CLAREMONT, Swan Districts and East Fremantle all geared up for their finals campaigns with wins in Round 24 of the WAFL on Saturday while West Perth knocked off East Perth to farewell Brent LeCras with a 14-point victory.The results on Saturday saw East Fremantle beat Peel Thunder 18.15 (123) to 10.9 (69) at Bendigo Bank Stadium, West Perth downed East Perth 14.14 (98) to 12.12 (84) at Medibank Stadium, Claremont thumped Subiaco 23.13 (151) to 7.8 (50) at Claremont Oval and Swan Districts got over Perth 14.16 (100) to 12.9 (81) at Brownes Stadium.
That sets up the first week of the finals on Saturday that will see Claremont host Swan Districts in a second semi-final with a grand final berth up for grabs with East Fremantle taking on East Perth at East Fremantle Oval in a cut-throat first semi-final.
Click here for the summary of Round 24 of the WAFL
THE BIG WINNERS
Claremont put in the most impressive and dominant performance of the weekend to hammer Subiaco by 101 points and guarantee a third straight minor premiership as the Tigers now prepare to try and win back-to-back flags.
There is enormous pressure on for spots at Claremont as well with Jarryd Morton, Andrew Ruck, Brandon Franz, Alroy Gilligan, Alistair Gillespie, Ryan Neates and Jack Bradshaw all playing reserves on Saturday.
Then there is also Byron Schammer who will be pushing to return from an ankle injury. The 22 that played, though, dominated Subiaco with the only sour note an elbow injury to premiership player Andrew Foster.
THE BIG LOSERS
It was a dead rubber derby for East Perth against West Perth on Saturday, but the 14-point loss means that the Royals will be the only finals teams going into next week coming off a loss.
The Royals fell 41 points down by three quarter-time against the Falcons before kicking six goals to one in the last term to lose by just 14 points.
East Perth has now lost three of its last four games heading into the finals, but will be hoping to regain Josh Smith, Michael Swan, Kyle Anderson, Jarrad Oakley-Nicholls and Dylan Roberton this week against East Fremantle.
THE SHINING LIGHTS
Claremont dominated Subiaco from the start on Saturday at Claremont Oval to win by 101 points and secure the minor premiership while inflicting on the Lions their biggest defeat since 1998.
The Tigers booted nine goals to three in the first quarter and another nine to three in the third to secure the big win with Ian Richardson (pictured) and Tom Lee combining for nine goals.Richardson had 19 touches, nine marks and five goals with Lee adding 27 possessions, 14 marks and four goals. Rory Walton and Kane Mitchell both booted three goals as well with Brad Nisbett, Trinity Handley and Chad Jones adding two.
Mitchell racked up 35 possessions to go with 12 entries inside-50 as well with Jake Murphy collecting 34 disposals, Luke Blackwell 26, Andrew Browne 24, Alex Silvagni 22 and Lewis Stevenson 20. James Thomson did a tremendous job holding Jack Anthony goalless.
It was a tough day for Subiaco with most of its best performers coming from defenders with Darren Rumble holding Jones to two goals and Joseph Daye restricting Paul Medhurst to one. Antoni Grover also picked up 25 possessions and Aidan Parker 24.
Further up the ground, Brett Mahoney had 24 disposals, Dominic Sheed 21 to go with two goals and Rhett Kerr 18. Brant Chambers also kicked three goals.
Swan Districts did enough to beat Perth by 19 points at Brownes Stadium to secure second position on the ladder and a double chance for the finals.
In the absence of Ash Hansen, Murray Newman kicked three goals from 15 possessions and 12 marks with Ray Daniels, Adam McKinlay, Tony Notte and Marlon Motlop all adding two.
Tom Roach and Shaun Hildebrandt both collected 28 possessions with Wayde Twomey, Josh Roberts and Adam Faulkner picking up 25 each and Jarrad Blight 22, Motlop 22, Lachie Neale 21, Tim Geappen 21 and Graham Jetta 21.
Tony Notte (pictured) continued his career-best form with not only two goals but 24 possessions and 14 marks.
Perth's season came to an end with a competitive performance against a premiership fancy.
Fraser McInnes, Michael Edwards, Simon Tunbridge and Nick Lower all kicked two goals each with West Coast's Ashley Smith knocking up gathering 28 possessions.
Lower also had it 22 times, Matt Moody 21, Alistair Smith 20 and Daniel O'Sullivan 18. Christian Eyres worked hard in the ruck to finish with 12 disposals and 21 hit outs.
West Perth's 14-point win was the perfect way to farewell retiring star Brent LeCras (pictured). After a state game and grand final Simpson Medal, premiership and 143 games, he ended his career with 13 possessions and 1.4 against East Perth on Saturday at Medibank Stadium.West Coast's Quinten Lynch returned for his first game of the year and had 16 possessions, eight marks and two goals for the Falcons with Jason Salecic, Mark Hutchings and Matt Guadagnin adding two goals each.
Hutchings finished off his outstanding season with 34 possessions and 10 marks as well. Shane Nelson is likely to get drafted based on his season and he had another 30 disposals also.
Aaron Black picked up 27 disposals, Jay van Berlo 24 and Steven Browne 20.
East Perth missed Josh Smith, Michael Swan, Dylan Roberton, Jarrad Oakley-Nicholls and Kyle Anderson dearly as the Royals enter the finals with two straight losses.
Garry Moss stepped up to kick five goals from 15 possessions and six marks as he spent more time forward than in the midfield. Fremantle's Jayden Pitt also returned to the league side to kick two goals from 17 disposals.
Aaron Sweet racked up 27 possessions and took 10 marks to go with three inside 50s and a goal. Steven Payne also had 23 disposals, Freddie Clutterbuck 23, Craig Wulff 18, Daniel Macaulay 18 and Mat Seal 17.
Paul Johnson and Zac Clarke combined for 50 hit outs, but didn’t have their usual influence around the ground with just a combined 22 disposals and nine marks.
Leith Teakle (pictured) showed how desperate he was to finish his career this season in the league side for East Fremantle come finals time as he turned back the clock with 19 possessions, 12 marks, eight inside-50 entries and four goals in Saturday's 54-point win over Peel at Bendigo Bank Stadium.
West Coast's Brad Dick also added three goals for the Sharks with Bradd Dalziell, Brock O'Brien and Jack Perham all adding two.
Eagle Bradd Dalziell racked up 34 disposals as well with Fremantle's Sam Menegola and Cameron Sutcliffe both picking up 24 possessions. Rory O'Brien had 24, Richard Hadley 23, Sean Henson 22 and captain Mark McGough 18.
Russell Gabriel played his best game of his first season with the Sharks also with 26 disposals and 23 hit outs.
It wasn’t the ideal way for Peel to finish its season but five wins and some impressive showings gives the incoming coach plenty to work with.
Against East Fremantle, Brad Holmes kicked another three goals to give him an impressive 53 on the season with Kristin Thornton and Jamason Daniels adding two apiece.Captain Brendon Jones worked hard collecting 28 possessions and driving the ball inside-50 on six occasions. Daniels also collected 20 disposals, Drew Robinson 20, Ryan Herring 18 and Pat Travers 18. Eagle Scott Lycett had 16 touches, nine marks, nine hit outs and a goal.
PUSHING FOR A SPOT
Perth's reserves beat Swan Districts by 31 points with Matthew Rogers kicking three goals, and Ben Noakes, Dylan Murray, Matthew Boyle and Jaxon Ramsay all two each. Cameron Manuel picked up 26 possessions, Noakes 23 and Rogers 20.
Braden Smith kicked three goals for Swan Districts with Leigh Kohlmann and Matthew Jukes adding two. Simon Parry gathered 21 possessions, Jukes 20, Nick Holman 19 and James Embley 19.
Morris Coppin, who had a standout 2007 season but has not played WAFL football since, played his second reserves games back with Swans as well and had 11 touches and kicked a goal.
Claremont's reserves beat Subiaco by 83 points with a number of players desperate to impress to try and get back into the league side in time for the second semi-final against Swan Districts.
Jarryd Morton responded to being dropped to pick up 27 possessions while Andrew Ruck had 18 possessions, seven marks and 37 hit outs. Jack Bradshaw and Keifer Yu both kicked four goals with Brandon Franz, Ryan Neates and Hugo Breakey adding two. Alroy Gilligan also collected 26 disposals.
Matthew Bogensperger picked up 26 possessions for Subiaco with Conor Davidson gathering 20, Michael Genovese 17 and Rowen McDonnell 15.
East Fremantle's reserves thumped Peel by 97 points with Scott Hancock kicking four goals, and Godfrey Curley, Sam Read, Adrian Ricciardello and Justin Monaco three. Hancock also had 27 possessions, Lewis Fasolo 24, Kieran King 24 and Mitch Boyle 20.
Matt Battye booted six goals for Peel with Brad Triplett picking up a team-high 19 possessions.
East Perth's reserves recorded a 23-point win over West Perth with David Marinovich booting a bag of eight goals. Cameron Grover gathered 29 possessions, Boston Williamson 20, Jacob Payne 18 and Jackson Slater 17.
Brayden Antonio and Anton Saylor kicked two goals each for West Perth with Laine Rasmussen picking up 22 possessions and Stephen Healy 19.
