A nice moment with bigger things to come
PLUS the positional puzzle at West Coast, a massive WAFLW finals upset and the who can still make September in the WAFL.
G’day friends!
Crazy scenes in the WAFLW on the weekend, with Claremont knocked out of finals in straight sets. Sets the scene for Swan Districts v East Fremantle in the decider at Fremantle Community Bank Oval this Sunday.
There’s a final on offer from now until the last week of September, so if you haven’t subbed to this newsletter, now’s the time.
In today’s newsletter: Jye Amiss is second in the Coleman, some positional puzzles at West Coast, the Shark surge, finals-defining wins in the WAFL and a Euro-tanned forward who could shape September.
Let’s get stuck in.
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FREMANTLE
Dockers 16.16 (112) def Crows 13.10 (88)
Top spot locked in for the second time in the club’s history. It means something, but not a whole lot. The most important stuff is still to come, and that will start with a final against one of Hawthorn, Brisbane or Melbourne in three weeks’ time (Geelong are also a long shot, but unlikely).
Jye Amiss is having a seriously good finish to the regular season. He’s kicked 19 goals in the past five weeks, and that includes a donut against the Bulldogs. His 58 goals for the season are good enough for second in the Coleman race, behind Charlie Curnow’s 66.
Last week we mentioned the midfield looked a bit off. That’s fixed now. They hunted the Crows on Friday and looked as slick as ever. Caleb Serong led the way. The regular All-Australian had his best game for the year, with 29 disposals, two goals and 12 clearances. He was everywhere.
WEST COAST
Giants 16.15 (111) def Eagles 7.15 (57)
This is a team that needs the end of the season to come quickly.
Liam Baker’s move forward was effective. He had a handful of nice moments. But that’s kind of what you get from Baker - he’s good wherever you put him. Leaving him in defence as a senior head is probably the better long-term option.
Speaking of switching positions, Andrew McQualter admitted that they probably threw Willem Duursma around too much this season. The No.1 pick struggled to get into the game against the Giants, and moving him around wasn’t the answer. If he’s not playing on the ball next year, or at least staying on the wing, I’d be surprised.
AFLW
The Eagles opened their season with a loss on the road to GWS, who laid on the pressure and ran away with a 12-point win. They actually had 15 more inside 50s but were just outworked once the ball landed.
Ella Roberts was one of West Coast’s best with 15 disposals and a goal, but she copped a tight tag that limited her impact.
The co-captains got to work as their side’s two best. Bella Lewis had 28 and six clearances. Charlie Thomas had 25.
Down in Cockburn it was a new home ground but the same old issue for Fremantle - connection between the midfield and the forwards. It was their bigest challenge last year, they worked on it in pre-season, but it was a red flag immediately in game one, which they lost by 21 points to Port Adelaide.
Kiara Bowers hasn’t lost a step in her 11th season on the list. She finished with 24 disposals, nine tackles and five clearances.
WAFLW
For the first time in five years, Claremont won’t be playing in the WAFLW grand final. East Fremantle pulled of a major upset at Revo Fitness Stadium on Sunday and will meet Swan Districts in the decider next week.
The two sides couldn’t be split at the final siren, so it went to extra time, where Sharks skipper Tiani Teakle nailed the result with a goal basically on the final siren.
WAFL
Everyone who needed to win to stay in the finals hunt won. The headline there was West Coast upsetting Peel for the first time in what feels like months. The Eagles’ nine-point win came with mature mids Finlay Macrae (31 disposals) and Harry Schoenberg (23, 10 tackles) getting to work.
So the finals situation going into the last round: For South Freo, East Perth and Perth - win and you’re in. If any of them drop a game and West Coast beat Claremont, the Eagles are in. Subiaco are technically a chance, but they’d need a heap of percentage.
Subi had an epic win over Claremont to keep themselves half-alive in the finals race. His Tigers didn’t get the win, but top-10 draft prospect Heath Mellody looked at home on debut with 17 disposals, while fellow debutant George Gale had some nice moments.
Trey Ruscoe had one game to shake off the rust after a mid-season Europe trip, then bounced straight back to form with four goals in a derby win over East Fremantle.
WAFL COLTS
East Fremantle took the derby honours and top spot on the ladder with a win over Souths. James Artemis had another big day in the middle, and Jayke Taylor kicked two goals from 12 touches. Will be interesting to see how many of his U16 teammates join him next week now that school footy has wrapped up.
Tadhg Barrowclough had an astonishing 17 marks and 26 disposals for West Perth in their win over the Royals. The result gave the Falcons the advantage in the battle for fifth spot on the ladder.
That’s us all caught up.
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Catch you next week.