Round 16 Colts Wrap

SUBIACO remain top of the WAFL Colts despite having the bye in Round 16 with fellow top teams Peel Thunder and Swan Districts losing while East Fremantle and South Fremantle scored strong victories as West Perth and Claremont kept their finals hopes alive.

It was a big round in the colts action with the league-leading Subiaco having the bye and all other eight teams remaining in finals contention with the battle right on for the top four spots, and then the other five clubs all fighting over fifth position.

All four games were played on Saturday morning in challenging conditions but it produced some fascinating results starting with South Fremantle beating an inaccurate Peel Thunder 5.11 (41) to 3.19 (37) at Bendigo Bank Stadium.

West Perth also kept its finals hopes alive beating Swan Districts 11.10 (76) to 9.6 (60) at Joondalup Arena.

Claremont climbed off the bottom of the ladder to keep its finals hopes alive too beating East Perth 13.12 (90) to 7.3 (45) at Claremont Oval.

East Fremantle consolidated its top four position and moved up to third too by beating Perth 10.14 (74) to 9.8 (62) at Lathlain Park.

The Round 16 results leave Subiaco (10-3) clear on top of the ladder with Peel Thunder (9-5) remaining second percentage ahead of East Fremantle (9-5).

Swan Districts (8-6) is in fourth position with South Fremantle (6-8) fifth just in front of the chasing pack of West Perth (5-9), Perth (5-9), Claremont (5-9) and East Perth (5-8).

PEEL THUNDER v SOUTH FREMANTLE

South Fremantle's colts moved a game clear in fifth position while Peel Thunder missed an opportunity to claim top spot as the Bulldogs won in Mandurah by four points on Saturday morning.

Peel might have ended up with nine more inside-50 entries and 22 scoring shots to 16, but the Thunder only kicked three goals from those attempts with the Bulldogs coming away with the crucial four-point win.

South Fremantle kicked the only goal of the opening quarter but then Peel kicked its only three goals in the second quarter of the day. The Thunder also ended up kicking 3.7 in a dominant second term to head into half-time in control leading by 15 points.

But the Bulldogs hit back in the third quarter with the only two goals to trail by five points at the final change before also kicking the only two goals of the last term to come away with the 5.11 (41) to 3.19 (37) victory.

The win leaves South Fremantle a game clear in fifth position on the colts ladder while Peel remains second but a game behind the ladder-leading Subiaco.

South Fremantle's goals in the game came from Luke Moore, Matthew Ward, Lachlan Johnson, Braiden Quartermaine and Alec Petkovic.

Ward racked up 27 possessions for the Bulldogs, Regan Spooner 22, Tom Blechynden 21 (12 tackles), Jack Redman 20 and Enrique Aiken-Featherstone 16 (eight tackles).

Jack Fenton finished with eight disposals and 34 hit outs in the ruck.

Peel's three goals were courtesy of Lachlan Riley, Tyson Powell and Jack Sears.

Riley also compiled 29 possessions for the Thunder, Andrew Butler 19, Jake Howes 18 (12 tackles), Powell 17, Jarvis Pina 16, Brad Oldfield 15 and Tyrone Thorne 15.

WEST PERTH v SWAN DISTRICTS

It was a crucial colts contest to open the day at Joondalup Arena on Saturday with West Perth trying to stay in the finals hunt and Swan Districts trying to hold on to a top three position to secure a finals double chance.

West Perth made an impressive start during the cold and wet of the early morning kicking the only two goals of the first quarter.

Things then opened up in the second term for both teams with the Falcons and Swans kicking four goals apiece with West Perth heading into half-time leading by 13 points.

Swan Districts took over in the third quarter looking strong kicking the only three goals of the term to head into three quarter-time with a four-point advantage.

But West Perth responded well in the last quarter kicking five goals to two to come away with the 11.10 (76) to 9.6 (60) victory to improve to a 5-9 record to be just a game outside of the top five while Swans slip to 8-6 in fourth spot.

Tom Medhat kicked three goals for West Perth from nine kicks. Noah Clune also booted two goals for the Falcons, Logan Foley two and Daniel Rowe two to go with 21 possessions, five marks and four tackles.

Tyron Hindmarsh also racked up 28 possessions for the Falcons, Jaxon Prior 26, Ben Johnson 23, Jack Burke 16, Jamie Dowen 16 and Zak Patterson 16 to go with 21 hit outs.

Ben Taylor kicked three goals for Swan Districts and Ethan Nordahl two to go with 17 possessions, five marks, four tackles and four inside-50 entries.

Brenton Hilton gathered 20 possessions for Swans, Kade Wallrodt 19 (nine tackles), Jackson Beck 17, Joe Hinder 16 and Patrick Farrant 15.

CLAREMONT v EAST PERTH

Claremont's colts climbed off the bottom of the WAFL ladder at the expense of East Perth on Saturday with a 45-point victory at Claremont Oval.

While Claremont and East Perth remain the bottom two teams in the colts with five wins each for the season, they do remain a finals chance sitting just a game outside the top five.

It was a dominant display by Claremont at Claremont Oval on Saturday, but only after quarter-time.

East Perth kicked four goals to three in the opening quarter to start encouragingly, but the Tigers took over from there with six goals to one in the second term to take a five-goal advantage into the long break.

The Royals gave themselves a chance at least with two goals to one in the third quarter to get back to within 23 points at three quarter-time.

But the Tigers kicked away again in the final term with three goals to one behind to end up winning 13.12 (90) to 7.3 (45).

Corey Hitchcock delivered an impressive performance for Claremont with four goals from 17 possessions, five inside-50 entries and four tackles.

Isaac Barton (18 disposals, 12 tackles) and Zainel Bin Busu (18 possessions, nine tackles) also kicked two goals apiece for the Tigers.

Max Grant collected 34 possessions for Claremont, Oliver Henderson 21, Ben Elliott 20, Jacob Dorsett-Sawyer 20, Lewis Henry 19, Louis Passera 16, Nathan Pearce 15 and Joel Western 15.

Angus Longmire ended the morning with 12 touches and 43 hit outs in the ruck.

Ashley Willcocks kicked three goals for East Perth and Thomas Baulch two to go with 25 disposals and nine marks.

Damon Greaves also finished with 22 disposals for the Royals, Eric Bashemule 17, Louis Miller 16 and Jed Montgomerie 16 (21 hit outs, six tackles).

PERTH v EAST FREMANTLE

East Fremantle kept its top two hopes alive in the WAFL colts for 2018 with a 12-point come from behind win against Perth at Lathlain Park on Saturday morning.

Perth started impressively on home turf against the Sharks kicking three goals to one in the opening quarter and another three to two in the second term to lead by 13 points heading into the half-time break.

East Fremantle did begin to get going in the third quarter kicking four goals to two to assume a three-point lead heading into the last term. 

And there, the Sharks kicked three goals to one to come away with the important 10.14 (74) to 9.8 (62) win to move into third position on the ladder and just percentage behind the second placed Peel Thunder.

Dylan Curley kicked three goals for East Fremantle from nine kicks, eight hit outs and five marks, including one massive hanger deep in attack for the Sharks.

Ben Wardle also kicked two goals for East Fremantle while Corey Robinson gathered 24 possessions, Max Murphy 20, Dillon O'Reilly 20, Jai Jackson 19 (11 tackles), Tom Monaghan 18, Cody Smith 18, Zac Wilkinson 17, Nick Patat 15 and Jake Diggle 15.

Ian Hill kicked three goals for Perth from 25 possessions, six marks and six inside-50 entries with Brodie Gray booting two goals as well.

Sydney Stack picked up 26 possessions for the Demons and 12 tackles while Nathan O'Driscoll finished with 25 disposals, Nyika John 17, Maverick Hamilton 16 and Kaije Slater 16.