WAFL Round 15 WrapSunday, July 23, 2023 - 9:40 PM - by Chris Pike

SWAN Districts snatched a second straight nail-biting WAFL win in Round 15 on Saturday while West Perth stayed alive in the finals hunt, Subiaco hit back and East Perth further consolidated top spot by making it eight straight victories.

There were four games in the WAFL for Round 15 on Saturday and they were all eventful in their own way with the Royals moving further clear in top spot, the Lions snapping their losing slide, the Falcons winning the grand final rematch in style, and Swans winning another thriller.

The opening game of Round 15 took place at Mandurah's Lane Group Stadium on Saturday and East Perth got better the longer the game went on the way to the eventual 15.6 (96) to 9.15 (69) victory against Peel Thunder.

Then later on Saturday afternoon, Subiaco snapped a three-game losing streak to remain solid inside a finals position by making it 13 straight wins against Perth, prevailing 18.14 (122) to 6.7 (43) at Leederville Oval.

Next up and it was the second grand final rematch of the season and West Perth was able to turn the tide on Claremont from Round 1 to produce perhaps their best performance of the season with the Falcons winning 17.12 (114) to 9.11 (65) at Revo Fitness Stadium.

Last up for Round 15 saw the West Coast Eagles appear on track for a first win of the season at different points at Steel Blue Oval but ultimately Swan Districts found a way to sneak out with the 12.11 (83) to 12.8 (80) victory.

There were three matches in Round 15 of the Reserves on Saturday starting with Peel Thunder beating East Perth 9.9 (63) to 7.7 (49) at Lane Group Stadium.

Lachlan Cullen kicked four goals for Peel while Tay Wyburd ended up with 29 touches, Cameron Gavin 18, Deon Welhan 14 and Lachlan Beverly 14.

Sandon Page kicked two goals for East Perth with Zach Raykos racking up 38 possessions, Adam Boules 21, Patrick Reilly 20, Taylor North 19 and Mitch Miller 19.

Then at Leederville Oval, Subiaco set the tone for the league clash later in the day by beating Perth 21.15 (141) to 6.8 (44).

Fillimone Muavou kicked five goals for Subiaco, Lachlan Vanirsen four, Josh Robbins two, Corey Robinson two and Jake South two. Michael Braut finished with 26 touches, Jordan Snadden 24 and Jaxon McGowan 20.

Liam Dellamarta racked up 28 disposals for the Demons, Connor McDonald 20 and Nyika John 18.

West Perth also won a thriller against Claremont at Revo Fitness Stadium, winning 5.10 (40) to 5.8 (38). The Falcons trailed by 18 points at three quarter-time but kicked the only three goals of the last term to snatch the win.

Callum Johnson gathered 23 possessions for West Perth, Kane Bevan 22 and Michael Mallard 17 to go with 36 hit outs. Morgan Davies gathered 31 touches for Claremont, Joel Western 27, Ben Elliott 26, Ben Clarke 21 and Mitch Barron 20.

There were also three games in Round 15 of the Colts beginning on Saturday morning with Subiaco defeating Perth 7.15 (57) to 5.8 (38) at Leederville Oval.

Malakai Champion kicked three goals for Subiaco with Lachlan O'Keefe picking up 29 touches, Tyler Senge 26, Riley Wills 26, Ethan Barbieri 23 and Champion 21.

Michael Hall kicked two goals for Perth with Jake Watson collecting 30 touches, Kalib Dempster-Park 25 (12 tackles), Noah Murray 16, Elijah Scoble 15 and Coen Livingstone 15 to go with 26 hit outs.

Claremont also opened the day at Revo Fitness Stadium beating West Perth 13.9 (87) to 6.8 (44).

Harry Cole kicked six goals for the Tigers, Cody Angove two and Hamish Davis two. Bailey Banfield also picked up 23 possessions, Kai Dehavilland 22, Daniel Curtin 19, Bailey van der Struyf 17 and Ashton Bryant 17.

Codan Daddow and Odin Jones kicked two goals each for the Falcons with Jones also having 22 possessions and 17 hit outs. Matt Galjaardt picked up 20 touches, Kyle Wilcox 18 and jack Wooden 18.

The last game then took place on Saturday afternoon in Mandurah with East Perth ending up beating Peel Thunder 13.4 (82) to 10.6 (66).

Brody Delaney had an afternoon to remember kicking five goals for the Royals with Xavier Walsh adding three and Bienfait Kihusa two. Tyler Lindberg gathered 24 disposals, William Cassidy 20, Alexio Yiannakis 19 and Sam Graham 19.

Ethan Logan kicked three goals for Peel, Toby Jenkins two and Cooper Kelly two. Bronson Martin picked up 19 touches, Kyelan Sanders 18, Logan 18 and Jesse Grant 16.

 

WAFL PREMIERSHIP SEASON – ROUND 15

PEEL THUNDER 9.15 (69) lost to EAST PERTH 15.6 (96)

East Perth took charge after quarter-time at Lane Group Stadium on Saturday to overpower Peel Thunder to win by 27 points and confirm top position on the WAFL ladder after Round 15.

The Royals moved into first place with a win against Claremont the previous week but it was the Thunder who came out strongly on Saturday in Mandurah with the only three goals of the opening term.

However, from there East Perth took charge outscoring Peel 15 goals to six for the rest of the afternoon on the way to the eventual 15.6 (96) to 9.15 (69) victory.

The win sees the Royals finish the round a game clear on top of the ladder having now won eight straight matches for the first time since they went on a 10-game winning streak back in 2014.

Meanwhile, Peel slips to fifth position with a 9-5 record with four games remaining holding just a two-game break over the sixth-placed West Perth.

It was Liam Tedesco's turn to deliver a match-winning career-best performance up forward for East Perth on Saturday. He ended up kicking six goals for the day from nine kicks and five marks.

Sam van Diemen, Mitch Crowden, Michael Randall and Riley Saunders all kicked two goals each as well for the Royals in the win.

Along with the two goals, Crowden finished with 32 possessions and 11 tackles for East Perth with Angus Scott racking up another 31 disposals, Nick Robertson 30, Angus Schumacher 28, Hamish Brayshaw 27 and Kye Willcocks 20.

Corey Tregenza kicked two goals late in the first quarter on debut for East Fremantle with Jack Sears and Clay Hall also kicking two goals each. Sears also had 16 possessions, seven marks and five tackles, and Hall 21 touches.

Haydn Matthews finished with 23 possessions on the afternoon for Peel with Blair Bell having it 20 times to go with nine tackles.

Brady Grey also had 16 touches in his 100th WAFL appearance spread over Peel, Perth and West Coast with defender Jacob Blight also ending up with 16 disposals and seven marks.

Peel made a strong start to the contest including kicking the first goal at the six-minute mark thanks to Jack Sears. It would take another 15 minutes for the next goal and it was Corey Tregenza making a stunning start to his league career.

The debutant and son of a goalkicking legend took a strong contested mark before going back to kick a goal and then added a second in the space of two minutes.

That helped the Thunder to the only three goals of the first quarter to lead the Royals by 20 points at quarter-time but the Royals came out and started the second term with the first two goals from Sam van Diemen and Riley Saunders.

Sears answered for Peel with his second of the day before the Thunder were back out to a 20-point advantage when James Sturrock kicked truly. 

However, East Perth hit back once more with a couple of goals to Liam Tedesco and then another to former Thunder midfielder Michael Randall with a clever snap on his old home ground.

That got East Perth back within a point but Peel answered with the last goal of the half from Travis Colyer who kicked a beauty from outside 50 and the Thunder were still up by 10 points at the long break.

It then took almost 10 minutes for the first goal of the second half which was kicked by East Perth from another former Peel player, this time Mitch Crowden. He soon added another and scores were all square and the Royals were just warming up.

Tedesco added his third, Saunders his second and then Hamish Brayshaw and Randall also added goals just before three quarter-time with East Perth having kicked six goals to nil to grab the 23-point lead.

East Perth went on with the job from there with four goals to three in the final term including Tedesco booting his fourth, fifth and sixth of the day in a career-best performance with the Royals making it eight straight with the 27-point victory in Mandurah.

SUBIACO 18.14 (122) defeated PERTH 6.7 (43)

Subiaco hit back from a three-game losing streak in emphatic fashion to beat Perth by 79 points at Leederville Oval on Saturday with the Lions making it 14 in-a-row against the Demons.

Subiaco had slipped to the three-game losing streak coming into Saturday's clash at Leederville Oval and needed a win to remain solid inside the top five.

The Lions took no time asserting their control once more over the Demons with eight goals in the opening quarter and 14 to four in the first half, and 18 to four by three quarter-time.

Subiaco went on to score the 18.14 (122) to 6.7 (43) victory to make it 14 in-a-row against Perth dating back to 2016 with the win improving the Lions to fourth position with a 9-5 record with four matches of the season remaining.

Taj Schofield continued his impressive emergence the longer this WAFL season is going with Subiaco by kicking a career-best four goals to go with 22 possessions. 

Stefan Giro also kicked three goals from 22 touches and eight marks with Ben Sokol kicking three goals as well, Ryan Borchet two and Jordan Faraone two.

Subiaco captain Leigh Kitchin had his best performance of the season with 27 possessions, 11 inside-50 entries, nine marks and six tackles with Noah Ash gathering 24 disposals and ruckman Zac Clarke 24 along with 35 hit outs, eight marks, four tackles and a goal.

Sam Stubbs was Perth's only multiple goal scorer with two to go with eight kicks.

Jack Cooley gathered another 28 possessions for the Demons, Charlie Thompson 27, Brodie Gray 25 (12 tackles), Corey Byrne 21, Jack Avery 19, Trent Manzone 17 and Dakota Baldwin-Wright 17 to go with 14 hit outs and a goal.

It took less than a minute for Subiaco to kick the first goal of the game with that coming from Jordan Faraone. Then already by the eight-minute mark, Faraone had added a second goal with Taj Schofield kicking two as well and suddenly the Lions had four goals to nil on the board.

Rylie Morgan added a fifth goal for Subiaco at the 15-minute mark and then Ben Sokol added another in a hot opening from the Lions in direct contrast to how their Round 1 clash began.

Eventually Perth got on the board with a couple of goals before quarter-time thanks to Sam Stubbs and Dakota Baldwin-Wright, but the Lions made it eight for the term when Zac Clarke added one late and that Subiaco on top by 38 points already.

After Perth kicked the first goal of the second term through Austin Davis and Stubbs soon added his second, Subiaco finished the half with the last five goals including a third and fourth to Schofield.

That saw the Lions in command by 64 points already at the break thanks to the 14 goals to four opening half and there would be no let up with Subiaco kicking the only four goals of the third quarter including a couple to Sokol to open up a 92-point lead.

A triple-figure win was well on the cards before Perth did kick the only two goals of the last term thanks to Simon Hayward and Ajang Ajang to cut the final winning margin for Subiaco to 79 points.

CLAREMONT 9.11 (65) lost to WEST PERTH 17.12 (114) 

West Perth produced its most complete and ominous performance of the WAFL season on Saturday to breathe life back into their premiership defence with the 49-point victory against Claremont.

It was the second grand final rematch of the season following West Perth's triumph last year before Claremont scored the win at Joondalup back in Round 1.

However, from the outset on Saturday it was a determined Falcons outfit who arrived at Revo Fitness Stadium to make a statement and they had done exactly that by the end of the afternoon.

West Perth secured the 17.12 (114) to 9.11 (65) victory to improve to a 7-7 record on the season to remain just in contention for the finals sitting two games out of fifth position with four matches remaining.

It's back-to-back losses now for Claremont who remain in second position at 10-4 a game behind East Perth but a game in front still of the third placed East Fremantle.

Tyler Keitel had another strong showing in attack for West Perth kicking five goals from eight kicks and two marks. Having Noah Pegoraro alongside him as a second marking option is working well too and the usual centre half-back kicked two goals to go with 19 touches and seven marks.

Conal Lynch also kicked two goals for West Perth along with 22 possessions, six marks and six inside-50 entries.

There was plenty to like in the winning performance from West Perth with Luke Meadows racking up 32 possessions, Shane Nelson 25, Conal Lynch 22, Aidan Lynch 21, Mitch Peirce 20, Nathan Murray 19 and Ben Johnson 18.

Anthony Treacy and Zac Mainwaring kicked two goals apiece for Claremont.

Jye Bolton spent more of the game in the midfield this week as opposed to half-back and racked up a team-high 31 possessions for the Tigers to go with nine marks, four tackles, four inside 50s and a goal.

Lachlan Martinis also picked up 29 touches for Claremont, Bailey Rogers 21, Teia Miles 21, Callan England 19 and Anthony Davis 19 with Oliver Eastland dominating the ruck once more with 25 disposals, 34 hit outs, eight tackles, seven marks and a goal.

It was West Perth youngster Griffith Julian who kicked the first goal of the game after four minutes before Max Minear responded for Claremont. Jye Bolton then also kicked truly and it had been a good start for the Tigers.

Zac Mainwaring snapped truly to maintain the seven-point lead for Claremont soon after but then West Perth closed the quarter with goals to Shane Nelson, Noah Pegoraro and Tyler Keitel to take a 10-point lead into the first break.

The Falcons kept that momentum going to start the second stanza with two early goals to Sasha Kernutt and Darcy Dixon. Claremont did get one back through Tyron Smallwood, but then West Perth closed the half with a second goal to Pegoraro to hold a 22-point lead.

West Perth then put the game to bed with a hot start to the third quarter with goals to Keitel, Nathan Murray, Luke Meadows and Koopah Todd inside less than 12 minutes.

That saw the Falcons lead blow out to 47 points and even if Claremont did kick three of the last four goals of the quarter, it was still West Perth in control leading by 38 points at three quarter-time.

Any slim hopes of a Tigers fightback were quickly snuffed out when the Falcons kicked the first two goals of the final term too on the way to the eventual 49-point victory to keep their premiership defence alive

SWAN DISTRICTS 12.11 (83) defeated WEST COAST EAGLES 12.8 (80)

Swan Districts' luck is turning this WAFL season after Tom Edwards kicked the winning goal after the siren on Saturday to beat the West Coast Eagles by three points at Steel Blue Oval.

Swans were having a horror run of luck losing close games earlier this season, but that now appears to be turning with Saturday's win after the siren at Steel Blue Oval.

It's the second win for Swan Districts to come after the siren with Jarrod Cameron kicking the winning goal against Perth back in Round 9 and then last week it was Edwards also the hero with four last quarter goals against Subiaco.

It's yet another heartbreaking way for the Eagles to avoid a first win since Round 10 last year. Just weeks after leading Perth when the siren sounded only to give up a rushed behind, the Eagles were in front when the siren sounded against Swan Districts on Saturday.

However, just before the siren sounded Edwards took a huge mark inside-50 for the black-and-whites. The siren went as he walked back but he never looked like missing and celebrated accordingly as Swan Districts won 12.11 (83) to 12.8 (80).

Including kicking the game winner after the siren, Tom Edwards finished with another three goals to go with 16 possessions and nine marks for Swan Districts.

Ryan Kemp also kicked three goals with Jesse Palmer adding two for the black-and-whites.

Jesse Turner had another big game on the wing for Swan Districts finishing with 33 possessions, eight inside 50s, seven marks and seven tackles.

Jackson McLachlan also picked up 27 touches for the black-and-whites, Josh Cipro 24, Aidan Clarke 23, Tobe Watson 22, Jarvis Pina 22 and Lachlan Riley 18.

Zane Sumich continued to embrace his move forward for West Coast in recent weeks by kicking another three goals as his team's only multiple goal scorer.

Greg Clark put in a huge performance for West Coast in the midfield to put his hand up for an AFL recall with 37 possessions, eight inside 50s, seven marks and five tackles.

Zane Trew was another to put his name in the mix for a West Coast AFL call up with another 32 touches with Joey Deegan picking up 22 disposals, Jordyn Baker 21, Luke Edwards 19 and Callum Jamieson 19 to go with 22 hit outs.

It took just over a minute for West Coast to get the first goal of the game courtesy of Tyrell Dewar before the visitors soon had two on the board with Zane Sumich also kicking truly.

Swan Districts got on the board thanks to Jarvis Pina with Jesse Palmer then also adding another to level scores up. 

Sumich kicked a second to put West Coast in front before Ryan Kemp added one for Swans, Palmer then kicked a second and the quarter ended with Zane Trew getting West Coast's fourth to cut the Swan Districts lead to three points.

It took almost seven minutes for the first goal of the second quarter and that went the way of Swans courtesy of Tom Edwards. Swans also added the next two goals through Kemp and Aidan Clarke to push out to a 20-point lead.

However, the Eagles stayed in touch with goals before half-time to Sumich and Luke Edwards to cut that Swans advantage to eight points at the main break.

West Coast's quest for that first win since Round 10 last year continued with a strong start to the second half with goals to Josh Burke and Shannon Lucassen returning them to the lead. 

That advantage was out to 10 points when Jed Kemp added another goal for the Eagles and Swans needed to respond. The home team did that with the last two goals of the third stanza thanks to Brad Lynch and Kemp to push back out to a three-point lead by three quarter-time.

West Coast was back in front with the first goal of the final term kicked by Isiah Winder before Swans were back in front with a goal from co-captain Chris Jones.

The lead continued to seesaw the rest of the way with West Coast back in front thanks to Cooper Nitschke before Edwards answered for Swan Districts. 

Jordyn Baker put the Eagles back on top before Harry Barnett had a chance to seal the win with a tough snap around the body. He gathered the ball, but was being pushed toward the boundary. 

He did have a free teammate who could have run into an open goal, but it would have been mighty tough for Barnett to get it to him given the angles. Instead, he snapped a behind and Swans had one final chance from the kick-in.

Pina took the kick-in and found Jesse Turner who marked strongly. He got the ball back to the hard running Pina who drove the ball inside-50 where Edwards took a trademark high-flying mark over his defender.

The siren sounded soon after and with Edwards taking the shot from 45m, for the second straight week he played the hero for Swans as he kicked truly as his teammates celebrated wildly as they remained unbeaten against West Coast in the WAFL.