Round 10 McDonald’s WAFL Wrap Up

THE WA Day weekend of WAFL action produced some surprising results and outstanding performances with Swan Districts and Claremont recording wins on Saturday, and East Perth and South Fremantle scoring upset victories in the traditional derbies on Monday.

The WAFL action resumed on Saturday following Western Australia’s State game win over South Australia, and it saw Claremont beat Peel Thunder 17.16 (118) to 6.10 (46) at the Showground and Swan Districts defeat Perth 13.7 (85) to 11.12 (78) at Bassendean’s Steel Blue Oval.

Then on the WA Day public holiday on Monday, over 11,000 fans attended the two games with East Perth beating West Perth 18.11 (119) to 10.11 (71) in front of 4021 at Medibank Stadium and then in likely the game of the season so far, South Fremantle stormed home to beat East Fremantle 15.13 (103) to 14.14 (98) at ATOM Stadium in front of 7209.

The weekend’s results leave Subiaco (7-1) out clear on top of the ladder and Perth (1-8) clear on the bottom, but there is a remarkably small margin between the WAFL’s other seven teams.

West Perth (5-4) remains in second position with East Fremantle (5-4), Peel Thunder (5-4) and South Fremantle (5-4) rounding out the top-five. Just outside are Swan Districts (4-5), East Perth (4-5) and Claremont (4-5).

Click here for the summary of Round 10 of the WAFL

TEAM OF THE WEEK
BACK: Alex Howard (SD), Matthew Jupp (EF), Jared Bell (P)
HALF-BACK: Brock O’Brien (EF), Nathan Blee (EP), Ashton Hams (SF)
CENTRE: Freddie Clutterbuck (EP), Liam Anthony (EF), Ryan Neates (C)
HALF-FORWARD: Bradd Dalziell (EF), Scott Lycett (EP), Ryan Cook (SF)
FORWARD: Jack Bradshaw (C), George Hampson (EF), Cory Dell’Olio (SF)
RUCK: Paul Johnson (EP), Shane Nelson (WP), Jamie McNamara (EF)
INTERCHANGE: Tom Ledger (C), Matthew Jukes (SD), Dene White (P), Matt Guadagnin (WP)

PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Bradd Dalziell appears to have played his last game with East Fremantle after announcing his retirement following the Sharks’ WA Day Foundation Derby loss to South Fremantle, but he certainly did all he could to pull his team over the line.

The 28-year-old wingman and half-forward was playing his 76th WAFL match with East Fremantle and he’s also played 15 games with the Brisbane Lions and 28 with the West Coast Eagles in the AFL, but nagging knee problems have made it more and more difficult for him to keep playing at the top level.

It hasn’t affected his form, though, and on Monday he played almost exclusively as a forward and put in a tremendous performance kicking four goals, three of which came in the third quarter, and at one point looked capable single-handedly lifting East Fremantle over the line.

Dalziell started his career with East Fremantle back in 2006 and then in four league matches in 2007, was so impressive that he ended up drafted by the Brisbane Lions.

Following his time in the AFL with both Brisbane and West Coast, where he certainly showed that he belonged as a prolific ball winning midfielder, he returned to East Fremantle and has proven himself one of the WAFL’s true match-winners as a goal kicking midfielder, wingman and half-forward.

However, it now appears that his knee problems will mean that his career has unfortunately been cut short and all the while he is still one of the very best and most damaging players in the competition.

THE SHINING LIGHTS
Jack Bradshaw ended up with four goals for the afternoon for Claremont on Saturday after booting three of them in the first quarter. He also had 18 possessions and six marks for the game.

On top of Shane McAdam’s three goals as well for Tigers in the opening term, Kepler Bradley booted two against the team he played with last year while still on Fremantle’s AFL list.

Ryan Neates backed up his appearance in the State game last week for WA with another terrific showing for Claremont with 34 possessions, 10 marks and six inside 50s while Tom Ledger continued his good form with another 33 disposals and 13 marks.

Ryan Lim continues to make an immediate impact at league level for Claremont as well gathering another 32 disposals while Corey Yeo had it 28 times and Francis Watson 21.

The ruck battle all afternoon against an AFL and WAFL premiership star and an emerging big man from Claremont, and two AFL-listed ruckmen from Peel was fascinating, and it was the Tigers pair who took the honours in the finish.

Mark Seaby ended the day with 14 possessions, 20 hit outs and a goal while Darcy Cameron had 15 touches, seven marks, 17 hit outs and a goal. For Peel, Jonathon Griffin had 12 disposals and 27 hit outs, and Jack Hannath 13 disposals, five marks, nine hit outs and two goals.

Matt de Boer was dropped back to Peel from Fremantle in a bid to get a full game under his belt after spending plenty of time with the substitute vest so far this season in the AFL.

And he put in a strong showing in the midfield for the Thunder despite the heavy loss finishing with 27 possessions and 10 tackles.

Another Docker Hayden Crozier worked hard for Peel ending the afternoon with 25 disposals and taking 10 marks while Lachie Weller amassed 23 disposals, Max Duffy 22, Jacob Ballard 21, Ed Langdon 21 and Brady Grey 19.

Ethan Hughes tried hard in the under-siege defence and also offered good counterattack with 23 possessions but Zac Dawson didn’t have the return from injury he hoped with just three kicks, one handpass and one mark. He also broke his thumb in the process.

It was an important win for Swan Districts over Perth after losses to Claremont and Subiaco prior to the State game, and it was set up in the midfield by Adam Faulkner (34 possessions, eight clearances), Aaron Elari (30 disposals) and Matt Riggio (30 touches, seven clearances).