WAFL Team of the Week – Round 19Wednesday, August 23, 2023 - 1:11 PM - by Chris Pike

What a penultimate round of the 2023 WAFL season it proved to be with important wins for East Fremantle, Subiaco, East Perth, Claremont and West Perth, and there were no shortage of standout individual performances once more.

It was the second last round of the WAFL season and with six teams still in the finals hunt, the results were crucial and so were players putting in standout performances to earn another spot in the Team of the Week in the battle ultimately for the Team of the Year.

Round 19 in the WAFL saw all five matches take place on Saturday afternoon with Claremont snapping a four-game losing streak and ending the four-match winning run of Swan Districts to win 18.15 (123) to 14.7 (91) at Revo Fitness Stadium.

From the win for the Tigers, Jack Maibaum, Jye Bolton and Bailey Rogers all made the Team of the Week as did Aidan Clarke and Tom Edwards from Swan Districts.

East Fremantle was then able to make it eight straight wins to consolidate top position on the WAFL ladder by beating Perth 17.10 (112) to 9.9 (63) at Lathlain's Mineral Resources Park.

From that victory, Kyle Baskerville, Fraser Turner and Cody Leggett were named to the Team of the Week as was Kristian Cary from the Demons.

West Perth kept its finals hopes alive still by ending up beating Peel Thunder 12.8 (80) to 9.18 (72) at Mandurah's Lane Group Stadium.

In that win for the Falcons, Zac Guadagnin, Tyler Keitel and Shane Nelson were named to the Team of the Week along with Joel Hamling from Peel.

Subiaco then consolidated second spot and stayed in the race for the minor premiership by beating South Fremantle 13.15 (93) to 9.9 (63) at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.

From the victory for the Lions, Stefan Giro and Liam Hickmott earned places in the Team of the Week once more along with Noah Strom and third-gamer Aaron Drage from South Fremantle.

Then there was East Perth locking away a finals berth in 2023 by beating the West Coast Eagles 15.24 (114) to 10.6 (66) at Leederville Oval.

Angus Scott, Hamish Brayshaw and Christian Ameduri all were named to the Team of the Week from the Royals as a result along with Callum Jamieson and Isiah Winder from the Eagles.

PLAYER OF THE ROUND – JYE BOLTON (CLAREMONT)

He is the most decorated WAFL player this century to not have a premiership medal but Jye Bolton once again showed on Saturday how desperate he is to try and achieve that helping to lift Claremont to the crucial win on the eve of his 150th game.

Claremont came into Saturday's game at Revo Fitness Stadium against Swan Districts on a four-match losing streak against a team who had won four straight games, and with the Tigers facing the prospect of falling out of the top five with a loss.

Their chances weren’t helped when returning captain Declan Mountford pinged a hamstring in the opening minutes of the contest but Bolton was a man on a mission, and whether it was in his familiar midfield role, or newer spot off half-back, he wasn’t about to let the Tigers lose again.

With West Perth also beating Peel Thunder at the same time, a loss would have left Claremont in sixth position going into the final round where the Tigers take on Perth this coming Saturday at Revo Fitness Stadium in what is doubling as Bolton's 150-game milestone.

Bolton produced yet another masterful display in Saturday's eventual 32-point victory for Claremont where he ended the afternoon with 31 possessions, six marks, three tackles, three inside-50 entries and two goals.

That sees him earn a place in the WAFL Team of the Week for a 10th time this season to already have him a lock in the Team of the Year once more. That will make it seven consecutive seasons he's made the Team of the Year dating back to 2016.

That was when Bolton joined Claremont having made the move west after time in the VFL at Werribee and on an AFL list at Collingwood, and he has gone on to now produce a remarkably consistent and brilliant 149 games with the Tigers.

Along the way, Bolton has won the 2016 and 2018 Sandover Medals, he's won the 2016, 2018 and 2022 EB Cook Medals as Claremont fairest and best, he's won the State Game Simpson Medals in 2016, 2018 and 2020, the Grand Final Simpson Medal in 2020, and played for the WAFL State Team on five occasions.

That's an amazing set of accomplishments that Bolton has now racked up with Claremont since arriving in 2016 but what is missing is the premiership and there's no question that will trump all those accolades especially after playing finals every year since 2018, and losing two Grand Finals.

On the back of last year's Grand Final loss to West Perth, there's no doubt Claremont has set sights on 2023 being the year where it all comes together and Bolton is certainly doing all that he can, but needs a winning 150-game milestone this Saturday to ensure the Tigers make the finals to start with.

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)
Round 9 – Talon Delacey (Claremont)
Round 10 – Dillon O'Reilly (East Fremantle)
Round 11 – Nathan Blakely (Swan Districts)
Round 12 – Jack Maibaum (Claremont)
Round 13 – Hamish Brayshaw (East Perth)
Round 14 – Harry Marsh (East Fremantle)
Round 15 – Liam Tedesco (East Perth)
Round 16 – Cam Eardley (East Fremantle)
Round 17 – Jesse Turner (Swan Districts)
Round 18 – Taj Schofield (Subiaco)
Round 19 – Jye Bolton (Claremont)

WAFL TEAM OF THE WEEK – ROUND 19

BACK: Zac Guadagnin (WP), Noah Strom (SF), Jack Maibaum (C)
HALF-BACK: Kyle Baskerville (EF), Joel Hamling (PT), Jye Bolton (C)
CENTRE: Angus Scott (EP), Hamish Brayshaw (EP), Stefan Giro (S)
HALF-FORWARD: Bailey Rogers (C), Tyler Keitel (WP), Christian Ameduri (EP)
FORWARD: Cody Leggett (EF), Kristian Cary (P), Tom Edwards (SD)
FOLLOWERS: Callum Jamieson (WC), Shane Nelson (WP), Liam Hickmott (S)
INTERCHANGE: Aidan Clarke (SD), Isiah Winder (WC), Fraser Turner (EF), Aaron Drage (SF)

BACK POCKET – ZAC GUADAGNIN (West Perth)
The West Perth premiership defender put together another strong performance down back for the Falcons in what ended up being a crucial win against Peel Thunder to keep the reigning premiers in the finals hunt with one round to play. He finished the game with another 26 possessions and 15 marks in the 93rd game of his career to make the Team of the Week for a fifth occasion this season.

FULL-BACK – NOAH STROM (South Fremantle)
The 105-game premiership winning full-back for South Fremantle resumed his longstanding rivalry with former teammate Ben Sokol on Saturday, and got the upper hand on the Subiaco spearhead. He was able to hold Sokol to two behinds and six kicks for the game which all but cost him a shot at another Bernie Naylor Medal. While his South Fremantle team did end up losing, he couldn’t have done more and finished the game with 12 possessions and six marks himself.

BACK POCKET – JACK MAIBAUM (Claremont)
He might be in his first season in the WAFL with Claremont but he has arrived with plenty of experience ready to take up the role as the leader of the Tigers' back-line, and he's doing a terrific job with that. Did a strong job on Swan Districts co-captain Chris Jones on Saturday holding him to one behind and just four kicks and three marks while he had seven possessions and three marks himself to make the Team of the Week for a third time in 2023.

HALF-BACK FLANK – KYLE BASKERVILLE (Fremantle)
Having started his career as an attacking defender at East Fremantle, he virtually swapped into the midfield with Cam Eardley which worked out tremendously for both and the Sharks as a whole. However, he's now shifted back to his role at half-back for a lot of 2023 and has done so tremendously including finishing with another 26 touches, six marks and three tackles in Saturday's win against Perth to make the Team of the Week for a sixth occasion.

CENTRE HALF-BACK – JOEL HAMLING (Peel Thunder)
The AFL premiership defender had a stint back with Fremantle for three weeks, but has come back to Peel for the Thunder's crack at finals in 2023 and he was tremendous once more on Saturday against West Perth. Took on the role against dangerous Falcons forward Noah Pegoraro and kept him scoreless while having 14 touches and 12 marks himself to be named to the Team of the Week for a third time this season.

WING – ANGUS SCOTT (East Perth)
The prolific and consistent East Perth wingmen produced another standout performance in Saturday's win against the West Coast Eagles to return the Royals to the winner's list and to guarantee their return to finals in 2023. He finished the game with 28 possessions, six marks, six inside 50s and two goals to earn himself a spot in the Team of the Week for a sixth time so far now for the season.

CENTRE – HAMISH BRAYSHAW (East Perth)
The East Perth co-captain is having a brilliant season both in the midfield and then as a valuable goalkicker when resting from on the ball, and that was all on display again in Saturday's win against West Coast that locked in a finals appearance for the Royals. He finished with 27 possessions, 12 marks, seven inside-50 entries and three goals to secure himself a spot in the Team of the Week for an eighth occasion.

WING – STEFAN GIRO (Subiaco)
The Subiaco wingman is a key reason why the Lions are currently sitting second on the WAFL ladder and have a chance at the minor premiership with a win against East Fremantle this coming Saturday. He had another superb performance this past Saturday in the win against South Fremantle where he finished with 32 possessions, nine inside-50 entries, seven marks and a goal to book in a place in the Team of the Week for a seventh time in 2023.

HALF-FORWARD FLANK – BAILEY ROGERS (Claremont)
The 2021 Sandover Medal winner was right back to the peak of his powers on Saturday in the crucial win over Swan Districts for Claremont and he will need to continue to be the leader in the forward-line for the Tigers to make finals, and have any impact in them. In the 133rd game of his career, he delivered a standout performance both when on the ball for Claremont and in the forward half to finish with 29 possessions, eight inside-50 entries, six marks and two goals to make the Team of the Week a fourth time in 2023.

CENTRE HALF-FORWARD – TYLER KEITEL (West Perth)
The superstar West Perth forward not only was instrumental in keeping the Falcons in the finals hunt with the win over Peel Thunder in Mandurah on Saturday, but he also strengthened his hold on winning the Bernie Naylor Medal for a third time. In the 160th game of his decorated career with West Perth, he kicked another five goals from 13 possessions and five marks to now give him 55 goals for the season which is the second best return of his career only behind the 70 he kicked in 2021.

HALF-FORWARD FLANK – CHRISTIAN AMEDURI (East Perth)
He might have spent most of his 63-game career so far for East Perth in the midfield, but he's making a good fist of his role in the forward-line for a lot of this season where his ferocious tackling, strong attack on the ball and ball winning ability is making him crucial in attack for the Royals. He ended up with eight shots on goal in Saturday's win against West Coast and ended up kicking three goals and five behinds from 23 touches, eight tackles and seven marks.

FORWARD POCKET – TOM EDWARDS (Swan Districts)
The excitement machine of the Swan Districts forward-line delivered another impressive performance on Saturday despite his team's eventual loss to Claremont in an attempt to win five straight matches. He ended up kicking another four goals for the black-and-whites from 13 possessions and five marks to now give the 23-year-old 31 goals so far in the best season of his 46-game career with Swan Districts.

FULL-FORWARD – KRISTIAN CARY (Perth)
Injury delayed his introduction to the Perth forward-line this season until Round 10 but he has shown his importance for the Demons since and put together a terrific all-round performance on Saturday against East Fremantle. Did a power of work further up the field throughout the afternoon as well to finish up with 27 possessions and 11 marks to go with his two goals for the day to show just how important he will be for the Demons going into 2024.

FORWARD POCKET – CODY LEGGETT (East Fremantle)
Perth fans would have found it hard to stomach what they saw on Saturday as he returned to Mineral Resources Park and turned match-winner for East Fremantle against the Demons. He played the first 67 games of his WAFL career with Perth, which did include a seven-goal haul against the Sharks back in 2016. He repeated that dose on Saturday albeit for East Fremantle including four goals in the third quarter to end up with seven for the day and he needed to as well with the Sharks missing Dillon O'Reilly, Jonathon Marsh, Alex Montauban and Brayden Lawler from the forward-line.

RUCK – CALLUM JAMIESON (West Coast)
The West Coast big man has played four AFL matches this season to continue his development with the 23-year-old producing one of his stronger all-round WAFL performances as well for the Eagles against East Perth on Saturday. He battled hard in the ruck and did well around the ground throughout the afternoon to end up with 23 touches, 15 hit outs, five marks, four tackles and three entries inside the forward 50.

RUCK ROVER – SHANE NELSON (West Perth)
To watch him play and you would have no clue that he's 30 years of age and that his body has been through the wars of being an inside midfielder over the course of 225 games because right now, he continues to play as well as he ever has in his life. He's already a two-time premiership winner and five-time fairest and best winner, but is having a superb 2023 season which continued in West Perth's win against Peel Thunder with another 36 possessions, eight marks, seven tackles and four inside-50 entries to make the Team of the Week for a ninth occasion.

ROVER – LIAM HICKMOTT (Subiaco)
The premiership winning Subiaco midfielder was part of the WAFL Team of the Year in 2022, but he has taken his game up another level again now in 2023 and that continued in Saturday's win against South Fremantle that kept the Lions within a chance of ending the season in top position. He put together a performance made up of 29 possessions, five inside 50s and four tackles to claim a spot in the Team of the Week for a for a seventh time now this season.

INTERCHANGE – AIDAN CLARKE (Swan Districts)
Take out his hamstring injury in the first part of the season and he has put together a brilliant season with Swan Districts and with his powerful frame, uncompromising approach, ability to win the ball and use it on his left boot, it wouldn’t surprise if AFL clubs are seriously looking at the Swans star. He was tremendous again on Saturday against Claremont finishing with 29 disposals, six inside-50 entries, five marks, three tackles and a goal to make the Team of the Week for an eighth time.

INTERCHANGE – ISIAH WINDER (West Coast)
The 21-year-old is yet to play an AFL game for West Coast this season but he did his chances of changing that for the final round this coming weekend no harm with what was likely the best performance of his 29-game WAFL career against East Perth on Saturday. He finished with 29 possessions, five marks, four inside-50 entries and two goals to show that he is something the Eagles could look to invest more into moving forward at AFL level.

INTERCHANGE – FRASER TURNER (East Fremantle)
The East Fremantle recruit from SANFL club South Adelaide has become a crucial part of the Sharks running brigade this season and enjoyed the wide expanses of Mineral Resources Park on Saturday to help his team remain on top of the ladder with one round to play. He ended the afternoon with 37 possessions, 10 marks and three inside-50 entries to continue his outstanding first season in the WAFL to make the Team of the Week for a third time.

INTERCHANGE – AARON DRAGE (South Fremantle)
The 20-year-old is only three games into his WAFL career and has had a dazzling start to his time at league level with South Fremantle. Has been given the chance because of the absence of the likes of Jake Florenca, Brendon Ah Chee and Matthew Parker, and has thrived including another standout showing on Saturday against Subiaco with 32 possessions, five tackles and five inside-50 entries to be one of the finds of the season for the Bulldogs.
 

UNLUCKY BUNCH

There were plenty of players who delivered tremendous performances across Round 19 but couldn’t quite fit into the Team of the Round, including:

Claremont's Alex Manuel, Sam Alvarez, Ben Edwards, Callan England, Oliver Eastland and Teia Miles.

Swan Districts' Lachlan Riley, Jackson McLachlan, Jesse Turner and Josh Cipro.

East Fremantle's Reuben McGuire, Ben McGuire, Josh Schoenfeld, Jackson McDonald, Cam Eardley and Matthew Jupp.

Perth's Dakota Baldwin-Wright, Charlie Thompson, Ayden Cartwright, Trent Manzone, Jacob Coniglio, Austin Davis and Kane Johnston.

South Fremantle's Glenn Byron, Toby McQuilkin, Tom Blechynden and Jimmy Miler.

Subiaco's Luker Kentfield, Jack Mayo, Ryan Borchet, Zac Clarke, Will Hickmott, Taj Schofield, Drew Rohde and Angus Dewar.

Peel Thunder's Will Brodie, Ben Hancock, Clay Hall, Nathan Wilson and Jacob Blight.

West Perth's Darcy Dixon, Luke Meadows, Aidan Lynch, Mitch Peirce and Ben Johnson.

East Perth's Mitch Schofield, Tom North, Stan Wright and Michael Randall.

West Coast's Rhett Bazzo and Josh Browne.