WAFLW Team of the Week – Round 15Tuesday, June 20, 2023 - 11:07 PM - by Chris Pike

IT was the second last round of the 2023 WAFLW season with time running out for players to make their case for the Team of the Year with a host of them delivering some standout performances.

The four matches in Round 15 of the WAFLW season saw some fascinating results and some tremendous individual performances from players along the way ranging from those making the Team of the Week for an eighth time to four players making it for the first occasion in 2023.

The penultimate round in the WAFLW got underway on Saturday afternoon with Claremont continuing its march to an undefeated season beating West Perth 8.8 (56) to 0.0 (0).

From that win for the Tigers, Kate Orme, Matilda Sergeant, Sarah Garstone, Adele Arnup, Jayme Harken and Jacinta Valentini were all named to the Team of the Week. Jess Roper made it from West Perth.

South Fremantle also secured a second place finish with the Bulldogs preparing to play finals in the WAFLW for the first time by beating Subiaco 5.6 (36) to 2.5 (17) at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.

From that win, Renee Morgan, Pia Durk, Hunter Cronin, Noa McNaughton and Ariana Hetherington made the Team of the Week from South Fremantle, and Madison Dodd, Hayley Corlett, Tarni Golisano and Olivia Crane are represented from Subiaco.

Peel Thunder was able to snap its nine-game losing streak by beating East Perth 7.2 (44) to 4.2 (26) at Mandurah's Lane Group Stadium.

From that win, Peel had Ebony Dowson once again make the Team of the Week as did Chloe Sauzier once more from East Perth.

The last game of the round was Saturday night at the WACA Ground with Swan Districts locking in a finals spot beating East Fremantle 7.6 (48) to 5.4 (34).

From that win, Taylah Edwards and Ruby Mahony made the Team of the Week from Swan Districts as did Beth Beckett from the Sharks.

WAFLW TEAM OF THE WEEK – ROUNDS 15

BACK: Ebony Dowson (PT), Jess Roper (WP)
HALF-BACK: Renee Morgan (SF), Pia Durk (SF), Madison Dodd (S)
CENTRE: Kate Orme (C), Matilda Sergeant (C), Chloe Sauzier (EP)
HALF-FORWARD: Sarah Garstone (C), Taylah Edwards (SD), Hunter Cronin (SF)
FORWARD: Hayley Corlett (S), Adele Arnup (C)
FOLLOWERS: Ariana Hetherington (SF), Jayme Harken (C), Tarni Golisano (S)
INTERCHANGE: Ruby Mahony (SD), Noa McNaughton (SF), Jacinta Valentini (C), Olivia Crane (S), Beth Beckett (EF)

Each week of the WAFLW season during 2023, we will be selecting a Team of the Week and here's how the side for Round 15 came together from this weekend's action.

The two full-back positions for the Round 15 Team of the Week went the way of Peel Thunder's Ebony Dowson and West Perth's Jess Roper.

Dowson is having a fine season as captain of Peel and she continued that form in Saturday's win against East Perth. She earned a spot in the Team of the Week for an eighth occasion on the back 19 possessions and three marks.

Roper is one player having a breakout season for the improved West Perth in the back-line this season. Despite a scoreless game against Claremont from the Falcons, she fought hard with 16 touches, three marks and three tackles.

The half-back line consists of South Fremantle pair Renee Morgan and Pia Durk along with Subiaco's Madison Dodd.

Morgan is a 16-year-old who has burst onto the scene at WAFLW level in the second half of the season for South Fremantle and shown what an exciting future she has. She was outstanding again on Saturday in the win against Subiaco with 19 touches, six tackles, four inside 50s and three marks.

Her teammate, Durk, is significantly more experienced at WAFLW level for South Fremantle but the 25-year-old is equally effective down back against Subiaco ending up with 14 possessions and two marks.

In the same game, Dodd continued her strong form for Subiaco despite the defeat and was named to the Team of the Week for a fourth occasion this season ending up with 17 disposals and four tackles.

There were again plenty of midfielders who produced strong showings in Round 15 and in the end, the three on-ball positions went to Claremont's Matilda Sergeant, her teammate Jayme Harken and Subiaco's Tarni Golisano.

Claremont produced another dominant performance to keep West Perth scoreless on Saturday with Sergeant earning a place in the Team of the Week for a seventh time now this season. She finished with 31 possessions, 10 marks and four inside-50 entries.

Another player who has become a regular in the Team of the Week from Claremont is Harken. She earned a spot for an eighth time in 2023 thanks to a season-high 36 touches, three marks, three inside 50s and two marks.

Subiaco captain Golisano did all she could to lift her team despite the loss to South Fremantle. She ended up with 30 touches, six marks, five tackles and four inside 50s to make the Team of the Week for a sixth time.

The wing positions went the way of Claremont's Kate Orme and East Perth's Chloe Sauzier.

Orme has been in some scintillating form for Claremont with the former West Coast Eagles AFLW winger splitting her time between coming off half-back and playing on the wing. She spent more time up the ground on Saturday and finished with 31 disposals, eight marks and six inside 50s.

Sauzier has been one of the shining lights in East Perth's inaugural WAFLW season and she found herself in the Team of the Week for a fourth time after ending up with 21 possessions, five inside-50 entries and a goal against Peel.

Once again the ruck spot in the Team of the Week went the way of South Fremantle's Ariana Hetherington.

It continues to be a remarkable transition from basketball to football from Hetherington and you would have to think AFLW clubs are seriously considering giving her an opportunity. She had another 24 touches, 21 hit outs and a goal in South Fremantle's win over Subiaco.

The half-forward line for this week consists of Claremont's Sarah Garstone, Swan Districts' Taylah Edwards and South Fremantle's Hunter Cronin.

Despite being a key player once again in Claremont's dominant season in 2023, Garstone found herself named to the Team of the Week for a first time after she kicked two goals to go with 21 touches and five marks against West Perth.

Edwards had a brilliant start to Saturday night's game for Swan Districts against East Fremantle. She kicked two early goals and then ended the evening with four goals from 13 touches, four marks and two tackles in the win that locked in a finals position.

Cronin was another player named to the Team of the Week for the first time this season after she kicked a goal in Saturday's win against Subiaco to go with 13 possessions, two marks and two inside 50s.

The two full-forward positions are taken up by Hayley Corlett from Subiaco and Adele Arnup from Claremont.

Corlett kicked two goals in the first quarter for Subiaco against South Fremantle. They proved to be the only two goals in the game for the Lions while she also had 13 touches, five marks, five inside-50 entries and two tackles.

Arnup was a livewire around the goals once again for Claremont with the Tigers scoring another big win against West Perth. She kicked another four goals to now have 24 for the season to go with her 14 possessions and eight marks for the game.

The interchange is then made up of Swan Districts' Ruby Mahony, South Fremantle's Noa McNaughton, Claremont's Jacinta Valentini, Subiaco's Olivia Crane and East Fremantle's Beth Beckett.

One Swan Districts player who has been instrumental in their charge to the finals is Mahony. She had another terrific game on Saturday night against East Fremantle with 19 possessions and 10 tackles to make the Team of the Week for a sixth time.

McNaughton was another player for South Fremantle who had a big say in the win against Subiaco that secured a top two finish. She kicked another two goals for the Bulldogs from 11 possessions, two tackles and two inside 50s.

Valentini was yet another player who has been having a huge say in how well Claremont has done this year and was instrumental in the win against West Perth for the reigning premiers. She finished with 18 disposals, seven marks, five inside 50s, three tackles and a goal.

Crane fought valiantly once more for Subiaco as well despite the loss to South Fremantle. She earned a spot in the Team of the Week for a fourth time in 2023 thanks to 19 disposals, nine tackles and seven marks.

East Fremantle might have lost at the WACA Ground to Swan Districts on Saturday evening, but Beckett couldn’t have done much for the Sharks ending up with 18 touches and 10 tackles.