WAFL Round 19 WrapMonday, August 29, 2022 - 10:44 AM - by Chris Pike

THE penultimate round of the 2022 WAFL season couldn’t have possibly done a better job of setting up a grandstand finish in the last round with six teams still in finals contention, and no positions inside the top five wrapped up.

The Round 19 WAFL results mean that there are still three teams who could finish on top of the ladder at the end of the home and away season, four teams who could still earn the double chance and then two more teams still fighting over fifth spot.

The stage is now set for a fascinating finish to the WAFL season in the last round with West Perth, East Fremantle, Claremont and South Fremantle jostling over the top four positions, while Peel Thunder and Swan Districts will now fight for the last finals spot.

Round 19 of the 2022 WAFL season got underway on Saturday afternoon with East Fremantle holding Claremont goalless in the first half on the way to a thumping and important 11.17 (83) to 5.8 (38) victory.

Jonathon Marsh kicked another four goals for East Fremantle with Cam Eardley racking up 33 possessions, and Milan Murdock 28 to go with 11 tackles. Callan England finished with 27 touches for Claremont.

Subiaco then celebrated the retirement of five-time premiership hero Lachlan Delahunty and the 150th game of captain Leigh Kitchin by beating Perth 14.14 (98) to 4.11 (35) at Leederville Oval.

Angus Dewar continued to enjoy his stint up forward with another three goals for Subiaco while Delahunty had 26 touches and 19 hit outs in his last game, and Kitchin 36 possessions in his 150th.

Kieran Hug kicked two goals for Perth with Matt Taylor and Haydn Busher gathering 25 touches each.

Peel Thunder remained in fifth position on the WAFL ladder as a result of a dominant 16.9 (105) to 3.14 (32) win against the West Coast Eagles at Mandurah's Lane Group Stadium.

Blair Bell kicked three goals for Peel in the big win while Nathan Wilson had 32 touches, and Lloyd Meek dominated the ruck with 22 touches and 33 hit outs.

Greg Clark and Patrick Naish both had 28 possessions for West Coast.

The last game to take place in Round 19 on Saturday saw Swan Districts keep its finals prospects alive by finishing strongly to defeat the league-leading West Perth 9.5 (59) to 6.11 (47) at Steel Blue Oval.

Jesse Palmer and Tom Edwards kicked two goals each for Swan Districts while Brandon Erceg finished with 32 possessions and 17 marks.

Keegan Knott kicked three goals for West Perth with Luke Meadows amassing 32 touches.

The round then wrapped up on Sunday afternoon at Fremantle Community Bank Oval with South Fremantle beating East Perth 12.10 (82) to 11.7 (73).

Mason Shaw kicked another three goals for South Fremantle with Haiden Schloithe collecting another 31 possessions. 

Sam Van Diemen kicked three goals for East Perth with Angus Schumacher finishing with 29 touches and Scott Jones 56 hit outs.

Following the second last round of the 2022 WAFL season, it's West Perth still on top of the ladder but only with a half-game advantage with 12 wins, four losses and a draw.

East Fremantle and Claremont hold the second and third positions at 12-5 only separated by percentage with South Fremantle in fourth with 11 wins, five losses and a draw.

That's where it gets really interesting with Peel Thunder fifth at 10-7 and Swan Districts 10-7 in sixth. Those two teams now play this Sunday in Mandurah with the winner to make the finals and the loser to miss out. It's that simple.

The rest of the ladder is made up by Subiaco (7-10), East Perth (6-11), Perth (3-14) and West Coast (1-16).

The other final round matches on Saturday will see East Perth take on East Fremantle, West Perth play Subiaco, Claremont battle West Coast and Perth play host to South Fremantle.
 

WAFL PREMIERSHIP SEASON – ROUND 19

CLAREMONT 5.8 (38) lost to EAST FREMANTLE 11.17 (83)

East Fremantle sent a real message about its premiership credentials two weeks out from the finals by hammering Claremont by 45 points at Revo Fitness Stadium on Saturday.

Claremont came into the clash on home turf on a five-game winning streak while having also won its last 11 matches against East Fremantle and not having lost at Claremont Oval to the Sharks since 2011.

However, it was East Fremantle who came out ready to bite on Saturday delivering a dominant performance by kicking the only five goals of the first half to set up the eventual 11.17 (83) to 5.8 (38) to victory.

It was East Fremantle's first win against Claremont since 2016 and moves the Sharks back into second spot on the WAFL ladder to be percentage ahead of the Tigers with both teams holding 12-5 records.

East Fremantle plays East Perth in the final round and Claremont takes on West Coast, but the only way the Tigers could leapfrog the Sharks now is if they win and East Fremantle loses.

Claremont might have dominated East Fremantle over recent times and there might have been plenty at stake for both teams coming into Saturday's clash, but it was all the Sharks virtually from the outset.

It was Jarrad Jansen who kicked the first goal of the game from deep in the pocket to set the stage and then Jonathon Marsh landed a bomb from well outside 50 despite the rain tumbling down.

Young gun Jed Hagan then converted on the run and it was a hot start for East Fremantle. Claremont managed just three behinds for the quarter and the Sharks closed it out with another goal from Marsh to take a commanding 25-point lead into quarter-time.

Goals became mighty hard to come by in the second quarter and there was only one kicked the entire term and it went the way of East Fremantle thanks to Luke English just before half-time.

That saw the Sharks take a 33-point lead into the main break having kept Claremont to just four behinds the entire first half.

Claremont was potentially letting a top two spot slip away and had to come out and respond to start the second half, and the Tigers did with two quick goals inside four minutes to Jye Bolton and Timm House.

However, they couldn’t build momentum from that and it was Marsh who kicked the game's next goal at the 18-minute mark showing again his powerful ability to step up when it matters most.

Tom Monaghan then added another and so did English heading towards three quarter-time with East Fremantle leading by as much as 42 points which was still the margin heading into the fourth quarter.

There was then two goals apiece in the last term and East Fremantle completed one of its most complete and dominant performances of the season to return to second position on the ladder with the 11.17 (83) to 5.8 (38) win.

Jonathon Marsh was once again a powerful presence up front for East Fremantle kicking another four goals from six kicks for the day to make the most of his chances despite the close checking of Claremont's Declan Hardisty.

Luke English also kicked two goals for the Sharks to go with 22 possessions, six marks, five inside-50 entries and four tackles.

Cam Eardley controlled play across half-back once again for East Fremantle finishing with 33 possessions and eight marks while Milan Murdock was outstanding in and under in the midfield with 28 touches and 11 tackles.

Kyle Baskerville also gathered 26 disposals for the Sharks, Josh Schoenfeld 23, Ryan Lester-Smith 22, Tom Bennett 20 and Jack Cleaver 18.

Callan England finished the afternoon collecting 27 possessions while Jack Lewsey gathered 25 touches, Jared Hardisty 22, Jye Bolton 20, Bailey Rogers 19, Ryan Lim 19 and Anthony Davis 18 to go with nine marks.

 

SUBIACO 14.14 (98) defeated PERTH 4.11 (35)

Subiaco might be in an unfamiliar position of not preparing for a finals campaign, but the Lions had a day of celebration against Perth at Leederville Oval on Saturday.

Despite being reigning premiers, Subiaco is out of finals contention for a rare occurrence this century but they had plenty to play for on Saturday in their final home game of the season and with captain Leigh Kitchin reaching his 150-game milestone, and Lachlan Delahunty making his farewell appearance.

Subiaco lifted for the occasion as well to continue its dominance against Perth on the way to the eventual 14.14 (98) to 4.11 (35) victory to record their seventh win of the year.

The result means that the Lions have now won 12 straight matches against the Demons along with nine in-a-row at Leederville Oval.

Subiaco made a good start with the game's first three scoring shot which eventually turned into a goal to Ben Sokol at the 11-minute mark.

The Lions then added the only other two goals of the opening quarter thanks to Angus Dewar and Stefan Giro to head into quarter-time leading by 19 points having held the Demons goalless.

Perth eventually kicked its first goal of the game early in the second quarter thanks to Kieran Hug before Sam Stubbs added another and that brought the Demons back within just nine points.

They wouldn’t get any closer the rest of the afternoon, though, and Subiaco closed the opening half with goals to Ryan Borchet, Max Walters and Liam Hickmott to see the Lions head into the half-time breaking leading by 27 points.

It was more of the same throughout the second half with Subiaco dominating the contest with another five goals to one in the third quarter, and three goals to one in the fourth to end up cruising to the 14.14 (98) to 4.11 (35) victory.

Angus Dewar continues to enjoy his stint in attack to close the season with the usual defender kicking another three goals for Subiaco from eight kicks. Stefan Giro, Liam Hickmott, Ryan Borchet and Ben Sokol all kicked two goals each as well for the Lions.

The day was all about Leigh Kitchin and Lachlan Delahunty, though, and the two Subiaco premiership greats put on a show. Kitchin finished with 36 possessions in his 150th game while Delahunty delivered 26 touches and 19 hit outs in his farewell appearance.

Stefan Giro also racked up 33 disposals for the Lions, Chad Harris 27, Liam Hickmott 25, Drew Rohde 22, Wil Hickmott 20 and Jakob Atkinson 18.

Kieran Hug was Perth's only multiple goalscorer kicking two from 18 possessions for the afternoon.

Matt Taylor had another 25 possessions and six marks across half-back for Perth while Haydn Busher picked up 25 touches, Chris Mayne 24, Kristian Cary 21, Andrew Fisher 19, Regan Clarke 19 and Kasey Nicholas 18.

 

PEEL THUNDER 16.9 (105) defeated WEST COAST EAGLES 3.14 (32)

Peel Thunder strengthened its finals push with a dominant 73-point win against a West Coast Eagles team they held goalless for three quarters on Saturday.

Peel was back home at Lane Group Stadium on Saturday to host West Coast with the Thunder knowing that should they win their final two matches that they will make their finals return in the WAFL in 2022.

The Thunder didn’t take long to put the game to bed in Mandurah kicking the first 12 goals of the game on the way to the eventual 16.9 (105) to 3.14 (32) win.

The victory improves Peel to a 10-7 record on the season to remain in fifth position but the equation is now simple. The Thunder have to beat Swan Districts back in Mandurah this coming Sunday to play finals. 

If Peel loses, then it will be Swans who make the finals and they miss out.

Peel knew it had to keep winning in order to play finals in 2022 and the Thunder didn’t take long to put Saturday's result in doubt. The Thunder kicked three goals in the first eight minutes through Mitch Crowden, Blair Bell and Darcy Tucker.

Peel held West Coast scoreless entirely for the first quarter and even though the Eagles did manage five behinds in the second term, the Thunder continued to dominate.

Peel kicked four more goals from Joel Western, Tyrone Thorne, Lloyd Meek and Jye Amiss to head into half-time with a commanding 51-point advantage.

It was more of the same in the third quarter with West Coast only managing another five behinds with Peel kicking goals through Crowden, Bailey Banfield and Matthew Johnson to go into three quarter-time on top by 67 points.

West Coast eventually kicked its first goal of the game to start the final quarter thanks to Greg Clark at the 10-minute mark.

The Eagles did add two more goals from Jackson Nelson and Isaih Winder, but Peel also kicked four more goals of their own to extend their lead and to end up winning 16.9 (105) to 3.14 (32).

Dual premiership player Blair Bell kicked three goals from 12 touches, 10 tackles and seven marks for Peel with Tyrone Thorne, Darcy Tucker, Jye Amiss, Bailey Banfield and Mitch Crowden all kicking two goals.

Nathan Wilson controlled play off half-back for the Thunder with 32 possessions while Lloyd Meek dominated the ruck with 22 touches and 33 hit outs.

Darcy Tucker also had 21 touches, Neil Erasmus 21, Ethan Hughes 20, Mitch Crowden 20, Matthew Johnson 17 and Ty Anderson 17.

West Coast's goals came courtesy of Greg Clark, Isaih Winder and Jackson Nelson while Clark gathered 28 possessions, Patrick Naish 28, Xavier O'Neill 21 and Sam Petrevski-Seton 16.

 

SWAN DISTRICTS 9.5 (59) defeated WEST PERTH 6.11 (47)

Swan Districts snapped its losing run against West Perth and produced one of its best performances of the 2022 season to score a crucial 12-point win on Saturday.

Swans were playing their last game at Steel Blue Oval for the season and knew they had to beat the league-leading West Perth to keep their finals hopes alive.

It was a big task ahead of Swan Districts, though, as they took on the team not only on top of the ladder but who they had lost their past six matches against.

Not to be deterred, Swans produced a huge final quarter with four goals to one to end up winning 9.5 (59) to 6.11 (47).

That sets up a huge finish to the season with Swan Districts taking on Peel Thunder in Mandurah on Sunday. The winner will play finals and the loser will miss out.

West Perth remains on top of the ladder despite the loss and they will still claim their first minor premiership since 1993 if they beat Subiaco at Pentanet Stadium on Saturday.

West Perth got off to the perfect start with an early goal to small forward Keegan Knott just a minute into the contest, but it didn’t take long for Swan Districts to respond through Brayden Noble and the tone was set for a tight battle the rest of the afternoon.

There was just the one more goal the rest of the quarter and that went the way of West Perth through Tristan Hobley who took a nine-point lead into the quarter-time huddle.

The Falcons then opened up a game high 16-point lead early in the second quarter following a goal to Mitch Dobson, but Swans soon steadied starting with a goal to Jesse Palmer.

It took 10 minutes for another goal to be kicked and it was Palmer adding his second of the afternoon to bring Swans back within four minutes, and then minutes later Ryan Kemp pounced to add another and the black-and-whites were in front.

By half-time, West Perth had added a couple more behinds and scores were all level at the main break.

West Perth was then able to kick the first couple of goals of the third term, both courtesy of Knott, to again push out to a 14-point advantage.

It took until the 27-minute mark for Swans to kick a goal, but it was an important one from Mitch Bain to make the margin just eight points again by three quarter-time.

Swans then made a blistering start to the final quarter starting with a quick goal to Tom Edwards. Greg Ottaviano then slotted another and suddenly the home team was in front with the Bassendean locals finding their voice.

Edwards then added a second of the quarter and while West Perth kept fighting, ultimately the Falcons only managed one goal in the last term which came late from Aaron Black and it wasn’t to be enough.

Swan Districts wrapped up the win with a late goal to Elijah Hewett which saw them go on to win 9.5 (59) to 6.11 (47) to keep their season alive and set up the do-or-die clash with Peel Thunder this coming Sunday.

Jesse Palmer made the most of his chances kicking two goals for Swan Districts in the second quarter from his three kicks while Tom Edwards stepped up late for two crucial final quarter goals as well.

Co-captain Brandon Erceg put together a brilliant performance down back for Swans not only finishing with 32 possessions and 17 marks but also having a big say in holding Tyler Keitel and Anton Hamp goalless for West Perth.

Jesse Turner also racked up another 29 disposals for the black-and-whites, Aidan Clarke 26, Sam Fisher 24, Jackson Beck 21, Elijah Hewett 20 and Will Collins 18 to go with 10 marks.

Matthew Germs also had a big say in the ruck finishing with 49 hit outs in his second game back from a knee injury.

Keegan Knott kicked another three goals for West Perth to keep himself in the Bernie Naylor Medal race for 2022.

Luke Meadows battled hard all afternoon in the midfield for the Falcons for 32 possessions, six inside-50 entries, five tackles and four marks with Shane Nelson also collecting another 26 disposals.

Mitch Dobson finished with 21 touches, Mark Hutchings 20, Mitch Peirce 20 (12 tackles), Tyler Keitel 20, Zac Guadagnin 19 and ruckman Ben Delaporte 18 to go with 17 hit outs.

 

SOUTH FREMANTLE 12.10 (82) defeated EAST PERTH 11.7 (73)

South Fremantle were made to fight hard by East Perth on Sunday at Fremantle Community Bank Oval but ended up scoring an important nine-point victory.

The Bulldogs were playing their last home game of the 2022 WAFL season and needed to win to keep their hopes of a top three finish alive to earn a finals double chance for a seventh straight year.

However, up against them was a Royals team who might have lost four straight but had a tumultuous week with the departure of coach Jeremy Barnard with Ross McQueen taking over as the caretaker for the final two matches.

It turned out to be a terrific battle the entire afternoon but South Fremantle kicked the last two goals of the game to prevail 12.10 (82) to 11.7 (73).

The win improves the Bulldogs to 11 wins, five losses and a draw for the season but they remain in fourth position and need one of Claremont, East Fremantle or West Perth to lose this coming Saturday while needing to Perth themselves at Mineral Resources Park.

Looking to put a dramatic week behind them after a change in coach, East Perth made a strong start with Angus Scott kicking the game's first goal before South Fremantle responded soon after thanks to Caleb Datson.

Nick Suban then ran hard into space to take a mark and slot a second goal for the Bulldogs before Datson was able to find some space out the back too and run into an open goal as the home team opened up an early 10-point lead.

The Royals had come on a mission, though, and responded with a couple of quick goals of their own courtesy of Harley Sparks and Tom Graham to regain the lead.

Brendon Ah Chee and Graham then traded goals just before quarter-time and that meant scores were all tied after an entertaining opening quarter down at the port.

South Fremantle again threatened to pull away for much of the second quarter dominated the opening 20 minutes and that saw the Bulldogs kick goals courtesy of Haiden Schloithe, Tyson Headland Mason Shaw.

That saw the Bulldogs push out to a 22-point lead but to East Perth's credit they were able to finish the half strongly with late goals from Tom Medhat, Kyle Hamersley and then after the siren, Sam Van Diemen, and it was just a four-point ball game at the half-time break.

It was East Perth's turn to threaten to open up a handy lead in the third quarter with the first two goals courtesy of Jackson Ramsay and Van Diemen to see the Royals open up an 11-point advantage.

South Fremantle had to respond and they did kick the quarter's last two goals from Brandon Donaldson and Shaw to tie scores up going into the three quarter-time break.

That set up a big finish with South Fremantle needing the win to stay in the top three hunt while East Perth was just looking to cap off a big week with a memorable win.

Christian Ameduri put the Royals back in front to start the final term but it didn’t take long for South Fremantle's to respond with Shaw kicking his third of the day.

The two teams then traded goals again with Van Diemen and Main kicking truly, but then it was the South Fremantle captain who added a second for the Bulldogs to wrap up the important 12.10 (82) to 11.7 (73) victory.

Mason Shaw continued his run of season-best form up forward for South Fremantle kicking another three goals from eight kicks, eight marks and three goals in the win. Caleb Datson also kicked two goals for the Bulldogs.

Haiden Schloithe also continued his blistering finish to the 2022 season by starring with another 31 possessions, eight marks, six inside 50s, four tackles and a goal.

Tom Blechynden also gathered 28 touches for the Bulldogs, Brendon Ah Chee 20, Chad Pearson 20, Toby McQuilkin 19, Steve Edwards 18 and Jordan Boullineau 16 to go with 10 marks.

Sam Van Diemen kicked three goals from six kicks and three marks for East Perth with Tom Graham also booting two goals in the opening term.

Angus Schumacher produced another strong performance in the middle for East Perth with 29 possessions, eight inside 50s, six marks and six tackles.

Hamish Brayshaw also gathered 24 touches for the Royals, Angus Scott 22, Stan Wright 21, Kye Willcocks 19, Kyle Hamersley 19 and Jack Cooley 18.

Scott Jones also got the better of his ruck battle with Hamish Free finishing with 13 touches, eight tackles, six marks and 56 hit outs.