WA Football

WAFL Round 12 is in the books and it saw East Perth win a thriller after the siren over Claremont, Swan Districts win a tight affair over South Fremantle and both Perth and East Fremantle record big wins over Subiaco and Peel respectively.

The weekend's action saw three games take place on Saturday afternoon with East Fremantle beating Peel Thunder 21.12 (138) to 7.9 (51) at East Fremantle Oval, Perth thumping Subiaco 20.14 (134) to 9.10 (64) at Leederville's Medibank Stadium and Swan Districts downing South Fremantle 18.12 (120) to 15.16 (106) at Bassendean's Steel Blue Oval.

Then on Sunday, East Perth came from behind to kick a goal after the siren to beat Claremont 13.13 (91) to 13.12 (90) at Medibank Stadium. Also on Saturday, West Perth lost its Foxtel Cup semi-final to Werribee at the MCG.
Click here for the summary of Round 12 of the WAFL

THE BIG WINNERS
Three of the top-four teams scored victories on the weekend and it further opens up the gap between those inside and outside of the finals race.

Swan Districts moved to the top of the ladder with its 14-point win over South Fremantle at home and the black-and-whites improved to an 8-2 record.

East Perth moved to second with its last gasp one-point win over Claremont to improve to a 7-2 record (with one draw) to be just half a game behind Swans.

East Fremantle retained fourth position with its 87-point victory over Peel to be two and-a-half games clear of fifth placed West Perth with a 7-3 record.

Claremont lost to the Royals and has now lost two in-a-row following a shock loss at home to Peel last week, but the Tigers remain in third position with a 7-4 record.

THE BIG LOSERS
Subiaco hosted Perth on Saturday for its first game since losing to West Perth back in Round 10, but the rest didn’t do the Lions any good as they went down to the Demons by 70 points.

It's just the second time that Subiaco has ever lost to Perth at Medibank Stadium and it now means that the Lions have lost six straight games since starting 2012 so encouragingly.

Subiaco came out of the blocks firing this season with wins over West Perth, Peel, South Fremantle and East Fremantle, but has struggled since losing to Perth, East Perth, Claremont, Swan Districts, West Perth and now the Demons again.

The six straight losses see Subiaco slip to a 4-6 record to be three games and percentage out of the top-four with half the season remaining.

THE SHINING LIGHTS
Swan Districts had to come from 32 points down against South Fremantle on Saturday, but with seven goals to two in the last quarter came away with the 14-point victory.

Ash Hansen kicked five goals with four of those coming in the last quarter. Tim Geappen also booted three to go with his 17 possessions, nine marks and six entries inside-50. Michael Walters kicked 2.4 in an enthralling duel with Toby McGrath.

Adam Faulkner stepped up for Swans in the absence of injured skipper Josh Roberts to gather 20 possessions and kick two goals.

Tom Roach, Shaun Hildebrandt and Marlon Motlop all had 18 disposals while Wes Lammie (pictured) dominated the ruck with 20 touches, six marks and 47 hit outs.

Ben Saunders starred up forward for South Fremantle with six goals with Andrew McCarrey and Ashton Hams booting two apiece.

Kris Miller was outstanding with 36 possessions and five entries inside-50. Paul Duffield responded to being dropped by Fremantle with 34 possessions from the midfield as well. Ryan Cook gathered 25 disposals, Haiden Schloithe 23 and Shaun Bewick 19.

Perth found some terrific form to thump Subiaco by 70 points on Saturday with Nick Lower, Simon Donovan and Tim Noakes all kicking three goals each. Fraser McInnes also added two goals from 14 possessions and six marks.

Alistair Smith (pictured) was outstanding with 36 disposals and 12 marks with Aaron Elari gathering 34 possessions, Lower 32, Michael Florio 24, Matt Tedesco 23, Leon Davis 23, and Ross Young 22.

Rhys Waters, Des Headland and Blake Broadhurst kicked two goals each for Subiaco with Rob Forrest gathering a team-high 26 possessions and nine marks.

Captain Aidan Parker had 23 possessions and 10 marks as well with Clancy Wheeler gathering 23 disposals, Darren Rumble on return with 22, Conor Davidson 21, Waters 20 and George Hampson 20.

East Fremantle had a big 87-point win over Peel with Rob Young (pictured) celebrating his 100th WAFL appearance for the Sharks in fine style with 17 possessions, 10 marks, 15 hit outs and four goals.

Jack Perham also kicked four goals for the second straight week with Adam Waight adding three, Sean Henson two and Mitch Boyle two.

Mark McGough continued his outstanding form with 31 possessions, seven marks and four inside-50 entries. Rory O'Brien gathered 26 disposals, Sam Menegola 26, Henson 22, Koby Stevens 20, James Bayliss 19 and Richard Hadley 18.

Scott Lycett kicked three goals to go with 13 possessions, four marks and 11 hit outs for Peel.

Pat Travers worked hard for 32 possessions, 10 marks, eight inside 50s and a goal for the Thunder with captain Brendon Jones gathering 31 disposals, Mitch Keddell 22, Matt Orzel 21, Brendan Hancock 19 and Lee Spurr 18.

East Perth came from 11 points down at half-time and 15 at three quarter-time to beat Claremont with Adam Prior (pictured) kicking his fourth goal after the siren. As well as his four goals, Michael Swan and Josh Smith kicked two apiece.

Daniel Macaulay racked up 29 possessions and eight entries inside-50, Aaron Sweet 27 disposals, Nick Kommer 22, Craig Wulff 22, Freddie Clutterbuck 21 and Paul Johnson dominated the ruck with 28 disposals, seven marks, 30 hit outs and six inside-50 entries.

Paul Medhurst kicked four goals for Claremont with Ian Richardson, Kane Mitchell and Chad Jones adding two apiece. Luke Blackwell gathered 28 possessions, Tom Swift 26, Lewis Stevenson 24, Trinity Handley 24, Mitchell 24, Byron Schammer 23 and Richardson 20.

On debut, Sam Fong had 12 possessions but more importantly held Garry Moss to just 17 and one behind for the day.

PUSHING FOR A SPOT
South Fremantle's reserves had an impressive 23-point win over Swan Districts with Kingsley Smith kicking four goals, Harley van der Wielen three, Jayden Woods three, Casey Sibosado three and Jesse Maiorana two. Joel Palumbo racked up 25 possessions.

Braden Smith, Dylan Harvey and Simon Parry all kicked two goals each for Swan Districts with Steve Potente picking up 32 possessions, Parry 25 and Matthew Jukes 24.

East Fremantle's reserves had a 45-point win over Peel with Brad Dick, Corey Yeo, Tim Viney, Godfrey Curley and James Depane all kicking two goals each. Yeo also had 32 possessions, Aiden Tropiano 26, Jayden Schofield 21 and Viney 20.

Josh Mathers and Aaron Weal kicked two goals each for Peel with Liam McKenna racking up 36 possessions, Brennan Gillam 23, Rhett Mason 23 and Travis Obal 19.

Perth's reserves recorded a big 59-point win over Subiaco with Michael Edwards kicking five goals, Aaron Zucconi three, Joel Houghton two and Dylan Murray two. Ben Noakes had 31 possessions, Luke Della-Bosca 20 and Liam Smith 20.

Myles Smythe and Ross Young kicked two goals each for Subiaco with Smythe also gathering 22 possessions and Luke Symonds 17.

Claremont reserves beat East Perth by 52 points on Sunday with Rory Walton outstanding with 31 possessions, eight entries inside-50 and two goals. Matthew Goyder and Chaz Flint kicked two goals as well.

Andrew Ruck continued to gain form and fitness with 17 possessions and 28 hit outs with Brad Nisbett picking up 20 touches, Clay McLernon 19, Thomas Taylor 19 and Hugo Breakey 19.

Ashley Boyes picked up 25 possessions for East Perth, Boston Williamson 23 and Jacob Payne 19.