with East Perth and got to 40 possessions for the first time along with seven marks. Angus Schumacher continued his standout form with 32 touches too with Stan Wright racking up 29.

Hamish Brayshaw finished with 23 possessions, Jack Cooley 21, Kye Willcocks 20, Christian Ameduri 20, Damon Greaves 19, Harley Sparks 18 and ruckman Scott Jones 17 to go with 25 hit outs.