WAFL Team of Round 5Wednesday, May 5, 2021 - 4:20 PM - by Chris Pike

THE 2021 Optus WAFL Premiership Season resumed on the weekend and there were plenty of standout performers that it was the most challenging of Teams of the Round to select from both the teams who won and those who put up good fights.

After an enforced week off, the WAFL season resumed on Saturday with four matches taking place including a battle of the last two premiership teams which saw South Fremantle defeat Subiaco 12.8 (80) to 9.8 (62) at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.

Claremont then remained the lone undefeated team left in the competition after five rounds by overcoming a slow start to win big against West Perth at Revo Fitness Stadium, 16.11 (107) to 8.7 (55).

Swan Districts improved to second position on the ladder as well holding on to beat East Perth on the back of a flying start at Leederville Oval to prevail 10.8 (68) to 7.13 (55).

The final game on Saturday afternoon saw Perth also capitalise on a scorching start to beat East Fremantle 11.8 (74) to 6.8 (44) at New Choice Homes Park.

The final game of the round took place on Sunday at Mandurah's David Grays Arena with Peel Thunder setting a new highest score benchmark in their history with a 24.12 (156) to 12.5 (77) victory against the West Coast Eagles.

With impressive team performances and so many players standing out, there was legitimately 40 players who had good claims on being part of the WAFL Team of the Week for Round 5, but ultimately we have settled on a final 22 including a familiar face as the Player of the Round.

PLAYER OF THE ROUND – HAIDEN SCHLOITHE (SOUTH FREMANTLE)
He might very well be the most decorated current WAFL player and winning a premiership in 2020 hasn’t diminished the drive of Haiden Schloithe, if anything he looks hungrier than ever so far in 2021.

Schloithe had already done it all in his WAFL career up until achieving the dream of winning a premiership with South Fremantle last year, which was the icing on a pretty rich string of achievements he has racked up since joining the Bulldogs from Katanning.

It would be perfectly understandable if somebody who is a premiership player, a life member, a three-time fairest and best winner, a Sandover Medallist and three-time state representative started to feel his drive to achieve more beginning to diminish.

But one look at the form of Schloithe over the opening four games of the 2021 season and he might very well be in the best shape of his life, and playing the best football of his career and that's certainly saying something after everything he has accomplished.

He put all of that on show in the win for South Fremantle against Subiaco on Saturday at Fremantle Community Bank Oval in one of the best all-round performances of his 163-game career.

Schloithe finished the afternoon with 39 possessions, nine marks, nine tackles, five inside-50 entries and two goals in a best on ground, match-winning performance for the Bulldogs.

Schloithe's coach Todd Curley might not have been totally happy with his team's performance on Saturday despite the win over Subiaco, and his superstar wasn’t totally immune to some criticism, but overall he's delighted with the way he's approaching 2021 on the back of last year's premiership.

"He was pretty good at times for us again this week, but like all the boys, for a bloke who uses the ball so well he didn’t use it at his best, but he's certainly had a great start to the year," Curley said.

"Sometimes when you taste that success you realise it's probably even better than you thought it was going to be. 

"Those senior guys have been really driven all summer, they have played some pretty good footy to this point and despite the poor 40 minutes this week, apart from that we've been pretty good. 

"We just have to get back on the track and get back to playing our way, and I'm sure the results will be better."

Players of the Round
Round 1 – Josh Schoenfeld (East Fremantle)
Round 2 – Sam Fisher (Swan Districts)
Round 3 – Greg Clark (Subiaco)
Round 5 – Haiden Schloithe (South Fremantle)

WAFL TEAM OF THE ROUND
BACK: Nelson Waite (SD), Dylan Smallwood (C), Jacob Coniglio (P)
HALF-BACK: Lachlan Martinis (C), Matthew Jupp (EF), Greg Clark (S)
CENTRE: Ben Hancock (PT), Sam Fisher (SD), Frank Anderson (SD)
HALF-FORWARD: Doulton Langlands (P), Josh Treacy (PT), Tyrone Thorne (PT)
FORWARD: Blair Bell (PT), Eddie Simpson (EP), Jack Buller (C)
RUCK: Oliver Eastland (C), Brady Grey (P), Haiden Schloithe (SF)
INTERCHANGE: Ben Howlett (PT), Cam Eardley (EF), Connor West (WP), Angus Scott (EP)

UNLUCKY BUNCH
There were plenty of players who delivered tremendous performances across Round 5 but couldn’t quite fit into the Team of the Round, including:

East Perth's Aidan Lynch and Christian Ameduri.

Swan Districts' Jesse Palmer, Josh Cipro, Corey Gault, Jackson Beck and Lachlan Riley.

East Fremantle's Morgan Davies and Jarrad Jansen.

Perth's Matthew Taylor, Christian Eyres and Zac Hill.

Claremont's Isaac Barton, Bailey Rogers, Kane Mitchell, Ben Edwards, Ryan Lim and Declan Mountford.

West Perth's Shane Nelson, Aaron Black, Steve Potente, Blake Wilhelm, Conal Lynch and Noah Pegoraro.

South Fremantle's Mason Shaw, Jacob Dragovich, George Wessels, Brock Higgins, Jason Maskos, Chad Pearson and Blake Schlensog.

Subiaco's Nick Martin, Harry Marsh, Leigh Kitchin, Lachlan Delahunty and Michael Braut.

Peel Thunder's Sam Sturt, Stefan Giro, Jackson Merrett, Joel Western, Connor Blakely, Michael Randall, Will Schofield and Lloyd Meek.

West Coast Eagles' Jarrod Cameron, Hamish Brayshaw, Xavier O'Neill, Ben Johnson and Joey Deegan.