Round 19 WAFL Wrap UpWednesday, July 31, 2013 - 12:23 PM - by Chris Pike

ROUND 19 of the 2013 WAFL season might have been played in tough conditions across Perth but it didn’t mean the results were any less important highlighted by West Perth consolidating second spot, Swan Districts going third and East Perth slipping from the top-four.

The results saw West Perth beat East Perth 10.14 (74) to 6.8 (44) at Arena Joondalup, East Fremantle smashed South Fremantle 20.18 (138) to 8.7 (55) at Fremantle Oval, Swan Districts overcame Peel Thunder 12.9 (81) to 10.10 (70) at Bassendean's Steel Blue Oval and then Claremont downed Subiaco 7.16 (58) to 5.9 (39) at Medibank Stadium in Leederville.

Click here for the summary of Round 19 of the WAFL

THE BIG WINNERS
West Perth was coming off a disappointing loss the previous week to South Fremantle and faced the prospect of having its second place on the ladder in serious jeopardy when trailing East Perth at half-time on Saturday.

However, the Falcons dominated the second half against the Royals kicking six goals to nil to win by 30 points and that was despite losing full-back Michael Pettigrew to a hamstring injury and prime mover Jay van Berlo to a knee injury throughout the afternoon.

The victory improves West Perth to an 11-5 record to be two games clear of the third-placed Swan Districts, fourth-placed Perth and fifth-placed East Perth.

THE BIG LOSERS
It wasn’t so much the fact that South Fremantle lost the final derby of 2013 on Saturday to East Fremantle at Fremantle Oval, but the way the Bulldogs lost to end up going down by a disappointing 83 points.

South Fremantle had been in good form recently with narrow losses to top-four teams Claremont and Perth, and then an emphatic 39-point win over West Perth at Arena Joondalup.

However, the Bulldogs took a step backwards on Saturday failing to fire a shot against the Sharks.

THE SHINING LIGHTS
Steve Potente continued to show why he has been a terrific recruit this season from Swan Districts by putting in a strong performance against East Perth on Saturday.

Potente finished with 23 possessions, two goals, four inside-50 entries and three tackles in a best on ground performance.

Matt Fowler and Kody Manning also kicked two goals apiece for the Falcons with another new player for 2013 Rohan Kerr also terrific with 23 possessions and seven entries inside the forward 50.

Veteran midfielder Matt Guadagnin picked up 20 possessions to go with laying eight tackles and driving the ball inside-50 on four occasions.

Shane Nelson also racked up 18 disposals for the Falcons, Aaron Black 17, Steven Browne 17, Andrew Strijk 16, Marc Crisp 16, Luke Tedesco 16 and Josh Mellington 16.

Josh Smith kicked two goals from 15 possessions for East Perth while ruckman Paul Johnson had 17 disposals, six tackles, 52 hit outs and three inside-50 entries.

Royal's co-captains Craig Wulff and Brendan Lee worked tirelessly with Wulff finishing with 27 possessions and a goal, and Lee with 25 touches and four tackles.

West Coasts Adam Selwood also picked up 26 possessions with Steven Payne racking up 23 disposals, Aaron Sweet 21, Cameron Grover 19 and Mathew Seal 18 to go with five tackles and five entries inside 50.

East Fremantle needed to win the Fremantle derby at Fremantle Oval and did so in emphatic fashion to the tune of 83 points to remain in the finals hunt.

The forward-line was potent with Jack Perham booting five goals from 16 possessions with Ryan Lester-Smith continuing his breakout 2013 season with four majors of his own from just eight kicks.

Big man Rob Young also kicked three goals for the Sharks from 17 possessions, six marks, five tackles and four inside-50 entries. West Coast-listed small forward Brad Dick also kicked two goals.

Through the middle, Rory O'Brien racked up 39 possessions for East Fremantle with Eagle Brad Sheppard returning to finish with 30 touches, eight marks and eight inside-50 entries.

Scott Hancock picked up 27 possessions to go with nine inside-50 entries with Aidan Tropiano finishing with 25 disposals, Brad Cooper 24, Mark McGough 23, Brett Peake 23, Andrew Stephen 22 and James Depane 21.

It was a disappointing day for South Fremantle but Mitch Banner once again did all he could finishing with another 31 possessions and kicking two goals to go with five entries inside the forward 50.

Captain Ryan Cook also worked tirelessly picking up 24 disposals while youngster Brendan Verrier showed strong signs gathering 21 disposals.

Haiden Schloithe also continued his emergence as a prime midfielder in the competition finishing with 23 possessions, six inside-50 entries and five tackles.

Reece Adams put in perhaps his best effort of the season to date with 20 touches and a goal while Kris Miller had 19 possessions, Toby Bairstow 18 and Tim Kelly 16.

The back-line was under siege all afternoon with East Fremantle going inside-50 a massive 65 times but the young Bulldogs defenders did all they could and Adam McIntosh ended up with 24 possessions, Dylan Ross 17, Nick Borovac 17 and Mitch Carter 16.

It took until the final quarter but Swan Districts was eventually able to shake Peel Thunder on Saturday to win by 11 points and return to third position on the WAFL ladder as a result.

Tom Roach and Charlie Cameron kicked two goals apiece for Swan Districts as did Tim Geappen to go with his 20 possessions and seven marks.

Matt Riggio racked up 25 possessions while laying seven tackles for Swan Districts with Brett Robinson gathering 23 disposals, Wayde Twomey 21, Adam Faulkner 19, Shaun Hildebrandt 18, Blaine Boekhorst 18 and Matthew Rogers 17.

Young ruckman Rory Lobb did well racking up 39 hit outs with Tony Notte providing good support with 23 hit outs to go with 14 possessions, seven marks, five inside 50s and a goal.

Kristin Thornton, Mitch Green and Hayden Crozier all kicked two goals apiece for Peel Thunder while Crozier gathered 22 possessions and took seven marks to go with his two majors.

Thunder captain Brendon Jones had another 34 possessions to go with six tackles and four inside 50s with Viv Michie racking up 32 disposals, Liam McKenna 28, Jesse Crichton 26 and Marlon Motlop 21.

Claremont did enough to beat Subiaco by 19 points at a mud-covered Medibank Stadium led by Luke Blackwell finishing with 31 possessions, 12 clearances and six inside-50 entries in just his second league game back now from his ankle injury.

Andrew Foster also worked tirelessly on the ball with 21 disposals, 13 tackles and seven clearances while ruckman Mark Seaby made a mockery of the conditions with 19 possessions, nine marks, six clearances and 33 hit outs.

Hugo Breakey also worked hard for 17 possessions with Ryan Neates gathering 16 and John Williams 15 from the half-back flank.

Up forward, Ian Richardson worked hard for 23 possessions, five marks, four inside-50 entries and two goals while Chad Jones also did well with 17 disposals and two goals.

Jarrod Kayler-Thomson and George Hampson were far and away Subiaco's two best performers for the afternoon with Kayler-Thomson finishing with 34 possessions and eight rebounds from the defensive 50 with Hampson ending up with 26 disposals and 10 clearances.

Andrew McDougall and Aidan Parker both worked hard swapping roles up and in the ruck for the Lions with McDougall finishing with 18 touches , 18 hit outs and six inside-50 entries, and Parker with 14 touches and 26 hit outs.

A host of youngsters showed good signs for Subiaco as well led by Joel Ashman (16 touches, nine tackles) and Rhys Waters (16 disposals, 11 tackles).

PUSHING FOR A SPOT
The West Perth reserves put in a terrific display beating East Perth 9.16 (70) to 4.2 (26) after holding the Royals to just the one goal for the entire first half.

Frank Stockley put in a massive effort for West Perth finishing with 27 possessions, six marks, 52 hit outs, four inside-50 entries and three tackles in the difficult conditions.

Mitch McPhee also kicked three goals for the Falcons and Kris Shannon two with Corey Chalmers picking up 24 disposals, James Embley 20, Joel Latham 19, Jack Thrum 19 and Ben McNamara 18.

Matt Gordon kicked two of East Perth's four goals for the game with Julian Locantro gathering 16 possessions and Callum Hart 14.

South Fremantle's reserves put in a strong performance beating East Fremantle comfortably 16.12 (108) to 10.6 (66) in the tough conditions at Fremantle Oval.

John Sgherza kicked three goals for the Bulldogs from 17 possessions with Myles Bolger putting in a good effort in the ruck with 17 disposals, six marks, 15 hit outs, seven inside-50 entries and two goals.

Blaine Johnson and Kingsley Smith also kicked two goals for South Fremantle with Sam Lowrie outstanding with 24 possessions and two goals as well.

Rhys D'Alton gathered 21 disposals, Jarrod Parry 20, Alex Grima 17, Jason Maskos 17 and Dylan Main 17.

Adrian Ricciardello booted three goals for East Fremantle and Dion Anthony two with former Demon Michael Edwards continuing to close in on a league debut for the Sharks with 27 possessions. Tom Hooker had 21 disposals and James Saville 20.

Claremont's reserves beat Subiaco at Medibank Stadium by 15 points with Trinity Handley and Aaron Holt both returning from injury. Holt picked up 15 possessions and Handley eight.

Ben Higgs kicked two goals for Claremont with Keifer Yu racking up 23 possessions, Jack Richardson 20, Tom Curtin 20, Coleman Cristinelli 19 and Ben Daniher 18.

Christian Bottechia kicked two goals for Subiaco with Ryan Herring gathering 21 possessions, Luke Symonds 20, Nick Hay 19 and Kobie Somers 19.

Swan Districts' reserves hammered Peel Thunder 21.15 (141) to 0.2 (2) with Aidan Anderson leading the way for Swans with six goals from 24 possessions and 13 marks.

Ricky Cary also kicked four goals, Jarrad Blight three, Nathan Blakely three, Matthew Jukes two and Will Shea two.

Corey Morris had 25 possessions for Peel with Aiden Field gathering 22 and Cruize Garlett returned from injury with 17.