TABtouch Team of Round 13Wednesday, July 4, 2018 - 1:17 PM - by Chris Pike

WHILE SUBIACO and South Fremantle continued winning to remain locked into the top two spots in the WAFL and East Fremantle again lost to remain last, things really tightened up in between following Round 13 of the 2018 WAFL season.

Subiaco now sits three games clear on top of the WAFL ladder after Round 13 with South Fremantle a further game and percentage, with a game in hand, clear in second. East Fremantle is then two games and percentage clear in bottom spot at the other end of proceedings too.

But things became even tighter between the rest of the competition following Saturday's results with West Perth two games clear in third position but then only one game separating Swan Districts, Claremont, Peel Thunder, East Perth and Perth.

All four Round 13 matches took place on Saturday afternoon starting at Bendigo Bank Stadium with Peel Thunder defeating Swan Districts 10.18 (78) to 9.6 (60).

South Fremantle then handed East Perth its sixth consecutive defeat by winning 16.9 (105) to 12.12 (84) at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.

A big crowd of 5602 people then attended the International Football Festival at Joondalup Arena with Subiaco having to fight hard to overcome West Perth 15.9 (99) to 10.6 (66) and remain undefeated in 2018.

The round then concluded in Geraldton at Wonthella's Country Builders Stadium with Claremont beating East Fremantle 13.11 (89) to 10.9 (69).

Following Round 13 of the 2018 season, Subiaco (11-0) is clear on top of the ladder ahead of South Fremantle (8-3) and West Perth (7-5).

Swan Districts (5-6) remains fourth with Claremont (5-7) moving into fifth ahead of Peel Thunder (5-6), East Perth (4-7), Perth (4-7) and East Fremantle (2-10).

M & J CHICKENS PLAYER OF ROUND 13 – LACHLAN DELAHUNTY 

TABtouch TEAM OF THE ROUND (times named)
BACK: Hayden Kennedy (6), Angus Litherland (3), Francis Watson (1)
HALF-BACK: Nick Suban (3), Tony Notte (2), Taylin Duman (2)
CENTRE: Keegan Power (1), Chris Phelan (5), Tom Curren (4)
HALF-FORWARD: George Hampson (3), Lachlan Delahunty (8), Ian Richardson (2)
FORWARD: Andrew Strijk (7), Ryan Borchet (1), Todd Banfield (2)
RUCK: Zac Clarke (3), Marlion Pickett (5), Josh Deluca (4)
INTERCHANGE: Lachlan Martinis (1), Nathan Vardy (1), Shane Nelson (7), Jacob Dragovich (1)

BACK POCKET – HAYDEN KENNEDY (Subiaco)
Another strong performance coming out of the back-line from the small Subiaco defender who is continuing his career-best season having now shaken off those shoulder problems of the past two years. The premiership player was another strong contributor in Saturday's win against West Perth 23 possessions, four inside-50 entries and three marks.

FULL-BACK – ANGUS LITHERLAND (Subiaco)
He is proving himself possibly the best lockdown defender in the competition this season and while he might not receive the fanfare of some of his Subiaco teammates, is every bit as important to their success. Was given the job on West Perth's Tyler Keitel on Saturday and held him to one goal and three marks while having eight kicks and three marks himself.

BACK POCKET – FRANCIS WATSON (East Perth)
The West Coast-listed attacking defender continues to display some strong form for East Perth particularly standing out with his run and creativity come out of the back-line. He put together another strong showing despite a loss on Saturday to South Fremantle with 19 possessions and seven marks.

HALF-BACK FLANK – NICK SUBAN (South Fremantle)
The former Fremantle veteran of 156 AFL games is stringing together a good run of form now for South Fremantle splitting his time between playing off half-back and having stings through the midfield. His leadership, hardness, ball-winning ability and left-boot are proving standouts and he finished Saturday's win over East Perth with 25 possessions, seven inside 50s, five marks and a goal.

CENTRE HALF-BACK – TONY NOTTE (Swan Districts)
The Swan Districts co-captain and veteran of 212 matches is having another strong season and was an imposing presence at centre half-back despite his team losing to Peel on Saturday in Mandurah. He ended the afternoon with 21 possessions and eight marks.

HALF-BACK FLANK – TAYLIN DUMAN (Peel Thunder)
The Fremantle defender showed that he is more than capable of taking the next step to being a regular AFL backman with the way he can read the ball coming, and then set up play going the other way. He had a good impact in Peel's win over Swan Districts on Saturday with 31 possessions, nine marks and a goal.

WING – KEEGAN POWER (Peel Thunder)
After playing three games initially for Peel back in 2016, he has returned to the club in 2018 and is now finding his feet at league level and played the best of his seven-game league career on Saturday at home to Swan Districts. He finished the game with 28 possessions, eight marks, five tackles and four inside-50 entries.

CENTRE – CHRIS PHELAN (Subiaco)
The 160-game veteran is having as good a season as he ever has in his career and that's saying something considering he is a dual fairest and best winner, and two-time premiership player. Another strong showing in Subiaco's win against West Perth on Saturday with 31 possessions, seven marks, five inside 50s and three tackles.

WING – TOM CURREN (Claremont)
The St Kilda recruit might have had a slightly start to his first season in the WAFL at Claremont, but he's really warming to the task now and it's no coincidence that has tremendous form of late has gone hand in hand with the best the team's played to break into the top five. He had another 30 possessions, four marks and four tackles in Saturday's win in Geraldton.

HALF-FORWARD FLANK – GEORGE HAMPSON (East Fremantle)
His body is holding up well and he is having a tremendous season for East Fremantle and doing so against the odds considering the struggles going on around him at the Sharks. He celebrated his 100th game already this season and continues to hold his head high and perform admirably. Put together another superb performance in Geraldton against Claremont with 33 possessions and six tackles.

CENTRE HALF-FORWARD – LACHLAN DELAHUNTY (Subiaco)
As much as the midfielders like Horsley, Phelan and Deluca, and defenders Heal, Lockyer, Litherland and Kennedy, and forwards Sokol and when playing Stevenson, Halligan and Waters are starring, he could very well be Subiaco's most important player. Was named M & J Chickens Player of Round 13 his 28 possessions, 11 marks, six inside-50 entries and career-high five goals.

HALF-FORWARD FLANK – IAN RICHARDSON (Claremont)
The Claremont captain has struck some terrific form in recent times as well having only celebrated his 200-game milestone with the Tigers back in Round 11. Led his team from the front in impressive fashion against East Fremantle in Geraldton and ended up kicking four goals to go with 20 possessions and three marks.

FORWARD POCKET – ANDREW STRIJK (West Perth)
He has now played 218 games for West Perth and while he's racked up more of the ball, and done a lot more running during that time in roles off half-back and half-forward, it's unlikely he's ever had a run of having more impact on games. Has settled into a role deep forward and kicked another four goals against Subiaco from 17 possessions and nine marks. Has now kicked 21 goals in his past four matches.

FULL-FORWARD – RYAN BORCHET (Subiaco)
It was just his third game of league football for Subiaco and the Lions continue to show they are unearthing emerging talent while dominating the WAFL at the moment. In the absence of Stevenson, Halligan and Waters from the forward-line, he grabbed his chance in the most impressive way possible kicking five goals from 16 possessions and 11 marks.

FORWARD POCKET – TODD BANFIELD (Swan Districts)
The lively small forward was at his best in Saturday's loss to Peel both in terms of applying pressure on the opposition and then making the most of his chances. Ultimately he didn’t get enough support but he could hardly have done much more kicking three goals to go with 16 disposals, six tackles and five marks.

RUCK – ZAC CLARKE (Subiaco)
The former Fremantle ruckman of 101 AFL games had a slightly slow start to the season and that was totally understandable given he missed all of 2017 with a knee injury. But he's now in some imposing form and making a strong claim to be the league's best ruckman right now. He had another 17 disposals, 51 hit outs, four marks and a goal against West Perth on Saturday.

RUCK ROVER – MARLION PICKETT (South Fremantle)
It was one of the big question marks over South Fremantle's 2018 season how they would replace Tim Kelly. Few might have thought he would be the solution given how important he had had been to the Bulldogs' back-line, but his impact on the ball is now remarkable. He is ferocious in his attack on the ball and opposition, and had another 32 possessions, seven inside 50s and six marks in Saturday's win over East Perth.

ROVER – JOSH DELUCA (Subiaco)
The triple WAFL premiership player is now a prime midfielder in the competition and is thriving on his return to Subiaco in 2018. Delivered another standout performance in Saturday's win against West Perth finishing with 34 possessions, eight tackles, five inside-50 entries and a goal.

INTERCHANGE – NATHAN VARDY (East Perth)
The West Coast-listed ruckman is now building some form and fitness after a horror first half of 2018 through injury on the back of an impressive first AFL season at the Eagles having moved from Geelong. But he showed plenty of encouraging signs against South Fremantle finishing with 12 disposals, 57 hit outs, seven tackles, six marks and two goals.

INTERCHANGE – LACHLAN MARTINIS (Claremont)
While Claremont's top-end talent has been performing strongly most of the season, they have needed others to stand up and take the next step for them to be a finals threat, and that's now happening with him a standout performance in Saturday's win against East Fremantle. Ended the best performance of his 12-game career with 28 possessions, seven marks, four tackles, four inside-50 entries and a goal.

INTERCHANGE – SHANE NELSON (West Perth)
The triple West Perth fairest and best winner and 2013 premiership player continues to have the best season of his career even though he has now played 129 matches for the Falcons. He is averaging 36 possessions a game in 2018 and produced another 35 disposals, 10 marks, four tackles and three inside 50s in Saturday's game against Subiaco at Joondalup Arena.

INTERCHANGE – JACOB DRAGOVICH (South Fremantle)
The versatile and hard-at-it big ball winner has enjoyed moving into the midfield in recent weeks after starting the season playing well coming off the half-back line. He put together another strong performance in the win against the Royals ending the afternoon at Fremantle Community Bank Oval with 28 possessions, 13 marks and five inside-50 entries.

UNLUCKY BUNCH
There were plenty of players who delivered tremendous performances across Round 13 but couldn’t quite fit into the Team of the Round, including:

South Fremantle's Haiden Schloithe, Ashton Hams, Blayne Wilson and Mason Shaw.

East Perth's Dom Sheed, Mitch Dobson, Patrick McGinnity, Luke Partington and Will Maginness.

West Perth's Aaron Black, Blake Wilhelm, Luke Meadows and Mitch Peirce.

Subiaco's Kyal Horsley.

Peel Thunder's Sean Darcy, Danyle Pearce, Tom North and Brady Grey.

Swan Districts' Matt Riggio, Jesse Turner, Tobe Watson and Steven Payne.

East Fremantle's Nick Kommer, Cameron Eardley, Dion Anthony, Jack Perham, Jonathon Griffin and Cameron Loersch.

Claremont's Jye Bolton, Jack Beeck and Morgan Davies.