Round 15 NAIDOC Round WAFL ResultsSunday, July 6, 2014 - 12:48 AM - by Chris Pike

THE WAFL celebrated NAIDOC Round on Saturday afternoon with all eight participating clubs wearing specially designed jumpers with Swan Districts, Claremont, East Fremantle and East Perth recording victories.

NAIDOC Jumpers 2014

The wins for the Swans, Tigers, Sharks and Royals saw the top-ranked teams each prevail in their match ups on Saturday afternoon but they didn’t all have it their own way.

Swan Districts beat West Perth 16.9 (105) to 11.10 (76) at Joondalup's HBF Arena with Claremont downing South Fremantle 12.13 (85) to 9.9 (63) at the Claremont Showground, East Fremantle held on against Perth 14.18 (102) to 14.8 (92) at East Fremantle Oval and East Perth thrashed Peel Thunder 16.13 (109) to 6.10 (46).

The game of the round was always going to be the West Perth-Swan Districts clash at HBF Arena with Swans looking to further consolidate second position and the Falcons just needing to win to keep its finals chances alive.

Swan Districts did get on top early leading by as much as 19 points minutes into the second quarter, but West Perth kicked the last three goals of the first half to be in front by four points at half-time.

However, Swan Districts kicked the first two goals of the third quarter and then the last three, and then the first of the last quarter also to open up a 36-point advantage before winning by 29.

The result sees Swans remain just percentage behind the top-of-the-ladder East Perth and two games ahead of the third-placed

Subiaco while West Perth now falls three games behind the fourth-placed East Fremantle.

Ryan Davis was again outstanding up forward for Swan Districts kicking five goals while Tim Geappen ended up with 10 touches, five marks and three goals but that came after an entire first half where he didn’t touch the ball thanks to the job done by veteran West Perth defender Dan Hunt.

Ricky Cary, Matthew Jukes and Matthew Rogers all kicked two goals apiece for Swans with Aaron Elari racking up 31 possessions, Justin Simpson 27, Rogers 24, Graham Jetta 20, Blaine Boekhorst 20, Adam Faulkner 19 and Kirk Ugle 19.

Matt Johnson and Nick Rodda kicked two goals apiece for West Perth with Aaron Black racking up 35 possessions, Shane Nelson 32, Johnson 23, Andrew Strijk 22, Jordan Jones 22, Jay van Berlo 21 and Rohan Kerr 19.

Last time Claremont and South Fremantle played at Fremantle Oval the Bulldogs thrashed the Tigers by 64 points, but that was their last victory with the two teams going on vastly different form patters since then.

Claremont has found its best form of the season including recording wins recently against top four teams Subiaco and Swan Districts and that stacked up against South Fremantle on Saturday with the Tigers winning by 22 points and handing the Bulldogs a sixth-straight defeat.

South Fremantle kicked the first goal of the game but Claremont booted the last four of the first quarter to lead by 22 points at quarter-time and still by 15 at half-time.

The Bulldogs did fire back in the third term to close to within a point, but the Tigers kicked away with four goals to one in the final quarter for a second straight win this season for the first time.

Luke Blackwell led from the from the front for Claremont finishing with 32 possessions, 10 marks, four inside 50s, four tackles and a goal.

Jack Bradshaw also kicked a season-best five goals for the Tigers with Mitch McGovern adding two majors while Mark Seaby was terrific in the ruck with 19 possessions, eight marks and 24 hit outs.

Ryan Neates also picked up 26 touches for Claremont, Ben Daniher 24, Andrew Foster 22, Matt Orzel 22 and Tom Taylor 20.

Anthony Collica, Haiden Schloithe and Lewis Harvey kicked two goals apiece for South Fremantle with Tim Kelly gathering 26 possessions, Steven Verrier 26, Brendan Verrier 24, Jacob Martinez 23 and Schloithe 21.

Brock Higgins also had a good game in the ruck with 20 disposals, six marks, 16 hit outs and a goal.

Perth was playing under a new coach for the first time with Trevor Williams having replaced Damien McMahon and with some handy players returning including Chance Bateman, Chris Billings, Mitch Morton, Michael Sinclair and Aidan Tropiano making his debut for the club.

All that suggested that the Demons should be more competitive against the in-form East Fremantle at East Fremantle Oval on Saturday, and they were, but the Sharks did enough to still win by 10 points to record a sixth straight victory to be three games clear now in fourth spot on the ladder.

Perth got off to a fast start and led by nine points at quarter-time, but by half-time East Fremantle had assumed the advantage and held it the rest of the afternoon despite the Demons finishing strongly with six goals to four in the final quarter.

Sean Henson kicked three goals for East Fremantle with Boston Williamson, Brett Peake and Rory O'Brien all adding two apiece.

Bradd Dalziell racked up 35 possessions for the Sharks, O'Brien 32, Cameron Eardley 29, Andrew Stephen 28, Scott Hancock 26, Tim Bristow 21 and Ryan Lester-Smith 21.

Paul Bevan and Mitch Morton kicked two goals apiece for the Demons with Dene White racking up 31 possessions, Aidan Tropiano 26, Joel Leeson 26, Matt Moody 23 and Matthew Boyle 19.

The two AFL aligned clubs then did battle at Leederville's Medibank Stadium with East Perth proving far too strong for Peel Thunder winning by 63 points with the Royals remaining on top of the WAFL ladder and the Thunder on the bottom.

Josh Smith kicked four goals for East Perth with Mitch Howlett, Dom Sheed, Steven Wityk and Ashley Smith all booting two goals apiece.

Craig Wulff racked up 27 possessions for the Royals with Steven Payne also finishing with 27 disposals, Brendan Lee 26, Nathan Blee 26, Sheed 25, Mitchell Fraser 23, Brant Colledge 22 and Freddie Clutterbuck 21.

Paul Johnson was terrific in the ruck for the Royals also with 17 touches, eight marks, 21 hit outs and a goal in the absence of Scott Lycett and Callum Sinclair.

Laine Wilkins bounced back from kicking four behinds last week against Subiaco at the same venue to kick three goals this week against East Perth while Sam Menegola racked up 32 possessions for Peel, Tom Sheridan 28, Jacob Ballard 24, Matt de Boer 23 and Brendon Jones.

ROUND 15 WAFL RESULTS
LEAGUE
West Perth 11.10 (76) lost to Swan Districts 16.9 (105)
Claremont 12.13 (85) defeated South Fremantle 9.9 (63)
East Fremantle 14.18 (102) defeated Perth 14.8 (92)
East Perth 16.13 (109) defeated Peel Thunder 6.10 (46)

RESERVES
West Perth 9.16 (70) lost to Swan Districts 14.8 (92)
Claremont 11.10 (76) defeated South Fremantle 11.8 (74)
East Fremantle 11.8 (74) lost to Perth 10.15 (75)
East Perth 14.10 (94) defeated Peel Thunder 6.13 (49)

COLTS
West Perth 6.10 (46) lost to Swan Districts 8.11 (59)
Claremont 13.13 (91) defeated South Fremantle 8.7 (55)
East Fremantle 6.10 (46) lost to Perth 9.16 (70)
East Perth 13.12 (90) defeated Peel Thunder 9.7 (61)