Round 17 McDonald’s WAFL Wrap Up

AFTER a big weekend of WAFL action across Saturday and Sunday afternoon for Round 17, the only thing settled was that seven teams are still in the finals race for 2015 with Peel Thunder, Swan Districts, South Fremantle and East Perth all recording wins.

The action began on Saturday afternoon with Peel Thunder beating Claremont 13.11 (89) to 9.13 (67) at the Showground, East Perth defeating Perth 13.9 (87) to 9.13 (67) at Medibank Stadium and Swan Districts kicking the last two goals to beat West Perth 9.11 (65) to 8.15 (63) at Steel Blue Oval.

And finally on Sunday, South Fremantle kicked the first four goals of the last quarter to beat East Fremantle 10.12 (72) to 9.10 (64) at ATOM Stadium.

The weekend’s results mean that Subiaco (12-2) remains clear on top of the WAFL ladder but little separates teams from second through seventh.

West Perth (9-5) remains second just ahead of Peel Thunder (9-6) with Swan Districts (8-7) and South Fremantle (8-7) rounding out the top five but Claremont (7-7) and East Perth (7-8) aren’t far behind.

East Fremantle (5-10) and Perth (1-14) have now lost eight and 10 games straight respectively.

Click here for the summary of Round 17 of the WAFL

TEAM OF THE WEEK
BACK: Tom Barrass (EP), Tanner Smith (PT), Andrew Stephen (EF)
HALF-BACK: Garry Moss (EP), Tony Notte (SD), Kyle Hams (SF)
CENTRE: Ed Langdon (PT), Shane Nelson (WP), Ashton Hams (SF)
HALF-FORWARD: Boston Williamson (EF), Jarrad Oakley-Nicholls (EP), Callum Ah Chee (SF)
FORWARD: Brock O’Brien (EF), Kepler Bradley (C), Rudy Riddoch (SD)
RUCK: Paul Johnson (EP), Clancee Pearce (PT), Matt Riggio (SD)
INTERCHANGE: Jesse Turner (SD), Warrick Wilson (SD), Ethan Hughes (PT), Aidan Tropiano (P)

PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Garry Moss has had a horror run of injuries in recent seasons and has been used in a variety of different roles at East Perth ever since he returned from Hawthorn in 2011, but he is now playing some of the best and most consistent football of his career.

A variety of injuries have meant that Moss played just 10 games in 2013 and six in 2014 which meant he missed both of East Perth’s grand final appearances the last two years, but he has now settled perfectly into a role across half-back given to him by coach Brian Dawson in 2015.

The 27-year-old has always been one of the most skilful and creative players in the competition on his left foot, and most of his career has seen him used that as a forward with stints in the midfield, but now the defensive role appears suited to him perfectly.

Moss has been setting up play tremendously out of defence for East Perth this season, has improved his defensive game on some opposition dangerous small forwards as well, and again on Saturday he was just about best on ground with his 31 possessions and 12 marks in the win over Perth.

THE SHINING LIGHTS
Swan Districts got a measure of revenge for losing to West Perth earlier in the season after leading by 26 points at the 22-minute mark of the last quarter by trailing all afternoon on Saturday at Steel Blue Oval, but staying in touch and then winning after booting the final two goals.

Rudy Riddoch stepped up in the forward-line for Swans and kicked one of those last two goals to give him three majors for the afternoon to go with 18 possessions. Joel Houghton kicked the other to give him two goals for the day as well.

Matt Riggio was terrific in the midfield for the black-and-whites with 27 possessions while Ryan Davis continued his stunning season with 19 disposals, 11 tackles, nine marks and a goal.

Then there were some youngsters who came up big for Swans with Jesse Turner finishing with 23 possessions in his second league game and Warrick Wilson 22 touches, six marks and five inside 50s in just his seventh match.

Swans’ back-line stood up well also led by Tony Notte at centre half-back who finished with 14 possessions and eight marks while Nathan Broad had 19 possessions and Jacob Burnham 18.

Michael Lourey kicked two goals or West Perth from 13 possessions and five marks, and only the siren cost him a sixth mark and a chance at kicking the match-winning goal.

Kris Shannon also booted two goals for the Falcons before injuring a hamstring that now looks set to sideline him for up to a month.

Shane Nelson continued his remarkable form this season in the midfield for West Perth racking up another 33 possessions while the man he was runner-up to in last year’s Sandover Medal count Aaron Black compiled 26 disposals and 10 marks in his 99th game for the Falcons.

Trent Manzone returned to the league side and worked hard for West Perth racking up 23 possessions while Jay van Berlo had 18 touches to go with six marks, three tackles and three inside-50 entries.

West Perth’s back-line again held up well led by young key position players Marcus Adams (17 possessions, eight marks) and Nick Rodda (18 disposals, seven marks).

Peel got off to a fast start with the only three goals of the first quarter, and finished strongly kicking six goals to one in the last to beat Claremont by 22 points at the Showground with the Thunder winning their ninth game in a season for the first time and to be on target to play finals.

Clancee Pearce, Zac Clarke, Paul Duffield and Tendai Mzungu were all dropped back from Fremantle with a point to prove that they belong back in the Dockers line-up, and they all had a significant impact in the win.

Pearce led the way with a massive game with 40 possessions, 11 marks, six inside 50s and a goal while Clarke also provided a good presence with 17 disposals, nine marks, 18 hit outs and two goals.

Duffield also played well for 23 touches, seven marks and a goal with Mzungu working hard for his 17 possessions.

They were far from the only strong performers for Peel, though, with the back-line held up well by Tanner Smith (22 possessions, nine marks), Ethan Hughes (23 disposals, eight marks), Josh Bootsma (19 touches, five marks), Josh Mathers (21 possessions, seven marks) and the returning Zac Dawson (10 touches).

A host of players through the midfield racked up plenty of the ball as well with Ed Langdon gathering another 31 possessions, Connor Blakely 30 (two goals), Jacob Ballard 28, Brendon Jones 25 and Leroy Jetta 22 while Jack Hannath and Gerald Ugle also kicked two goals apiece.

Kepler Bradley loomed as a potential match-winner for Claremont up forward up against the team that he played with last year while still on Fremantle’s list.

The big man ended up with four goals from 15 possessions and seven marks while also up forward, Matthew Palfrey kicked three goals for the Tigers and Beau Maister worked hard for 16 touches, 13 marks and a goal.

Ryan Neates continued his terrific ball-winning form for Claremont racking up another 31 possessions while Tom Ledger gathered 26 disposals to go with 11 marks and six entries inside the forward 50.

Big-bodied midfielder Haydn Busher also did well with 23 touches while Francis Watson had 22 possessions, Corey Yeo 21, Oliver Tate 21, Matthew Davies 19 and Ian Richardson 18.

Two-time premiership player Tom Swift also did well with 21 possessions and six marks in his first league game for Claremont since the 2012 grand final win over East Fremantle.

East Perth took three quarters to shake off Perth on Saturday, but the Royals kicked five goals to two in the last term to end up winning by 20 points to remain right in contention for a fourth straight finals appearance.