Sharks roll Falcons by 50

The East Fremantle Sharks notched up their second win of the McDonald’s WAFL season with a convincing 50 point win over the West Perth Falcons today at ATOM Stadium.

After struggling to get on the board early against Peel a fortnight ago, the Sharks came out firing with a six goal to none first quarter.

West Perth steadied and even had the better of the play for periods in the middle two quarters, but East Fremantle lifted late while keeping the Falcons goalless again in the final term.

While Brett Peake, Matthew Watson and the Bristow brothers stole the show up forward as the Sharks' multiple goalscorers, coach Rob Wiley was delighted with the efforts of his backline.

“It was nice to get some goals on the scoreboard early, and that really set the standard,” said Wiley.

“It was pleasing to score but also even more pleasing to keep West Perth, who were Grand Finalists last year, to 51 points. I think more than anything else our ability to defend was fantastic.”

In the absence of Jamie McNamara in the midfield, acting captain Liam Anthony was outstanding with 34 disposals -- and Wiley credited the team’s entire leadership group.

“Liam did a great job out there. I think everyone’s stepping up in the leadership group,” said Wiley.

"We had [Vice-Captain] Jupp and Andrew Steven down back who were really good and Mitch Boyle up forward. He again set a standard of desperation and second and third efforts, so it was really good leadership not only from Liam but from the other guys too.”

It was Anthony’s first game as captain of any side, and the Sharks 61-gamer was humbled by the opportunity.

“I grew up barracking for the Sharks so it’s a real honour to captain and try and lead from the front,” said Anthony, who was a recruit from Railways Football Club in Geraldton and played 68 games for North Melbourne.

“Hopefully I did that out there but overall I couldn’t be more proud of how the boys performed today.”

Even with the Sharks controlling the game with 404 disposals to the Falcons 337, Anthony said he is looking forward to handing the reigns back to McNamara in the near future.

“I think we’ve got real depth in our midfield and I think the reserves boys are playing really good footy too,” said Anthony.

“And today was without J-Mac, the captain of our club, who’s one of the most consistent and best players in the WAFL, so the sooner we get him back the better – but with him out I think everyone else stood up.”

It ended up as a golden day for East Fremantle, with all three teams earning convincing victories, set up by the Colts’ 90-point win and the Reserves' six goal triumph.

With a healthy list, the form of all sides is sure to cause some headaches for the coaching staff -- a problem that delights Wiley.

“They pulled up really well, I got the word from our physio that everyone’s feeling good, and the development league guys played really well too,” said Wiley.

“That’s the internal pressure that you need to make sure that you keep going forward – it makes match committee and the selection process really hard but that’s what we want.”

“It was a really good day for the club to win three grades and to win well. All looks good for the future but it’s only round four and there’s a lot of water to go under the bridge until then.”