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Round 18 WAFL Wrap UpWednesday, July 24, 2013 - 12:07 AM - by Chris Pike

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.

The Bulldogs' back-line was outstanding as well even with key defender Justin Monaco struck down with a hamstring injury.

Nick Borovac did a good job keeping West Perth veteran forward Anthony Tsalikis to just the one goal while Dylan Ross continued his terrific form at centre half-back with 16 possessions and eight marks.

Adam Guglielmana moved back with Adam Carter up with the West Coast Eagles and did well in a good battle with West Perth's Marc Crisp while picking up 24 possessions himself. Adam McIntosh also had 23 disposals, Craig White 19 and Mitch Carter 16 from defence.

The Falcons' defence worked hard with Michael Pettigrew doing well on Saunders.

Dan Hunt also did well restricting Alistair Gillespie to the one goal while Jordan Jones did well also keeping Paul Mugambwa to just 10 touches and a goal. Jones also racked up 27 possessions, seven marks and eight rebounds from the defensive 50.

Also out of the back-line, Trent Manzone racked up 29 possessions, Steven Browne 26 and Andrew Strijk 24.

Through the middle, Rohan Kerr was prominent largely on the wing picking up 31 possessions to go with eight marks and a goal. Shane Nelson also picked up 30 possessions to go with five clearances and five inside-50 entries.

Josh Mellington picked up 25 possessions and kicked 2.4 for the afternoon with Aaron Black collecting 22 disposals, Steve Potente 21 and Jay van Berlo 21.

Perth dominated against Peel in Mandurah from the outset before eventually winning by 74 points with captain Paul Bevan continuing his outstanding season finishing with 19 possessions, seven marks, seven inside-50 entries and five goals.

Joel Leeson was again terrific in just his second league game of 2013 with 26 disposals and two goals with Brennan Stack and Matt Moody also booting two majors apiece.

West Coast's Sam Butler came back for the Demons and worked hard for 31 possessions and seven marks while veteran Chance Bateman racked up 27 disposals, Julian Jacobs 26, Jackson Sketcher 25, Jarryd Morton 24, Michael Florio 24, Dene White 24 and Matt Tedesco 21.

Christian Eyres was tremendous in the ruck up against Fremantle-listed big man Craig Moller finishing with 19 possessions, six marks, 29 hit outs and five inside-50 entries.

Kelvin Lawrence kicked two goals for the disappointing Thunder with captain Brendon Jones leading from the front against his former side with 35 possessions, seven inside-50 entries and two goals.

Fremantle's Viv Michie continued his good form for Peel racking up 31 possessions to go with seven inside-50 entries while Matt Orzel picked up 29 disposals to go with his six marks, four tackles and seven inside 50s.

Liam McKenna came into the league side for another opportunity and had 28 touches, eight marks and six tackles with Paul Bower finishing with 26 disposals, Alex Forster 22 and Marlon Motlop 21.

West Coast champion Daniel Kerr returning to East Fremantle and starred in the 34-point win over Subiaco finishing with 31 possessions, five marks, four inside 50s and three tackles.

Ryan Lester-Smith continued his outstanding first full season of league football kicking another four goals from 14 touches and six marks. Scott Hancock and Brad Dick both booted two majors apiece.

Prolific midfielder Rory O'Brien also racked up 31 possessions for the Sharks with Aidan Tropiano finishing with 27 to go with five inside 50s.

Richard Hadley also had 23 touches, James Bayliss 20, Rob Young 19, Tom Howlett 18 and Andrew Stephen 18.

Veteran defender turned forward Antoni Grover booted four goals from Subiaco from just five kicks for the afternoon on Saturday.

Another former AFL player Andrew McDougall did all he could mostly in the ruck ending up with 29 possessions, seven marks, 28 hit outs and six inside-50 entries.

Charles Le Fanu also booted two goals for the Lions with George Hampson racking up 34 possessions, Chris Phelan 33, Jarrod Kayler-Thomson 27, Rhett Kerr 23, Joel Ashman 22 and Tristan Gum 20.

PUSHING FOR A SPOT
East Perth's reserves beat Swan Districts by eight points in a low-scoring affair at Medibank Stadium with Steven Wityk kicking three goals and Jackson Slater picking up 24 possessions, Rowan Brookes 21 and Matt Gordon 20. Brock Higgins had 18 touches, seven marks and 20 hit outs.

Matthew Jukes kicked two goals and Nick Holman booted two also for Swan Districts with Connor Blakely collecting 21 possessions, Kristopher Holman 19 and Jacob Burnham 19.

The Falcons' reserves played well to beat South Fremantle 15.8 (98) to 9.10 (64).

Usual defender Joe Morrow went forward for West Perth and kicked four goals with Drew Rohde, Ben McNamara, Mitch McPhee and Frank Stockley all kicking two goals. Stockley also had 21 possessions, five marks and 36 hit outs to go with his two goals.

Kris Shannon racked up 24 disposals for the Falcons, James Embley 19, Corey Chalmers 18, Brayden Antonio 18 and Ray Bartholomew 13 on return from his calf injury.

South Fremantle's reserves came up 34 points short despite two goals each from John Sgherza, Kingsley Smith and Simon Panizza.

Alex Grima racked up 31 possessions for the Bulldogs, Jarrod Parry 25, Jason Maskos 22, Reece Adams 21, Warrick Andreoli 20 and James Laurino 20.

East Fremantle's reserves beat Subiaco by 57 points with Alex Howson booting five goals for the Sharks, Thomas Bowey four and Cameron Symonds three to go with 13 possessions and 23 hit outs.

Jake Schleicher picked up 29 possessions, Michael Edwards 28 and Andrew Stokes 19.

Chris Deluca and Josh Sells booted two goals each for Subiaco with Matthew Bogensperger picking up 24 possessions, Michael Genovese 23 and Ryan Wade 19.

Perth's reserves hammered Peel by 138 points with Mark Deaves kicking five goals, Kyle Reimers four, Callum Collard three, Tyler Chrimes two, Kieran Hug two and Joel Houghton two.

Alistair Smith racked up 36 possessions, Jarrad Irons 32, Joel Kalajzic 30, David Johnston 30, Kane Ransted 26, Kerwin Stuart 25, Matthew Hunt 24 and Hug 22.

Peel had to call up former stalwarts Daniel Haines and Brandon Hill to fill up the numbers with James Jackman and Brandon Jetta the Thunder's goal scorers.

Callum Marshall picked up 23 possessions and Corey Fish 21 with Ben Smith racking up 38 hit outs.