WAFLW Team of the Week – Round 1Wednesday, March 15, 2023 - 5:30 PM - by Chris Pike

ROUND 1 of the 2023 WAFLW season is in the books and the Team of the Week has been announced with 21 deserving players all being acknowledged for their performances.

The 2023 WAFLW season saw four fascinating match ups across the weekend with eight teams taking part in the competition for the first time following the entry of East Perth.

It was East Perth who played host to the opening game of the season as well up against West Perth, and the Falcons prevailed to record their first WAFLW victory winning 9.8 (62) to 2.2 (14).

Then on Saturday evening in Mandurah, Peel Thunder started its season with a hard earned win at home beating Swan Districts 4.3 (27) to 2.10 (22).

The other two Round 1 matches took place on Sunday afternoon with Claremont winning the Grand Final rematch against East Fremantle 4.3 (27) to 2.9 (21) at Joondalup's Pentanet Stadium.

Subiaco and South Fremantle then played out a draw with the Lions 5.4 (34) and Bulldogs 4.10 (34).

From those four matches, there were plenty of starring performances and they were featured in the Team of the Week for Round 1.

WAFLW TEAM OF THE WEEK – ROUND 1
BACK: Leanne Gubbins (EF), Abby Barnden (PT)    
HALF-BACK: Ebony Dowson (PT), Jayme Harken (C), Jessica Valvasori (EP)
CENTRE: Kayley King (SD), Jade Briggs (PT), Sharon Wong (EF)
HALF-FORWARD: Grace Betti (WP), Jacinta Valentini (C), Ebonee Hardie (PT)
FORWARD: Tristin Ogonoski (EP), Kelsey Patterson (S)
RUCK: Ariana Hetherington (SF), Emily Bennett (WP), Jess Cox (SD)
INTERCHANGE: Kate Orme (C), Lauren Quaife (SD), Casey Byrne (SF), Olivia Crane (S), Claire Ortlepp (C)

Each week of the WAFLW season during 2023, we will be selecting a Team of the Week and here's how the side for Round 1 came together from the weekend's action.

Starting with the back-line and it's East Fremantle's Leanne Gubbins and Peel Thunder's Abby Barnden who take up those two positions.

Gubbins was terrific for the Sharks against Claremont with 15 possessions and two tackles while Barnden marked her return for Peel for the 2023 season with 14 disposals and four tackles.

The half-back line was then made up of Peel captain Ebony Dowson, Claremont's Jayme Harken and East Perth captain Jess Valvasori.

Dowson enjoyed her first game as Thunder captain in 2023 by finishing with 24 possessions, four tackles and three marks. Harken had a strong performance for Claremont with 17 disposals, six marks, four tackles and four entries inside the forward 50.

Valvasori captained East Perth in her team's first ever WAFLW game on Saturday against West Perth and she battled hard with 13 touches, four marks and four tackles.

Then in attack, the scores were up across the board in the WAFLW competition for the opening of the 2023 season with some impressive forward performances.

Some of those split their time between playing in the midfield and going forward with West Perth's Grace Betti a shining example of that. She kicked two goals to go with 19 possessions as part of the Falcons' first ever WAFLW win.

Claremont's Jacinta Valentini was terrific in the win against East Fremantle with two goals along with 14 disposals, six marks and five inside-50 entries while Peel's Ebonee Hardie kicked two goals to go with 13 touches and five tackles in the win against Swan Districts.

East Perth's first two goals in the WAFLW competition were both kicked by Tristin Ogonoski to earn her a spot in the Team of the Week in the full-forward line along with Subiaco's Kelsey Patterson who kicked two goals from six kicks in the draw with South Fremantle.

The ruck position is a fascinating story for Round 1 and that position goes to Ariana Hetherington from South Fremantle. In her WAFLW debut she had 15 possessions, 15 hit outs, four inside 50s, three marks and three tackles as she makes the move from a strong basketball career.

Hetherington has played 138 games in the SBL/NBL1 West competition at the Rockingham Flames where she has been captain and is a championship winner.

Then it was West Perth's Emily Bennett, Swan Districts' captain Jess Cox and Peel Thunder's Jade Briggs named as the on-ballers along with fellow midfielders Swan Districts' Kayley King and East Fremantle's Sharon Wong.

Bennett produced 22 possessions, seven tackles, four marks and inside 50s with Cox delivering 28 touches, eight tackles, six inside 50s and five marks, Briggs 19 disposals, six tackles and six inside-50 entries, King 15 touches and five inside 50s, and Wong 18 possessions and four tackles.

The interchange was then made up of Claremont's Kate Orme, Swan Districts' Lauren Quaife, South Fremantle's Casey Byrne, Subiaco's Olivia Crane and Claremont's Claire Ortlepp.

Orme racked up 16 possessions to begin Claremont's premiership defence while Quaife played her first game in the ruck for Swans after crossing from Peel Thunder and finishing with 20 hit outs.

Byrne kicked two goals in South Fremantle's draw with Subiaco where Craine racked up 22 possessions for the Lions, and Ortlepp had 19 touches, five marks and three tackles for Claremont.