SUBIACO and South Fremantle recorded wins in Round 6 of the 2022 WAFL Colts season, producing near-identical scorelines against East Fremantle and Swan Districts respectively. We noted some of the top performers from those two games, before taking a look around the ground and up the grades across the latest weekend of WAFL action.

By: Charlie McCormack

EAST FREMANTLE:

#4 Jed Hagan

It was another typical hard-working and prolific game that we have become accustomed to expecting from Hagan, as he accumulated 20 touches and nine tackles on return from playing for the AFL Academy last week. The Geraldton product didn’t win as much uncontested ball as he sometimes does, but managed to find plenty of it forward of centre, sending the ball inside 50 eight times and kicking a goal as he was often the source of much of his side’s attacking play.

#9 Luke Yeo

The tough midfielder is putting together a very good season for the Sharks and he was again amongst the better players for East Fremantle, finishing with a team-high 21 disposals and five marks. Alongside Hagan, Yeo provided much of the impetus for the Sharks at the contest and used smart running patterns to find plenty of the ball in transition.

#10 Patrick Shaw

The 16-year old was a lively presence up forward for the Sharks, always looking dangerous when the ball was in his vicinity to finish with two goals from his 10 disposals. The under-age player pounced on a Subiaco error to kick his first major with a composed finish on the run before taking a terrific contested mark drifting into the pack in the third term to convert his second goal and really help swing the momentum back in the Sharks’ favour.

#21 Samuel Otto

The unheralded defender had another solid outing for the Sharks, playing with plenty of poise and using the ball well to finish with 14 disposals and nine marks. The Rockingham product is a smart footballer and he seemed to have a bit of licence to roam around the wide expanses of the WACA, even drifting forward in the last term to kick a crucial goal from a difficult position to put the Sharks back in front.

SUBIACO:

#1 Jacob Evitt

The Subiaco skipper had a terrific start to the contest, using his big-bodied frame to do a power of work at stoppages and rack up nine first quarter touches. That included one of the goals of the year, where Evitt burst from a centre clearance, broke a tackle and finished on the run from 45 metres in a piece of individual brilliance. He wasn’t as dominant in the middle two quarters, but when the game was up for grabs in the last term, the Kingsway product stepped up, winning a number of crucial clearances and contested ball to help the Lions secure the victory.

#23 Koltyn Tholstrup

The 16 year-old has started off the season in superb touch, kicking 15 goals from his first five games to be the dominant forward in the competition. At the WACA, the Newtown Condingup was struggling to impact up forward early, but still showed glimpses of his quality whenever he got his hands on the footy, using his raking kick to hit a teammate with a 50-metre bullet on one occasion. But the underage talent showed his versatility, playing in the midfield and on the wing at stages in the second half to find more of the footy and impose himself on the match. He finished with 18 disposals and a clever checkside goal in the last term to be one of Subiaco’s best players. 

#36 Mitchell O’Keefe

The 18-year old played a tenacious game in defence, coming up with a number of good efforts in clearing the ball from his backline under pressure and impressing with his composure and decision making with ball in hand. The Kingsway product finished with 15 disposals and played his role well in a backline that withstood a large amount of East Fremantle heat.

#42 Richard Farmer

The speedster was one of a number of Subiaco players to lift their output in the last quarter. After being relatively quiet for three quarters, the 2021 State squad member showed some terrific evasiveness and ball use at key moments in the last quarter to provide a noticeable touch of class. He finished with only the 10 touches but definitely left his mark on the game.

By: Hayden Narducci

SWAN DISTRICTS:

#18 Angus Laurisson

Once again, Laurisson was the standout player defensively for the Swans as he and teammate Riley Hardemann created a lethal partnership rebounding out the back. The over-ager rarely lost a one on one and showed great maturity and game sense to read the ball well in the air and intercept opposing inside 50 entries. By far his most eye-catching trait was his composure under pressure when rebounding, evading tackles with relative ease. Finishing with 17 disposals, Laurisson has maintained his strong start to the season, looking unnerved with the ball in hand and strong in the contest, he continues to provide recruiters much to think about.

#28 Tom Smith

WA’s newly inducted state ruckman, Smith looked dominant in every ruck contest he took part in. Splitting the duties with under-ager Evan Smith, Tom led the hit out count for the day with 24. His tap work was second to none for quality, but his work around the ground was just as impressive, collecting 13 disposals. One of his most impressive moments of the day came in the third quarter where he crumbed a marking contest he was a part of, taking on a tackle and handing it off to a teammate for a goal to make sure scores were level going into three quarter time. Look forward to a potential Smith-Broadbent ruck partnership come State Champs.

#38 Darcy Jones

By far the Swans’ best performer this season, Jones collected another 24 disposals to go with five tackles, 10 inside 50s and a goal. Certainly gaining more attention from opposition midfielders as the season goes on, Jones used his speed and agility to burst through the contest and lose his direct opponent in the sea of players. Above all, his best attribute is his persistence from contest to contest. This very persistence led to his goal in the third quarter, where his run started from the back 50, sprinting from pack to pack as the ball worked its way up field, finishing off with a kick into open space inside 50, where Jones burnt the final defender to run into an open goal. With state footy just around the corner, Jones is doing very well to press his case to be a part of WA’s starting midfield three.

SOUTH FREMANTLE:

#7 Christian Wilson

The leading disposal getter on the day, 17 year old Wilson finished with 37 disposals finding the ball all around the ground, bringing his season average to 30 disposals a game. Wilson’s kicking was a feature of his game, as he finished with 23 kicks, regularly finding the best option to set up goals. Though the Swans put more focus on him after a 24 disposal first half, Wilson still managed nine in the last quarter to guide his team to a win with scores level early in the fourth.

#11 Liam Brandis

Five games into the season and equal second on the goal scoring charts, small forward Brandis continued his red hot form in this game, booting four goals to go with 20 touches. Inaccuracy hurt Brandis on the day finishing with four behinds to go with his goals. Brandis provided plenty of trouble up the ground and deep near the goals, creating space from his direct opponent with ease to find the footy uncontested. With state footy getting closer, Brandis is pushing his case to be a late in for a small forward role if the opportunity presents itself.

#33 Roan O’Hehir

Wrapping up the contingency of smalls who dominated for the Doggies, 170cm midfielder O’Hehir finished with 33 disposals, five marks, four tackles and a goal from the guts. Showing a tendency to go by hand, O’Hehir was often the first one to get it out of the pack for the Dogs and pass it off to an outside runner. Averaging 28.4 touches over the season so far, O’Hehir has formed a dominant midfield partnership with Wilson which was in full force in this game. His five marks for the game is a season low, proving his ability to find space in the middle of the ground to provide a marking option and hold possession for his side.

AROUND THE GROUNDS:

By: Charlie McCormack

On Friday night, Claremont moved off the bottom of the ladder, upsetting Peel Thunder by one point in Mandurah. Max Mumme was busy for the Tigers with 27 disposals and found good support from Fletcher Netherway (25) and Mitch Barron (18 and 11 tackles). For the Thunder, Joel Rush was prolific for his 25 disposals, while Ethan Donaghy also found plenty of it with 19 disposals and 10 tackles.

West Perth did as it pleased against Perth in Joondalup, holding the Demons goalless to run out victorious by 101 points. Prime movers Griffith Julian (38 disposals) and Kane Bevan (33) found plenty of the ball while Jasper Scaife kicked three goals to go with eight marks. On a tough day for the Demons, Ben Fairbank stood tall with 28 touches and Baxter Phillip continued his good form to notch up 23.

UP THE GRADES:

Top 10 prospect Jedd Busslinger made his league debut for East Perth against West Coast and didn’t have too much to do in the defence as the Royals ran out 78-point winners. He recorded five disposals and two marks. At Steel Blue Oval, Steely Green continued to produce consistent football at senior level, finishing with 16 disposals and a goal for the Bulldogs in their narrow loss to Swan Districts.