wafl.com.au Team and Player of Round 7Wednesday, May 3, 2017 - 10:58 AM - by Chris Pike

THERE might have only been three games in Round 7 of the WAFL but there were plenty of exciting performances including Brennan Stack's seven goals, Rudy Riddoch's six and Ricky Cary's five.

The three games on Saturday afternoon saw West Perth defeat Perth 15.19 (109) to 14.6 (90) at HBF Arena in a game where Riddoch kicked six goals and Shane Nelson racked up 41 possessions for the Falcons while Stack booted seven majors for the Demons.

Swan Districts also defeated Claremont 15.9 (99) to 13.4 (82) at Steel Blue Oval with Cary booting five majors for the black-and-whites.

Then at Bendigo Bank Stadium, East Perth won its second straight match handing Peel Thunder a fourth successive loss with the 11.10 (76) to 5.13 (43) victory.

Following the Round 7 results, South Fremantle (5-1) remains on top of the WAFL ladder percentage ahead of Subiaco (5-1) and Swan Districts (5-1).

West Perth (4-2) has improved to fourth with three straight wins while Claremont (3-3) has slipped to fifth with three losses in-a-row.

Peel Thunder (2-4) is now sixth ahead of East Perth (2-5), Perth (1-5) and East Fremantle (0-5).

wafl.com.au PLAYER OF THE ROUND – RUDY RIDDOCH (West Perth)

Rudy Riddoch never lacked the potential to do what he did on Saturday, but up until his match-winning performance in his third game for West Perth the bustling forward had never been able to put together such a four-quarter effort.

Riddoch was a popular figure at Swan Districts playing 32 games for 34 goals, but never could quite cement a permanent spot in the side and he could never quite put together consistent form, either from quarter to quarter or game to game.

He joined West Perth ahead of the 2017 season and the signs immediately were encouraging in his two reserves appearances leading up to his league debut for the Falcons in the Round 5 victory over Peel Thunder where he had 19 disposals and kicked a goal.

Then the next week up against his old team, he was also a solid contributor with 10 touches and the winning goal in the five-point win at HBF Arena.

And on Saturday at HBF Arena in the win over Perth, he turned on the best performance of his career.

It wasn’t just the fact that he kicked six goals from 19 possessions that made it impressive, it was the manner in which Riddoch did it and the presence he had on the field.

Riddoch showed the poise and class of a top-class player who simply looked like he was going to win any contest in his area. He is quick off the mark, nimble, impossible to tackle, has tremendous goal sense and most importantly has a lethal right boot.

That all led him kicking six goals for the first time in his career. His previous best was four back in Round 5, 2015 for Swan Districts. He had failed to kick more than two goals in his last 18 games.

 

wafl.com.au TEAM OF THE ROUND (times named)
BACK: Michael Sinclair (2), Sam Collins (1), Alex Howard (2)
HALF-BACK: Ryan Murphy (1), Will Schofield (1), Kody Manning (3)
CENTRE: Cameron Sutcliffe (1), Aaron Black (3), Ryan Lim (3)
HALF-FORWARD: Matthew Rogers (1), Tom Lamb (2), Leroy Jetta (3)
FORWARD: Rudy Riddoch (1), Ricky Cary (3), Brennan Stack (2)
RUCK: Mitch Andrews (1), Shane Nelson (3), Clint Jones (3)
INTERCHANGE: Taryce Stewart (2), Stan Wright (1), Laine Wilkins (1), Shayne Hille (1)

BACK POCKET – MICHAEL SINCLAIR (Perth)
He is Perth's reigning fairest and best winner and continues to show just how important he is to the Demons' back-line. Was playing his second game back from injury and not only was he important with his 29 possessions and five marks, but played above his height and weight to do a good job on West Perth forward Michael Lourey and helped keep him to just the one goal.

FULL-BACK – SAM COLLINS (Peel Thunder)
The Fremantle defender put in another strong performance as he tries to break into the AFL line-up. Could hardly have done much more as he was solid defensively while also finished the game for Peel against East Perth with 26 possessions and 13 marks.

BACK POCKET – ALEX HOWARD (Swan Districts)
He continues to be one of the best defenders in the competition and somewhat goes under the radar and is underrated, but not from inside Swan Districts. He is very rarely beaten and again did an outstanding job in Saturday's win over Claremont holding the dangerous Tom Lee to three kicks and no score while having 15 disposals and five marks himself.

HALF-BACK FLANK – RYAN MURPHY (Claremont)
Is in his first season of league football and certainly looks right at home settling into a role across half-back for the Tigers. Delivered another strong showing in Saturday's loss to Swan Districts with 22 possessions and six marks.

CENTRE HALF-BACK – WILL SCHOFIELD (East Perth)
Deserves to feel like he has a point to prove back at East Perth to try and get back into the West Coast line-up. As a result put in a strong showing in Saturday's win over Peel in the back-line with 23 disposals, five marks and four entries inside the forward 50.

HALF-BACK FLANK – KODY MANNING (West Perth)
He shook off a cork from the previous week to continue his run of career-best form to start the 2017 season with him seeming to be on top of a bad run of soft tissue injuries in recent years. His ferocious attack on the ball and the man with the ball remains outstanding, and any time he is in a contest rarely does he not end up winning it. He had another strong game on Saturday with 27 possessions, eight marks and four tackles.

WING – CAMERON SUTCLIFFE (Peel Thunder)
Put in an outstanding performance through the middle for the Thunder despite the eventual loss to the Royals. Finished the game with a supremely impressive 36 possessions to go with nine tackles, five marks and five entries inside the forward 50.

CENTRE – AARON BLACK (West Perth)
Continues to spend more time as an inside midfielder rather than on the wing and is delivering some tremendous football in-close for the Falcons alongside Shane Nelson. Racked up another 32 possessions and six marks in Saturday's 19-point win over Perth at HBF Arena.

WING – RYAN LIM (Claremont)
Continued his tremendous start to the season in the midfield for Claremont. He has been a regular member for the last 18 months in the Tigers team, but now has gone to another level so far in 2017 and showed that again on Saturday. Had another 32 possessions, eight marks and got forward to kick two goals in a terrific performance.

HALF-FORWARD FLANK – MATTHEW ROGERS (Swan Districts)
Returned to the Swan Districts team after missing the loss last week to West Perth and more than made up for it with one of the best performances of his 107-game career. The powerful and long-kicking forward finished the afternoon with 23 possessions, nine marks, seven inside 50s and three goals and had every right to lay claims to being best afield.

CENTRE HALF-FORWARD – TOM LAMB (East Perth)
Continues to be one of the great enigmas of the competition with the West Coast forward capable of delivering match-winning performances like he did on Saturday for East Perth, but his consistency is something he's yet to get on top. He kicked four goals from 15 possessions and six marks against Peel and with him in that type of form, the Royals looked a vastly different unit.

HALF-FORWARD FLANK – LEROY JETTA (Peel Thunder)
Peel Thunder kicked only five goals in a loss to East Perth on Saturday, but four of those were courtesy of him as he delivered his third strong showing of the season. After kicking nine goals in the opening two rounds in wins over East Perth and East Fremantle, he kicked just three goals over the next three games but was back to his lively best on Saturday with the four goals from 20 possessions and four tackles.

FULL-FORWARD – RICKY CARY (Swan Districts)
Is in the most consistent run of form of his career as the main forward target in a dangerous Swan Districts forward-line that is getting good service from a vastly improved midfield. Kicked another five goals in Saturday's win over Claremont from nine kicks and four marks. Despite being a big man, is tremendously quick and more than capable at ground level as well.

FORWARD POCKET – BRENNAN STACK (Perth)
The rejuvenated former AFL and state forward showed just how much he still has to offer at WAFL level with a career-best performance on Saturday against West Perth. He had previously kicked six goals for the Demon back in Round 9, 2013 and had kicked five goals another five occasions but not since Round 24, 2013. However, he was tremendous with his ability to read the play, find space and finish off kicking seven goals from 10 kicks and eight marks.

RUCK – MITCH ANDREWS (Claremont)
The ever consistent, tough and hard-working ruckman took on both Corey Gault and Jake Nuich from Swan Districts on Saturday and limited their influence and finished with 45 hit outs, 11 possessions, four marks and four tackles himself to clearly be the most effective ruckman in the contest.

RUCK-ROVER – CLINT JONES (Perth)
The Demons skipper again did all he could to try and inspire his team to their second win of the season against West Perth on Saturday at HBF Arena. He racked up another 34 possessions to go with six marks, four tackles, three inside-50 entries and a skilful goal from a tight angle early in the second quarter.

ROVER – SHANE NELSON (West Perth)
His remarkable ball-winning start to the season continued in Saturday's win over Perth with the prolific midfielder racking up another 41 possessions made up of 20 kicks and 21 handpasses. That went along with seven marks, five inside-50 entries and a clever snapped goal in the third quarter.

INTERCHANGE – STAN WRIGHT (East Perth)
In just his third game, the 2015 Jack Clarke Medallist as colts fairest and best showed that he has a bright future at league level with an impressive performance for the Royals in their second straight victory this season. The midfielder ended the afternoon with 22 disposals, five inside-50 entries, three marks, three tackles and a goal.

INTERCHANGE – LAINE WILKINS (Perth)
The former Peel Thunder utility has now played 52 league games with both the Thunder and Perth but has never quite been able to lock down either a league spot or a position he's best suited to. But Saturday's performance for Perth against West Perth could well have been the best of his career with 22 possessions and eight marks as he played with good poise and skill largely off half-back.

INTERCHANGE – SHAYNE HILLE (East Perth)
The dangerous half-forward has now cemented himself in the East Perth line-up and continues to perform well on a consistent basis both around goals and in getting the ball inside the forward. He finished with another 20 possessions and two goals in Saturday's win over Peel Thunder.

INTERCHANGE – TARYCE STEWART (Swan Districts)
The dynamic and clever young small forward continued his outstanding opening to the 2017 season to kick another three goals from 12 possessions and five marks on Saturday. He has now kicked 13 goals for the season to have been a significant part of his team sitting with a 5-1 record.

UNLUCKY BUNCH
There were plenty of players who delivered tremendous performances across Round 7 but couldn’t quite squeeze into the Team of the Round, including:

West Perth's Luke Meadows and Aidan Lynch.

Perth's Aidan Tropiano, Cody Ninyette and Christian Eyres.

East Perth's Eric Mackenzie, Kyle Anderson, Matthew Allen and Will Maginness.

Swan Districts' David Ellard and Adam Faulkner.

Claremont's Jye Bolton and Jack Bradshaw.