Team and Player of Round 3Wednesday, April 18, 2018 - 10:55 AM - by Chris Pike

ROUND 3 of the 2018 WAFL season saw Subiaco remain undefeated by delivering another statement performance while Perth, Claremont and South Fremantle all recorded their first victories of the campaign.

The round got underway with two matches on Saturday afternoon including a battle of the undefeated teams at Leederville Oval. That saw Subiaco deliver a stunningly dominant performance after quarter-time to beat Swan Districts 21.14 (140) to 6.8 (44).

It was much closer across at Claremont Oval with Claremont beating East Fremantle 12.11 (83) to 11.13 (79) on the last kick of the game from Keifer Yu.

The other two matches took place on Sunday starting with a tight affair between West Perth and South Fremantle at HBF Arena, with the Bulldogs ending up making it seven straight over the Falcons, winning 15.6 (96) to 13.10 (88).

The round then concluded with the upset of the season so far with the wooden spooners from three of the last four years, Perth, defeating back-to-back premiers Peel Thunder 12.13 (85) to 11.13 (79) at Bendigo Bank Stadium.

Following three rounds, Subiaco is the only undefeated team at 3-0 with Swan Districts remaining second at 2-1. Peel Thunder, East Fremantle, Perth and West Perth are 1-2 while Claremont, South Fremantle and East Perth are 1-1.

M&J Chickens PLAYER OF THE ROUND – CODY LEGGETT (Perth)
Perth delivered a tremendous performance on Sunday at Bendigo Bank Stadium to get their first win of 2018 defeating reigning premiers Peel Thunder so it was only fitting a Demons player was named Player of the Round.

While captain Clint Jones, 2016 Butcher Medal winner Michael Sinclair and key forward Spencer White all made strong cases, it was the versatile Cody Leggett who gets the nod as he continues to show his quality and just how much he was missed in 2017.

Perth pulled off the upset victory on the back of a dominant first three quarters and then holding off Peel in the last term to win by six points.

Considering Peel had beaten Perth nine straight times and that the Thunder have won the last two WAFL premierships, and the Demons three of the last four wooden spoons, it was a significant victory for Earl Spalding's men.

While there were a host of standout performances from the Demons, the effort of Leggett was especially impressive when you consider he missed all of 2017 with a knee injury.

During the 2016 season, he was emerging as a quality player in the WAFL in a whole lot of different roles too ranging from being a target up forward, a tagger, a wingman or big-bodied midfielder.

Now he's returned strongly to start the 2018 campaign spending most of his time through the middle of the ground. He was again superb on Sunday alongside Jones, Corey Yeo and Corey Byrne with the support of ruckman Christian Eyres.

Leggett finished the afternoon with 30 possessions, 10 tackles, six marks and five entries inside the forward 50 to have as big a say in the final result as anyone on the field.

If the 21-year-old can remain healthy and considering the number of roles he can play for the Demons, he will continue to be a big factor in how far his team can improve in 2018.

 

 

 

 

wafl.com.au TEAM OF THE ROUND
BACK: Hayden Kennedy, Dylan Winton, Steven Edwards
HALF-BACK: Michael Sinclair, Mark Hamilton, Jayden Schofield
CENTRE: Ryan Lim, Clint Jones, Cody Leggett
HALF-FORWARD: Haiden Schloithe, Lachlan Delahunty, Alex Manuel
FORWARD: Brad Stevenson, Spencer White, Ben Sokol
RUCK: Jonathon Griffin, Josh Deluca, Chris Phelan
INTERCHANGE: Shane Nelson, Shane Hockey, Nick Kommer, Ben Howlett

BACK POCKET – HAYDEN KENNEDY (Subiaco)
The premiership small defender from 2015 is right back to his very best form now after two years interrupted by shoulder problems. With Subiaco winning its opening three games of the season so emphatically, he has been a big reason for that and again on Saturday in the 96-point win against Swan Districts he was vying for best on ground honours. He had 29 possessions, seven marks, five inside 50s and a goal.

FULL-BACK – DYLAN WINTON (East Fremantle)
The key defender had a good 2017 season in a team that struggled and won just the three games, and now he has started 2018 impressively as well even if he does tend to fly under the radar. He had another strong performance against Claremont on Saturday as well doing well defensively on the Tigers' tall forwards along with having 23 disposals, six marks and four inside-50 entries.

BACK POCKET – STEVEN EDWARDS (South Fremantle)
He had an outstanding 2017 season settling into a role as a creative defender for South Fremantle. He was back to form reminiscent of that in Sunday's win against West Perth finishing the afternoon with 18 possessions and eight marks, but his run, drive and creativity speaks more than his sheer numbers.

HALF-BACK FLANK – MICHAEL SINCLAIR (Perth)
The 2016 fairest and best winner was still able to be a solid contributor in 2017 despite battling injury and now after a limited pre-season entering 2018, he has started in good form and was instrumental on Sunday in the Demons' snapping their nine-game losing run against Peel. He finished with 32 disposals and nine marks as he continues to show his quality.

CENTRE HALF-BACK – MARK HAMILTON (West Perth)
Over the back half of 2017 and now to start 2018 he has settled well into a more regular role as a key defender and in the absence of Nick Rodda, Scott Simpson and even Joe Morrow, and with Tyler Keitel settled forward, the Falcons need him to hold down that position. He did well on Sunday against South Fremantle in his contest with Mason Shaw and finished with 18 possessions and eight marks himself.

HALF-BACK FLANK – JAYDEN SCHOFIELD (East Fremantle)
The reigning East Fremantle fairest and best winner missed last week through suspension but returned strongly on Saturday against Claremont. He put in another standout performance with his run and drive off half-back for the Sharks with 32 possessions, eight tackles and six marks.

WING – RYAN LIM (Claremont)
A strong performance in the midfield for Claremont during Saturday's heart stopping win against East Fremantle and he needed to once 2012 Sandover Medallist Kane Mitchell went down injured. He helped pick up the slack in impressive fashion finishing with 28 possessions, six marks, five tackles and five inside-50 entries.

CENTRE – CLINT JONES (Perth)
The Perth captain missed Round 1 but has immediately picked up the form he has shown the last two seasons back in the WAFL with Perth following his AFL career at St Kilda. The reigning Butcher Medallist is right back to his prolific ball winning best and he had another 35 disposals and eight marks in his team's upset win over Peel Thunder in Mandurah on Sunday.

HALF-FORWARD FLANK – HAIDEN SCHLOITHE (South Fremantle)
It was a surprise to most when the reigning Sandover Medallist didn’t get another AFL opportunity in 2018 and he has started the season clearly showing that he's a cut above. His clean hands, ability to keep his feet and his coolness and skill to finish continue to show what a quality player he is. He kicked four goals in the win over West Perth to go with 28 possessions, five marks and five tackles.

CENTRE HALF-FORWARD – LACHLAN DELAHUNTY (Subiaco)
Having had to shoulder the majority of the ruck duties the past two years, he continues to thrive on the freedom to split his time more between playing forward and then helping out Zac Clarke on the ball. His form is outstanding and continued Saturday where he ended up with 27 possessions, 11 marks, nine hit outs, eight inside-50 entries and a goal.

HALF-FORWARD FLANK – ALEX MANUEL (Claremont)
He continues to emerge as one of the more impressive and most dangerous half-forwards in the WAFL delivering another strong showing in Saturday's nail-biting win against East Fremantle. He ended up kicking four goals to go with 17 disposals and four marks.

FORWARD POCKET – BRAD STEVENSON (Subiaco)
It's amazing what opportunity can do. He's always been a capable key forward when given the chance over his 88-game WAFL career, but now with Clancy Wheeler sidelined and following the departure of Liam Ryan, he is the main man in Subiaco's forward-line and is in the best form of his life. He delivered another four goals from 15 possessions and 10 marks on Saturday.

FULL-FORWARD – SPENCER WHITE (Perth)
He was signed coming into 2016 by Perth as the solution to their key forward woes but injury has meant he's only managed 15 games the past two seasons and he hasn’t been able to deliver on that promise for the Demons. But the former St Kilda big man always had the ability to be the competition's best key forward and he's showing that early in 2018 with five goals from nine kicks and six marks in Perth's win over Peel.

FORWARD POCKET – BEN SOKOL (Subiaco)
Another member of Subiaco's forward-line who is now in career-best form to begin 2018 on the back of increased opportunities. He was an important player in 2017 kicking 49 goals but he's gone to another level so far this season. That was again evident on Saturday when he kicked four goals from 23 possessions and 12 marks.

RUCK – JONATHON GRIFFIN (East Fremantle)
The new East Fremantle captain for 2018 put in a big performance in the ruck on Saturday against Claremont showing that he is more than capable of returning to the WAFL this season full-time as a dominant presence in the ruck. He ended the game with 18 possessions, five marks and 37 hit outs.

RUCK ROVER – JOSH DELUCA (Subiaco)
He always had the potential to return to Subiaco this season and be a dominant midfielder in the WAFL following his three years for two premierships with Peel while listed with Fremantle, and that's how it has panned out over the opening three rounds. That was again the case on Saturday in the big win over Swan Districts where he had 31 possessions, six tackles and a goal.

ROVER – CHRIS PHELAN (Subiaco)
The 152-game veteran missed Round 1 but has been back to his usual self the last two weeks in Subiaco's big wins against South Fremantle and Swan Districts. He was a strong contributor on the ball on Saturday against Swans finishing the afternoon with 32 disposals in the 96-point victory.

INTERCHANGE – SHANE NELSON (West Perth)
He has won three fairest and best awards at West Perth, he is a premiership player, a regular state representative and has 120 WAFL games under his belt, but he just remains a constant prolific ball winner at the Falcons. His remarkable career of racking up possessions continues and he had another 41 possessions and seven marks in Sunday's narrow defeat to South Fremantle.

INTERCHANGE – SHANE HOCKEY (South Fremantle)
The 2016 South Fremantle fairest and best winner knew that his team needed to be better around the contest on Sunday after the loss to Subiaco the previous week, and he led the way in that department in a strong performance. He ended up with 29 possessions, nine marks and four inside-50 entries.

INTERCHANGE – NICK KOMMER (East Fremantle)
The former Essendon and East Perth hard man showed just why East Fremantle was so keen to sign him in the off-season backing up a solid first two showings for the Sharks with an outstanding performance in Saturday's narrow defeat to Claremont. He finished with 27 touches, nine tackles, four marks and two goals while earning himself seven free-kicks.

INTERCHANGE – BEN HOWLETT (Peel Thunder)
He had a standout 2009 season with Peel winning the fairest and best and that led into a strong 124-game AFL career with Essendon so he was always going to be an important player for the reigning premiers in 2018, especially with the retirement of Rory O'Brien. He had a solid start the first two rounds and then went up a notch on Sunday despite the loss to Perth with 33 possessions, 10 tackles, five marks and five entries inside the forward 50.

UNLUCKY BUNCH
There were plenty of players who delivered tremendous performances across Round 3 but couldn’t quite fit into the Team of the Round, including:

Peel Thunder's Taylin Duman, Ben Hancock, Ethan Hughes, Ryan Nyhuis, Brennan Cox and Leroy Jetta.

Perth's Corey Yeo.

West Perth's Aaron Black, Andrew Strijk, Tyler Keitel and Chris Keunen.

South Fremantle's Nick Suban, Ryan Cook, Blayne Wilson and Ashton Hams.

Subiaco's Kyal Horsley, Greg Clark, Leigh Kitchin and Kyle Halligan.

Swan Districts' Rhys Palmer and Adam Faulkner.

Claremont's Jye Bolton, Jared Hardisty, Morgan Davies, Haydn Busher and Keifer Yu.

East Fremantle's Cameron Eardley, Dion Anthony, Jarrad Jansen and Jack Perham.