The Young, the restless and the raring to go
Freo block the haters, why the Eagles should be optimistic, Claremont remain a WAFLW force, and some PSA standouts.
G’day everyone, huge weekend. Massive. Enormous.
For some, elation. For others, they’re just thankful the regular season is over.
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Today’s newsletter includes: A result few saw coming and a selection question for Freo, the next steps for West Coast, Claremont’s epic WAFLW premiership, a young Shark spearhead to watch, the Falcons dominating colts and standout performers from the PSA football season.
Let’s get stuck in.
AFL
Hand on heart, I didn’t see that coming from Fremantle. I thought they could win, but the way they controlled the game from quarter-time - late comeback from the Dogs aside - was impressive. Hayden Young’s impact in his first game back was tremendous from only 65% game time. Only Nat Fyfe as sub, Corey Wagner who was subbed off, and Sean Darcy played fewer minutes. Imagine what they can do when the shackles are released.
Young raises the ceiling, but the players raising the floor deserve a shout-out as well. Karl Worner, Bailey Banfield and Neil Erasmus aren’t perfect footballers but they all had moments where they stood up.
Wagner won’t be there for the first final so who replaces him? Nathan O’Driscoll answered getting dropped by having 25 and three goals for Peel. Matthew Johnson had 20 in his first game back from injury. Who would you pick?
Another frustrating season comes to an end for West Coast. There will be plenty written about the record and the losses, but I’ve seen more to like this year with just one win than in previous seasons where the record was better. Now it’s time to hold the picks and load up with more top-end talent. Victorians Cooper Duff-Tytler and Willem Duursma are firming as the first two clean picks in this year’s national draft. Keep Harley, which is looking more and more likely, add those two, find another elite ball user in the next draft, and everything is looking good. It just takes time from there.
Hello Jobe Shanahan. Three goals against Sydney and could have had a few more. Pair this kid with Jake Waterman next season and we’re going to be seeing something special. Does he upgrade his jumper number in the offseason?
On the topic of Eagles forwards, the Oscar Allen situation is good for the player and good for the club. He’s not in the right window age-wise to be competing when they’re good again. And they get pick No.2 for letting him walk. Just let it happen.
AFLW
Reality check probably doesn’t do it justice. Fremantle copped a whack from Brisbane on Saturday, the Lions kicking the third-highest score in AFLW history. Freo were pinned inside their 50 all game and struggled to find an exit. Aisling McCarthy found plenty in the midfield but had too little help. A positive is it can’t get any worse than that, and after a good first-round road win, there’s still a lot of hope this side can rally and have a crack this season. Injury concerns for Ash Brazill and Hayley Miller won’t help.
West Coast also crashed back to earth a bit - just not in as brutal a fashion. The young Eagles matched the more experienced Bombers engine room but lacked a bit of polish when needed towards the end. They’ll be good this season, and expect this to be a lesson they needed to have. Two excellent games in a row for Charlie Thomas, who looks in the same sort of form that earned her an All-Australian nod in 2023.
Big fan of Lucia Painter here, so fair cop. But if Zippy Fish doesn’t get the Rising Star nomination this week, we riot. WA’s Kaitlyn Srhoj has also had a terrific start to the season at GWS in her second season.
WAFLW GRAND FINAL
After the best, most even season of the AFLW era it was Claremont who raised the cup once again. The Tigers held off Swan Districts by one point in the 2025 Grand Final at Mineral Resources Park on Sunday to win 24-23. Swans forward Emily McGuire had a chance to equal in the final minute, but missed everything with her shot from the boundary. Strangely enough, the Tigers won their first final in the same fashion thanks to two late misses from Subiaco. It doesn’t really matter how they got there - all that matters is Claremont have now won three of the past four flags. Kudos to all involved in such a dominant program.
Jayme Harken has a case to be considered THE player of this WAFLW era. The inside mid took out her second Lou Knitter Medal in as many seasons as best on ground in the decider with her 20 touches and 18 tackles - winning on count back after a draw with teammate Tildi Sergeant. Harken now has two Lou Knitter Medals and two Dhara Kerr Medals as the comp’s B&F in the three seasons since she joined the Tigers. Wowee.
Carys D’Addario was the best for the Swans once again - her 24 touches and six inside-50s a fitting farewell to the competition as she eyes selection in December’s AFLW draft. Look for her name in the first round, she hasn’t put a foot wrong.
It was a day for the dynasties in the Rogers Cup as well, with West Perth claiming their third flag in a row. Tayah Nicholson was best on ground - keep an eye on her next year after a league debut earlier this season. Her teammate Jamarah Walley and Claremont’s Mia Jackson were two other standouts.
WAFL
West Perth had a weird season, they moved on the coach, celebrated milestones, unearthed plenty of young stars and stayed in finals contention until late in the piece. Tyler Keitel helped them finish the season on a high by taking his fifth Bernie Naylor Medal as the WAFL’s leading goalkicker. It was down to Keitel or South Fremantle’s Trey Ruscoe and genuinely came down to the wire. Ruscoe kicked 7.7 against West Coast, Keitel managed 6.0 against East Freo to win the race by two goals.
Speaking of spearheads, keep an eye on East Fremantle’s Griffin Vladich. He bobbed up for six goals from 10 marks in his sixth league game.
Perth will do some damage this finals series. They thrashed the struggling Subi but everyone cashed in. Brandan Parfitt had 40 disposals and a goal. Blake Schlensog kicked six. Charlie Constable had 36. Weapons everywhere.
Sam Swadling’s stats from this colts season are ridiculous. He had 47 disposals in West Perth’s crucial win over the Sharks on Saturday. That makes it 47, 39, 42, 40, 30, 36 and 23 from his seven colts games - broken up by State U18 and league duties at the Falcons. His teammate Jacob Farrow was also very solid returning from illness with 25 touches and is still likely to be the first West Australian picked up at the draft this November.
Another five goals in the colts from Claremont spearhead Cody Curtin. He probably hasn’t had the season he’d dreamed of, but you would think he’s done more than enough to get picked up as a forward-ruck option.
*Additional reporting by Denholm Melrose
PSA/SCHOOL FOOTY
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