WAFL Team of the Week – Round 8Wednesday, June 7, 2023 - 8:12 PM - by Chris Pike

WHAT a fascinating WA Day Round in the WAFL it proved to be and despite the rough conditions, several ruckmen delivered dominant performances while a Claremont forward returned to kick five goals, a rising Swan Districts star kicked six and those were just the start of the star showings.

Round 8 in the WAFL was spread over Saturday, Sunday and then WA Day with the two traditional derby match ups and once again there was no shortage of players starring to put themselves in the mix for the Team of the Week despite the challenging weather conditions.

WA Day Round in the WAFL got underway on Saturday afternoon with a thumping 19.17 (131) to 6.11 (47) win for Claremont over Perth with Alex Manuel kicking five goals for the Tigers, Callan England brilliant through the middle and Jack Maibaum rock solid down back.

There were then two matches on Sunday with Swan Districts dominating the second half to beat the West Coast Eagles 16.18 (114) to 5.3 (33) with Tom Edwards kicking six goals while Jesse Turner and Aidan Clarke were prolific through the middle.

The other game on Sunday saw Subiaco win a tight one against Peel Thunder 8.14 (62) to 8.8 (56) in Mandurah with Liam Hickmott again tremendous through the middle for the Lions, Galen Savigni shining down back and Zac Clarke dominating in the ruck.

That all led into the WA Day Derby match ups beginning at the WACA Ground with South Fremantle making it 15 straight against East Fremantle. 

The Bulldogs’ defence stood tall led by Noah Strom and Jordan Boullineau with Matthew Parker terrific in the middle, and Kaden Harbour kicking three goals. Hugh Dixon played the best game of his career in the ruck for the Sharks.

Then there was East Perth beating West Perth for the first time in seven attempts with the 14.10 (94) to 8.10 (58) victory at Leederville Oval. 

East Perth’s midfield was again superb led by Mitch Crowden and Angus Schumacher with Scott Jones powerful in the ruck, and Nick Robertson inspirational down back. Luke Meadows did what he could to lift West Perth.

That all led into the selection of the Team of the Week for Round 8 from those who performed well in those five matches, so let's get to how it came together.

PLAYER OF THE ROUND – NICK ROBERTSON (EAST PERTH)

Nick Robertson has always been a player capable of inspirational performances both at the Brisbane Lions and East Perth, but never more so than what he produced in Monday’s WA Day win for the Royals against West Perth.

The biggest problem for Robertson has always been his ability to stay out on the field both in his time in Brisbane and then since returning to East Perth, and that has been impacted just with the brutal and physical way that he goes about his football.

At the same time, that’s what makes him such an inspirational teammate and intimidating opponent.

Robertson ended up playing 73 AFL matches at the Lions between 2014 and 2019, but after just five appearances in 2019, he was delisted afterwards and then joined East Perth ahead of the 2020 WAFL season.

He did end up playing seven games for five goals in that COVID interrupted season before 28 games for 25 goals over the past two seasons where Robertson played mostly as a forward for the Royals.

However, at the start of this season new East Perth coach Ross McQueen decided to throw Robertson back into the defensive set up to see if he could add some physicality back there, but also to take advantage of his ball using ability to set up play as an attacking weapon.

It sure has worked a treat and Robertson already had racked up games of 27 possessions against Claremont in Round 5 and 25 against South Fremantle in Round 6, but he went up another gear in the derby on Monday.

East Perth went on to win the game by 36 points and Robertson was right at the forefront of it all. He finished the game with 31 possessions, eight marks and two inside-50 entries.

But those numbers only tell part of the story of his impact. His long and accurate kicking was instrumental in setting the Royals up out of the back half, his ferocity was team lifting and he also did the job on former teammate Mitch Dobson holding him to two behinds for the day.

Players of the Round
Round 1 – Max Walters (Subiaco)
Round 2 – Tyler Keitel (West Perth)
Round 3 – Ryan Borchet (Subiaco)
Round 4 – Brady Grey (Peel Thunder)
Round 5 – Jaiden Hunter (Perth)
Round 6 – Cody Leggett (East Fremantle)
Round 7 – Zac Clarke (Subiaco)
Round 8 – Nick Robertson (East Perth)

WAFL TEAM OF THE WEEK – ROUND 8
BACK: Jordan Boullineau (SF), Noah Strom (SF), Jack Maibaum (C)
HALF-BACK: Galen Savigni (S), Jacob Blight (PT), Nick Robertson (EP),
CENTRE: Jesse Turner (SD), Callan England (C), Aidan Clarke (SD),
HALF-FORWARD: Lachlan Riley (SD), Tom Edwards (SD), Matthew Parker (SF)
FORWARD: Hugh Dixon (EF), Alex Manuel (C), Kaden Harbour (SF)
FOLLOWERS: Zac Clarke (S), Mitch Crowden (EP), Luke Meadows (WP)
INTERCHANGE: Scott Jones (EP), Milan Murdock (EF), Liam Hickmott (S), Angus Schumacher (EP)

BACK POCKET – JORDAN BOULLINEAU (South Fremantle)
He has settled in nicely to the South Fremantle back-line over the past 18 months after beginning his WAFL career with Peel Thunder. He is often given some significant jobs by coach Todd Curley including on Cody Leggett in the derby on WA Day who was coming off kicking 16 goals in his four games this season. The conditions obviously played a part, but he held him to one behind while also having nine possessions and five tackles himself.

FULL-BACK – NOAH STROM (South Fremantle)
Has been one of the league’s premier key defenders over much of his 96-game career and while he had a bit of a slow start to the 2023 season including missing Round 1, was right back to his defensive best in the WA Day Derby win. He is now 11-0 in derbies too and was outstanding on Monday especially being instrumental in holding Jonathon Marsh goalless. Also had 11 touches, eight tackles and four marks himself.

BACK POCKET – JACK MAIBAUM (Claremont)
Was seen as an important recruit for Claremont this season to become an anchor of the defence, and hasn’t disappointed. After spending time at the Sydney Swans, named in the VFL Team of the Year each of the past two seasons and has now fitted in seamlessly at Claremont this season. Had a good battle with Perth spearhead Harry Quartermaine on Saturday and also had nine touches, four marks and two tackles in a strong defensive performance.

HALF-BACK FLANK – GALEN SAVIGNI (Subiaco)
Subiaco’s defence has been outstanding all season long and he has been at the centre of it all as he continues the best form of his career that has now spanned 20 matches. Conditions were obviously not cut out for key forwards on Sunday, but the Lions back-line still was on top of the Peel forwards and he was not only solid defensively, but also had 19 disposals and three marks.

CENTRE HALF-BACK – JACOB BLIGHT (Peel Thunder)
At the top of Peel’s shopping list this past off-season was to bolster their key defensive stocks and they were delighted when they were able to lure him across from Claremont where he had played just seven matches. He’s slotted in perfectly as a key defender at Peel now this season working alongside AFL premiership player Joel Hamling. They teamed up to keep Subiaco duo Ryan Borchet and Jack Mayo to one goal between them, and he also had 20 possessions, seven marks and three tackles.

WING – JESSE TURNER (Swan Districts)
He was determined to bounce back after being tagged out of the game with just 11 possessions by Rylie Morgan last week against Subiaco, and hit back in emphatic fashion on Sunday in the win against West Coast. Was also captain for the day in the absence of Chris Jones and Brandon Erceg, and was brilliant in the big win for Swan Districts against West Coast with 37 touches, five inside 50s, three marks, three tackles and a goal.

CENTRE – CALLAN ENGLAND (Claremont)
Having spent much of his 75-game WAFL career at Claremont as a half-forward, he has been given more time to play as a regular midfielder in 2023 and is thriving in the role as a result. Is showing that he is a terrific winner of the ball around the stoppages and then is more than effective out in space too. He delivered a performance on Saturday against Perth made up of 33 touches, six marks, six inside-50 entries and three tackles.

WING – AIDAN CLARKE (Swan Districts)
What a spectacular return he’s made after a hamstring injury sidelined him for four weeks. He was back and on fire early last week against Subiaco, and kept his form rolling all day on Sunday in Swans’ big win against the West Coast Eagles. Ended the afternoon with 36 possessions, eight inside 50s, seven marks and a goal to have been named to the Team of the Week in all three games that he's played and not gone off injured in.

HALF-FORWARD FLANK – LACHLAN RILEY (Swan Districts)
Produced the best performance of his 47-game career at Swan Districts on Sunday against the West Coast Eagles. Split his time between playing in the middle and in his customary half-forward role, and was equally effective in whichever role he was playing. Finished the game with two goals to go with 27 possessions, five tackles and five inside 50s.

CENTRE HALF-FORWARD – TOM EDWARDS (Swan Districts)
It would have been a long week for the 23-year-old after he missed the chance to be the hero late the previous week against Subiaco, but he sure made up for it on Sunday with the best performance of his career in the win for Swan Districts against West Coast. He kicked six goals for the black-and-whites from 22 possessions and nine marks.

HALF-FORWARD FLANK – MATTHEW PARKER (South Fremantle)
Has returned to South Fremantle this season and after a bit of a hiccup early on where he was weighing up his future, he hasn’t taken long to settle back in and has become an important part of the midfield already. His ability to explode out of contests with the ball, and to run and carry it, and drive the Bulldogs forward is outstanding. He produced a derby performance consisting of 27 touches, five marks and five inside-50 entries.

FORWARD POCKET – HUGH DIXON (East Fremantle)
He might have always been thought of as more of a key forward who could pinch hit in the ruck, but through necessity he’s now spending most of his time on the ball for East Fremantle this season and it might very well be the making of him. With his size allowing him to do well in ruck contests and then his mobility allowing him to be important around the ground, he’s having a significant impact. Despite the conditions and the result, he was tremendous in Monday’s derby with 28 disposals, 35 hit outs and eight marks in the best performance of his 46-game WAFL career.

FULL-FORWARD – ALEX MANUEL (Claremont)
Claremont needed another forward option after losing Jack Buller to the Sydney Swans during the week in the mid-season draft and it was the perfect time for him to come back into the team for the first time this season after an injury-interrupted start. Was playing the 89th game of his career and ended up kicking five goals for the fourth occasion. Couldn’t quite set a new career-high but still had the five goals from 10 kicks along with laying four tackles.

FORWARD POCKET – KADEN HARBOUR (South Fremantle)
Was playing in the first derby of his career and just his third game this season since joining South Fremantle, and first since Round 2 having to earn back his place through the reserves. He made the most of his opportunity on Monday by kicking three of only seven goals between both teams for the entire game at the WACA Ground in what was a match-winning small forward performance from the 19-year-old.

RUCK – ZAC CLARKE (Subiaco)
What a weekend it proved to be for ruckmen across the WAFL but he again proved his class with another standout performance in the Subiaco victory against Peel in Mandurah. He came up against Fremantle’s Liam Reidy and the class gulf was significant as he finished with 18 disposals, 35 hit outs, five tackles and five inside-50 entries to earn a place in the Team of the Week for a sixth time already in eight rounds this season.

RUCK ROVER – MITCH CROWDEN (East Perth)
He was a gun recruit in the off-season with East Perth winning his services ahead of a host of other suitors, and he’s absolutely showing why. There’s plenty of guns in the Royals midfield this season and he’s one of them and he thrived in the conditions on Monday in his first derby against West Perth. Was just about a best on ground display as he finished up with 35 disposals, eight marks, seven inside-50 entries, five tackles and a go

ROVER – LUKE MEADOWS (West Perth)
West Perth didn’t have a lot of winners in the WA Day Derby at Leederville Oval but he certainly was one of them. Back on the same venue he won last year’s Simpson Medal on in the winning grand final, he was outstanding for the Falcons doing all he could to try and lift his team to the win. He ended up with 26 possessions, 14 tackles and three goals to be named to the Team of the Week for a third time this season.

INTERCHANGE – SCOTT JONES (East Perth)
Despite the challenging weather conditions, it was a weekend in the WAFL where ruckmen starred and he was one of them and was as instrumental as any player on the ground in East Perth’s big win against West Perth. Took full toll of his size and experience edge against Riley Sprigg to produce what might well have been the most emphatic display of his 90-game career to end up with 23 touches, 51 hit outs, four marks, four tackles and four inside-50 entries.

INTERCHANGE – MILAN MURDOCK (East Fremantle)
Is the reigning fairest and best winner at East Fremantle, played State football last month and continues to prove himself one of the elite midfielders in the competition. Despite the Sharks losing again to South Fremantle on Monday, he couldn’t have done much more and enjoyed getting down and dirty in the tough conditions. Ended up with 24 disposals and 11 tackles to earn a spot in the Team of the Week for a sixth time already in the first eight rounds.

INTERCHANGE – LIAM HICKMOTT (Subiaco)
With his captain Leigh Kitchin on the verge of rejoining him in the Subiaco midfield after getting through the reserves on Sunday, he is proving himself one of the best and most consistent midfielders in the WAFL. On the back of being named to the Team of the Year in 2022, he has even gone up another level in 2023 and had another 30 touches, six tackles and six inside 50s in the win against Peel in Mandurah.

INTERCHANGE – ANGUS SCHUMACHER (East Perth)
He won the Simpson Medal in the State game last month and has been named to the Team of the Week for a second time this season after another standout performance in the midfield for the Royals in the derby win against the Falcons. Finished with 34 possessions, five marks and four inside 50s to continue his career best run of form.
 

UNLUCKY BUNCH

There were plenty of players who delivered tremendous performances across Round 8 but couldn’t quite fit into the Team of the Round, including:

Claremont’s Max Minear, Tyron Smallwood, Oliver Eastland, Declan Mountford, Jye Bolton, Lachlan Martinis, Teia Miles, Jack Lewsey, Anthony Davis and Declan Hardisty.

Perth’s Jack Avery, Charlie Thompson, Jack Cooley and Corey Byrne.

Swan Districts’ Nathan Blakely, Jackson McLachlan and Jarvis Pina.

West Coast’s Josh Browne, Jackson Nelson and Harry Creasey.

Peel Thunder’s Sam Sturt, Will Brodie, Neil Erasmus, Ben Hancock, Liam Henry, Brady Grey and Karl Worner.

Subiaco’s Stefan Giro, Rylie Morgan, Angus Dewar and Ben Golding.

South Fremantle’s Jake Florenca, Jordan Gallucci, Dylan Main and Zac Strom.

East Fremantle’s Fraser Turner, Kyle Baskerville and Cam Eardley.

East Perth’s Shayne Hille, Liam Tedesco, Hamish Brayshaw, Angus Scott and Stan Wright.

West Perth’s Aaron Black and Noah Pegoraro.