WAFL Round 3 WrapSunday, April 23, 2023 - 10:00 PM - by Chris Pike

EAST Perth is the lone undefeated WAFL team left after three rounds after another standout performance on Saturday night following earlier Subiaco impressing against Claremont, South Fremantle beating Peel Thunder ahead of Sunday wins for West Perth and East Fremantle.

It turned out to be a fascinating weekend of WAFL action in Round 3 to commemorate ANZAC Day. It started on Saturday afternoon where two unbeaten teams Claremont and Peel Thunder both lost to Subiaco and South Fremantle respectively.

Then on Saturday night, East Perth delivered a terrific performance to remain undefeated and then on Sunday, West Perth and East Fremantle combined to ensure Swan Districts and the West Coast Eagles joined Perth as teams yet to taste a win three rounds into the WAFL season.

Round 3 began on Saturday afternoon with Subiaco handing Claremont its first loss of the season at Leederville Oval with the 14.10 (94) to 10.10 (70) victory.

South Fremantle bounced back from a loss last week and delivered Peel Thunder its first loss of 2023 with the Bulldogs winning 13.14 (92) to 6.12 (48) at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.

Then on Saturday night, East Perth kicked the first seven goals of the game to set up the eventual 17.13 (115) to 6.11 (47) victory over Perth at Lathlain's Mineral Resources Park.

The other two matches took place on Sunday beginning with West Perth finishing strongly to beat Swan Districts 12.9 (81) to 11.8 (74) at Steel Blue Oval.

East Fremantle also inflicted some more pain on the West Coast Eagles with the 25.11 (161) to 8.5 (53) win at Mineral Resources Park.

Meanwhile, Round 3 in the Reserves started on Saturday with South Fremantle beating Peel Thunder 15.12 (102) to 8.6 (54). 

Liam Brandis kicked four goals for the Bulldogs and Jack Blechynden three with Robbie Turnbull collecting 27 touches, Jarrad Doney 23, Jarrod Salmeri 22, Caleb Stephens 22 and Toby Dodds 22. Eric Benning kicked four goals for Peel with Aidan Hare picking up 35 disposals, Haydn Matthews 24 and Tyrone Thorne 22.

Subiaco's reserves also defeated Claremont 12.11 (83) to 8.13 (61) with Jordan Faraone kicking four goals for the Lions, Jack Mayo three and Ky Franceschini two. Corey Robinson had 22 touches and Connor Patterson 20.

Felix Rogers kicked four goals for Claremont with Declan Mountford gathering 21 touches.

Perth's reserves defeated East Perth 14.6 (90) to 8.10 (58) with Jaiden Hunter and Harry Quartermaine kicking three goals each, and Kristian Cary and Simon Hayward two apiece. Denzel More amassed 34 possessions, Brodie Gray 33, Jack Evans 23 and Jacob Peletier 22.

Brandon Ugle kicked three goals for East Perth and Sandon Page two with Spider Lockitt gathering 18 disposals, Page 17 and Darcy Miller 17.

Swan Districts then scored an 11.9 (75) to 10.8 (68) reserves win over West Perth with Tyrell Metcalf kicking three goals, Kristian Caporn two, Lawson Humphries two and Mitch Bain two. Bain also had 27 possessions, Humphries 23, Max Chipper 19 and Jacob Sideris 19.

Jack Demarte kicked four goals for West Perth with Rowan Garlett and Noah Farrow adding two each while Alec Johnson picked up 22 disposals, Kane Bevan 22, Griffith Julian 21 and Nate Dimanlig 20.

Saturday saw three matches played at Pentanet Stadium in the Colts Super Round beginning with Claremont beating Subiaco 18.18 (126) to 7.6 (48).

Sam Van Rooyen kicked five goals for the Tigers and Harry Cole three while Riley Disisto finished with 22 touches, Ryley Valli 21, Bailey Van Der Struyf 19 and Ed Greenaway 19. Ben Steinmann kicked three goals for Subiaco and Koopa Walsh two with Ethan Barbieri picking up 23 touches and Riley Wills 21.

Next up was Peel Thunder winning a thriller 14.9 (93) to 13.14 (92) against South Fremantle with Kaed Collard, Jude Axford and Austin Polmear kicking two goals for Peel. Reece Torrent racked up 22 possessions, Collard 19, Jackson Klepzig 18 and Mitch Edwards 38 hit outs.

Riley Plunkett kicked three goals for South Fremantle and Harry Elphick two with Ashton Ferreira compiling 21 disposals, Jacob Whan 21 and Callum Copeland 21.

Last up was Perth defeating East Perth 14.10 (94) to 9.5 (59) with Michael Hall kicking four goals for the Demons, Mitchell Keene three and Noah Cachard two. Keene also had 19 disposals, Oscar Hine-Baston 19, Cachard 19 and Coen Livingstone 19 to go with 34 hit outs and a goal.

Jacob De Santis kicked three goals for East Perth and Tyler Lindberg two while William Cassidy had 27 touches, Darcy Craven 27 and Bailey Harbour 25.

The last game of the round for the colts was Sunday at Steel Blue Oval with West Perth beating Swan Districts 10.11 (71) to 9.10 (64).

Matt Galjaardt and Kayle Gerreyn kicked three goals apiece for the Falcons with Camden Pires gathering 19 touches, Odin Jones 18, Mitchell Lonnie 17, Ashton Waters 17 and Callum Smith 17.

Riley Hardeman racked up 30 possessions for Swans, Luke Kelly 25, Otis Harvey 18, Jack Saunders 17, Chayse Martinson 16 and Evan Smith 15 to go with 29 hit outs, nine tackles and a goal.

WAFL PREMIERSHIP SEASON – ROUND 3

SUBIACO 14.10 (94) defeated CLAREMONT 10.10 (70)

It was a striking reversal of form at Leederville Oval on Saturday with Subiaco delivering a blistering first half to set up the eventual 24-point win against the previously undefeated Claremont.

Subiaco was fresh off a tough loss the previous week to East Perth while Claremont had been dominant in beating South Fremantle after a first up win against West Perth, but it was a different story on Saturday.

The Lions were hungry, motivated and ferocious from the outset and put eight goals to three on the board in the first half to set up the eventual 14.10 (94) to 10.10 (70) victory.

Ryan Borchet was playing his first game since the end of last season and made an instant and significant difference to the Subiaco forward-line kicking five goals from 14 possessions and four marks.

His combination with Ben Sokol was terrific who also kicked four goals from nine kicks and four marks.

It was a brilliant all-round showing from Subiaco especially considering they came into the game without their two best, and most prolific midfielders Stefan Giro and Leigh Kitchin, and then the in-form Max Walters had no influence either on Saturday.

Without the impact of those three stars, Subiaco delivered a strong performance including shutting down Claremont's prime movers with second gamer Koltyn Tholstrup limiting Jye Bolton to 11 possessions, and Rylie Morgan running with Bailey Rogers and holding him to 13 disposals.

Last year's Team of the Year member Liam Hickmott then stepped up for the Lions with 24 possessions, four tackles and a goal with Taj Schofield picking up 20 disposals, Jaimon Alone 18, Wil Hickmott 17 and Zac Clarke 10 to go with 31 hit outs in the ruck.

The Lions' defence was also superb led by Drew Rohde (24 possessions, 10 marks), Galen Savigni (19 disposals, eight marks, four tackles) and Angus Dewar (16 touches, seven marks).

Bailey Rogers kicked two goals for Claremont as did Tyron Smallwood but the Subiaco defence did well to limit Jack Buller to one early goal from his 10 kicks and five marks.

Callan England finished with 25 possessions for Claremont with Lachlan Martinis adding 23 disposals, Ronin O'Connor 20, Teia Miles 19 and Ben Edwards 18 while Oliver Eastland lifted for the challenge of Clarke in the ruck with 23 touches, 33 hit outs, six marks and five tackles.

Subiaco were blown away the previous week in a blistering start by East Perth and the signs of something similar were there early on Saturday with Claremont kicking the first two goals in just over four minutes thanks to Talon Delacey and Jack Buller.

However, this time the Lions were able to stem the tide and kicked the next four goals leading into quarter-time firstly through Ben Golding before Ben Sokol kicked another, and the returning Ryan Borchet added two for the Lions to be on top by 13 points at the first change.

Subiaco kept that momentum going with goals to Liam Hickmott and Drew Rohde to open the second quarter. Then with a goal just before half-time through Taj Schofield, the Lions were looking good with a 29-point lead over the undefeated Tigers.

Claremont got the perfect start to the second half with an early goal to Bailey Rogers, but they couldn’t build on that momentum with Borchet responding with his third in his first appearance of the season for Subiaco.

The two teams continued to trade goals the rest of the term with Subiaco still in control leading by 25 points at three quarter-time before a fourth goal to Borchet to open the last quarter saw that lead back out to 31 points.

Another to Sokol and it was 37 and from there Subiaco cruised to the impressive 24-point victory to hand Claremont its first loss since last year's grand final.

 

SOUTH FREMANTLE 13.14 (92) defeated PEEL THUNDER 6.12 (48)

South Fremantle hit back emphatically on home turf at Fremantle Community Bank Oval on Saturday to beat Peel Thunder by 44 points for their second win of the season.

The Bulldogs bounced back in the best possible way from last week's loss on the road to Claremont by producing a dominant performance from the outset against the previously undefeated Thunder on Saturday.

South Fremantle kicked eight goals to two in the first half to set up the eventual 13.14 (92) to 6.12 (48) victory with both teams now sitting on 2-1 records for the season after the opening three rounds.

Jacob Dragovich produced a brilliant performance as he thrives on his return after a year away for South Fremantle with 27 possessions, seven tackles, five marks, five inside 50s and two goals.

Jordan Gallucci, Brendon Ah Chee, Brandon Donaldson and Jimmy Miller all kicked two goals apiece as well for the Bulldogs.

The South Fremantle back-line was also superb with Noah Strom limiting Josh Treacy to four kicks and one goal while Chad Pearson finished with 28 possessions and 11 marks, Toby McQuilkin 26 disposals and eight marks, and Jordan Boullineau 15 touches and nine marks.

Ah Chee also racked up 27 possessions for the Bulldogs, Tom Blechynden 25, Dylan Main 23 (11 tackles), Manfred Kelly 21, Roan O'Hehir 21 on debut, Aiden Hall 20 and returning premiership hero Brock Higgins 15 to go with 26 hit outs and eight inside-50 entries.

Neil Erasmus continued his strong start to the season for the Thunder with 27 possessions and eight tackles with Clay Hall picking up 27 disposals, Traye Bennell 26, Ben Hancock 25, Nathan Wilson 23 and Karl Worner 21.

South Fremantle made the perfect start with an early goal thanks to captain Dylan Main, but when Peel responded through Clay Hall the stage was set for what loomed as a terrific contest.

But the Bulldogs had come out ready to make a statement and respond to last week's loss to Claremont, and added goals to Manfred Kelly, Brendon Ah Chee, Jimmy Miller and Brandon Donaldson leading into quarter-time where they would hold a 22-point advantage.

Both teams had trouble with their accuracy to start the second quarter and it took almost 17 minutes for the first goal to come and that was through a neat finish from Ty Anderson to help Peel cut the deficit to 18 points.

South Fremantle might not have kicked a goal up until 25-minute of the quarter, but the Bulldogs closed the half in blistering fashion with a pair of goals to Jordan Gallucci, and another to Jacob Dragovich which saw the home team in control by 36 points at the main break.

The Bulldogs then put their foot down further with a tremendous start to the second half beginning with a second goal to Ah Chee. Chase Bourne kicked a beauty soon after and suddenly the South Fremantle lead was out to nine goals.

Peel did go on a burst late in the third term with goals to Riley Smith, Josh Treacy and Jack Sears, but South Fremantle remained on top by 38 points at three quarter-time.

Donaldson then opened the last quarter with his second of the day to steady things for the Bulldogs and from there they went on to score the impressive 44-point victory with both teams now starting the season with two wins and a loss.

 

PERTH 6.11 (47) lost to EAST PERTH 17.13 (115)

East Perth produced its third straight hot start to a game this season and converted it into a third consecutive victory beating Perth by 68 points at Mineral Resources Park on Saturday night.

The Royals started their first two games of the season brilliantly too in wins against Subiaco and Swan Districts, and continued that trend on Saturday night at Lathlain with the first seven goals of the contest.

It was a brutal early performance from East Perth against the winless Perth with the Royals able to maintain the momentum on their way to the 17.13 (115) to 6.11 (47) victory to improve to 3-0 while the Demons are 0-3.

The powerful running and ball winning brigade that new Royals coach Ross McQueen now has at his disposal gives his team the ability to shift those players through the middle while rotating them forward and then to also provide great drive and run off half-back.

It's proving quite the weapon for East Perth and it was in full effect on Saturday night with Angus Scott racking up 36 possessions, Angus Schumacher 32, Mitch Crowden 28, Christian Ameduri 27, Tom North 26, Hamish Brayshaw 26 and Stan Wright 25.

All could be prime on-ballers in their own right, but the fact they can rotate between forward, on the ball and off half-back gives East Perth so many weapons with Crowden and Brayshaw also kicking two goals, and Schumacher, Ameduri and North one each.

Tom Medhat, Mitch Schofield and Jayden Peak also added two goals for the Royals.

Then from defence, Kye Willcocks also had 23 possessions and 13 marks for East Perth, and sam Van Diemen 20 disposals, 10 tackles, six marks and four inside-50 entries.

Oscar Bird managed to kick two goals for the Demons from six kicks as their only multiple goal scorer.

Victorian recruit Charlie Thompson continued his strong start to his time in the WAFL at Perth with 29 possessions with Corey Byrne also gathering 29 disposals, Michael Sinclair 26, Trent Manzone 26, Regan Clarke 25, Jack Cooley 25, Jacob Coniglio 23 and Conor McPartland 23.

East Perth made a flying start last week to set up the win against Subiaco, but the Royals were even more dominant early against Perth on Saturday night.

The Royals looked to be on another level with their ferocious attack on the ball, ability to run and carry it, to break the Demons tackling efforts and the way they were able to drive the ball forward with precision and kick truly in front of goal.

It was a mighty impressive opening and Hamish Brayshaw continued to enjoy the time he was spending forward given the way East Perth can rotate through the midfield. 

He kicked the game's first goal at the four-minute mark before co-captain Christian Ameduri added another soon after as did Jayden Peak.

Brayshaw then kicked a second before Mitch Schofield and Tom Medhat also kicked truly with East Perth kicking six goals in the quarter while holding Perth scoreless to already by 40 points up.

The Royals then had the first seven goals of the contest when Schofield added his second to start the last quarter before eventually Perth got on the board with a goal to dual Butcher Medallist Corey Byrne at the seven-minute mark of the second term.

The teams traded goals for the rest of the first half but still going into the main break it was the Royals in control leading by 39 points on the back of nine goals to three.

Tom North and Zach Jackson traded goals for either team to start the second half but East Perth wasn’t about to have a drop off after half-time like the first two weeks of the season despite the wins over Swans and the Lions.

Goals heading into three quarter-time from Peak, Mitch Crowden and Liam Tedesco put the result well beyond doubt with East Perth on top by 69 points.

It was Angus Schumacher's turn to add another goal for the Royals at the seven-minute mark of the final quarter and East Perth would cruise to the 68-point win from there to remain undefeated so far in 2023.

 

SWAN DISTRICTS 11.8 (74) lost to WEST PERTH 12.9 (81)

They were made to fight significantly harder for the win than eight days prior, but West Perth made it back-to-back wins this season with a thrilling seven-point win against Swan Districts at Steel Blue Oval.

Swans were chasing their first win of the season still after losing by a combined five points over the first two rounds against East Perth and East Fremantle in games where they would have been kicking themselves for not getting over the line in.

It was a similar story again on Sunday at Steel Blue Oval with Swans on top of the Falcons for much of the afternoon, but West Perth lifted when it mattered most to secure the 12.9 (81) to 11.8 (74) triumph.

On the back of his career-best 10 goals last week against West Coast, Tyler Keitel kicked another five for West Perth on Sunday from nine kicks and six marks in a fascinating battle with Jesse Glass-McCasker.

Nathan Murray was brilliant also at half-forward for the Falcons kicking three goals from 30 possessions.

Five-time fairest and best winner and dual premiership star Shane Nelson was superb again for West Perth with 40 possessions while Luke Meadows finished with 23 touches, Zac Guadagnin 21, Tristan Hobley 21, Ben Johnson 19, Aidan Lynch 18 and Noah Pegoraro 18.

Jesse Palmer and Chris Jones provided Swan Districts' with strong avenues to goal kicking three goals apiece. Jones also finished with 16 possessions, nine marks and four inside-50 entries.

The Swan Districts midfield were without Aidan Clarke and Tobe Watson with Frank Anderson still yet to return, and then lost Sandover Medallist Sam Fisher to a hamstring injury in the second half, but plenty of others stepped up.

None more so than vice-captain and reigning Swan Medallist Jesse Turner who finished with 36 possessions, six inside 50s, three marks and three tackles.

VFL recruit Jackson McLachlan made an impressive WAFL debut as well with 22 possessions, seven tackles and a goal with Jarvis Pina contributing 21 disposals and Ryan Kemp 17.

Nathan Blakely played his first league game since Round 9, 2020 and did well in the ruck with 17 touches, 17 hit outs and five tackles while down back, Brandon Erceg had another 20 possessions and nine marks, and Will Collins 17 touches and five marks. 

Seb Bright did well to limit the influence of West Perth livewire Keegan Knott too.

Swan Districts were hunting their first win of the season knowing their last win in the WAFL was also an impressive effort late last year over the Falcons. Swans started well too and it took less than a minute for co-captain Chris Jones to get them on the board.

The key forwards were getting set for a big afternoon when Tyler Keitel kicked West Perth's first up the other end but then it was Jesse Palmer who caught fire with two quick goals for the black-and-whites to the delight of the Bassendean locals.

Another before quarter-time to Greg Ottaviano and Swans had started hot with an 18-point edge over the reigning premiers.

Swans had started impressively but when Keitel kicked a second goal to start the second quarter, the Falcons were back within 13 points. However, Tom Edwards responded from the goal square soon after for the black-and-whites.

But then Nathan Murray kicked consecutive goals to bring the margin back to a straight kick for the Falcons and that's where it remained after Palmer and Keitel traded goals for either team heading into the half-time break.

Two quick goals in the opening six minutes to Jones to start the second half gave Swans the perfect beginning to try and hunt down that first win of the season, but the Falcons responded through their dynamic forward double act of Keitel and Keegan Knott.

Knott hurt his leg in the process of his clever goal, but not before bringing the Falcons back within seven points and that became one-point thanks to Luke Meadows shortly after.

Swans were still clinging to a two-point lead by three quarter-time but the Falcons claimed their first lead since the first quarter early in the fourth thanks to a goal to sharpshooter Mitch Dobson.

The home team regained the lead courtesy of Ben Hewett at the 13-minute mark but then Keitel added another for the Falcons to put the reigning premiers back on top by four points.

Murray's third of the day stretched the West Perth lead to 12 points and ultimately another from premiership winning small forward Joe Hinder sealed the win for the Falcons despite Swans keeping on fighting and getting one back late through Victorian recruit Jackson McLachlan on debut.

 

WEST COAST EAGLES 8.5 (53) lost to EAST FREMANTLE 25.11 (161)

East Fremantle made it consecutive wins this season and scored their third 100-point victory over the West Coast Eagles already with Sunday's 108-point demolition at Lathlain's Mineral Resources Park.

West Coast was just attempting to be competitive fresh off a 169-point loss to West Perth last Saturday while East Fremantle were looking for back-to-back wins after last week's narrow win over Swan Districts.

It didn’t take long for the result to be beyond doubt and the margin just to be decided and in the end East Fremantle piled on 25 goals to eight to end up winning 25.11 (161) to 8.5 (53).

Cody Leggett made his league return after his season ended after Round 9 last year with the Sharks and did it in style kicking five goals from 21 possessions on his old home ground.

Alex Montauban also kicked four goals for the Sharks, Josh Schoenfeld three, Dillon O'Reilly three, debutant Austin Ball three and the returning Jonathon Marsh two in his first game of the season.

Reigning Lynn Medallist Milan Murdock was brilliant for East Fremantle with 33 possessions, nine tackles and two goals with Kyle Baskerville also amassing 34 disposals, Tom Joyce 30, Tom Bennett 27, Harry Marsh 23, Schoenfeld 21 and Luke English 20.

Jack Downsborough and Shannon Lucassen kicked two goals each for West Coast with Josh Browne collecting 30 possessions, Jackson Nelson 29, Jed Kemp 24, Alec Waterman 20 and Callum Jamieson 17 to go with 26 hit outs in the ruck.

It might have taken East Fremantle nearly nine minutes to get the first goal on the board, but Josh Schoenfeld then kicked two in as many minutes before Cody Leggett marked his return with another at the 13-minute mark.

West Coast did get on the board courtesy of Shannon Lucassen and managed another before quarter-time thank to Jed Kemp but the Sharks managed four more of their own through Austin Ball, Dillon O'Reilly, Alex Montauban and O'Reilly again to be up by 33 points.

Leggett kicked two more to start the second term as he tries to make up for the frustration of having his 2022 ended prematurely through injury. Milan Murdock then added another for the Sharks and that was just the beginning of the procession.

East Fremantle would end up kicking eight goals to no score from West Coast in the second quarter to go into half-time in command to the tune of 84 points and last week's 169-point margin was in jeopardy.

However, to West Coast's credit they did well in the third quarter and even outscored East Fremantle four goals to two to cut the deficit to 69 points by three quarter-time.

The Sharks fired back up in the last term, though, and piled on another eight goals to two from the Eagles to win by 108 points for their third win by triple figures in their four victories in the WAFL over West Coast.