WAFL Round 12, 2011

[swannies]

One of the most enjoyable rounds of WAFL this year, mainly because Swans aren't playing. Amazing how a couple of upsets last weekend make this a vastly different round. The derby weekend is a big weekend in WAFL footy, so I hope plenty of people get out and support the WAFL on Monday, in particular.

Peel v Perth, Saturday, Mandurah

Even though Perth had a good win last weekend, this one could go either way. Ebert back for Peel is a big in. They've been putting some good performances together without winning, whilst Perth have been so so but came good last week. Shapes as an interesting match.

Peel have avoided the mass 100+ point thrashings so far this year and gone close to another 2-3 wins (luckily for Swans they haven't ). The Thornton brothers provides some good running, KP players, Healey and Herring look to be good imports and they are getting pretty good value out of their AFL listed players. Mason looks to play his first game of the season and it's that young tier of players that the Thunder need to get improvement from if they are to avoid the spoon and push on into finals in future seasons. Finals aren't out of their reach this season, if they win another 12-13 games.

Perth started like a house on fire, went cold and hopefully turned the corner last weekend to set up a consistent and successful season. Their young guys like Florio, Elari, Busher, Mather, Leeson are improving and they have an abundance of players able to find a lot of the pill, in Young, K-T and O'Sullivan. McDougall is having another good season and De Jongh should give him good support this week and make life tough for William and Lycett.
I think Peel might get up in a close one.

Teams

Thunder
B D Mcfarlane B Wilson D Beswick
HB C Eddy A Thornton R Senior
C B Fotheringham R Nye R Healey
HF K Thornton R Herring B Holmes
FF B Ebert M Battye B Jones
F S Lycett J Jones M Brown
Int.M Green, R Beswick, B Thornton, P Pohlenz-Saw, J Williams, R Mason, T Murphy
In B Ebert, B Fotheringham, J Williams, R Mason, M Battye
Out K Butcher, J Flaherty

Demons
B D Robinson H Busher C Vidot
HB B Hodge D O'Sullivan M Tedesco
C N Kane J Jacobs J Kayler-Thomson
HF M Rogers A Zucconi A Elari
FF M Moody A Mcdougall S Armstrong
F S Horner J Pitt R Young
Int.S Siekierka, M Florio, G Denton, D White, M Mather, J Leeson, R De Jongh
In D White, R De Jongh, G Denton
Out

Royals v Falcons, Monday, Leederville

The Perth derby promises to have some extra spice as the Falcons are stung by last week's maiden loss and the Royals are trying to claw their way into the top 4 and at the old Cardinals headquarters.

The Royals had a successful trip to the top end to play the NT version of the Thunder, hanging on for a thrilling 6 point win. That makes it 3 or 4 wins in a row, I think. Confidence should be starting to build within the squad. Looks like they're bringing in a ruck, Higgins, to release big Smith to CHF, which is a good move, gives them more potency up forward. He may be opposed by LeCras, who's been on fire at VHB, at some stage in what will be a very interesting match up. Blee has been in fine form in defense and the Falcons have plenty of forwards to cover, so Zanetti or Mellington will come up against him at some stage. JON comes straight into the league side, which is interesting and one can't help but feel he is playing for his footballing future at the highest level this year. He will inject more run, but not immediately you wouldn't think.

The Falcons were overrun by the Sharks last week but have been doing that to other teams most of the season. Strijk out could be an important loss, as he often helps them to set up the game. Hutchings has led the pack and been well supported by Salecic, Bartholomew, Shadbolt, Guagagnin, Browne, Rice, Tedesco, Pearce at some stage or another. They will need all these firing and for LeCras, Hunt, Fleay to get the ball to ground for them to exit the Royals forward line, as they don't chase out that well. If they get their marking going though, they'll be hard to stop.
This is tough to pick but I think the Falcons, in another close one.

Teams

Royals
B P Travers H Shepheard N Blee
HB J Oakley-Nicholls B Hancock G Moss
C M Seal B Dobson C Wulff
HF F Clutterbuck J Smith N Kommer
FF R Saylor G Polak K Pettifer
F B Higgins A Sweet B Lee
Int. S Mansfield, J Lalich, L Sampey, A Prior, J Delborrello, R Maldenis, D Macaulay, R Brookes
In B Higgins, R Saylor, A Prior, D Macaulay, R Brookes, S Mansfield
Out Z Clarke, M Swan

Falcons
B D Burns D Hunt D Fleay
HB C Shadbolt B Lecras M Crisp
C R Bartholomew M Guadagnin L Tedesco
HF S Browne J Gobbells A Elisseou
FF J Pearce S Zanetti A Tsalikis
F C Keunen M Hutchings A Black
Int. A Saylor, J Tindall, S Bewick, F Stockley, J Mellington, J Rice, S Tregear, J Salecic
In
Out

Sharks v Bulldogs

This shapes as a pretty big derby, with both teams inside the 4 and it being the first with Haselby back for the bulldogs, IIRC? Firstly though, I'd like to wish Nathan Phillips well in his comeback game. Both teams are decent running sides, so this should be a battle of the mosquito fleets.

The Sharks are coming off 3 fantastic wins against last year's top 4 teams. The O'Brien brothers are playing career best team football, IMO, and the Sharks are reaping the rewards. The AFL listed players are playing at a consistently higher level than previously and then guys like Monteath, Stephen, Fasolo are playing very good football. These are all complemented by McGough, Dodd and Teakle, the elder statesmen, in very good form and the young guys like Boyle, Tropiano improving each week.

The Sharks have had another injury hit season but have held together well, so far. Mugambwa named in the ruck shows a dearth of fit big blokes. Delmenico should support him and quite ably, from what I have seen. Phillips will inject more run into the bulldogs, but that won't happen immediately, but if he's getting full fitness back a few weeks before finals that will be a big bonus. The running brigade takes on more importance with a shortage of big men and it will be up to the big guys to get the ball to ground for the Bulldogs to effectively attack, IMO. Murphy and Wilson both named behind the ball, which I find interesting, whilst Head and Kelly are named KPF's.
I think the Sharks will get up in a tight one, but not surprised if the Bulldogs pull of the win. Will be enjoyable to watch tomorrow.

Teams

Sharks
B J Brennan L Weller B Bucovaz
HB A Stephen S Dodd C Yeo
C K Monteath R O'Brien T Houlihan
HF J Mcnamara T Howlett L Fasolo
FF B O'Brien M Warren A Tropiano
F R Young K Stevens M Mcgough
Int. D Chidlow, S Lee-Steere, M Boyle, A Waight, R Dunn, C Leslie, A Ricciardello, S Horsburgh
In S Lee-Steere, M Boyle, A Waight, R Dunn, C Leslie, A Ricciardello, S Horsburgh
Out L Teakle, D Foster

Bulldogs
B J Winter A Mccarrey H North
HB C Wilson R Murphy T Bairstow
C C White R Cook K Miller
HF P Hasleby J Head J Palumbo
FF J Woods L Kelly C Dell-Olio
F P Mugambwa T Adams R Adams
Int. D Ross, A Collica, M Miller, G Campbell, N Phillips, M Leece, S Delmenico, M Cooper
In D Ross, J Woods, S Delmenico, G Campbell, A Collica, M Miller, M Leece, N Phillips
Out C Bossong, A Gaff, T Mcgrath, C Amato

Tigers v Lions

The battle of the big cats. In the first round the Lions just about pulled off a stunning upset win and that was the first we saw the Tigerwobbles occur, this year. Can they do it again, as the Tigers form hasn't been convincing.

The Tigers have plenty of runners, we know that, but they are down at the moment. Murphy was probably the most impressive, IMO, last weekend at Basso. He's an important return over the past couple of weeks. Gilligan has picked up from Broome in the past 3-4 weeks, although Broome has still contributed, but Gilligan gives a lot of drive through the middle as well. Anderson also provided a pretty good injection of pace, even though he almost turned it over at times he's slippery as an eel. Jones is getting better each week and the Subi defense will have their hands full with him. Weedon provides a balance of run and good, contested football and as he gets more involved in games the Tiges will improve.

With Subi it's almost the beginning of a new era, or it's time it is, with the retirement of Cossom and others to follow, they need to have the likes of Blechynden, Kerr, Phelan, Muller, Worthington, Hampson, McDonnell to step up and help Broadhurst, Headland, Pickett, Rumble, Parker, Rix, Forrest. Anthony needs to get more involved. I've watched a few Subi games this year and if the ball is not delivered in his area, or on to his tit, he's shows a great level of disinterest. Needs to get more involved in chasing, tackling, pressuring because he can play football and would be a great asset to the club.
Tigers should win easily for mine.

Teams

Tigers
B L Stevenson B Wilkes B Anderson
HB I Rowe D Crawford J Laurie
C B Schammer R Brabazon K Mitchell
HF M Orzel T Lee J Murphy
FF L Broome C Jones G Weedon
F M Andrews L Blackwell I Richardson
Int. T Handley, B Franz, B Saunders, A Holt, C Mclernon, B Nisbett, A Gillespie, A Gilligan
In J Laurie, T Handley, B Franz, B Saunders, A Holt, C Mclernon, A Gillespie,
Out S Starling, C Rudeforth, B Jones,

Lions
B R Forrest C Wheeler K Bloxsidge
HB B Randall A Parker B Keevers
C D Hughes C Phelan S Hildebrandt
HF P Hassett J Anthony D Headland
FF A Pickett B Broadhurst D Rumble
F M Rix J Bristow K Horsley
Int. A Cockie, B Stevenson, R Kerr, R Mcdonnell, S Douglas, S Worthington, R Blechynden, G Hampson
In C Phelan, G Hampson, R Mcdonnell, R Blechynden, M Rix, S Worthington,
Out C Cossom

 

[swannies]

Well, it was a terrific derby at Shark Park and Nathan Phillips announced his return in style. I didn't expect much from him, tbh, but his 3 goals were the difference between the 2 sides, in the end. Plus 21 possies to go with that and his left foot snap, against the left FP boundary at the Canning Hwy end in the third was a ripper!

The Sharks got off to a fast start, leading by 3-4 goals, but the Bulldogs had been peppering the goals and were missing. Many were under a fair degree of Shark pressure but the Bulldogs could have been in front by half time, by a reasonable margin. Then it was goal for goal for most of the second half.

Oh, yes, a crowd of 7-8k, was a superb result.

 

[Chris who]

Go Cardies

 

[pablo668]

Well I went down to Claremont oval today to watch the game and came away fairly happy with the win.
Subi may not have had too many wins this year but it can be said that they have some good players and are playing some good footy.
Had Subi have kicked a little straighter in this match Claremont could have found themselves on the wrong side of a handy lead. But it was not to be.
Claremont seemed to be not stuffing up quite as much under pressure and battled hard to get a good win on the board.

The umpires were disgraceful. They either don't know the rules or have no idea about consistency. Both teams were at times awarded soft frees which resulted in goals, about two for Claremont and about four or five for Subi. There was barely a 'ball' given to us all day and the call of deliberate on the Claremont player who running out of center (rear of square turning towards his scoring end) when the ball travelled roughly 50m on a diagonal went out of bounds.....may be the worst call I've ever seen....at least in a WAFL match at any rate. Seriously, the umps today could all die in a fire.


eta: Ok, had 24 hours to calm down. It probably wasn't that bad (the umpiring), could have been a bit better though.

 

[MarcusP2]

As a temporary Perth resident though I'd get along to the Freo derby yesterday. Top afternoon.

I'd decided to go for the Sharks (seeing as I despise the Central Bulldogs ) but was really a deserved win for the Dogs. Didn't realise you could go out on the ground during the breaks...great atmosphere. Would go again.