WAFLW Round 15 WrapMonday, June 19, 2023 - 10:18 AM - by Chris Pike

WITH Claremont already guaranteed to be WAFLW minor premiers in 2023, South Fremantle secured second position in Round 15 with Swan Districts locking in a finals position leaving East Fremantle and Subiaco fighting over the final position with a round to go.

The second last round of the 2023 WAFLW season took place on the weekend and things began to take shape with the Tigers and Bulldogs now guaranteed of the top two positions while Swans also are locked into a finals berth.

With one round to go, it's the Sharks and Lions now fighting over the last position in the top four with Subiaco's only hope of unseating East Fremantle is for a massive win against West Perth with the Sharks needing a heavy defeat in the process to Peel Thunder.

Round 15 in the WAFLW all took place across Saturday beginning at Revo Fitness Stadium with Claremont sending another statement as they chase back-to-back premierships beating West Perth 8.8 (56) to 0.0 (0).

South Fremantle then secured second position in a historic first finals appearance by beating Subiaco 5.6 (36) to 2.5 (17) at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.

The battle of the bottom two teams saw Peel Thunder snap a nine-game losing slide to defeat East Perth 7.2 (44) to 4.2 (26) at Mandurah's Lane Group Stadium.

The round wrapped up at the WACA Ground on Saturday night with Swan Districts guaranteeing a finals appearance with the 7.6 (48) to 5.4 (34) victory against East Fremantle.

Meanwhile, Round 15 of the Rogers Cup got underway on Saturday with West Perth continuing its charge to the finals with a 7.6 (48) to 0.1 (1) win against Claremont at Revo Fitness Stadium. Jamarah Woods, Mia Russo and Chloe Shearing all kicked two goals each for the Falcons.

South Fremantle defeated Subiaco 14.7 (91) to 2.7 (19) at Fremantle Community Bank Oval. Nicole Taylor-Thorpe kicked four goals for the Bulldogs, Rosie Anderson three and Alira Fotu three. Subiaco's goals came from Sunni-Quay Peters and Kennedy Thorpe.

Then on Saturday evening, East Fremantle defeated Perth 8.8 (56) to 3.3 (21) at Lathlain's Mineral Resources Park. Elsie Simpson, Tiani Teakle and Lexi Laffrey kicked two goals each for the Sharks. Perth's goals were kicked by Charlotte Glossop, Giordana Macri and Lucy Griffin.

The last game of the round took place on Sunday with Peel Thunder beating Swan Districts 6.3 (39) to 3.7 (25) at Steel Blue Oval. Peel had six single goalkickers in the win while Beelinda Gallagher kicked two goals for Swan Districts.

 

WAFLW PREMIERSHIP SEASON – ROUND 15

CLAREMONT 8.8 (56) defeated WEST PERTH 0.0 (0)

Claremont continued its dominance of this WAFLW season by keeping West Perth scoreless in a 56-point victory on Saturday at Revo Fitness Stadium.

Claremont might have already guaranteed themselves of finishing in top spot this WAFLW season before Saturday's game, but the Tigers aren’t taking their foot off the gas before finals as illustrated with their performance against the Falcons.

It has been a significantly improved season from West Perth but finals were already out of the question before Saturday. Claremont showed its class once more to remain undefeated in 2023 with the 8.8 (56) to 0.0 (0) victory.

Remarkably, Claremont has now outscored West Perth 35.36 (246) to 1.1 (7) over their four meetings in total so far in the WAFLW.

Adele Arnup continues to be a tremendous asset in front of goal for Claremont and she kicked another four majors on Saturday in the win from 14 disposals and eight marks.

Sarah Garstone also kicked two goals for the Tigers along with 21 touches, five marks and two goals.

Jayme Harken racked up 36 possessions in the midfield for Claremont while Kate Orme ended up with another 31 touches, Matilda Sergeant 31, Jacinta Valentini 18, Taylah Angel 17 and Kobi Nichols 17 along with 12 hit outs and three tackles.

Erin O'Brien collected 18 possessions for West Perth while Jessica Roper gathered 16 disposals, Karla Stagg 16, Jeevna Heer 15 and Kayla Van Den Heever 14 to go with seven tackles.

It did take until just seconds before quarter-time for the first goal of the game and that went the way of Sarah Garstone for the Tigers.

Claremont only managed to add the one goal as well in the second quarter and that came early thanks to Adele Arnup before the Tigers went into the half-time break leading by 17 points.

It took just over three minutes of the second half for Claremont to add a third goal of the game courtesy of Sarah Garstone before Arnup added a second for the day, and Rachel Ortlepp another before three quarter-time with the Tigers in control leading by 38 points.

Arnup added a third and fourth goal herself in the final term with Jacinta Valentini kicking another with Claremont winning by 56 points having held West Perth scoreless for the third time in the four meetings between the clubs in the WAFLW.

 

SOUTH FREMANTLE 5.6 (36) defeated SUBIACO 2.5 (17)

South Fremantle guaranteed its place in the finals in the 2023 WAFLW season by beating Subiaco by 19 points at Fremantle Community Bank Oval on Saturday afternoon.

It was a crucial game for both teams with South Fremantle looking to lock away a place in the finals of the competition for the first time with Subiaco also trying to enhance their prospects of being there.

It was the penultimate round of the season and raising the stakes for South Fremantle was the fact they were coming off the bye and two losses to Claremont and East Fremantle, so they hadn’t won for a while despite remaining in second position.

The Bulldogs would prove too strong for the Lions going on to win 5.6 (36) to 2.5 (17) with the result meaning South Fremantle now holds a 9-3 record with a draw to not only be guaranteed of playing finals, but also of a second place finish.

Subiaco is now precariously placed in fifth spot and need to score a thumping win against West Perth in the last round while needing East Fremantle to lose heavily to Peel Thunder at the same time.

Noa McNaughton kicked two goals in the win for South Fremantle from eight kicks to go with two tackles and two entries inside the forward 50.

Ariana Hetherington produced another commanding performance in the ruck for the Bulldogs and finished with 24 possessions, 21 hit outs, five marks and a goal.

Luci Gilchrist also picked up 20 touches for South Fremantle, Kloe Bassett 20, Renee Morgan 19, Lauren Vecchio 19 and Jasmine Bazeley 17.

Hayley Corlett kicked Subiaco's only two goals of the match in the first quarter and ended the afternoon with 11 possessions and five marks.

Tarni Golisano put together a strong performance despite the loss for Subiaco with the captain finishing the afternoon with 30 possessions, six marks, five tackles and four inside-50 entries.

Grace Hahnel also collected 21 disposals for the Lions, Tiah Toth 20, Olivia Crane 19, Madison Dodd 17 and Madizen Wilkins 16.

With so much at stake for both teams coming into the contest, it was Subiaco who got the better of the start at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.

The Lions would kick the only two goals of the opening quarter thanks to Hayley Corlett inside the first five minutes of the contest in what was a stunning start.

The only problem for the Lions was they wouldn’t kick another goal for the rest of the afternoon despite still leading by 13 points at quarter-time having held South Fremantle to just one behind.

It took more than eight minutes into the second quarter for South Fremantle to kick its first goal of the game and that came courtesy of Noa McNaughton.

That would be the only goal kicked by either team in the second term as well with Subiaco still leading by seven points at half-time.

It took just three minutes into the second half for Ella Ward to kick South Fremantle's second goal of the game to make it a one-point contest. McNaughton then kicked her second of the day heading towards three quarter-time and the Bulldogs were in front for the first time.

South Fremantle then confirmed the victory that locked away second position heading into the finals with goals in the last term to Ariana Hetherington and Hunter Cronin to secure the 19-point win.

 

PEEL THUNDER 7.2 (44) defeated EAST PERTH 4.2 (26)

The bottom two teams in the WAFLW for this season went to battle on Saturday at Lane Group Stadium and it was Peel Thunder snapping its losing slide with the 18-point victory.

It might have been another loss for East Perth in its winless inaugural season in the competition, but the signs were encouraging in Mandurah from the Royals as they kicked four goals for the first time in a game.

In the end, Peel proved too strong for East Perth with the Thunder snapping a nine-game losing streak with the eventual 7.2 (44) to 4.2 (26) victory on their home ground.

Makinley Minchin kicked two goals from five kicks and three marks in the win for Peel while Tanisha Anderson also kicked two goals from her six kicks and three tackles.

Thunder captain Ebony Dowson gathered another 19 possessions off half-back with Dakota Sexton ending up with 13 touches, Anna Watts 12, Greta McKinley 11 (14 tackles), Evie Cowcher 10, Emma-Lee Grundy 10 and Jordain Thompson 10 (20 hit outs, seven tackles).

Ebony Thompson kicked two of the four goals in the game for East Perth from six kicks, six hit outs, three marks and two entries inside the forward 50.

Chloe Sauzier continued her tremendous form for the Royals with 21 touches, five inside 50s and a goal while Matilda Bennett ended up with 13 disposals, five tackles, 36 hit outs and a goal from the ruck.

Tahlia Dawson-Gibbs also gathered 12 possessions for East Perth, Lillian Ninyett 11, Madeleine Goodman 10, Makayla Pugliese-Thompson 10, Julia Uhe 10 and Melisha Hardy 10.

With both teams looking for a drought breaking win to get a late season highlight, it was an even opening quarter with two goals apiece.

Peel's goals came from Makinley Minchin and Tanisha Anderson with East Perth's courtesy of Matilda Bennett and Ebony Thompson and that meant scores were all tied by quarter-time.

If the Royals were buoyed by their best start to a game in the WAFLW chasing a first win, Peel took those hopes away in the third quarter by keeping them scoreless and adding three goals themselves.

The Thunder's goals were kicked by Kira Phillips, Anderson and Jessica Ruland which put them on top by 18 points at the half-time break.

It was a goal apiece in the third quarter with Peel's coming from Minchin and East Perth's from Thompson with the Thunder still leading by 18 points by the last change.

It was one goal each once more in the last term with Holly Bilcich kicking truly for the Thunder and Chloe Sauzier getting on the board for the Royals but Peel cruised to the 18-point win to snap the nine-game losing slide.

 

EAST FREMANTLE 5.4 (34) lost to SWAN DISTRICTS 7.6 (48)

Swan Districts has guaranteed their finals position despite having lost the first four games of the season with Saturday night's 14-point win over East Fremantle at the WACA Ground.

The two teams were playing on Saturday evening at the WACA Ground knowing the winner would be secure in the top four with a round to go in the WAFLW season.

Swan Districts was on top from the outset, though, to go on and score the eventual 7.6 (48) to 5.4 (34) victory.

What that means is that Swans have now won eight of their past nine matches this WAFLW season after starting off with four successive losses. They are now guaranteed of playing finals while the Sharks aren’t quite locked in. 

East Fremantle will need to beat Peel Thunder in the last round to guarantee a spot.

Taylah Edwards made a hot start to the match for Swan Districts and ended up kicking four goals for the evening from 13 possessions and four marks. Courtney Zappara also kicked two goals from her six kicks.

Ruby Mahony continued her standout form in the midfield for Swan Districts with another 19 possessions and 10 tackles.

Hope Ugle-Hayward also finished with 15 disposals for Swans along with laying nine tackles with Tyla Fitzgerald picking up 14 touches, Kayley King 13, Eliza Gelmi 11, Emma Nanut 11 and Lily Paterson 11 to go with seven tackles.

Chloe Reilly and Grace Freeman kicked two goals apiece for East Fremantle.

Beth Beckett ended up with 18 possessions and 10 tackles for the Sharks while Caylen Crook collected 13 disposals, Sharon Wong 12 (11 tackles), Ashleigh Gomes 12, Hayley O'Donnell 11, Georgia Bett 11 and Anjelique Raison 11 to go with nine hit outs and eight tackles.

With the reward of guaranteeing a finals appearance for the win, the stakes were high for the clash on Saturday night at the WACA Ground. It was Swans who made the fast start with a goal inside the opening two minutes to Taylah Edwards.

East Fremantle did respond with a goal to Grace Freeman but it was a stunning start from Edwards and she's already proven her match-winning potential earlier this season for Swans. She kicked another two goals heading into quarter-time and suddenly the black-and-whites were leading by 13 points.

Swan Districts' lead then grew to 19 points to start the second term with a goal to Courtney Zappara but the Sharks quickly responded thanks to Mylee Leitch to keep things close.

It was still a 13-point lead for Swan Districts by the half-time break and the third quarter started in a similar fashion with Zappara kicking the first goal to help Swans open up a 20-point lead.

Edwards kicked a fourth goal of the evening soon after and Swans went out to a game high 27-point advantage. East Fremantle, though, did stay in touch with a late goal before three quarter-time from Chloe Reilly.

Swans again started the final term well with an early goal to Cassie McWilliam.

The lead for Swan Districts was soon back out to 27 points and despite East Fremantle kicking the last two goals from Freeman and Reilly, they couldn’t quite get close enough to threaten with Swans going on to win by 14 points to lock in another finals appearance in the WAFLW.