WAFLW Round 2 WrapMonday, March 20, 2023 - 3:51 PM - by Chris Pike

REIGNING premiers Claremont remain the lone WAFLW team with two wins after the opening two rounds of the 2023 season after beating Peel Thunder on Sunday with Round 2 victories also for South Fremantle, East Fremantle and Subiaco.

West Perth, Claremont and Peel Thunder were the three teams coming off Round 1 victories to open the 2023 WAFLW season, but now following the weekend's action it's only the Tigers who have won both their first two matches.

Round 2 of the 2023 WAFLW season got underway at Fremantle Community Bank Oval on Saturday evening with South Fremantle scoring its first win of the campaign beating East Perth 11.9 (75) to 1.3 (9).

The Bulldogs are yet to lose now still in 2023 after a draw first up against Subiaco while the Royals are winless after their opening two games since joining the competition.

Last year's minor premiers East Fremantle got on the board for 2023 by beating the wooden spooners of 2022, West Perth, 5.10 (40) to 1.6 (12) at Joondalup's Pentanet Stadium.

Both teams are now 1-1 after two rounds with the Sharks bouncing back from the Round 1 loss to Claremont with West Perth coming off a first ever WAFLW win against East Perth.

Next up on Sunday was Subiaco notching its first win of the season beating Swan Districts 8.9 (57) to 1.4 (10) at Bassendean's Steel Blue Oval.

Subiaco now has a win and draw from the opening two rounds while it's been a tough start for Swan Districts with the losses to Peel and the Lions.

The last game of the round was the battle of the teams who have shared the last three premierships with Claremont defeating Peel Thunder 2.13 (25) to 1.1 (7) at Revo Fitness Stadium.

Claremont has now won its opening two matches of the new season in defence of last year's premiership while Peel couldn’t quite back up its first up win over Swan Districts.

Meanwhile, in Round 2 of the Rogers Cup Youth Girls competition, East Perth started off on Sunday morning defeating Perth 11.11 (77) to 1.3 (9) at Lathlain's Mineral Resources Park.

The Royals were able to upset the debut in the competition of the Demons with Annabel Parkinson kicking four goals and Angelique Pugliese-Thompson two. Ella McKrill was Perth's first ever Rogers Cup goalkicker.

Later on Sunday, West Perth won a heart stopper 7.5 (47) to 7.4 (46) against East Fremantle at Pentanet Stadium. Mia Russo kicked three goals in the win for the Falcons with Athena Mendoza also booting three for the Sharks.

Subiaco then defeated Swan Districts 6.12 (48) to 5.4 (34) at Steel Blue Oval. Nisreen Marouff kicked two goals in the win for the Lions with Jasmyn Ihanimo also kicking two for the Swans.

Claremont also scored a Rogers Cup win against Peel Thunder, prevailing 7.5 (47) to 3.3 (21) at Revo Fitness Stadium.

Georgia Webb kicked two goals for Claremont with one each to India Bonadeo, Ruby Freeman, Bec Anderson, Savannah Muir and Charlotte Tompkin. Esther Amory, Ava Jean Rowley and Lucy Kane kicked a goal each for the Thunder.

WAFLW PREMIERSHIP SEASON – ROUND 2

SOUTH FREMANTLE 11.9 (75) defeated EAST PERTH 1.3 (9)

South Fremantle put together an impressive performance in their home opener on Saturday night to beat East Perth by 66 points.

The Bulldogs kicked the opening nine goals of the game to set up the eventual victory at Fremantle Community Bank Oval as they opened their account for the 2023 WAFLW season after a draw last Sunday against Subiaco.

It was tough going for East Perth once again in just their second ever game in the WAFLW competition, but South Fremantle was in the exact same position back in 2020 when the Bulldogs first entered the competition.

South Fremantle had two winless seasons before a vastly improved 2022 and now the Bulldogs have grown further in 2023 so the Royals will at least be able to see what their path forward is despite some early growing paints.

South Fremantle finished the game on Saturday night with the 20 scoring shots to four from 45 inside-50 entries to 12.

The Bulldogs also ended up with having 81 more possessions than East Perth, laying 18 more tackles and taking seven more marks in the 11.9 (75) to 1.3 (9) victory.

Noa McNaughton kicked three goals for South Fremantle in the win from seven kicks and six handpasses.

Makaela Tuhakaraina was terrific as well for the Bulldogs finishing with 16 possessions, 10 tackles and two goals while Zoe Huggett also kicked two goals to go with 10 disposals and six hit outs.

Tahleah Mulder finished the game with 21 possessions, eight inside 50s and five tackles for South Fremantle while Liusaidh Gilchrist racked up 18 disposals, Bethany Bond 18 and captain Lauren Vecchio 16 to go with 11 tackles.

Ariana Hetherington was strong in the ruck once more in just her second WAFLW appearance with 14 possessions, 25 hit outs, five inside-50 entries and five tackles.

East Perth's lone goal came courtesy of Matilda Bennett who also had 10 possessions, 13 hit outs and six tackles.

East Perth captain Jessica Valvasori finished with another 12 possessions and three tackles while Madeleine Goodman collected 12 touches and seven tackles. Lillian Ninyette also had 11 possessions, Emily Boothman 10, Julia Uhe 10 and Chloe Sauzer 10.

It took just over a minute for South Fremantle to kick the first goal of the game through Makaela Tuhakaraina. Noa McNaughton soon added another and by quarter-time the Bulldogs had the only eight scoring shots to lead the Royals by 18 points.

The Bulldogs might have been inaccurate in the first quarter kicking 2.6, but that changed in the second term with the home team kicking four goals from their four scoring attempts.

Zoe Huggett kicked the first two of those goals before McNaughton and Tuhakaraina added their second goals each of the half which saw South Fremantle head into the half-time break leading by 43 points with East Perth going in scoreless.

South Fremantle continued its dominance to open the third quarter with another three goals in just over the first nine minutes, coming through Casey Byrne, Bethany Bond and Liusaidh Gilchrist.

Eventually East Perth's first score of the game came at the 12-minute mark and that was a behind to Shannon De Bari, but the Bulldogs still went into three quarter-time leading by 60 points.

East Perth opened up the fourth quarter with its first, and ultimately only, goal of the game kicked by Matilda Bennett. South Fremantle responded with the last two goals of the contest from McNaughton and Cali Hunt to end up winning by 66 points.
 

WEST PERTH 1.6 (12) lost to EAST FREMANTLE 5.10 (40)

East Fremantle shook off a slow start to kick four goals to nil in the second half to beat West Perth at Pentanet Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

The Sharks might have been the undefeated minor premiers from last year and the Falcons the winless wooden spooners, but it was East Fremantle coming off a Round 1 loss to Claremont while West Perth was fresh off a first ever WAFLW victory against East Perth.

The Falcons started well on Sunday at Pentanet Stadium and scores were still all level at half-time, but East Fremantle would quick the only four goals of the second half on the way to the 5.10 (40) to 1.6 (12) victory.

All five of East Fremantle's goals came from single scorers with a goal each to Ashlee Atkins, Gabby O'Sullivan, Georgie Cleaver, Chloe Reilly and Anjelique Raison.

O'Sullivan also racked up 24 possessions, six marks and four inside-50 entries for the Sharks with Ashleigh Gomes collecting 23 disposals, Jae Flynn 21, Atkins 20, Beth Beckett 19, Sharon Wong 18 and Raison 18 to go with 13 hit outs.

West Perth's lone goal of the contest came courtesy of Liliana Grassenis while Grace Betti continued her good form From Round 1 with another 20 possessions and five tackles.

Jess Roper ended up with 16 disposals for the Falcons, Brooke Hongell 15 and Erin O'Brien 14.

West Perth was fresh off its only WAFLW win the previous week against East Perth and the Falcons got off to a solid start on Sunday on home turf with the only three scores of the first quarter against East Fremantle.

The Falcons couldn’t quite convert any of those into a goal with three behinds but they did have the wind behind their backs and were able to keep the Sharks scoreless going into quarter-time.

West Perth then opened the second quarter with the first goal of the game thanks to Liliana Grassenis which put the onus back on East Fremantle to respond in the hunt of a first win for 2023 after the first up loss to Claremont.

East Fremantle did work its way on top during the second quarter but could only manage one goal to Gabby O'Sullivan after kicking four behinds to see scores all square between the teams heading into half-time.

The Sharks were able to kick the only two goals of the third quarter thanks to Anjelique Raison and Georgie Cleaver but still the Falcons were in touch at three quarter-time with the margin just 13 points.

That lead for East Fremantle grew to 19 points to start the fourth quarter with a goal Tara Maciupa and eventually Chloe Reilly sealed the deal with the only other goal of the last term with the Sharks going on to win by 28 points.
 

SWAN DISTRICTS 1.4 (10) lost to SUBIACO 8.9 (57)

Subiaco kicked the only six goals of the first half against Swan Districts on Sunday at Steel Blue Oval to set up the eventual 47-point victory.

Swans were playing their first home game at Steel Blue Oval for the season on Sunday and attempting to bounce back from a narrow first up loss on the road to Peel Thunder, but Subiaco arrived on a mission to make up for an opening round draw with South Fremantle.

The Lions dominated the first half away from home on Sunday with six goals in the opening half to just three behinds from the Swans.

Swan Districts' lone goal of the game came in the third quarter but the home team wasn’t quite able to mount a comeback with Subiaco going on to score the 8.9 (57) to 1.4 (10) victory for a first win of 2023.

Kelsey Patterson and Jess Ritchie both kicked two goals apiece for Subiaco with Patterson also having 12 possessions and four marks, and Ritchie 12 disposals, six hit outs and five marks.

Subiaco captain Tarni Golisano was outstanding with 25 possessions along with five marks, four tackles and a goal.

Joanne Cregg continued her strong early season form for the Lions with another 21 possessions while Tiah Toth finished with 20 disposals, nine tackles and a goal.

Madison Dodd also had 16 possessions for Subiaco, Olivia Crane 15, Eva Popovsky 14 and Kate Pocsidio 14.

The lone goal for Swan Districts was kicked by 17-year-old Tamzyn Beros in the third quarter.

It turned out to be a tough afternoon for Swan Districts but Jaime Henry came into the team after starting the season in the Rogers Cup team and showed why she's part of the leadership group. She finished with 19 possessions, five tackles and three marks.

Captain Jess Cox finished with another 15 possessions, six tackles, five marks and three inside 50s for Swans with Hope Ugle-Hayward gathering 13 disposals, Jasmine Ware 13, Kayley King 12, Carys D'Addario 12, Demi Liddle 12 and Isabella Edgley 12.

Sarah Wielstra also ended the game with 12 touches and 16 hit outs in the ruck.

While Swan Districts did manage a behind to both start and finish the opening quarter, in between Subiaco put its stamp on the contest with three goals courtesy of Jess Ritchie, Kelsey Patterson and Tiah Toth to head into the quarter-time break leading by 16 points.

A second goal for the Lions to Patterson at the 10-minute mark of the second term pushed the Subiaco lead out to 22 points which soon became 30 with a goal to Eva Popovsky and then 36 with another to Tarni Golisano.

Subiaco took that six-goal advantage with them into the half-time interval before Swan Districts did get on the board with their first goal of the game less than two minutes into the second half courtesy of Tamzyn Beros.

There wouldn’t be another goal in the third quarter for almost 14 minutes after a string of six Subiaco behinds. That goal came to Ritchie just before three quarter-time and her second of the game put the Lions in front by 42 points at the last change.

Subiaco kicked the only goal of the last quarter as well through Joanne Cregg to end up winning the contest by a commanding 47 points over Swans.
 

CLAREMONT 2.13 (25) defeated PEEL THUNDER 1.1 (7)

Reigning premiers Claremont might have only kicked two goals for the game but dominated all other areas on the way to the 18-point Round 2 at home against Peel Thunder on Sunday.

It was a first home game of the season for Claremont at Revo Fitness Stadium as they celebrated last season's premiership triumph, and they did put together a dominant showing against the Thunder.

The only problem for Claremont was not being able to put their advantage on the scoreboard. As a result, Peel did kick the first goal of the game in the first quarter but the Thunder didn’t manage another goal the rest of the game.

Eventually Claremont did kick two goals in the second half on the way to the 2.13 (25) to 1.1 (7) victory.

The Tigers won by 18 points but finished the game with 15 scoring shots to two which came from 44 inside-50 entries to 16. Claremont also ended up with 95 extra possessions than Peel while also laying 10 more tackles and taking five more marks.

Claremont's two goals of the game were both courtesy of Adele Arnup from her four kicks along with three marks and three tackles for the afternoon.

Tigers midfielder Jasmin Stewart was outstanding in the win for the reigning premiers finishing with 31 possessions, five tackles, five inside-50 entries and three marks.

Jayme Harken also ended up with 26 possessions, six tackles, five marks and five inside 50s with Jacinta Valentini finishing the game with 26 touches, three marks and three tackles.

Kate Orme ended up with 18 possessions, Eva Campo 18, Ella Smith 17, Emily Elkington 17 (10 tackles) and Matilda Dyke 13 in the ruck to go with 25 hit outs and five tackles.

Peel's lone goal of the contest came from Tanisha Anderson who also finished with five kicks and five marks.

Evie Cowcher had a big game for Peel largely off half-back with 29 possessions, eight marks and four tackles with Ebony Dowson also finishing with 19 disposals and four tackles.

Krystal Carter ended up with 18 touches along with 19 tackles while Jorja Haines had 18 possessions and Ebony Bilcich 12 in her first appearance of the 2023 season.

Claremont started well on home turf with the first three scoring shots of the game, but each of those turned out to be behinds.

Peel would only have one scoring shot in the first term but that was a goal to Tanisha Anderson and that saw the Thunder lead by three points at quarter-time.

The Tigers once again had the majority of play and attempts on goal in the second quarter but once again couldn’t convert. 

Claremont had five more behinds in the second term and while that meant they claimed a one-point lead by half-time, the Tigers were goalless at the break with the Thunder having kicked the only goal of the half.

Eventually Claremont kicked its first goal of the game 11 minutes into the third quarter thanks to Adele Arnup. That helped the Tigers to a nine-point lead by three quarter-time.

Claremont had the only five scores of the final term including a second goal to Arnup to secure the eventual 18-point victory on the back of 15 scoring shots to two for the afternoon.