Sharkpack & Landmark Country Week

Sharkpack was a successful campaign with the primary focus on development. The scorelines were a bonus, giving the coaches the luxury to throw the magnets around and try players in new positions. The boys had a fantastic time at East Fremantle and even had a pep talk from Jack Perham about his transition from Geraldton to the Sharks and his stint in the AFL. The boys were looked after by East Fremantle’s Past Players, who provided food and accommodation.

The Great Northern Football League recently participated in the 2017 Landmark Country Week Carnival. Game 1 saw the GNFL play against Avon in Northam as part of the Regional Round. Finding a full travelling squad was a complicated process with a number of key players unavailable due to injuries and prior commitments. We were able to scrape a team together and shot out of the blocks early. The intensity from the first bounce meant Avon were on the back foot all day and led to a convincing 102-point win for the GNFL. First time representative, Gus Devitt, was awarded BOG honours largely due to his speed and ability to find the football where others couldn’t. Other strong contributors on the day were Rohan Farris (3 goals), Nathaniel Mourambine (4 goals), Farren Parfitt (3 goals), and former East Fremantle player and GNFL captain Leith Teakle (2 goals).

Two weeks later the GNFL squad (with half a dozen changes) headed down to Perth for the remainder of the carnival. We went into Saturday’s first game against Southwest full of confidence hoping to keep our winning record alive. Unfortunately this wasn’t the case, with Southwest proving to be the better side on the day due largely to their clean use and crisp ball movement.  Best players for Game 2 were Jordan Comeagain, Jamie Williams, Kim Schofield, Mitchell Boyle and Kinglsey Smith.

To keep our chances of making the Grand Final alive we needed a strong showing against Upper Great Southern in game 3.  In what was a tight contest we were able to hold on to come away victors by a narrow 2 points. Led by the classy trio of former Sharks in Leith Teakle, Mitch Boyle and Brad Cooper we were still in with a sniff of making the Grand Final.  Unfortunately, we missed out on percentage for the 2^nd year in a row.

All in all it was a great weekend with plenty of local talent on display. The GNFL squad featured almost a dozen players who have previously been involved with East Fremantle, showing that the Midwest is a breeding ground for talented footballers.

Game 1: Shark Pack 53 def Great Southern Storm 45

Game 2: Shark Pack 64 def Midlands 14

Game 3 Shark Pack 71 def Goldfields 13

Best Players:

Johnny Narkle, Bohan Teakle, Ethan Chick,

Richard Bartlett, Edward Curley

Best Players:

Johnny Narkle, Bohan Teakle, Ethan Chick,

Richard Bartlett, Edward Curley