2017 Player Movements and News Thread

[NekMinnit69]

Any chance Perth sign somebody decent to replace Mzungu?

**** the Giants.

That would've been bloody frustrating for Perth fans. He will be sitting in the GWS magoos all year.

 

[Ljp86]

- West Perth has launched an audacious bid to have a soft opening of Perth Stadium asking for a fixture against East Perth in a WAFL derby in 2018, one week before the stadium would open with an AFL match. The bid has been arranged by former West Perth President Brett Raponi who finished his reign as the Falcons' President last week and has been replaced by Scott Ballem. East Perth have supported the move commenting it would "provide a wonderful experience" for all involved.
- Claremont are expected to break even this season after five Tigers' players were taken in the 2016 AFL Draft. The draftees' will net the Tigers more than $175,000 after originally having forecast a loss for the 2016 season after playing a second season at Claremont Showgrounds while Claremont Oval undergoes a redevelopment. Claremont will return to Claremont Oval in 2017 with construction close to completion.
- East Fremantle are set to pursue Mitch Clark about a return to WAFL football with his original club for 2017 as he prepares to move back to Perth with his family. Clark was drafted to Brisbane in the 2005 national draft and also played for Melbourne and Geelong before being delisted by the Cats in October.
- Jack Hannath won't be playing in the WAFL in 2017 and will return back to his home state of South Australia. Hannath's services were enquired about by several clubs, including Perth.
- Angus Litherland will play with Subiaco in 2017 after being delisted by Hawthorn at the end of the 2016 AFL season. The move is a blow to Claremont who have also lost Rowen Powell to the Lions after an injury plagued 2016 season where he played only two senior matches. The Tigers had also hoped to regain Litherland after he was drafted to the Hawks from the Tigers in the 2010 AFL draft.

 

[kane249]

Why should West Perth and East Perth get the gig? Neither play their home games there.

Ballsy move but it's a kick in the teeth if 2 random WAFL clubs play the first football game there.

 

[Monocle]

-
- Angus Litherland will play with Subiaco in 2017 after being delisted by Hawthorn at the end of the 2016 AFL season. The move is a blow to Claremont who have also lost Rowen Powell to the Lions after an injury plagued 2016 season where he played only two senior matches. The Tigers had also hoped to regain Litherland after he was drafted to the Hawks from the Tigers in the 2010 AFL draft.

This is why I hate that festering turd of a Club Subiaco.
They poaches players every f******* year.

Cant wait till the two AFL teams move from Subiacio Oval and The Poachers loose their cash cow, that being, the takings from the Members Bar that allows them to do "Carltonesq deals" to entice players to move Clubs, it hasn't been a level playing field for decades now.

Its a blight on the WAFL and its why their recent Premiership Run will always have a huge * against it.

Will be interesting to see what points value the WAFL assign to the two poached players.

Whilst I detest Peel as they are a shit stain on the WAFL, I was begrudgingly barracking for them in the WAFL GF .

Subiaco's junior player development in their zones is pathetic as they don't have any commitment to nurturing their own talent.
If you think I am exaggerating look no further than their deplorable recent efforts in the Colt competition and State representation.

Very few Subiaco WAFL players ever make their way onto AFL lists and the few that do generally come from Kalgoorlie.

That said the WAFL themselves are complicit in this skewed tilted playing field.
Nine teams in the comp East Perth and Peel get a leg up with Alignments, Subiaco manipulate the system with and Perth get more points to assign to players, therefore the other five Clubs are at a competitive disadvantage before a game is even played.
Ironically those same five Clubs East Fremantle, South Fremantle, Claremont , Swan Districts and West Perth produce most of the players that get drafted into the AFL from WA.

If you think I am pissed off about loosing two players......... well you would absolutely F****** correct .

 

[Spearhead]

This is why I hate that festering turd of a Club Subiaco.
They poaches players every f******* year.

Cant wait till the two AFL teams move from Subiacio Oval and The Poachers loose their cash cow, that being, the takings from the Members Bar that allows them to do "Carltonesq deals" to entice players to move Clubs, it hasn't been a level playing field for decades now.

Its a blight on the WAFL and its why their recent Premiership Run will always have a huge * against it.

Will be interesting to see what points value the WAFL assign to the two poached players.

Whilst I detest Peel as they are a shit stain on the WAFL, I was begrudgingly barracking for them in the WAFL GF .

Subiaco's junior player development in their zones is pathetic as they don't have any commitment to nurturing their own talent.
If you think I am exaggerating look no further than their deplorable recent efforts in the Colt competition and State representation.

Very few Subiaco WAFL players ever make their way onto AFL lists and the few that do generally come from Kalgoorlie.

That said the WAFL themselves are complicit in this skewed tilted playing field.
Nine teams in the comp East Perth and Peel get a leg up with Alignments, Subiaco manipulate the system with and Perth get more points to assign to players, therefore the other five Clubs are at a competitive disadvantage before a game is even played.
Ironically those same five Clubs East Fremantle, South Fremantle, Claremont , Swan Districts and West Perth produce most of the players that get drafted into the AFL from WA.

If you think I am pissed off about loosing two players......... well you would absolutely F****** correct .

Agree 100% Monocle $ubi are just as bad as the 2 AFL Reserves teams in my books!
And the WAFC fail to do anything about them ...hmmm I wonder why????

 

[Ljp86]

This is why I hate that festering turd of a Club Subiaco.
They poaches players every f******* year.

Cant wait till the two AFL teams move from Subiacio Oval and The Poachers loose their cash cow, that being, the takings from the Members Bar that allows them to do "Carltonesq deals" to entice players to move Clubs, it hasn't been a level playing field for decades now.

That's a pretty serious accusation to make, Monocle. It would be highly illegal if the club was doing that and would have serious repercussions.

Its a blight on the WAFL and its why their recent Premiership Run will always have a huge * against it.

Hardly.

Will be interesting to see what points value the WAFL assign to the two poached players.

Both would be at least 10, Litherland would be 12 I think while Powell would be 10 or 11.

Whilst I detest Peel as they are a shit stain on the WAFL, I was begrudgingly barracking for them in the WAFL GF .

To be honest, I'm not sure why anyone would want Peel to win. They certainly did the WAFL no favours with the way they and Fremantle fielded the amount of players they did in the finals.

Subiaco's junior player development in their zones is pathetic as they don't have any commitment to nurturing their own talent.
If you think I am exaggerating look no further than their deplorable recent efforts in the Colt competition and State representation.

It's true that our Colts have struggled the last couple of years but before then they were quite competitive and made finals in 2011, 2012 and 2013. Our Reserves have made finals in each of the last three seasons and played off in the GF in 2015. The club has brought in Andrew Lockyer to help with the development of our young players and also to coach our Reserves side.

I should point out that West Perth Colts have won less games than what Subiaco Colts have over the last six seasons. I suppose they should come under criticism as well?

Very few Subiaco WAFL players ever make their way onto AFL lists and the few that do generally come from Kalgoorlie.

Do Matt Priddis and Dom Sheed ring any bells?

That said the WAFL themselves are complicit in this skewed tilted playing field.
Nine teams in the comp East Perth and Peel get a leg up with Alignments, Subiaco manipulate the system with and Perth get more points to assign to players, therefore the other five Clubs are at a competitive disadvantage before a game is even played.
Ironically those same five Clubs East Fremantle, South Fremantle, Claremont , Swan Districts and West Perth produce most of the players that get drafted into the AFL from WA.

If you think I am pissed off about loosing two players......... well you would absolutely F****** correct .

All clubs in the competition recruit players in order to strengthen their list. With the way the WAFL is these days with the AFL alignments, each club needs to do some sort of recruiting to stay competitive against Peel Thunder and East Perth, if you don't you run the risk of being down the bottom of the ladder for a considerable period.

I have to say though I didn't see any West Perth supporters kicking up a stink when Mark Seaby went to Claremont after his AFL career finished.

 

[kane249]

Dom Sheed is from Kalgoorlie.

 

[Ljp86]

Dom Sheed is from Kalgoorlie.

Ah, didn't realise. Greg Broughton is another who was drafted and played footy in Perth.

 

[AsterixTheGaul]

That's a pretty serious accusation to make, Monocle. It would be highly illegal if the club was doing that and would have serious repercussions.

Hardly.

Both would be at least 10, Litherland would be 12 I think while Powell would be 10 or 11.

To be honest, I'm not sure why anyone would want Peel to win. They certainly did the WAFL no favours with the way they and Fremantle fielded the amount of players they did in the finals.

It's true that our Colts have struggled the last couple of years but before then they were quite competitive and made finals in 2011, 2012 and 2013. Our Reserves have made finals in each of the last three seasons and played off in the GF in 2015. The club has brought in Andrew Lockyer to help with the development of our young players and also to coach our Reserves side.

I should point out that West Perth Colts have won less games than what Subiaco Colts have over the last six seasons. I suppose they should come under criticism as well?

Do Matt Priddis and Dom Sheed ring any bells?

All clubs in the competition recruit players in order to strengthen their list. With the way the WAFL is these days with the AFL alignments, each club needs to do some sort of recruiting to stay competitive against Peel Thunder and East Perth, if you don't you run the risk of being down the bottom of the ladder for a considerable period.

I have to say though I didn't see any West Perth supporters kicking up a stink when Mark Seaby went to Claremont after his AFL career finished.

Monocle - I initially thought you were over-reacting to Ljp but upon closer examination, I concur that Subi are a festering turd of a club. I would have said that Subi had lost its soul but that happened over 3 decades ago. 3 of my team mates went from my team to play with Subi in the 80's and the conclusion was that it was a soulless club.

I am rather perplexed why they are so poor at developing talent. I thought it was due to bad zoning but that is not true. Simply put, they spend their money pinching talent from other clubs instead of growing the game in their zones.

I believe there have been 4 stand out clubs in developing talent. East Freo (though sliding of late), South Freo, Claremont and Swans. What they do is to invest in their development teams. Started for Claremont when Mal Brown came as coach and they revolutionised their structures and support in the development zones.

Subi are starting to replicate like East Perth of the 70's - full of suits and club big lunches. I will be happy the day Lions Corporate is nothing more than a cup of tea and a sarnie at Mueller Park (going back to the origins now).

 

[Ljp86]

- Several WAFL clubs including South Fremantle and Swan Districts have been left fuming after the WAFL announced that AFL alignment clubs East Perth and Peel Thunder will be allowed to field a maximum of 15 AFL listed players for the 2017 WAFL finals. The WAFL had considered raising the current qualification cap from five to seven games and had also considered a limit on those players who played in the AFL after 30 June before settling on the 15 player cap.
- Chris Yarran could play WAFL football with Swan Districts in 2017 after beginning discussions with his former club about a possible return. Yarran retired from the AFL earlier this year citing mental health issues and has returned to WA. He has spent time with some of his WAFL Colts premiership teammates and may attend several training sessions before the Christmas break.
- Perth favourite son Troy Cook has returned to his former club as the Demons' new director of football. In other off-field news for the Dees, Daryle Mann has officially taken over as the club's new President unopposed after filling the role after the death of previous President Vince Pendal in August.
- Bradley McPhail has signed with Perth for 2017. McPhail is a former Under 18 WA representative and represented South Fremantle in two league matches in 2016.
- South Fremantle have announced a $12,197 loss for the 2016 season while Perth have also announced an operating loss of $53,700 for the same period.
- Subiaco have lost several key players with Greg Broughton deciding to head to Queensland to play with Southport Sharks in the NEAFL. He is expected to be joined by Hamish Shepheard who returned to the WAFL this season after a stint playing country football. Classy midfielder Brett Robinson has retired from WAFL football and will play amateurs at Kalamunda next season alongside former Swan Districts' teammate Justin Simpson.
- East Fremantle have signed former Peel Thunder product Nathan Fahey while Thomas Omodei has crossed to the Sharks from East Perth.
- Shane McAdam and Jess Laurie have returned to Claremont for 2017. McAdam spent 2016 with Halls Creek while Laurie is back at Tigerland after a three year stint in Melbourne. Jack Beeck will miss 2017 after rupturing his ACL at training last month.
- The WAFL has released the fixture for 2017 and has headed back to basics for next season with 80 of the 90 home and away matches on Saturday afternoons. The move comes on the back of the WA AFL clubs playing minimal matches on Saturday afternoons in 2017 and with an eye to boost crowd numbers which have dropped in recent seasons. The season is set to open on Saturday 18 March with two afternoon games, a twilight fixture featuring South Fremantle and Subiaco while East Perth and Peel Thunder play a night game at 7:10pm with that match likely to be the telecast game in Round One.
- In other fixture news, Perth won't play a home game until Round Three while Claremont's first match back at Claremont Oval is in Round Five. Good Friday football has been retained with two games to be played including a twilight match featuring Subiaco and Peel Thunder while there is only one Friday Night game this season with East Perth playing Claremont in Round Four. The State League match for this season sees the WAFL travel to Victoria to play the VFL on Saturday, 27 May.

 

[Ljp86]

- Xavier Ellis has come out of retirement to play with Swan Districts in 2017. Ellis, who retired from the AFL during 2016 played with West Coast Eagles for three seasons before calling it quits towards the end of last season. But Ellis had a change of heart and told Swans' coach Greg Harding he wanted to come out of retirement stating he hadn't finished yet as a player. Ellis will remain as Swans' Colts coach and the League side's backline coach along with taking up playing duties.
- Swan Districts have also welcomed back Levi Ridley and Jesse Manton to the club for the coming season.
- Jarrhan Jacky has signed with his fourth WAFL club and will play with West Perth in 2017.
- East Perth player Beau Chatley has walked out of hospital five months after being seriously injured in a tackle whilst playing in a Reserves' game against West Perth in July. The Royals released a statement on Thursday stating it was "an emotional moment for Beau, his family and the staff at Fiona Stanley". Chatley had been undergoing intensive rehabilitation for eight hours per day, five days a week at FSH and has been spending time at a rented unit nearby on weekends during his rehabilitation.
- Medibank Stadium is no more with Medibank's naming rights over Leederville Oval ending this year with the organisation deciding not to renew their agreement for next season. The deal was reportedly worth $100,000 a season with the money split three ways between East Perth, Subiaco and the Town of Vincent. A tender was sent out regarding naming rights to the ground with the deadline set for 13 January. It's believed the new rights could fetch $150,000 per season thanks to Channel 7's telecast of the WAFL creating extra exposure for the competition.
- Subiaco best and fairest winner Brett Mahoney has returned to Victoria after representing the Lions in 95 matches across five seasons. Mahoney played in both of the Lions premierships in 2014 and 2015.

 

[Ljp86]

- Perth captain Dene White has quit the club, citing work reasons. White has captained the Demons for the past two years and has played 128 WAFL games during his career. White, who works as a fire fighter, will instead play with Trinity Aquinas in the WA Amateur Football League in 2017 after winning their maiden A Grade premiership last year.
- Claremont have lost Corey Yeo who is headed to Victoria for work commitments.
- West Perth premiership player Matt Fowler has left the club and has returned home to Queensland.

 

[Tundrawolf]

Former Port and Melbourne player Ben Newton has been listed on South's website.

Newton was last at South in 2010 IIRC.

 

[davo99]

Morabito has signed with the tigers.

 

[masai]

Morabito has signed with the tigers.

Will everyone please cross all their digits !!!!!.

All the best Mora.

 

[Ljp86]

- Former Fremantle utility Anthony Morabito has signed with Claremont after being delisted by the Dockers at the end of the 2016 season. It's believed East Fremantle were also very keen on Morabito with Perth and Subiaco also expressing some interest.
- Clancee Pearce will miss the 2017 season for Swan Districts after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament in an incident at training. Pearce had played 100 games at Fremantle in the AFL before being delisted at the end of last season.
- Max Duffy has quit West Perth and will attempt to pursue a career as a punter in the NFL. Duffy played three games with the Dockers before being delisted at the end of 2015. He is expected to move to Melbourne within the next month to work closely with Nathan Chapman who runs a national academy which trains prospects for entry into the NFL college system.
- The WAFC has knocked back $100 million from the WA government to surrender its lease at Subiaco Oval. It's believed the government offered just over $10 million per season for the next 10 years but the WAFC rebuffed the offer and is after around $11 million per year. It means West Coast nor Fremantle can commit to playing at the new Perth Stadium despite being close to signing stadium user agreements with venue operator VenuesLive.
- Michael Broadbridge will coach the WAFL for the state match this season when they take on the VFL in Victoria in May. The WAFL have won their past four interstate games against the TSL, NEAFL, SANFL and VFL but a WA/WAFL side has not beaten a Victoria/VFL side in Victoria for 113 years. Broadbridge coaching the side continues the recent trend of premiership coaches not coaching the state league team after Jarrad Schofield knocked back the role in 2015 and 2016 despite leading Subiaco to back-to-back premierships. It's believed Peel coach Cam Shepherd was not asked about the role. The state game will take place at North Port Oval on 27 May and will be telecast by Channel Seven.
- Several WAFL clubs have threatened to wage war if an impending review into WA football recommends they merge. East Fremantle have said that "hell would have to freeze over" before they would merge with traditional rivals South Fremantle. It's believed that possibility has been discussed by key WAFL figures while a merger between Claremont and Subiaco has also been discussed as the league toys with the option of going back to an eight team competition. Another point of interest include an elite six team Colts competition similar to the TAC Cup in Victoria. The report is due for public release next month.
- Peel Thunder are believed to have told the WAFC they would prefer to split with Fremantle when their alignment finishes at the end of 2018.
- The WAFC could save $50 million under a plan to stay at Subiaco Oval being devised by the Subiaco City Council. The council's proposal includes housing the WAFC administration at the venue, umpires with elite junior squads to use the ground as a training facility. Currently, the WAFC is contemplating moving temporarily into West Coast's administration area as a lower cost alternative but the WAFC's preferred option to move permanently to the WACA Ground.
- Brock O'Brien's knee injury could prevent him from playing this season with East Fremantle. It's believed the knee has suffered from ongoing problems despite surgery on the joint last year.
- East Fremantle's big to recruit Kane Lucas has been snuffed with Lucas to sit out 2017 after ongoing knee problems sustained last year while playing for East Perth as part of the Royal's alignment with West Coast.
- East Perth defender Kyle Anderson is in doubt for one after fracturing a finger in three places at training. Anderson and Patrick McGinnity were announced as the Royals' co-captains for 2017.
- Claremont have gained dual premiership player Charles Le Fanu from Subiaco while Nicholas Winmar, the second cousin of Neil "Nicky" Winmar has returned to the club after being drafted by St. Kilda in 2009.
- East Perth have more than $1 million in the bank having built up a significant amount of money should they choose to break away from the alignment with West Coast at the end of 2018. The Royals recently announced a profit of $314,159 for the previous 12 months, the third successive season they've had an operating profit of higher than $300,000. The news of a possible breakaway comes off the back of the Boston Consulting Group review of the alignment system, the results of which along with other recommendations are due to be released next month.
- Claremont look set to be on the road for the first half of the WAFL season with Claremont Oval not due to be ready to for football until June. The Tigers look set to play three games at Fremantle Oval against Subiaco, Peel and Perth after all three clubs refused to switch fixtures with the Tigers. South Fremantle however agreed to change fixtures with the Bulldogs to host the Tigers at Fremantle Oval in Round Five while the Tigers will host a return bout in Round 21. It's believed Subiaco knocked back Claremont's request as the Lions will play a home game against the Tigers in Esperance in Round 20. Perth's reason for knocking back the request was the uncertainty over whether the recently renovated Lathlain Park surface would be able to take three stright weeks of football. And Peel turned down the request as it would create a seven week gap in home games with Peel not playing a home match from Round Eight to 15. Claremont could also move one of their games to Leederville Oval in a repeat of a similar occurance last year.
- Perth are also having ground problems and are looking to move their Round Three game against Claremont to a suburban ground in Gosnells as the Lathlain Park surface not is expected to be available for football until four weeks into the season.
- Claremont premiership defender Brandon Franz has left the club to play at newly promoted A Grade amateur club Wembley.

 

[Freofalcon]

Pretty sure Swans beat Collingwood at VFL Park in the early 80's.

 

[Underdog]

As always, an outstanding update Ljp86, Cheers!

 

[Spearhead]

Pretty sure Swans beat Collingwood at VFL Park in the early 80's.

We certainly did FF and we wore our traditional guernsey too whilst Collingwood wore a predominately white one (do you remember that Eddie)...in fact we beat them a couple of other times in the 80s in pre season games as well.

 

[Ljp86]

Pretty sure Swans beat Collingwood at VFL Park in the early 80's.

Yes, that's true. Swans were very good in the early 80's.

However my post was aimed at WA representative sides, as in State of Origin or simply a representative WAFL side as is the case in today's state league games.

 

[Ljp86]

WAFL Pre-Season Matches

Round 1

East Perth 10.6 (66) lost to South Fremantle 11.8 (74)
Peel Thunder 21.16 (142) defeated Perth 5.4 (34)
West Perth defeated East Fremantle
Swan Districts 8.7 (55) lost to Subiaco 17.13 (115)

Bye: Claremont


Round 2

Subiaco vs Claremont at Medibank Stadium (Sat 4 March, 2:15pm)
West Perth vs Perth at HBF Arena (Sat 4 March, 5:45pm)
East Fremantle vs Swan Districts at East Fremantle Oval (Sat 4 March, 2:15pm)

Bye: East Perth, Peel Thunder, South Fremantle


Round 3

South Fremantle vs Claremont at Fremantle Community Bank Oval (Sat 11 March, 2:15pm)
East Fremantle vs East Perth at East Fremantle Oval (Sat 11 March, 2:15pm)
Peel Thunder vs West Perth at Bendigo Bank Stadium (Sat 11 March, 2:15pm)

Bye: Perth, Subiaco, Swan Districts

 

[Ljp86]

- Subiaco have lost Greg Broughton to retirement. Broughton will not be heading to Queensland to play with Southport but will be playing country football with his brother at Toodyay.

 

[Freezin]

Angus Graham has left Perth and WA apparently headed back home to Victoria.....loss for the PFC and also looks like Clem Smith won't be playing for Perth either in 2017.....double loss for PFC.....

 

[Carbine Chaos]

Angus Graham has left Perth and WA apparently headed back home to Victoria.....loss for the PFC and also looks like Clem Smith won't be playing for Perth either in 2017.....double loss for PFC.....

Along with Mzungu being stolen by GWS, this season is going to be ****ed once again.

 

[Ljp86]

Angus Graham has left Perth and WA apparently headed back home to Victoria.....loss for the PFC and also looks like Clem Smith won't be playing for Perth either in 2017.....double loss for PFC.....

Pretty disappointing for Perth if true, particularly since Graham signed a three year contract. The last week hasn't been great for the Demons, they lost their practice match to Peel on Saturday by 108 points.