ROUND 18 action saw East Perth and West Perth record massive wins, South Fremantle beat Subiaco in impressive fashion and top teams Swan Districts and Claremont play out a thrilling draw.
South Fremantle spoiled a historic day for Subiaco with Allistair and Alliston Pickett playing together by recording an 18.12 (120) to 15.11 (101) victory to remain right in the hunt for finals action.
The scoreboard couldn’t split Swans and Claremont with the black-and-whites finishing on 14.8 (92) and the Tigers 13.14 (92).
It certainly could separate the sides in the other two matches though. East Perth hammered Perth 22.21 (153) to 5.6 (36) and West Perth did the same to Peel winning 28.11 (179) to 7.13 (55) at Arena Joondalup.
The results leave Claremont (14-1-1) and Swan Districts (12-3-1) clear on top, but the race for third and fourth remains between five teams. West Perth (9-7) has moved to third, Subiaco (9-7) is fourth, South Fremantle (8-8) fifth, East Fremantle (8-8) sixth and East Perth (7-9) seventh.
Perth and Peel are both on 2-14 records with the Demons holding a far superior percentage.
THE BIG WINNERS
West Perth and East Perth were certainly impressive, but South Fremantle signalled to the rest of the competition that the reigning premiers aren’t a spent force by beating Subiaco by 19 points at Medibank Stadium.
The Bulldogs are still without Jaymie Graham, Nathan Phillips, Reece Adams, Theo Adams, Gerard Wilkie, Andrew Siegert and Scott Thornton, with none of them due back this season, but they are now playing some aggressive and direct football, and it's paying off.
South Fremantle has now beaten third-placed West Perth and fourth-placed Subiaco the last two games and with a Fremantle derby at East Fremantle Oval this week followed by home matches against Swan Districts, West Perth and Subiaco, the Bulldogs are right in the hunt for the finals.
With Kris Miller leading a young midfield, Ryan Murphy and Callum Wilson on fire up-forward, and the defence of Andrew McCarrey (pictured), Sam Hunt, Hayden North, Kyle Hams, Craig White and Corry Amato outstanding, no side would want to play South Fremantle in September.
THE BIG LOSERS
Peel Thunder has shown a tendency for some big road losses this season, but Perth put in a disastrous effort at home on Saturday to lose to East Perth by 117 points.
Making the performance worse was the fact that Perth came in after a solid five weeks of performance with wins over Swan Districts and Peel, and tight losses to Claremont, West Perth and Subiaco.
However, Saturday's performance was horrible after quarter-time. The margin was just nine points at the first change, but Perth kicked just two more goals the rest of the game while East Perth piled on 18.
Making matters even worse was that Perth still won plenty of the ball having only 20 less possessions than East Perth, but that translated to 32 less scoring shots and 26 few entries inside-50.
Tim Ruffles, Joel Houghton, Matthew Moody, Clay McLernon, Casey Sibosado, Haydn Busher, Ash Thornton, Will Sullivan and Justin Bollenhagen were among the players below par leaving the work to far too few.
THE SHINING LIGHTS
Swan Districts and Claremont played out a classic at Steel Blue Oval. Andrew Krakouer was brilliant for Swans with 27 possessions and four goals with Michael Walters (pictured) also terrific and he's in career-best form with 28 touches and two goals.
Tim Geappen kicked three goals and Justin Simpson two with Clayton Hinkley picking up 25 disposals, Wayde Twomey 20, Tom Roach 19, Matt Riggio 18 and Matthew Spencer 18.
Llane Spaanderman had 20 touches and 33 hit outs in a good battle with Claremont ruck pair Andrew Ruck (19 touches, 38 hit outs and a goal) and Tom Derickx (14 disposals, 19 hit outs).
Luke Blackwell had 29 touches for Claremont, Ryan Brabazon also 29, Brett Jones 26, Pat McGinnity 25, Kane Mitchell 24, Tom Swift 24, Andrew Browne 22 and Blake Anderson 21. Andrew Foster, Jarrod Ninyette and Beau Wilkes kicked two goals each.
Kris Miller was brilliant for South Fremantle with 35 possessions that were highly effective. He also kicked the first goal of the game with Ryan Murphy booted five all in the second half, Callum Wilson four for the game Thomas Motlop three.
Craig White won 29 possessions, Toby Bairstow 28, Hayden North 25, Cory Dell'Olio 23, Jarrod Parry 23, Sam Hunt 22, Corry Amato 21 and Kyle Hams 21.
Scott Delmenico did well in the ruck with 19 possessions and 17 hit outs and Andrew McCarrey was outstanding keeping Blake Broadhurst quiet. He managed just one goal which came early in the game when opposed by Kyle Hams.
Triple premiership captain Marc Webb led the way for Subiaco with 24 possessions and three goals, the first time he's kicked three majors in his 176-game WAFL career. Jordan Adamson-Holmes, Adam Campbell and Pat Hassett also kicked two.
Shaun Hildebrandt picked up 25 possessions, Ben Keevers 24, Kyal Horsley 22, Ben Randall 22, Chad Cossom 20 and Rhett Kerr 20.
East Perth took full advantage of a disappointing Perth to remain right in the finals hunt. Jarrad Oakley-Nicholls (pictured) kicked six goals, Adam Prior four and Ben McKinley three.
Brendan Lee had 33 possessions and kicked a goal, Aaron Sweet had 28 touches, Brendan Hancock 24, Daniel Macaulay 20, Mathew Seal 19 and Zach Beeck dominated the ruck with 18 disposals and 27 hit outs.
Aaron Elari had 31 possessions for Perth, Andrew McDougall 27, Matthew Ferguson 22, Brett Hodge 22, Daniel O'Sullivan 21 and Tendai Mzungu 20. Youngster Reece Conca again worked hard and captain Steve Armstrong kicked three goals and had 24 disposals.
Caleb Shadbolt (pictured) kicked seven goals for West Perth, Brent LeCras four to go with 21 possessions and both Anthony Tsalikis and Lewis Harvey added three.
Ray Bartholomew was brilliant with 31 possessions and two goals. Matt Guadagnin had 29 touches, Josh Pearce 26, Dustin Burns 25, Shaun Bewick 23, Jeff Gobbels 20, Joel Rice 20 and Jason Salecic 20.
Rory O'Brien had a game-high 34 touches for Peel with Harley Bennell picking up 24 and kicking a goal. Kieran Butcher had another strong game with 23 disposals, eight entries inside-50 and a goal.
PUSHING FOR A SPOT
Simon Parry was outstanding in the reserves for Swan Districts with 30 possessions, 11 tackles, six entries inside-50 and a goal. Roderick Manton and Dermitt Wilson worked hard also and Chris Andrews kicked two goals.
Claremont's depth is incredible and Gerrick Weedon kicked five goals with Jake Murphy (27 possessions, two goals), Nic Chidgzey (26, two), Henry Roberts (26), Matt Orzel (24, two), Brad Nisbett (19), Ian Rowe (19, one), Tom Ayton (18, one) and Simon Starling (18, one) terrific.
Shane Kersten kicked six goals for South Fremantle with Tyler Hall, Mitch Cornell, Matthew Leece, Mark Miller and Anthony Collica playing well.
Tim Viney worked hard in the reserves for Subiaco with 28 possessions, Andrew Scott picked up 23, Abe Davey 19, Josh Watson 18 and Scott Douglas was good in the ruck.
Ben Noakes had 31 possessions for East Perth, Kane Goodwin 30, and Steven Payne 24 with Jacob Lalich, Alex Hutchins and Rowan Brookes kicking two goals. Jason Roe got through his second game back from a knee injury with nine touches, eight tackles and two behinds.
Daniel Venditti had 24 possessions for Perth, Bernard Sneeuwjagt 18 with Brent Davis kicking three goals and Simon Horner, Michael Rogers and Jordan Eades booting two each.
Alex James picked up 32 possessions and kicked two goals for West Perth with Callum Chambers and Clayton Lasscock also playing well to press claims for a league recall.
Chayne George, Justin Giumelli, Brennan Gillam and Caillan Timbrell worked hard for Peel.
