TABtouch Team of Rio Tinto NAIDOC Round 14

NAIDOC Round in the WAFL saw the top three teams Subiaco, South Fremantle and West Perth move further clear at the head of the ladder while Perth closed in on a finals spot and Swan Districts, Claremont and Peel Thunder missed their chance to consolidate a position.

NAIDOC Round in the WAFL began on Friday night with Subiaco dominating its Grand Final rematch with Peel Thunder, winning 9.15 (69) to 2.5 (17).

The other three matches all took place on Saturday afternoon with Perth beating Swan Districts 14.17 (101) to 11.11 (77) on the back of five goals from Cody Ninyette and starring midfield performances from Clint Jones, Brant Colledge, Corey Yeo and Cody Leggett.

West Perth kicked nine of the last 11 goals to come from 15 points behind against East Fremantle to win by 30 points on the back of a career-best five goals from Corey Chalmers and 44 possessions from Shane Nelson.

The round then concluded at Fremantle Community Bank Oval with the 12th annual NAIDOC Week contest between South Fremantle and Claremont, and it was the Bulldogs who dominated the second half to win 10.13 (73) to 6.11 (47).

Following 14 rounds of the 2018 WAFL season, Subiaco sits clear on top of the ladder with a perfect 12-0 record and a monster percentage of 226.78 with an average winning margin of 66.7 points.

South Fremantle sits in second position with a 9-3 record and now the Lions and Bulldogs meet this Saturday at Leederville Oval.

West Perth (8-5) is now well clear in third position too after its win over East Fremantle leaving the rest of the competition battling over the last two positions in the top five.

Swan Districts (5-7) and Claremont (5-8) still hold fourth and fifth spot respectively despite Round 14 losses to be ahead of Perth (5-7), Peel Thunder (5-7), East Perth (4-7) and East Fremantle (2-11).

NAIDOC WEEK M & J CHICKENS PLAYER OF ROUND 14 – CODY NINYETTE

TABtouch TEAM OF THE ROUND (times named)
BACK: Hayden Kennedy (7), Noah Strom (2), Declan Hardisty (1)
HALF-BACK: Jayden Schofield (4), Anton Hamp (5), Michael Sinclair (5)
CENTRE: Kane Mitchell (5), Leigh Kitchin (3), Josh Deluca (5)
HALF-FORWARD: George Hampson (4), Lachlan Delahunty (9), Corey Chalmers (2)
FORWARD: Keegan Knott (1), Cameron Loersch (1), Cody Ninyette (3)
RUCK: Brock Higgins (5), Shane Nelson (8), Clint Jones (3)
INTERCHANGE: Marlion Pickett (6), Chris Phelan (6), Drew Rohde (2), Brant Colledge (4)

BACK POCKET – HAYDEN KENNEDY (Subiaco)
The premiership-winning small defender produced yet another standout performance in a dominant Subiaco back-line. Peel might have only had 26 inside-50 entries on Friday night, but he still managed to have a big night and was named to the Team of the Round for a seventh time in 2018 after finishing with 26 possessions, four inside-50 entries and three marks.

FULL-BACK – NOAH STROM (South Fremantle)
He deserves credit for sticking at it in the reserves the last three years without a league debut and after 56 reserves matches, opportunity presented for his debut in the first game of 2018 and he has never looked back. He continues to do some strong jobs on the opposition key forwards and was tremendous on Saturday keeping Claremont’s Kaiden Gilbert to one kick while having 11 disposals, five marks and five tackles himself.

BACK POCKET – DECLAN HARDISTY (Claremont)
The 20-year-old was playing just his 10th league match and was given the job on former Tiger and triple Bernie Naylor Medallist Ben Saunders. They ended up having a good battle but he did limit Saunders to two goals and did well himself finishing the afternoon with 19 possessions, six marks and six tackles.

HALF-BACK FLANK – JAYDEN SCHOFIELD (East Fremantle)
His season has been interrupted by a couple of unfortunate suspensions in 2018, but he has still been able to perform well for the most part when in the side despite the struggles of his team. The reigning East Fremantle fairest and best winner provided great run off half-back again against West Perth on Saturday with 33 possessions and nine marks.

CENTRE HALF-BACK – ANTON HAMP (Claremont)
He is now a seasoned veteran and one of the leaders at Claremont and even though his early years were spent up forward, he’s now well and truly established as one of the best key defenders in the competition. He continued his tremendous season on Saturday with the job on South Fremantle’s Mason Shaw and held him to seven kicks and a behind while having 17 disposals and 10 marks himself.

HALF-BACK FLANK – MICHAEL SINCLAIR (Perth)
The 2016 Perth fairest and best winner continues to show just how valuable a member of the Demons’ line-up he is. He has settled into a role in the back-line and could very well be the best in his league in terms of taking intercept marks, reading the ball coming in from the opposition and then setting up play going the other way. He ended up with a remarkable 35 possessions, 17 marks, five inside 50s and four tackles in Saturday’s win over Swan Districts.

WING – KANE MITCHELL (Claremont)
The 2012 Sandover Medallist is putting together a fine season on return to Claremont in 2018 on the back of his time in the AFL at Port Adelaide and then a year in 2017 away from football. He enjoyed another standout display despite the Tigers losing to South Fremantle, finishing with 34 possessions, seven marks, five tackles and three entries inside the forward. He had a nasty head clash with former teammate Ben Saunders along the way too and was left bleeding heavily.