WAFL Round 12 WrapMonday, July 3, 2023 - 11:14 AM - by Chris Pike

CLAREMONT held off a fast finishing Subiaco to move clear on top of the WAFL ladder after 12 rounds while East Fremantle had a remarkably huge win over the West Coast Eagles and Peel Thunder was too strong for South Fremantle on Saturday.

There were three matches in Round 12 of the 2023 WAFL season and in the end, the wins for the Tigers, Thunder and Sharks all further consolidated their hold on positions inside the top five.

Claremont and Subiaco went to battle over top position on Saturday at Revo Fitness Stadium and in the end the Tigers were on top most of the way, and then held on to beat the Lions 10.14 (74) to 10.7 (67).

The victory sees Claremont move clear on top of the WAFL ladder with a 9-2 record while Subiaco is fourth at 8-3.

Peel Thunder then had to come from behind against South Fremantle but got the job done at Mandurah's Lane Group Stadium for the eventual 10.14 (74) to 9.8 (62) victory.

The win improves the Thunder to third position with an 8-3 record while it's another blow for the Bulldogs who have now lost three straight to fall further from finals contention.

Then at the WACA Ground, East Fremantle unleashed its full arsenal to have quite the day out against the hapless West Coast Eagles to end up winning 33.17 (215) to 4.7 (31).

The win is a huge boost to the percentage of the Sharks who now sit two games and significant percentage clear in fifth position on the WAFL ladder.

East Perth, Perth, Swan Districts and West Perth had the bye in Round 12.

There were also two matches in Round 12 of the Reserves with Claremont defeating Subiaco 12.8 (80) to 11.8 (74) at Revo Fitness Stadium.

Rhori Williams-Jolley kicked three goals for Claremont with Coen Jackman and Rory Charles adding two each while Ben Edwards amassed 30 possessions, Mitch Barron 23, Max Mumme 20 and Menno Inverarity 18.

Richard Farmer and Kody Eaton kicked two goals each for Subiaco with Corey Robinson gathering 31 touches, Noah Ash 22, Lachlan Vanirsen 22 (10 tackles) and Rory Murison 20.

South Fremantle's Reserves also defeated Peel Thunder 13.5 (83) to 10.7 (67) in Mandurah.

Kaden Harbour and Nixon Hamlet kicked three goals each for South Fremantle with Mitch Sinnott and Jaren Carr adding two each.

George Wessels collected 24 possessions, Aaron Drage 23, Carr 22, Brendon Ah Chee 20 and Seth Connor 18.

Corey Tregenza kicked five goals for Peel and Brody Wemm three with James Sturrock finishing with 25 touches, Haydn Matthews 20, Kyren Gavin 20, Taj Wyburd 19 and Hugh Davies 19.

Meanwhile, Round 12 of the Colts saw Peel Thunder defeat South Fremantle 10.9 (69) to 7.8 (50) at Lane Group Stadium.

Peel had 10 individual goal kickers in the game with Ethan Logan finishing with 27 possessions, Jesse Grant 21, Kaed Collard 19 and Joel Rush 18.

Mitch Geier kicked three goals for South Fremantle and Liam Brandis two while Callum Copeland picked up 25 disposals, Brandis 16, Tyler Rowe 15, Kyle Brestovac 15 and Nick Campo 15.

Claremont and Subiaco then did battle on Saturday evening at Albany's Retravision Stadium with Claremont defeating Subiaco 8.12 (60) to 5.6 (36).

Riley Disisto kicked two goals for Claremont who also had 24 possessions while Cody Angove collected 24 touches, Ashton Bryant 20 (10 tackles) and Josh Howard 19.

Lachlan O'Keefe picked up 18 possessions for Subiaco, Ethan Barbieri 18 and Kieren Douglas 16.

 

WAFL PREMIERSHIP SEASON – ROUND 12

CLAREMONT 10.14 (74) defeated SUBIACO 10.7 (67)

Claremont has moved a game and percentage clear on top of the WAFL ladder on the back of a strong performance to hold out Subiaco to win by seven points at Revo Fitness Stadium.

The Tigers and Lions went to battle with top position on the line on Saturday afternoon and it was Claremont who were on top most of the way.

The home team was leading by 22 points at quarter-time, 25 at half-time and 24 at three quarter-time, but Subiaco kept coming and kicked four goals to one in the last term.

It wasn’t quite enough, though, with Claremont holding out for the 10.14 (74) to 10.7 (67) win to move a game and clear on top of the WAFL ladder.

The Lions slip to fourth with an 8-3 record.

Anthony Treacy backed up kicking four goals last week against West Coast with another two goals for Claremont with Zac Mainwaring also adding two as the Tigers' only multiple goal scorers.

Jye Bolton was the game's high possession winner for Claremont once more and played mostly off half-back for 25 possessions. Anthony Davis was terrific as well down back for the Tigers with 20 touches and eight marks while also kicking his first career goal and doing well defensively on Ryan Borchet.

Teia Miles also gathered 19 possessions for Claremont, Callan England 19, Ben Elliott 18, Declan Mountford 16 (seven tackles) and Joel Western 16.

Meanwhile, for the second time this season Oliver Eastland had the better of his ruck battle with Zac Clarke, Eastland finished with 11 touches and 34 hit outs, and Clarke just seven disposals and 33 hit outs.

Taj Schofield, Max Walters and Ben Golding all kicked two goals each for Subiaco but key forwards Ben Sokol, Ryan Borchet and Jack Mayo only managed a combined one goal for the day from just 18 kicks.

Jack Maibaum was especially impressive defensively for Claremont holding Bernie Naylor Medal leader Sokol to no score and five kicks.

Subiaco captain Leigh Kitchin finished with 20 possessions while Stefan Giro also gathered 20 disposals, Liam Hickmott 20, Schofield 19, Jaxon McGowan 19 and Golding 17.

Claremont made the perfect start in the battle over top spot in the WAFL with an early goal to the dangerous Alex Manuel.

It would be almost 10 minutes until the next goal and that went the way of Ben Golding for Subiaco who was doing his best as a defensive forward to quell the influence of Jye Bolton.

However, Claremont then took charge the rest of the first quarter including defender Anthony Davis getting forward to kick the first goal of his 47-game career. Tyron Smallwood, Zac Mainwaring and Joel Western all added goals to see Claremont on top by 22 points at the first break.

Claremont continued with the momentum in the second quarter with the opening two goals, both courtesy of the in-form Anthony Treacy to see that lead grow to 36 points.

Subiaco needed to respond and to the Lions' credit they did manage the last two goals of the half thanks to Michael Braut and Ryan Borchet to get back to within 25 points at the main break.

Claremont kicked a string of four behinds to start the second half before Bailey Rogers kicked a goal to put the lead back out to 35 points, but the Lions kept in touch with the next couple of goals from Max Walters in his 101st game.

Both teams closed the third quarter with a goal each and that saw Claremont still leading by 24 points at the last change.

Subiaco did breathe some life back into the contest with the first two goals of the last term with Stefan Giro adding his first and Golding a second, but Claremont steadied courtesy of Talon Delacey.

The Lions did keep on coming with a couple of late goals from Jordan Faraone and then Schofield but couldn’t get closer than that final seven-point margin.

 

PEEL THUNDER 10.14 (74) defeated SOUTH FREMANTLE 9.8 (62)

Peel Thunder kicked the last five goals of the game at home to South Fremantle on Saturday to come from 20 points down to score the 12-point victory.

South Fremantle made a strong start in Round 12 of the WAFL on return from the bye last weekend at Lane Group Stadium with the Bulldogs kicking five goals to two in the opening quarter.

The Bulldogs were then still leading by 20 points during the third quarter after kicking a ninth goal for the day, but they wouldn’t add to that.

Peel would kick the last five goals of the game from that point to completely turn the tide and to secure the 10.14 (74) to 9.8 (62) win to consolidate their hold on third position with an 8-3 record.

South Fremantle now has a 4-7 record on the season with just eight premiership points to their credit.

Travis Colyer was Peel's only multiple goal scorer in the game kicking two to go with 15 touches and six marks with eight other players kicking at least one goal.

Thunder running pair Karl Worner (29 possessions) and Corey Wagner (24) were tremendous the longer the game went on Saturday with powerful dual premiership player Blair Bell finishing with 23 touches and seven inside-50 entries.

Will Brodie also collected 20 disposals for the Thunder, Bailey Banfield 19, Brady Grey 16, Traye Bennell 14 and key defender Joel Hamling 14 to go with seven marks as he maintained his standout form.

Zac Strom and Jack Blechynden did kick two goals apiece for South Fremantle.

South Fremantle's back-line especially the key defenders did stand tall with Riley Colborne the standout given the job on Sebit Kuek, who he was able to limit to one goal and five kicks.

Noah Strom did well on ruck pair Riley Smith and Liam Reidy when they were forward while Chad Pearson and Toby McQuilkin helped to quell the influence of Ben Middleton and Josh Corbett.

Tom Blechynden ended up racking up 33 possessions for the Bulldogs with Glenn Byron finishing with 25 touches, Jake Florenca 24, Pearson 24, McQuilkin 24, Kyle Russell 21, Caleb Stephens 20 and Matthew Parker 19 before he went off injured in the second half.

It took only a minute for South Fremantle to make the perfect start to the game with a goal to Matthew Parker who opened up on fire.

Peel did respond quickly thanks to Ethan Stanley and then following a string of behinds from the Thunder, the Bulldogs got rolling with three goals in less than five minutes.

Chase Bourne, Zac Strom and Dylan Main all kicked truly for the Bulldogs and then heading towards quarter-time so did Jack Blechynden.

South Fremantle's lead was out to 20 points and was still 13 at quarter-time despite a late goal for the Thunder to Bailey Banfield.

Peel did kick the first two goals of the second quarter thanks to Jack Sears and Sebit Kuek but South Fremantle responded strongly with three goals themselves over a five-minute stretch.

The goals came from Blechynden, Brandon Donaldson and Jordan Gallucci with the South Fremantle lead growing to 19 points and it was still 15 at half-time despite the Thunder kicking the last goal of the half from Travis Colyer.

It then took almost 12 minutes for the first goal of the second half which was kicked by Strom for South Fremantle to put the Bulldogs back in front by 20 points.

The Bulldogs had control the majority of the contest up to that point, but they wouldn’t kick another goal the rest of the way with Peel assuming control.

The Thunder closed the third quarter with a couple of goals to Brady Grey and Nathan O'Driscoll to make the margin just six points by three quarter-time.

Peel then kicked the only three goals of the final term thanks to Colyer, Josh Corbett and former Bulldog Traye Bennell to secure the 12-point victory.

 

EAST FREMANTLE 33.17 (215) defeated WEST COAST EAGLES 4.7 (31)

While the season of the West Coast Eagles continued to spiral to record lows, East Fremantle showed no mercy to pile on 33 goals to four on the way to the 184-point annihilation on Saturday.

East Fremantle signalled its intentions from the start with 11 goals to nil in the opening quarter at the WACA Ground. The Sharks added another seven goals to one in the second term, eight two in the third and seven to one in the last.

That saw the Sharks end up beating the Eagles 33.17 (215) to 4.7 (31) with the score the equal second highest ever that East Fremantle has kicked and the 184-point margin the second biggest ever for the Sharks, and biggest since 1944.

Considering East Fremantle had 189 more possessions than West Coast along with 141 marks to 52, 72 inside 50s to 33 and 50 scoring shots to 11, it's no surprise a whole host of Sharks players had days out.

Cody Leggett was playing his 100th WAFL game and continued his strong season kicking another six goals from 15 touches and nine marks to have now kicked 24 goals in just seven games in 2023.

He was just one of eight East Fremantle players to kick multiple goals, and one of 15 to kick at least one goal with Jonathon Marsh also kicking five goals, Dillon O'Reilly five, Brayden Lawler four, and then two each to Luke English, Tom Bennett, Jackson McDonald and Alex Montauban.

Every East Fremantle player had at least 10 disposals in the game too including experienced defenders Cam Eardley (35 touches, 10 marks) and Matthew Jupp (25, 12) leading the charge.

Then there was Kyle Baskerville who finished with 31 disposals, Fraser Turner 30, Milan Murdock 27, Harry Marsh 26, Lawler 23, Finn Gorringe 22, Jarrad Jansen 21 and Montauban 21.

Josh Burke did kick two of the four goals for West Coast with Josh Browne collecting 25 disposals, Ethan Hansen 25, Jackson Nelson 19 and Jed Kemp 16.

The signs were ominous early with East Fremantle getting the first goal of the game after just a minute thank to Tom Bennett. 

Jonathan Marsh added another at the five-minute mark and then it was just a procession with the Sharks piling on 11 goals in the first quarter to already be leading by 68 points at quarter-time.

Cody Leggett kicked another to start the second quarter to make the margin already 74 points and when Brayden Lawler and Dillon O'Reilly also kicked truly, East Fremantle was up by 88 points before West Coast had even scored a goal.

Eventually the Eagles got on the board thanks to Josh Burke, but it didn’t stop the Sharks' momentum with Leggett adding another, as did O'Reilly. With seven more goals for the quarter, East Fremantle went into the long break in front by a remarkable 107 points.

There was a brief glimmer of life from West Coast to start the second half with two goals in two minutes from Shannon Lucassen and Burke, but it wouldn’t last.

East Fremantle would end up kicking eight goals for the rest of the third quarter to lead by a monstrous 147 points at three quarter-time.

The demolition job continued as the Sharks piled on another seven goals to one in the last quarter to score the 184-point victory which is their biggest win since 1944, and second biggest ever in history.