Round 17 WAFL Wrap Up

THERE were just the two WAFL games in Round 17 on Saturday afternoon and Swan Districts and Perth both took advantage to win and move up on the ladder as a result.

Swan Districts shot up to third position with a 16.14 (110) to 10.11 (71) victory over league-leaders Claremont at Claremont Oval while Perth returned to third spot with a comfortable 13.19 (97) to 9.17 (71) win over Subiaco at Lathlain’s Brownes Stadium.

Click here for the summary of Round 17 of the WAFL

THE BIG WINNERS
Even though Swan Districts was missing prime mover Shaun Hildebrandt and then Murray Newman left at quarter-time, and a couple of other players were battling sore ankles in the second half, the black-and-whites continued their hot form to hand Claremont its second loss of the season.

Swans have now won five of their last six games to improve to an 8-6 record on the season in third spot with the only loss in that time being a narrow three-point loss at home to the second-placed West Perth.

Swans now take on East Perth this Saturday with the chance to further cement third position on the ladder against a Royals team that had won four straight before this current two-week break.

THE BIG LOSERS
Subiaco’s finals hopes for 2013 are now all but over following Saturday’s 26-point loss to Perth.

The Lions now sit in seventh position on the ladder with a 5-9 record and even if they do win their last six games, it is unlikely those 11 wins will be enough to make it into the top-four particularly with Subiaco’s poor percentage.

Subiaco did look to be hitting some strong form with wins over Swan Districts, Claremont and South Fremantle between Rounds 10 and 12, but the Lions have lost four straight to Swan Districts, West Perth, East Fremantle and Perth since.

THE SHINING LIGHTS
Swan Districts was outstanding from the outset against Claremont to eventually run out 39-point winners to move up to third position on the WAFL ladder.

Tony Notte is having the best season of his career and continued that form on Saturday against the Tigers kicking five goals from 16 possessions, seven marks and eight inside-50 entries.

Tim Geappen also kicked three goals for Swans with Charlie Cameron returning from the WA State 18s team to kick two as did Ryan Davis from 23 possessions and eight inside-50 entries.

Swans’ defence was also outstanding with Kyle Hams keeping Paul Medhurst to just the one goal while Jamie Bennell racked up 23 possessions, Wayde Twomey 23 and Graham Jetta 19.

Through the middle, Rory Lobb did all he could up against Mark Seaby with 13 touches and 14 hit outs with Aaron Elari picking up 23 possessions, Matt Riggio 21, Adam Faulkner 20, Tom Roach 19 and Brett Robinson 18.

Chad Jones was Claremont’s most dangerous forward on the day kicking four goals including a purple patch with three early in the third quarter but he was the Tigers’ only multiple scorer.

Jake Murphy continued to lead the way in the middle for Claremont with 33 possessions, seven marks, six inside 50s, 10 clearances and a goal while Luke Blackwell made a strong return with 30 disposals and 10 clearances.

Mark Seaby finished with 24 possessions, 44 hit outs and 12 clearances in the ruck while Andrew Foster also came back into the side and had 24 touches and eight tackles.

Ian Richardson worked hard across half-forward for 19 touches, six inside 50s and a goal also for Claremont while captain Andrew Browne had 17 possessions before injuring a quad.

Joel Leeson starred for the Demons in his first league appearance of the season finishing with 27 possessions and three goals.Perth got the job done in a scrappy and inaccurate affair at home to beat Subiaco by 26 points and move back up into fourth position on the ladder.

Captain Paul Bevan and Jackson Sketcher kicked two goals apiece while Brennan Stack was well held by Subiaco’s defence and was goalless.

Matt Moody continued his outstanding season for the Demons with 25 possessions, seven marks, five inside 50s and a goal while Chance Bateman collected 23 disposals, Jarryd Morton 23 in his first league game with Perth, Julian Jacobs 21, Dene White 20 and Michael Florio 20.