Semi Finals McDonald's WAFL Wrap UpTuesday, September 15, 2015 - 4:18 PM - by Chris Pike

SUBIACO'S league team, South Fremantle's reserves and Claremont's colts all went on from claiming the minor premiership to win their second semi-finals on Sunday to move straight into the WAFL Grand Final on Sunday September 27 at Domain Stadium.

Subiaco ended up four games clear on top of the WAFL ladder in defence of their 2014 premiership and then kicked 13 of the last 16 goals to beat West Perth 17.13 (115) to 9.6 (60) in the second semi-final at Medibank Stadium on Sunday.

In the first semi-final, East Perth defeated Peel Thunder 10.24 (84) to 9.8 (62) at Bendigo Bank Stadium to advance to this Sunday's preliminary final against West Perth at HBF Arena.

The reserves second semi-final also took place at Medibank Stadium and saw South Fremantle beat Subiaco 14.17 (101) to 7.12 (54) and the first semi-final saw Swan Districts overrun West Perth 16.13 (109) to 11.11 (77) to advance to the preliminary final this Sunday against Subiaco.

The colts second semi-final took place on Sunday morning at Bendigo Bank Stadium with Claremont beating Swan Districts 12.14 (86) to 9.9 (63) while Peel Thunder defeated West Perth 19.8 (122) to 12.7 (79) to book a spot in the preliminary final against Swan Districts.

Click here for the summary of the semi-final weekend of the WAFL 

THE SHINING LIGHTS
Subiaco got off to a slightly slow start to fall 11 points behind of West Perth early in the second quarter, but the minor premiers dominated the second semi-final from there with 13 of the last 16 goals of the game to end up winning by 55 points to advance to the grand final.

The Lions again backed in makeshift ruck pair Clancy Wheeler and Lachlan Delahunty, and it paid off with the two likely the two best players on the field splitting their time between the ruck and centre half-forward.

Wheeler finished with 23 possessions, six tackles, five marks, 25 hit outs and three goals while Delahunty had 30 disposals, nine marks and 18 hit outs.

Subiaco's midfield also got on top the longer the game wore on with Leigh Kitchin racking up 29 possessions and Sam Menegola 28 to go with five tackles and two goals.

Craig Hoskins was a late inclusion replacing Declan Jackson and made his mark for the Lions with 28 touches and 12 tackles as well while Brett Robinson gathered 28 disposals and Scott Hancock 22.

Subiaco's back-line ended up holding firm with Jordan Lockyer doing well on Matt Johnson, Hayden Kennedy shutting down Steve Potente, Scott Worthington keeping big men Tyler Keitel or Nick Rodda quiet, and Aaron Heal holding Matt Fowler goalless.

Wayde Twomey also gave good drive off half-back with 24 possessions, seven marks and a goal while up forward, Bernie Naylor Medallist Shane Yarran kicked three goals and Kyle Halligan two.

West Perth was playing its 10th straight match since its last bye back in Round 15 and with injuries to full-forward Michael Lourey (ankle) and Chris Keunen (knee) with Sandover Medallist Aaron Black also fighting through a leg complaint, the Falcons couldn’t keep up with the Lions.

Prior to getting injured, Lourey, Keunen and Black were all having a significant impact on the game for West Perth.

Lourey was proving a dominant presence at full-forward kicking three goals up until the seven-minute mark of the second quarter and getting the better of his battle with Subiaco's five-time premiership winning full-back Darren Rumble.

However, he hurt his ankle late in the first quarter and despite coming back in the second term, he didn’t reappear after half-time.

Keunen was also working hard in the ruck up against Subiaco pair Clancy Wheeler and Lachlan Delahunty, and had 42 hit outs before hurting his knee in the opening stages of the last quarter.

Black finished the game with an equal team-high of 25 possessions to go with seven marks, six tackles, five inside-50 entries and a goal but his impact was limited for much of the second half after he had hobbled off with a leg injury.

Shane Nelson also worked hard in the midfield for West Perth ending up with 25 possessions while Andrew Strijk finished with 20 disposals, Rohan Kerr 19, Laine Rasmussen 18, Ray Bartholomew 18 and Trent Manzone 17 to go with two goals.

And in the first semi-final, East Perth fell two goals down at quarter-time but controlled the contest against Peel Thunder from there with 34 scoring shots for the game to 17.

The Royals only won by 22 points despite their dominance largely thanks to kicking 10.24 but it was an impressive win by East Perth who has now won seven of its last eight matches entering the preliminary final against West Perth.

Once again it was East Perth's prime on-ballers who were most instrumental in the victory led by co-captain Brendan Lee who finished with 35 possessions, nine inside-50 entries, eight marks and a goal.

Kane Lucas also racked up 28 disposals and Steven Payne 27 for East Perth with Garry Moss doing well off half-back with 20 touches while Jackson Nelson also compiled 19 possessions and eight marks, Corey Adamson 17 touches and Malcolm Karpany 17.

Jarrad Oakley-Nicholls and Tom Lamb kicked two goals apiece for East Perth with Mitch Fraser again terrific on Peel's dangerous small forward, and having 17 possessions and six marks himself.

Peel Thunder welcomed back Brendon Jones and Josh Bootsma for its second ever final, and first at home along with Fremantle's Matt Taberner, Lachie Weller, Connor Blakely, Tanner Smith, Max Duffy, Alex Pearce, Ed Langdon, Paul Duffield, Brady Grey, Jack Hannath and Jacob Ballard.

That certainly helped them put in a more competitive performance but wasn’t quite enough for them to win the club's first ever final.

Taberner put his hand up well and truly for a recall with the Dockers for the preliminary final at Domain Stadium by kicking five goals, all in the second half, to go with 14 possessions and seven marks.

Ballard also rounded off his tremendous season in the midfield with 25 possessions and seven tackles while Langdon gathered 24 disposals and nine marks, Duffield 20 touches and six marks, Blakely 19 possessions and Grey 18 along with six tackles. 

Captain Jones played the first final of his 219-game career and finished with 19 possessions, six tackles and a goal for Peel with Brayden Lawler also picking up 18 disposals and Corey Morris 17.

RESERVES STANDOUTS
South Fremantle's reserves moved straight into the grand final with a 47-point win over Subiaco at Medibank Stadium on Sunday in the second semi-final.

The biggest concern ahead of the game for coach Tony Walters was how to fit 30-plus available players into his final 23, and those unlucky to miss out on selection included Bailey Matera, Brad McPhail, Kaiden Matera, Matthew Gundry, Noah Strom, Steve Mills, Jakeb Tartaglia and Dom Warrell.

John Sgherza was a dominant presence in the forward-line for South Fremantle and all 12 of his kicks for the game turned out to be scores. Six of them ended up as goals, the other six were behind as Subiaco had no answers for him.

Ben Sokol was also terrific in the forward-line with three goals from 15 disposals and 10 marks while captain Paul Mugambwa added two majors from 13 touches in his second last game with the Bulldogs following his outstanding career.

South Fremantle's midfield dominated as well with Anthony Collica leading the way finishing with 36 possessions and 13 marks while Shaun Bewick added 28 disposals and 10 marks, and Brendan Verrier 21 touches.

The Bulldogs' defence also held up well led by Dylan Ross who had 16 possessions and seven marks, and he had good support from Nick Borovac, Jason Maskos, Chris Luff and Mitch Banks.

The only concern was a hand injury suffered by ruckman Josh Branchi which limited him to just seven touches and 12 hit outs, but Zac Strom stood up in his absence to end up with 13 possessions, five marks and 25 hit outs for the Bulldogs.

A host of Subiaco players put their hands up for a call up into the league side for the grand final with Simon Moore leading the way with 28 possessions while Matt Bogensperger gathered 26 disposals.

Joel Latham also picked up 21 touches for the Lions, Rhys Waters 17 but 1.3, Joel Ashman 16, Will Fetherstonhaugh 15, Reece Blechynden 15 and Braden Fimmano 15.

West Perth made a tremendous start kicking three goals to one in the first quarter against Swan Districts, and then another seven goals to four in the second to be in control at half-time holding a 33-point advantage.

However, the Falcons managed just the one goal the entire second half while Swans booted 11 majors to end up winning 16.13 (109) to 11.11 (77).

Jake Nuich stepped up at full-forward for Swan Districts with four goals from 16 possessions and six marks with Dylan Nelson, Rudy Riddoch and Jason Daniels all booting two goals apiece as well.

Ben Whitsed racked up 26 possessions and eight inside-50 entries with Daniels finishing with 22 touches, Warrick Wilson 22, Sean Fletcher 18 and Brandon Erceg 16. Troy Yukich ended up with 37 hit outs and Justin Shand 20.

Blake Wilhelm continued to put his name forward for a recall into the league side 26 possessions, nine inside-50 entries and two goals while Corey Chalmers also finished with 21 touches and two goals while Tyson Moulton booted two majors from four kicks.

Kris Shannon also picked up 24 disposals for the Falcons, Broderick Walton 21 and Jordan Jones 18 who made his return from a hamstring injury to put himself in the mix to play his first league game since Round 1 in this Sunday's preliminary final against East Perth at HBF Arena.

REDiMED COLTS RISING STARS
Claremont and Swan Districts did battle in a rematch of last year's grand final in Sunday second semi-final and it was the Tigers who advanced to this year's premiership decider with a 23-point victory.

Regan Smith, Jake Waterman, Keanu Shandley and Bailey Rogers all kicked two goals apiece for Claremont with Rogers outstanding with 27 possessions, six inside 50s and five marks coming back from making his league debut.

Matt Guelfi gathered 28 possessions as well for Claremont, Declan Mountford 24, Russell Wynne 22, Ryan Murphy 21, Bailey Banfield 20, Jacob Sideris 19 and Aden Wilkins 19.

Dylan Smith kicked three goals for Swan Districts and Brody Sutton two while Brad Lynch compiled 26 possessions, Brayden Hackett 23, Josh Cipro 20, Aidan Clarke 18 and Jarrod Shorter 16.

Peel Thunder's colts bounced back from a qualifying final loss to Swan Districts with a 45-point first semi-final win over West Perth at Bendigo Bank Stadium on Sunday.

Brett Milward kicked six goals from 10 kicks for the Thunder with Luke Shepherd kicking four goals for Peel from 18 disposals and seven marks. Jordan Adams also booted three goals, and Nicholas Merritt two and Calvin Thorne two.

Josh Schoenfeld was prolific for Peel with 33 possessions with Dylan Winton also racking up 29 disposals, Keegan Power 23 and Michael Humble 20.

Clint Hinchliffe led the way with 21 possessions and four goals while Liam Baker also worked hard for 26 disposals, six tackles and three goals.

Mitch Peirce also finished with 20 touches and two goals with Troy Manners also gathering 20 possessions, Scott Nelson 20, Josh Rotham 16, Ben Mountford 15 and Nathan Alexandre 15.

Ethan Hills also battled hard in the ruck for the Falcons with 11 possessions and 25 hit outs.