Round 18 WAFL Wrap Up

ROUND 18 WAFL action saw Perth move up to third position on the ladder, East Perth fourth and Swan Districts slip to fifth while South Fremantle got off the bottom while East Fremantle beat Subiaco comfortably for the third time this season.

The results on Saturday afternoon saw South Fremantle down West Perth 15.16 (106) to 9.13 (67) at Arena Joondalup to claim the inaugural Garlic Munchers Cup and get off the bottom of the ladder at the expense of Peel.

Perth moved up to third position with a 18.15 (123) to 7.7 (49) win over Peel Thunder at Mandurah’s Bendigo Bank Stadium while East Perth downed Swan Districts 14.11 (95) to 12.11 (83) at Leederville’s Medibank Stadium and East Fremantle beat Subiaco 15.13 (103) to 10.9 (69) at East Fremantle Oval.

Click here for the summary of Round 18 of the WAFL

THE BIG WINNERS
Perth and East Perth both went a long way to securing finals spots for 2013 with victories on Saturday.

Perth thumped Peel by 74 points to improve to a 9-6 record and a percentage of 107.8 in third position with games to go against East Fremantle, West Perth, East Perth, Claremont and South Fremantle.

East Perth came out after two straight byes to win its fifth straight match to improve to a 9-5 record in fourth position with a percentage of just 99.3 with six games remaining against West Perth, Claremont, Subiaco, Perth, South Fremantle and the Lions again.

THE BIG LOSERS
While Swan Districts put in a good showing in a hard fought contest against East Perth at Medibank Stadium, the loss will make it tough for Swans to play finals football in 2013.

Swan Districts had won five of its last six games coming into the clash with the Royals including an emphatic win over Claremont last week, but the black-and-whites came up 12 points short.

That sees Swans sit in fifth position now with an 8-7 record and percentage of 112.5 with games remaining against Peel twice in-a-row, Claremont, East Fremantle West Perth.

THE SHINING LIGHTS
East Perth returned to the top-four and knocked Swan Districts out of it with a hard fought 12-point win in quite the spirited contest at Medibank Stadium on Saturday.

East Perth’s big men had a day out led by ruckman Paul Johnson who took advantage of Swan Districts having lost No. 1 ruckman Wes Lammie to dominate youngster Rory Lobb and finish with 29 possessions, eight marks, 34 hit outs, five inside 50s and three goals in a best on ground performance.

Up forward, Josh Smith maintained his lead in the Bernie Naylor Medal race with five goals from 13 touches and eight marks while Scott Lycett was solid with 12 touches and 17 hit outs.

Former captain Michael Swan booted two majors also for the Royals with co-captain Brendan Lee racking up 33 disposals to go with five tackles and eight inside 50s. Mathew Seal also had 22 touches, Freddie Clutterbuck 20, Aaron Sweet 19, Steven Payne 19 and Blayne Wilson 18.

Dayle Garlett was a virtual lone-hand up forward for Swan Districts with five goals from 16 possessions and 10 marks with Charlie Cameron adding two majors and Wayde Twomey two to go with his 26 disposals.

Ryan Davis continued his strong recent form with 22 touches and 11 entries inside the forward 50 for Swans while Kyle Hams picked up 21 possessions, Shaun Hildebrandt 21 and Brett Robinson 20.

Mitch Banner has been South Fremantle’s leading goal scorer and ball winner all season so far since making the move west after his time in the AFL with Port Adelaide, and continued that form on Saturday with a season-best five goals to go with 28 possessions and seven marks.

The South Fremantle midfield also worked its way on top of West Perth’s with Ashton Hams racking up 35 possessions to go with seven tackles, seven clearances and six inside-50 entries.Kris Miller kicked three goals to go with 25 possessions in his 293rd WAFL game with Ben Saunders also kicking three goals in his first game back from his second fractured collarbone of the season.

Captain Ryan Cook also picked up 30 disposals to go with his seven marks, four tackles, seven clearances, eight inside-50 entries and a goal.

Haiden Schloithe picked up 28 disposals and kicked a goal with Tim Kelly terrific on the ball as well finishing with 24 touches, five tackles, nine clearances and four inside 50s.

Toby Bairstow collected 23 possessions on the wing and Jarrad Winter returned to the side and finished with 22 touches and he worked hard to lay six tackles.