WAFLW Round 6 WrapMonday, April 17, 2023 - 1:48 PM - by Chris Pike

SUBIACO won the battle of Leederville Oval co-tenants, Claremont remained undefeated at the expense of South Fremantle, Swan Districts got on the board and East Fremantle kept winning as the WAFLW season resumed.

After a break over Easter, the WAFLW season resumed on the weekend beginning on Saturday morning with Subiaco celebrating the 150th game of captain Tarni Golisano to defeat East Perth 8.11 (59) to 0.2 (2).

Then on Saturday afternoon, East Fremantle made it four straight victories since a first up loss to Claremont beating Peel Thunder 7.11 (53) to 3.0 (18) at Mandurah's Lane Group Stadium.

The other two Round 6 matches took place on Sunday afternoon with Swan Districts recording its first win of the season beating West Perth 10.12 (72) to 3.3 (21) at Steel Blue Oval.

The last game of the round then featured the two teams yet to lose in 2023 and it was the reigning premiers Claremont who defeated South Fremantle 8.2 (50) to 5.4 (34) at Revo Fitness Stadium.

Following Round 6 of the WAFLW season, it's Claremont clear on top of the ladder with a perfect 5-0 record. East Fremantle is second at 4-1 just ahead of South Fremantle who have three wins, a loss and a draw.

Subiaco rounds out the top four with two wins, two losses and a draw ahead of West Perth (2-3), Peel Thunder (2-3), Swan Districts (1-4) and East Perth (0-5).

Meanwhile it was also Round 6 in the Rogers Cup season and on Saturday morning in Mandurah, Peel Thunder defeated Perth 10.7 (67) to 3.3 (21). 

Ashlee Norwood kicked four goals for the Thunder, Jade Bell three and Charlotte Beard two. Perth's goals were kicked by Bindi Pickett, Paige Linton and Mahalia Rukuata.

East Perth defeated Subiaco in the battle of Leederville Oval co-tenants 3.11 (29) to 1.0 (6). The only three goals of the game went to the Royals from Makayla Rogers, Fatoumata Toure and Stephenie Massaboi.

West Perth scored a 5.8 (38) to 2.5 (17) victory against Swan Districts at Steel Blue Oval with Chloe Shearing starring in the win for the Falcons with four goals. The goals for Swans were kicked by Sienna Gerardi and Tamzyn Beros.

South Fremantle also defeated Claremont 7.8 (50) to 6.1 (37) at Revo Fitness Stadium. Leila Fotu and Nicole Taylor-Thorpe kicked two goals each for the Bulldogs while Jayde Musika kicked two goals for the Tigers.

 

WAFLW PREMIERSHIP SEASON – ROUND 6

SUBIACO 8.11 (59) defeated EAST PERTH 0.2 (2)

Subiaco dominated East Perth in the first ever WAFLW battle between the Leederville Oval co-tenants running out 57-point winners on Saturday morning.

The Lions put together a dominant performance with the only nine scoring shots of the first half and then holding the Royals to just two behinds on the way to the eventual 8.11 (59) to 0.2 (2) victory.

The win improves Subiaco to fourth position on the WAFLW ladder with two wins, two losses and a draw while the Royals have lost all five matches in their inaugural season by an average of 52.4 points.

Beth Schilling finished the game kicking two goals for Subiaco from her six kicks, four hit outs, three marks and two inside-50 entries.

Captain Tarni Golisano was brilliant for the Lions in her 150th game for the club with 29 possessions, four tackles and a goal with Madison Dodd finishing with 17 touches, Tiah Toth 16 and Amy Mulholland 14.

Sarah Madden fought hard for East Perth to finish with 20 possessions, five tackles and three marks with Lillian Ninyett gathering 12 disposals, Chloe Sauzier 12 and Makayla Pugliese-Thompson 11 to go with nine tackles.

It was the first ever WAFLW meeting of the Leederville Oval co-tenants and Subiaco started strongly with the only two goals of the first quarter thanks to Amy Mulholland and Kelsey Patterson.

The Lions then managed the only seven scores of the second quarter as well including goals to Beth Schilling and Kate Pocsidio which saw them take a 29-point advantage into half-time against the scoreless Royals.

East Perth did get a score on the board early in the second half but it was just a rushed behind before Subiaco pulled further ahead with goals to Joanne Cregg and Jess Pillera to go into three quarter-time leading by 43 points.

Schilling then kicked her second goal to open the fourth quarter and while East Perth did manage a behind thanks to Taylah Suda, a goal to finish to Tarni Golisano in her milestone game saw Subiaco run away with the 57-point victory.

 

PEEL THUNDER 3.0 (18) lost to EAST FREMANTLE 7.11 (53)

East Fremantle continues to build some impressive form this WAFLW season with a 35-point win in Mandurah against Peel Thunder on Saturday.

Coming off last season where East Fremantle went through the home and away season undefeated before losing the grand final to Claremont, the Sharks have won their past four matches after a first up loss in 2023 to the Tigers.

East Fremantle proved too strong for Peel Thunder on Saturday at Lane Group Stadium winning 7.11 (53) to 3.0 (18) with the Sharks improve to 4-1 on the season while the Thunder are 2-3.

Ashlee Atkins and Anjelique Raison kicked two goals each for East Fremantle with Atkins also having 18 possessions, eight marks and six tackles, and Raison 16 disposals and seven marks.

Ashleigh Gomes had a terrific game through the middle for the Sharks with 28 possessions, seven inside 50s, six tackles and five marks with Sharon Wong finishing with 23 touches, Larissa Versaci 21, Samara Pluschke 20 and Beth Beckett 18.

Peel's three goals came from Bridey Jackman, Sophie Johansen and Ebonee Hardie.

Peel captain Ebony Dowson did what she could to inspire her team off half-back with 25 possessions for the game while Kayla Bradshaw finished with 19 disposals, Krystal Carter 18 and Gracie Fenton 15.

It was complete domination from East Fremantle in the opening half beginning with a goal in just under five minutes through Ashlee Atkins. That would be the only goal of the first quarter with the Sharks leading by nine points at quarter-time.

It was Anjelique Raison who kicked East Fremantle's first goal of the second quarter before Larissa Versaci and Lauren Catherine got in on the fun as well.

Raison then closed the first half with her second and East Fremantle had dominated going into half-time leading by 37 points and having kept the Thunder scoreless.

It had been a rough opening half for the Thunder but they did at least start the second half better with an early goal to Ebonee Hardie.

However, the Sharks steadied once more with a second goal of the day to Atkins before at least Peel did finish the third term with a goal to Sophie Johansen to cut the East Fremantle advantage to 33 points.

It was a goal each in the last quarter with Bridey Jackman adding one for the Thunder and then Tayah Palmer kicking one for the Sharks with East Fremantle going on to score the thumping 35-point victory.

 

SWAN DISTRICTS 10.12 (72) defeated WEST PERTH 3.3 (21)

Swan Districts is on the board for the 2023 WAFLW season after Sunday's 51-point thumping win against West Perth at Steel Blue Oval.

Despite Swan Districts having been a regular finals team in the formative seasons of the WAFLW competition and West Perth having not won a game coming into 2023, the fortunes of both had been different coming into Sunday's contest.

Swans had lost their opening four matches of the season while the Falcons had been impressive winning two of their four including a terrific last up win over the Thunder, but the black-and-whites got things going impressively on Sunday at Bassendean.

Swan Districts ended up with 22 scoring shots to six for the afternoon along with 34 inside-50 entries to 16, 61 extra possessions than West Perth and ended up claiming the 10.12 (72) to 3.3 (21) victory.

Taylah Edwards put together a dominant performance in the win for Swan Districts not only kicking three goals but finishing with 20 possessions and eight marks. Lily Paterson also kicked two goals from five kicks for the black-and-whites.

Ruby Mahony also picked up 20 possessions for Swan Districts while laying 10 tackles with Jaime Henry finishing with 20 disposals, Abbygail Bushby 18, Isabela Edgley 17, Jasmine Ware 16 and Sarah Wielstra 14 to go with 23 hit outs in the ruck.

West Perth's three goals for the game came courtesy of Grace Betti, Elissa Price and Katherine Bennett.

Kayla Van Den Heever ended the afternoon with 20 possessions and eight tackles for West Perth with Karla Stagg picking up 17 touches and Emily Bennett 16 to go with 10 tackles.

While West Perth came into the game full of confidence and Swan Districts were still chasing a first victory of 2023, it was Swans who kicked the first goal at the eight-minute mark thanks to Taylah Edwards.

West Perth responded five minutes later through Elissa Price and a terrific contest was brewing, but Swans had come out firing and closed the opening term with goals to Sarah Wielstra and Tyla Fitzgerald to hold a 14-point edge by quarter-time.

It took almost 13 minutes of the second quarter for a goal to be scored with both teams a little inaccurate, but it was Swans who broke the trend thanks to Courtney Zappara which helped the home team to a 23-point lead by the main break.

After a string of four behinds to Swans to start the second half, it was West Perth who got a goal on the board through Katherine Bennett to bring the margin back to 21 points. 

But Swans responded with a second goal to Edwards and that saw the home team up by 26 at three quarter-time with that first win of 2023 within touching distance.

While West Perth did kick the first goal of the last term thanks to Grace Betti, it was all Swans from there as they produced their best football of the season to close the game with goals to Kayley King, Lily Paterson (two), a third to Edwards and Indiana West to claim the commanding 51-point win.

 

CLAREMONT 8.2 (50) defeated SOUTH FREMANTLE 5.4 (34)

It was the battle of undefeated teams on Sunday at Revo Fitness Stadium and the reigning premiers Claremont kept its record in tact with the 16-point victory against South Fremantle.

Coming off winning last year's premiership, Claremont had won its first four matches of 2023 coming into Sunday's clash, but South Fremantle had been impressive too with three wins and a draw.

That set the stage for a fascinating contest and it didn’t disappoint with little separating the teams all afternoon.

Even though Claremont won 8.2 (50) to 5.4 (34), Claremont had just the one extra scoring shot for the game while South Fremantle had four more entries inside the forward 50, and the Tigers only had 30 extra disposals than the Bulldogs.

Adele Arnup kicked another two goals for Claremont to make the most of her chances from three kicks with Ella Slocombe also kicking two goals for the Tigers.

Matilda Sergeant finished the afternoon with 17 possessions for Claremont with Madeleine Scanlon also collecting 17 disposals, Rachel Ortlepp 15, Sarah Viney 15, Claire Ortlepp 15 and Jasmin Stewart 14 to go with eight tackles and a goal.

South Fremantle's goal scorers were Noa McNaughton, Ariana Hetherington, Charli Wicksteed, Tahleah Mulder and Ella Ward.

As well as kicking a goal, Mulder gathered 20 possessions and have five inside-50 entries and laid three tackles for South Fremantle.

Kloe Bassett also gathered 18 possessions and laid eight tackles for the Bulldogs with Lauren Vecchio amassing 17 touches and Hetherington 15 to go with 17 hit outs and the goal.

South Fremantle had yet to lose in 2023 and were up for the challenge against the reigning premiers on Sunday starting the game with the first three scores of the contest. 

However, they were all behinds with Claremont ending up kicking the only goal of the first quarter through Jasmin Stewart to take a three-point lead into quarter-time.

The Tigers then dominated the first 10 minutes of the second quarter including getting goals from Adele Arnup, Jacinta Valentini and Brooke Whyte to shoot out to a 22-point lead before South Fremantle got a first goal of the contest from Ella Ward.

The Tigers responded before half-time with a second to Arnup but the Bulldogs stayed in touch just before the break thank to Charli Wicksteed to cut the Claremont lead to 16 points at the main change.

Claremont snuffed out any chance for South Fremantle with the first goal of the second half in less than three minutes courtesy of Ella Slocombe. Matilda Husband would extend that lead to 28 points heading towards three quarter-time but the Bulldogs did get one back before the siren thanks to Tahleah Mulder.

Claremont made sure of the result with the opening goal of the last term with Slocombe adding her second of the contest.

To South Fremantle's credit, it fought the game out well with the last two goals from Ariana Hetherington and Noa McNaughton, but Claremont still secured the 16-point win to remain unbeaten in its premiership defence.