WAFL 2022 Preview – Peel ThunderSunday, March 27, 2022 - 12:00 AM - by Chris Pike

THERE is a new coach, a new captain and a whole host of new faces at Peel Thunder coming into the 2022 WAFL season as they attempt to make a return to the finals for the first time since winning back-to-back premierships.

It's the beginning of a new era for Peel following the departure of coach Cam Shepherd. He will go down in history as the man who guided the Thunder to their first two WAFL premierships in 2016 and 2017.

He is also by far Peel's longest serving coach having been at the helm for nine seasons, but he felt the time was right to move at the end of 2021. 

It's not only his departure that marks the end of an era either for the Thunder with inspirational captain Ben Howlett retiring along premiership hard man Brayden Lawler, fairest and best winner Jackson Merrett, key midfielder Michael Randall and emerging star Jarvis Pina.

There's no question they will take some replacing under new coach Geoff Valentine but signing him from West Perth doubling with him taking on a new role with the Fremantle Dockers is a significant coup from the Thunder.

Peel has also done well to add some talent into the club with the signings of Zak Pretty, Wade Derksen, Riley Smith and Brodie Carroll from interstate, Patrick Italiano from Swan Districts, and then welcoming back the likes of Mitch Curnow, Matthew Piggott, Michael Humble, Brad McGowan and Haydn Matthews.

Peel also remains partnered with Fremantle and once again what sort of availability they have of AFL-listed players throughout the season will play a significant factor in whatever success they will be able to have.

However, with new captain Ben Hancock, reigning fairest and best winner Tyrone Thorne, crafty powerhouse forward Blair Bell and creative half-back or wingman Traye Bennell, Peel have a good core of local players who will be able to lead from the front as well.
 
COACH – Geoff Valentine (First season)
CAPTAIN – Ben Hancock
FAIREST AND BEST 2021 – Tyrone Thorne

LOOKBACK ON 2021

It was quite the remarkable start to the season for the Thunder as they set new club scoring and winning margin records with 105 and 79-point wins against East Perth and the West Coast Eagles.

The Thunder team of early 2021 was perhaps the most potent the club has ever had and despite playing good football for a lot of the first half of the season, they couldn’t quite string the wins together their form was perhaps deserving of.

Following three losses of under 10 points to Swan Districts, Claremont and East Perth, Peel slipped to a 3-7 record and finals were looking a distant reach, and that proved to be the case.

There was a couple of horror weeks when the Fremantle-listed players were unavailable, but Peel again finished the year strongly with wins over the West Coast Eagles and Perth before almost pulling off the most remarkable of comeback wins against Subiaco in the last round.

There was a lot to like about what Peel did for a lot of the season which might sound surprising given their eventual 6-12 record, but they were a much better side than that suggested.

FULL PEEL THUNDER 2021 SEASON REVIEW

INS AND OUTS

Incoming – Zak Pretty, Wade Derksen, Mitch Curnow, Matthew Piggott, Michael Humble, Brad McGowan, Haydn Matthews, Riley Smith, Brodie Carroll, Patrick Italiano

Outgoing – Ben Howlett, Jackson Merrett, Brayden Lawler, Michael Randall, Jarvis Pina 

FEATURE FIXTURE

It's a real chance for Peel to get its season off to a good start and to mark the new era under a new coach and captain when they host East Fremantle in what has now become an annual Good Friday clash in Mandurah. The Thunder will be on home turf at Lane Group Stadium for the occasion and they can really signal their intentions of what they could be capable of in 2022 with a good start against a Sharks team also determined to show that they could again be a finals force this year.

PREDICTION

It's going to be a fascinating season for the Thunder and to be honest, one that's impossible to predict. They have some handy recruits and returnees to ensure they are competitive, but again how far they go could largely be determined by the impact they get out of Fremantle-listed players. Finals shouldn’t be out of reach though.