WAFL Round 1 WrapMonday, April 10, 2023 - 5:51 PM - by Chris Pike

YOU couldn’t have asked for more from the opening round of the 2023 WAFL season with three Good Friday thrillers to open proceedings with wins for Claremont, East Perth and Peel Thunder before strong Saturday wins for South Fremantle and Subiaco.

If you could have an opening round with a tight grand final rematch, one-point thriller between two teams desperate to improve, a stunning Good Friday fight back, an under fire team making a statement and then the league's powerhouse showing ominous form, and you couldn’t have asked for more.

The 2023 WAFL season began with a grand final rematch and after having to watch West Perth raise the premiership flag from 2022, it was Claremont who prevailed 7.14 (56) to 5.12 (42) at Joondalup's Pentanet Stadium.

East Perth and Swan Districts are two teams with new coaches and trying to forge themselves into finals contenders again in 2023, and precious little separated them on Good Friday at Leederville Oval. In the end, the Royals prevailed 12.8 (80) to 11.13 (79) in a heartstopper.

The similarities to the Good Friday clash in Mandurah 12 months ago was then eerily similar. East Fremantle looked in control leading by 21 points at three quarter-time, but Peel Thunder kicked the only four goals of the last term to claim the 11.13 (79) to 11.9 (75) win at Lane Group Stadium.

The other two Round 1 matches took place on Saturday beginning with South Fremantle producing a commanding performance to beat the West Coast Eagles 15.12 (102) to 8.11 (59) at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.

The first round then finished under lights at Lathlain's Mineral Resources Park and Perth started life under Peter German in exciting fashion with five goals to two in the first quarter. 

However, Subiaco kicked nine goals to three from there to claim the 11.15 (81) to 8.7 (55) to claim a 13th consecutive win against the Demons.

Meanwhile, Round 1 in the reserves saw West Perth beat Claremont 9.20 (74) to 6.3 (39), Swan Districts defeat East Perth 10.13 (73) to 7.7 (49), East Fremantle beat Peel Thunder 9.7 (61) to 8.1 (49), and Subiaco down Perth 11.16 (82) to 10.7 (67).

And Round 1 of the colts saw Claremont beat West Perth 13.10 (88) to 4.8 (32), East Perth defeat Swan Districts 15.11 (101) to 8.8 (56), East Fremantle down Peel Thunder 11.11 (77) to 6.8 (44), and Perth defeat Subiaco 13.7 (85) to 10.8 (68).

 

WAFL PREMIERSHIP SEASON – ROUND 1

WEST PERTH 5.12 (42) lost to CLAREMONT 7.14 (56)

Nothing can make up for losing a grand final, but Claremont will be relieved to have started the 2023 season with a solid 14-point win over West Perth at Joondalup's Pentanet Stadium on Good Friday.

West Perth and Claremont played out a cracking grand final last year at Leederville Oval with the Falcons prevailing by 12 points, and then unveiled their premiership flag on home turf to open the new season on Friday.

That was done in front of the Tigers just in case they needed more motivation and it was Claremont on top throughout the afternoon to end up starting the new season with the 7.14 (56) to 5.12 (42) victory.

Claremont didn’t have a multiple goalkicker in the win but Jack Buller was a powerful presence in attack. He finished with 16 possessions and 10 marks, and it was only his kicking of 1.4 that stopped him from a dominant start to the season.

Callan England was also lively off half-forward with a goal to go with 21 possessions and eight marks with Talon Delacey another goal scorer to go with 13 touches and seven marks.

Jye Bolton opened the new season in ominous form for Claremont with another 28 possessions while Lachlan Martinis gave great run off half-back too with 26 disposals and seven inside-50 entries.

New recruit Teia Miles had an impressive debut too with 23 possessions and eight marks while Ben Edwards collected 22 disposals, Bailey Rogers 19, Ronin O'Connor 17 and Anthony Treacy 16.

Oliver Eastland proved the most effective ruckman in the game too with 13 touches and 24 hit outs.

Mitch Dobson kicked two goals for West Perth to be the game's only multiple goalkicker with Tyler Keitel kicking 1.3 from his 13 possessions and six marks. Small forward Keegan Knott managed just three behinds.

Reigning Simpson Medallist Luke Meadows racked up 26 possessions for West Perth while Ben Johnson gathered 24 touches, Shane Nelson 22, Conal Lynch 22, Tristan Hobley 20, Mitch Peirce 20 and co-captain Aaron Black 19.

Having just watched West Perth celebrate its premiership after beating them in last year's grand final, Claremont wasn’t lacking in motivation to start the game on fire on Good Friday with the Tigers dominating the opening quarter.

Jack Buller kicked the first goal of the season at the 10-minute mark and it was only some inaccurate kicking that stopped Claremont from leading by more than the nine points at quarter-time having kicked the only major of the quarter.

Then after West Perth scored a couple of behinds to open the second term, Claremont got some reward for its dominance with quick goals to Jason Carter and Bailey Rogers. 

Then when Callan England added another, Claremont had the only four goals up to the 23-minute of the second term to hold a 27-point advantage.

West Perth eventually got on the board for season 2023 thanks to Blake Wilhelm at the 26-minute mark who was one of the experienced players unlucky to miss out on last year's premiership side at the Falcons.

Conal Lynch then kicked another just before half-time but Claremont was still on top by 15 points at half-time.

West Perth spearhead Tyler Keitel opened the second half with his first goal of the new season but Claremont responded almost immediately thanks to Ronin O'Connor.

After goals had been so hard to come by in the first half, there was a brief flurry in the third quarter with Mitch Dobson and Jye Bolton kicking one each for their respective teams, but by three quarter-time the Tigers were still on top by 15 points.

It then took almost 19 minutes for the first goal of the last quarter with West Perth unable to make any inroads on the Claremont lead. The Tigers then made sure of the win with a goal to Talon Delacey before prevailing by 14 points.
 

EAST PERTH 12.8 (80) defeated SWAN DISTRICTS 11.13 (79)

East Perth and Swan Districts appeared tough to separate entering Round 1 and that was no different at Leederville Oval on Good Friday with a last gasp behind from Angus Scott seeing the Royals claim the one-point win.

Both East Perth and Swan Districts have new coaches in 2023, both teams are attempting to rise up the ladder and needed to get off to a good start on Good Friday, and what evolved was a thrilling battle.

The Royals were on top in the first half and led by 24 points at half-time, but Swans fired back in the third quarter and by early in the fourth term were nine points on top.

However, the Royals responded with the next two goals and then ultimately a behind to Scott in the dying stages secured the 12.8 (80) to 11.13 (79) victory.

East Perth looks like it will rely heavily on Tom Medhat to be its main target in attack again in 2023, and he stood up well on Good Friday to kick three goals from his eight kicks. Mitch Schofield also kicked two goals for the Royals.

East Perth co-captain Hamish Brayshaw was terrific with 26 possessions and two goals while Angus Schumacher picked up 21 disposals, Angus Scott 21, Alex Pearce 20, Sam Van Diemen 18, Stan Wright 17 and Scott Jones 14 to go with 47 hit outs, seven marks and a goal in the ruck.

Jesse Palmer and Lachlan Riley kicked two goals in the opening game of the season for Swan Districts while Jarrod Cameron was a livewire in attack and showed good signs despite kicking 1.4. He had nine kicks, four marks and four tackles.

Aidan Clarke was runner-up to Jesse Turner in last year's Swan Medal and opened up the new season in dominant fashion for Swan Districts with 38 possessions, eight inside 50s, six marks and a goal.

Turner wasn’t far behind again with 36 disposals and six inside-50 entries with Tobe Watson contributing 25 touches, Sam Fisher 25, Jarvis Pina 21 and co-captain Brandon Erceg 17 to go with six marks.

East Perth made the perfect start to the new season with a goal after just four minutes to spearhead Tom Medhat. 

The Royals then had the first two goals of the game with Hamish Brayshaw adding another four minutes later but Swan Districts responded thanks to Lachlan Riley to get on the board in 2023 themselves.

East Perth's good start continued further when Medhat kicked his second goal of the first term but Swan Districts were working into it too and goals to Jesse Palmer and Brayden Noble tied scores up just before quarter-time.

The goalkicking in an exciting opening term wasn’t done, though, with late goals to either team from Mitch Schofield and Jarrod Cameron, which ended up seeing East Perth lead by five points at quarter-time.

Again it only took four minutes into the second quarter for East Perth to get a goal through Schofield to stretch their lead to 13 points before Nick Bonomelli added another to put the Royals up by 18 points.

That advantage was out to 23 with a goal to ruckman Scott Jones. Chris Jones and Angus Scott traded goals for either side before half-time with the Royals maintaining their 24-point lead by the main break.

Swan Districts needed to start the second half well to stay a chance of beginning the season in winning fashion and it was a goal after just three minutes that gave them a promising start.

However, East Perth quickly answered with a third goal to Medhat but then it was all the black-and-whites for the rest of the third term with goals to Riley, Mitch Bain, Palmer and Aidan Clarke to see Swans have all the momentum and a two-point lead at three quarter-time.

Swans then pushed out to their biggest lead of the game early in the last term with a goal to Sam Fisher, but it wouldn’t last and the Royals would respond strongly firstly with a second goal to Brayshaw.

Scott then kicked his second and co-captain Christian Ameduri put them eight points in front but the game had more twists to come.

Swans big man Jesse Glass-McCasker made it a one-point game when he kicked truly at the 26-minute mark. A behind to Ryan Kemp brought scores level two minutes later, but it was a behind to Scott for East Perth soon after that secured the one-point win for the Royals.
 

PEEL THUNDER 11.13 (79) defeated EAST FREMANTLE 11.9 (75)

In a contest eerily similar to 12 months prior, Peel Thunder overran East Fremantle with the only four goals of the last quarter in Mandurah on Good Friday to score the four-point victory.

It's become an annual tradition for the Thunder and Sharks to do battle on Good Friday at Lane Group Stadium, and that included last year where Peel came from behind to kick seven goals to one in the last quarter for the 32-point win.

The Sharks controlled much of the first three quarters once again this time around to be 27 points on top late in the third quarter. 

However, Peel kicked the last five goals from there to claim the 11.13 (79) to 11.9 (75) win in a contest featuring two teams who played finals in 2022.

Neil Erasmus kicked two goals for the Thunder to go with 18 touches, seven tackles and five marks with Josh Corbett, Brody Wemm and Sam Sturt all kicking two goals as well throughout the game for Peel.

Will Brodie delivered a best on ground performance for Peel with 37 possessions, seven tackles, four marks and four inside-50 entries.

Karl Worner also finished with 27 disposals, Michael Sellwood 21, Traye Bennell 20, Corey Wagner 20, Ben Hancock 19, Brady Grey 18 and Josh Treacy 18 to go with 13 hit outs.

Luke English continued on from his standout 2022 season with East Fremantle kicking three goals to open 2023 from 17 possessions while Tom Bennett, Eddie Simpson and Brayden Lawler kicked two goals each. It was Lawler's first game with the Sharks after 121 with Peel and two premierships.

Milan Murdock is the reigning Lynn Medallist and opened the new season tremendously for the Sharks with 29 possessions and nine tackles with Kyle Baskerville collecting 25 disposals, Cam Eardley 24, Harry Marsh 21, Josh Schoenfeld 21, Fraser Turner 20 and Tom Joyce 18.

Reuben McGuire did well in the ruck for East Fremantle with 21 touches and 17 hit outs.

Peel got off to a strong start on home turf with the first three scores of the game including a goal to new Dockers forward Josh Corbett. 

The Sharks answered with a goal to dynamic half-forward Luke English but the Thunder had the early momentum and were out to a 14-point lead with goals to Brody Wemm and Jack Sears.

However, East Fremantle ended the first term well including a goal on debut with the Sharks to Peel premiership player Brayden Lawler. Another to Eddie Simpson and Peel's lead was just three points at quarter-time.

East Fremantle took charge in the second quarter starting with early goals to Tom Bennett and a second to Lawler. Then heading towards half-time and goals to Dillon O'Reilly and Harry Marsh helped last year's preliminary finalists to a 15-point lead at the main break.

The Sharks remained in control throughout the third quarter too with the lights taking over in Mandurah. Simpson's second goal put their lead back out to 21 points before a second to English as well just before three quarter-time had East Fremantle 27 points up.

It was a crucial goal on three quarter-time for the Thunder to Neil Erasmus that cut the deficit back to 21 points.

Peel delivered a stunning opening to the last quarter, though, and within the space of 13 minutes had grabbed the lead.

It started with a goal to Wemm before Sam Sturt kicked two in quick succession, and then it was Tom Emmett who put the Thunder in front at the 13-minute mark.

Both teams had plenty of chances the rest of the game, but there wouldn’t be another goal and the Thunder held on for the four-point victory.
 

SOUTH FREMANTLE 15.12 (102) defeated WEST COAST EAGLES 8.11 (59)

South Fremantle might have had plenty of hurdles to overcome coming into 2023, and still do, but the Bulldogs showed they are going to be no pushovers on field this season with a 43-point home win over the West Coast Eagles.

Not only has South Fremantle lost plenty of star power coming into 2023 with the retirements of Haiden Schloithe, Mason Shaw, Nick Suban and Steve Verrier, drafting of Hamish Free, and most recently with Blake Schlensog and Matthew Parker not there for the start of the season.

Throw in that Brock Higgins, Jackson Broadbent, Noah Strom and Jake Florenca were among the players not available for Round 1, and add in the fact South Fremantle is starting the season two games behind the competition, there were plenty of questions to be answered.

The Bulldogs took on the challenge impressively on Saturday at Fremantle Community Bank Oval with the first four goals of the contest on the way to the eventual 15.12 (102) to 8.11 (59) win against an admittedly also shorthanded Eagles.

Given Mason Shaw and Haiden Schloithe have taken 515 goals with them into retirement and that Matthew Parker and Blake Schlensog won't be part of the South Fremantle forward set up, a lot will rest on Jimmy Miller in 2023 and he stood tall on Saturday.

Miller matched his career-best performance with four goals from 15 touches, 12 hit outs, four marks and four tackles.

In his 99th game with the Bulldogs, Brandon Donaldson started the new season impressively too kicking three goals from 19 disposals while debutants Chase Bourne and Mackenzie Nield kicked two goals apiece.

Jacob Dragovich marked his return for South Fremantle after a break in 2022 and racked up 28 touches on the wing while in the middle, Tom Blechynden gathered 25 disposals, Dylan Main 22, Brendon Ah Chee 21 and Manfred Kelly 19.

Down back, Chad Pearson was terrific with 21 possessions and nine marks while holding Alec Waterman to just four kicks and one goal with Toby McQuilkin tremendous with 25 possessions and five marks.

In the absence of Jackson Broadbent and Brock Higgins, Solomon James did well on debut in the ruck with 39 hit outs.

West Coast didn’t have a multiple goal scorer while Zane Trew fought hard for 26 possessions, six marks, six tackles and five inside-50 entries.

Isiah Winder also gathered 22 disposals, Jackson Nelson 22 (12 tackles), Josh Browne 22, Cooper Nitschke 21, Xavier O'Neill 20 and Coby Burgiel 20.

It wasn’t the prettiest opening from either team and it took more than 13 minutes for the first goal to come which came courtesy of South Fremantle recruit Jordan Gallucci.

It then took just a couple of minutes for the Bulldogs to get another through another recruit, Mackenzie Nield, and then with Jimmy Miller adding another, South Fremantle had the only three goals to quarter-time to lead by 17 points.

A second goal to Miller early in the second quarter saw South Fremantle leading by 25 points with the game's first four goals before eventually the Eagles were on the board courtesy of Joey Deegan at the 12-minute mark.

South Fremantle soon after responded with a goal to another debutant, Chase Bourne, and then a second to Nield pushed the Bulldogs advantage to 30 points.

West Coast did at least build some momentum to go into half-time including a goal to Josh Browne but still the Bulldogs were in control leading by 21 points.

West Coast were then able to make it three goals in succession by kicking the first two goals of the second half thanks to Isiah Winder and Shannon Lucassen.

That cut the deficit to nine points but South Fremantle continued to have the answers and kicked away again with goals to Brandon Donaldson, a couple more to Miller, and then a second and third to Donaldson.

That saw the Bulldogs 34 points up by three quarter-time before Zac Strom pushed the lead out to 40 points to start the last quarter.

West Coast had a brief flurry with goals to Alec Waterman and Jack Eastough, but South Fremantle had all the answers and goals to Manfred Kelly and Bourne set the tone for the eventual 43-point victory.
 

PERTH 8.7 (55) lost to SUBIACO 11.15 (81)

Life under Peter German for Perth got off to an impressive start on Saturday night but Subiaco wore them down as the evening progressed to start the new season with a solid 26-point victory.

The Demons played host to the Lions at Mineral Resources Park on Saturday night with Perth starting strongly with five goals to two in the opening quarter with German coaching them for the first time against the team he took to two premierships in a stunning four-year stretch.

Subiaco went on to dominate the second half after trailing by a point at half-time with four goals to one to end up winning 11.15 (81) to 8.7 (55).

Dual Bernie Naylor Medallist Ben Sokol made a terrific start to the season for Subiaco with five goals from 13 kicks and seven marks. Michael Braut also kicked two goals.

Reigning fairest and best winner Stefan Giro made a standout start to the new season for Subiaco with another 31 possessions while Max Walters produced a classy performance made up of 25 touches, eight marks and two goals.

Liam Hickmott also had 23 touches, Drew Rohde 23, Jaxon McGowan 20, Noah Ash 18.

Zac Clarke ended up dominating the ruck with 19 disposals, 44 hit outs, five marks and four tackles.

Conor McPartland kicked two goals for Perth to go with 21 possessions while debutant Jacques Barwick also kicked two goals off half-forward.

Dual Butcher Medallist Corey Byrne amassed 33 possessions for Perth with Matt Taylor gathering 26 touches, Trent Manzone 25, Charlie Thompson 23 and Michael Sinclair 21.

There was great anticipation over how Peter German's Perth would look against Subiaco and the signs were exciting on Saturday evening beginning with a goal to Demons recruit Jacques Barwick.

Subiaco responded through Max Walters but it was an exciting start from the Demons with goals to Sam Stubbs and Liam Dellamarta.

The Lions kept in touch though Ben Sokol but it was the Demons getting the better of the first term and goals to Christian Martin and Oscar Bird helped the home team to a 20-point lead by quarter-time.

Former Demon Corey Hitchcock kicked truly for Subiaco to start the second quarter before Sokol added his second, and Walters a second to suddenly make it a two-point ball game.

Powerhouse Michael Braut then put the Lions in front before two late goals to Conor McPartland for Perth saw the Demons still take the narrow one-point lead into the half-time interval.

It took almost 10 minutes for the first goal of the second half but it eventually came through Subiaco debutant Koltyn Tholstrup. When Sokol kicked his third, Subiaco's lead was 14 points and still eight by three quarter-time.

Perth was still close enough at three quarter-time to end the losing streak against Subiaco, but it wasn’t to be with the Lions completely dominating the final term.

Subiaco had the only nine scores of the fourth quarter including two more goals to Sokol to give him five for the night with the Lions running out 26-point victors.