Almanac WAFL: A WALF Royal revival by Les Everett

WAFL round 15

CWulff

Craig Wulff – still a marvel for the Royals.

Technical note: There are no live photos this week as I accidentally wiped the camera card. I’ve substituted with bespoke illustrations.
East Perth, boosted by 15 West Coast listed players and some South Fremantle waywardness and weirdness, scored a vital win at Fremantle Oval on Saturday and stepped within a game of the five. With Peel hampered by Fremantle’s injury woes and East Fremantle losing three in a row since the derby it looks like the Royals are being offered a finals spot.

MShaw

Mason Shaw’s marking was superb but then his team mates refused to use him.

 

The Royals dominated the clearances with Paul Johnson and Jonothan Giles ever present in the ruck and Jack Redden (three goals), Dom Sheed, whose kicking was exquisite, Xavier Ellis and the powerful Simon Tunbridge all reaping the rewards in the midfield. Young defender Tom Gorter looks a good prospect for East Perth, Paddy Brophy ran the ball well and Craig Wulff’s grit in attack was valuable. Mason Shaw kicked five goals for South – his aerial work was expert and he also enterprising when the ball hit the ground. Zac Strom (two goals) and Josh Pullman also marked well and Shaun Bewick was busy. The Bulldogs kicked 1.8 in the last quarter and showed a strange reluctance to give their marking forwards a chance with direct play.

 

East Perth 12.14 (86) South Fremantle 9.16 (70)

 

Subiaco moved a game clear on top of the ladder with an expected but hard-fought victory over bottom team Swan Districts at Leederville Oval. Chris Phelan and William Fetherstonaugh were strong performers for the Lions, Hamish Shepheard kicked four goals and Ben Sokol and Braden Fimmano each kicked three. Matt Riggio and Adam Faulkner helped keep Swans in the game for long periods and Ricky Cary kicked three goals.

 

Subiaco 16.13 (109) Swan Districts 11.9 (75)

 

At the Showgrounds Claremont lost another close one and Perth moved, unbelievably, within sniffing distance of the top five. Liam McKenna played well for Perth in his 50th WAFL game, Brennan Stack kicked a couple of goals and maintained his good recent form, Aidan Tropiano and Clint Jones were again good in the midfield. Haydn Busher and Ryan Lim were Claremont’s best.

 

Perth 10.16 (76) Claremont 11.6 (72)

 

Up at Joondalup Michael Lourey kicked five goals and Max Duffy four in West Perth’s big win over East Fremantle. Dean Munns and Mark Hamilton also impressed for the Falcons. Dion Anthony and Liam Anthony were in good form for the disappointing Sharks who managed just three goals in the first three quarters. There was a goal avalanche in the last quarter with 12 scored.

 

West Perth 17.20 (122) East Fremantle 7.10 (52)

 

Ladder: Subiaco 44; South Fremantle 40; West Perth 36; East Fremantle 28; Peel 28; East Perth 24; Perth 20; Claremont 12; Swan Districts 8.

 

Next week: Swan Districts vs East Perth; Peel vs West Perth; Perth vs Subiaco; South Fremantle vs Claremont.

About Les Everett

A Footy Almanac veteran, Les Everett is the author of Gravel Rash: 100 Years of Goldfields Football and Fremantle Dockers: An Illustrated History. He is the footyalmanac.com WAFL correspondent and uses the money he makes from that role to pay for his expensive websites australianrules.com.au and talkingfrankie.com and fund the extravagant Vin Maskell at scoreboardpressure.com

Comments

  1. Love your work – both artistic and prose – Les.
    I went to Fremantle Oval quietly optimistic that the return of East Perth’s spiritual leader, Craig Wulff, would give the Royals a realistic chance of springing an upset, and so it proved to be.
    Yes, South Fremantle was wasteful with 1.8 in the last quarter, but the Royals also missed several straightforward chances in kicking 1.6

  2. Adam Muyt says

    Who needs a camera!

Leave a Comment

*