Round 20 McDonald’s WAFL Wrap Up

WEST Perth, Peel Thunder, East Perth and Swan Districts all scored WAFL Round 20 victories on Saturday to take another step towards playing finals in 2015.

West Perth maintained second position beating East Fremantle 15.14 (104) to 4.7 (31) at ATOM Stadium while Peel Thunder stayed third downing South Fremantle 14.13 (97) to 11.1 (67) at Fremantle Oval and East Perth defeating Claremont 10.10 (70) to 8.12 (60) at Medibank Stadium to remain fourth.

Swan Districts then moved into fifth position with a thrilling 11.6 (72) to 10.11 (71) win over Subiaco at Steel Blue Oval.

The results leave Subiaco (14-3) clear on top of the ladder ahead of West Perth (11-6), Peel Thunder (11-6), East Perth (10-8) and Swan Districts (9-9).

Claremont (8-9) appears the only team outside of the five still in the finals hunt followed by South Fremantle (8-10), East Fremantle (5-12) and Perth (2-15).

Click here for the summary of Round 20 of the WAFL

TEAM OF THE WEEK (club, times named)
BACK: Matthew Davies (C, 6), Tyler Keitel (WP, 1), Josh Bootsma (PT, 1)
HALF-BACK: Jackson Nelson (EP, 1), Justin Simpson (SD, 6), Jamie Bennell (EP, 3)
CENTRE: Tom Ledger (C, 6), Matt Riggio (SD, 5), Brendon Jones (PT, 4)
HALF-FORWARD: Max Duffy (PT, 3), Tim Geappen (SD, 1), Ryan Davis (SD, 9)
FORWARD: Brady Grey (PT, 4), Beau Maister (C, 2), Callum Ah Chee (SF, 2)
RUCK: Paul Johnson (EP, 8), Trent Manzone (WP, 2), Brendan Lee (EP, 8)
INTERCHANGE: Aidan Lynch (WP, 2), Chris Phelan (S, 7), Jarrad Blight (SD, 2), Tim Kelly (SF, 1)

PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Paul Johnson is showing no signs of slowing down as the WAFL’s best ruckman putting in another dominant performance on Saturday as East Perth beat Claremont to all but secure a finals position for a fourth successive season.

The 31-year-old was outstanding against a Tigers team missing Mark Seaby and then losing Kepler Bradley early in the contest, and Johnson ended up with 26 possessions, 38 hit outs, six inside 50s and five tackles for the game in the 10-point victory.

Johnson is now in his fourth season at East Perth following his AFL career at West Coast, Melbourne and Hawthorn, and now along with 117 WAFL matches, he’s represented Western Australia four times, including twice as captain, and now will be looking to try and lead the Royals to a premiership in 2015 after losing the last two grand finals.

THE SHINING LIGHTS
East Perth further consolidated its place inside the top five with a hard fought 10-point win over Claremont at Medibank Stadium with Paul Johnson leading the way in the ruck with 26 possessions, five tackles, 38 hit outs and six inside-50 entries.

Jarrad Oakley-Nicholls, Tom Lamb and Jackson Nelson all kicked two goals apiece for the Royals with Nelson playing his best game of the season for East Perth with 24 possessions and eight marks to go with the two goals.

East Perth’s midfield also got on top of Claremont led by co-captain Brendan Lee who finished with 31 possessions, seven inside-50 entries, six marks and five tackles while Kane Lucas also had 31 disposals, seven inside 50s and six marks.

Seven Payne gathered 25 possessions and five tackles as well for East Perth while out of defence, Jamie Bennell racked up 29 disposals, Garry Moss 19, Mitch Fraser 18 and Tom Barrass 17 to go with six marks.

Claremont dearly missed absent ruckman Mark Seaby through a knee injury and then Kepler Bradley after he went down hurt early in the game, with their experience and versatility as talls in the midfield and up forward proved a significant factor in the final result.

Beau Maister did kick another three goals for Claremont from 12 possessions and seven marks with Tom Ledger outstanding with 33 disposals, six inside-50 entries, five marks and two goals.

Matthew Davies did well across half-back for the Tigers with another 26 possessions as well while further up the field Corey Yeo gathered 25 disposals and seven inside-50 entries, Ryan Neates 23, Haydn Busher 21, Tom Swift 21 and Ian Richardson 20.

Swan Districts took in a ferocious approach to put enormous pressure on Subiaco at Steel Blue Oval on Saturday, and the end result was the black-and-whites laying 108 tackles in the eventual one-point victory that saw them return to fifth position with two games of their season remaining.

Ryan Davis led the way for Swans laying 20 of those tackles to go with his 17 possessions and two goals as he continues the best season of his career that should see him right in contention to add a Sandover Medal to his Simpson Medal already from this year.

Matt Riggio and Jarrad Blight both laid 11 tackles apiece for Swans as well with Riggio adding 26 possessions and a goal, and Blight 18 disposals and four inside-50 entries.

Aaron Elari worked hard in the midfield for Swans also with 27 possessions and nine tackles while Adam Faulkner had 24 disposals and six tackles. Nathan Blakely had a big game in the ruck with 51 hit outs to go with 11 possessions and six tackles.

Justin Simpson controlled the game across half-back in his second game back from a thumb injury to finish with 29 disposals, nine marks and seven tackles with Tony Notte also having 17 touches and six marks, and Nathan Broad 17 disposals and 10 marks.

Tim Geappen worked hard in Swans’ forward-line for 20 possessions and two goals with Matthew Rogers adding 18 touches, five inside 50s and a goal.

Subiaco lost just its third game of the season and it was only by point with the Lions remaining three games clear on top of the ladder.