WAFL Semi Finals Wrap

WEST Perth has capitalised on a remarkable home and away season with all three teams booking in their places in the WAFL Grand Finals for 2022 after a spectacular day at home on Saturday while East Fremantle and Claremont are left to fight in a preliminary final.

West Perth put together a stunning home and away season in 2022 with their league, reserves and colts teams all finishing on top of the ladder. 

The Falcons were then able to capitalise on a week off to open the finals as a result and with all their teams hosting second semi finals on Saturday at Joondalup's Pentanet Stadium, it turned out to be a day to savour. 

West Perth's league team beat East Fremantle while their reserves defeated Claremont and colts downed Peel Thunder to mean the Falcons are the first team in all three grades to advance to the Grand Final at Leederville Oval on Saturday October 1.

West Perth's league team took on East Fremantle on Saturday at Pentanet Stadium and came away with the 12.9 (81) to 8.13 (61) victory to move straight into the Grand Final.

Mitch Dobson and Mitch Peirce kicked two goals apiece in the win for Wet Perth on an afternoon where Tyler Keitel and Keegan Knott were well held. Shane Nelson racked up 27 possessions, Luke Meadows 25 and Aidan Lynch 23.

Tom Bennett finished with 23 touches and two goals for East Fremantle with Milan Murdock gathering 30 disposals, Josh Schoenfeld 29 and Cam Eardley 25.

The first semi-final took place on Sunday at Revo Fitness Stadium and Claremont proved too strong for Peel Thunder to win 16.15 (111) to 8.4 (52) to keep its season alive.

Alex Manuel equalled his career-high with five goals for Claremont with Max Spyvee and Tyron Smallwood kicking three goals apiece. Jye Bolton amassed 33 touches, Bailey Rogers 28 and Lachlan Martinis 27.

Blair Bell kicked three goals for Peel with Mitch Crowden gathering 27 possessions and Karl Worner 25.

East Fremantle and Claremont will now do battle in the preliminary final this Sunday with a spot in the Grand Final against West Perth up for grabs.

Meanwhile in the reserves, West Perth moved straight into the Grand Final by beating Claremont 15.11 (101) to 7.4 (46) on Saturday also at Pentanet Stadium.

Mitch Antonio kicked four goals in the win for West Perth while Nathan Murray collected 27 possessions and Callum Johnson 24.

Zac Mainwaring kicked two goals for Claremont with Morgan Davies collecting 24 disposals and Sam Alvarez 24.

The first semi-final took place on Sunday at Revo Fitness Stadium with Subiaco keeping its season alive by beating South Fremantle 14.10 (94) to 7.9 (51).

Jordan Faraone, Jack Borchet, Jake South, Lachlan Vanirsen and Ben Golding all kicked two goals each in the win for Subiaco while Tyson Headland was the lone multiple goal scorer for South Fremantle with two.

That means that West Perth is into the Grand Final while Claremont plays Subiaco in this Sunday's preliminary final.

And in the colts, it was West Perth continuing its remarkable run into the Grand Final in all three grades by winning the second semi-final 6.7 (43) to 5.9 (39) against Peel Thunder on Saturday at Pentanet Stadium.

Noah Farrow kicked three goals in the win for the Falcons while Griff Julian picked up 27 touches, Kane Bevan 26 and Luke Michael 25. 

Reece Torrent and Jackson Broadbent kicked two goals each for the Thunder with Clay Hall finishing with 24 possessions, Ethan Donaghy 22, Scott Tuia and Taj Wyburd 21.

Subiaco then put a hammering on South Fremantle in the first semi-final on Sunday at Revo Fitness Stadium, winning 21.14 (140) to 3.4 (22).

Robert Hansen kicked five goals for the Lions with Tyrell Dewar, Richard Farmer and Luker Kentfield all adding three apiece. Oscar Dees racked up 24 touches, Toby McDonald 22, Ky Franceschini 22 and Rory Murison 21.

South Fremantle's goals came from Chase Bourne, Isaiah Hayden and Toby Verney with Bourne, Seth Connor and Roan O'Hehir all collecting 22 disposals.

That all means that the Falcons are into the colts Grand Final while Peel Thunder and Subiaco will play in this Sunday's preliminary final.
 

WAFL FINALS SERIES 2022 – SEMI FINALS

SECOND SEMI-FINAL – WEST PERTH 12.9 (81) defeated EAST FREMANTLE 8.13 (61)

West Perth is now the first team through to the 2022 Grand Final after delivering a strong performance to beat East Fremantle in Saturday's second semi-final by 20 points.

West Perth finished on top of the ladder at the end of the home and away season to claim a first minor premiership since 1993 which earned them a break in the first week of the finals.

At the same time, the second placed East Fremantle were ultra-impressive in a qualifying final win against Claremont to set up Saturday's battle over a Grand Final spot at Joondalup's Pentanet Stadium.

It's the first final the two teams have played since a first semi-final in 2002 and West Perth was able to maintain an advantage most of the afternoon before ending up winning 12.9 (81) to 8.13 (61).

Spurred on by their reserves and colts already booking in their Grand Final berths, the West Perth league side joined them and it's going to be quite an occasion to see them play a Grand Final at their old home of Leederville Oval on Saturday October 1.

West Perth is attempting to win a first premiership since 2013 having lost Grand Finals since in 2015 and 2018 while East Fremantle is still alive. 

The Sharks will be hosting a preliminary final this coming Sunday against Claremont.

West Perth made an ominous start to the second semi-final with two goals in just over the opening three minutes to two of their gun veterans, Shane Nelson and Tyler Keitel.

It might have been a shaky start from East Fremantle, but they soon settled and goals from Jarrad Jansen and Ryan Lester-Smith ensured they were right back into the contest by the 12-minute mark of the first term.

Luke English then snapped truly for the Sharks before Keegan Knott responded in kind for West Perth. Kyle Baskerville added another for East Fremantle just before the siren and with the Falcons converting just three goals from 10 shots in the opening term, scores were all tied by quarter-time.

East Fremantle then made a flying start to the second quarter with a goal in just on 30 seconds to Milan Murdock before West Perth hit back courtesy of second-gamer Corey Rundle a couple minute later.

West Perth then began to pull away with goals to Conal Lynch, Anton Hamp and Mitch Dobson to close the first half with the Falcons heading into the half-time break leading by 16 points.

West Perth's lead was then out to 20 points to start the second half when Tyson Moulton sneaked forward to kick truly. A couple of goals to the Sharks from Tom Bennett kept them in touch, but still the Falcons were 13 points to the good by three quarter-time.

East Fremantle missed three shots on goal in the first eight minutes of the fourth quarter and when West Perth went up the other end and punished them thanks to Peirce, the game was slipping away.

The Sharks were still coming and had another terrific chance with Josh Schoenfeld in open space driving the ball inside-50. However, he missed his target and West Perth took it right up the other end and Dobson was out free, and kicked the goal to just about put the game out of reach.

A Mark Hutchings goal then sealed the deal and West Perth went on to win 12.9 (81) to 8.13 (61) to advance straight to the Grand Final for 2022.

Highlighting the potency of West Perth was the fact that leading goalkickers Tyler Keitel and Keegan Knott were held goalless after kicking a goal each in the opening quarter

However, the Falcons still kicked 12 goals for the game with Mitch Dobson and Mitch Peirce kicking two apiece, and 10 players all kicking at least one goal. And if that's not enough, Mitch Antonio and Rudy Riddoch are proven goal kickers who couldn’t even break into the team.

Shane Nelson is one of three West Perth players now looking to become dual premiership stars and he finished the second semi-final with 27 possessions, five tackles and a goal.

Luke Meadows has played in two Grand Finals for West Perth but not yet a premiership and he could well have been the most influential player on the ground with his 25 disposals, seven inside-50 entries and four tackles.

Aidan Lynch also racked up 23 touches for the Falcons, Peirce 19, Tyson Moulton 18, Zac Guadagnin 18, Aaron Black 17 and Keitel 17 while Troy Yukich got the better of the ruck battle in his first WAFL final with 40 hit outs.

Jonathon Marsh loomed as a potential match winner for East Fremantle but the West Perth back-line did a terrific job holding the powerhouse to one behind for the game even though he still had an impact and directly set up a handful of the Sharks' goals for the afternoon.

Tom Bennett was East Fremantle's lone multiple goal scorer kicking two for the day to go with collecting 23 possessions, seven tackles and six marks. 

Milan Murdock delivered another standout performance doing the hard work on the ball for East Fremantle with 30 possessions, four tackles and a goal while Josh Schoenfeld gathered 29 touches to go with eight tackles and seven marks.

Cam Eardley also finished with 25 disposals, Jackson McDonald 24, Luke English 20, Michael Tassone 20, Matthew Jupp 18 and Kyle Baskerville 18 to go with eight tackles.

FIRST SEMI-FINAL – CLAREMONT 16.15 (111) defeated PEEL THUNDER 8.4 (52)

Claremont has now won a final in each of the last five WAFL seasons after overpowering Peel Thunder in Sunday's first semi-final at Revo Fitness Stadium on Sunday.

The Tigers and Thunder were doing battle over a place in the following Sunday's preliminary final against East Fremantle.

Claremont had finished the home and away season in third position before losing the qualifying final to East Fremantle meaning they would have no more second chances the rest of the finals.

Peel had sneaked into the finals as a result of thrashing Swan Districts in the last round and then kicked the last two goals of the elimination final last Saturday to beat South Fremantle in their first finals appearance since winning the 2017 premiership.

After a seesawing first half in front of a strong crowd of 3730 at Revo Fitness Stadium, Claremont kicked the last three goals of the first half to lead by 20 points at the main break.

The Tigers then kept that momentum going to open the second half to set up the eventual 16.15 (111) to 8.4 (52) victory to see them advance to a preliminary final on Sunday against East Fremantle at New Choice Homes Park.

The season is over for the Thunder while Claremont has now won a final every season since 2018 having reached a Grand Final in 2020, preliminary finals now in 2019, 2021 and 2022, and a first semi-final in 2018.

Peel was coming off a strong finish last Sunday to beat South Fremantle in the elimination final and continued that momentum in the first semi-final with the first two goals of the game courtesy of Blair Bell and Mitch Crowden.

Claremont was put on the back foot following a disappointing showing last Saturday in the qualifying final against Eat Fremantle, but the Tigers steadied when Callan England went back and drilled a goal from just outside 50.

Alex Manuel then added another and as a result Claremont took a three-point edge into the quarter-time break.

It was then a stunning opening to the second term for the Tigers when they got the centre clearance and Tyron Smallwood was ready to pounce. He snapped truly to give Claremont a nine-point lead.

After a string of three behinds, Manuel then kicked his second of the day to see the Tigers lead grow to 18 points and Peel needed to respond, and that's exactly what they did. 

Two quick goals to the Thunder from Neil Erasmus closed the gap and then Joel Western kicked another and in the blink of an eye the scores were all level heading towards half-time.

But Claremont kicked away once more heading into the break with quick goals to Smallwood, Jack Buller and then Max Spyvee which saw the Tigers hold a handy 20-point advantage going into the major break.

Claremont then blew the game wide open to start the third quarter with the first two goals from Smallwood and Spyvee which saw things starting to get out of reach of Peel with a 33-point lead for the home side.

The Thunder did get a goal back through Josh Treacy but when Manuel responded with his third of the day, the tone was set for the second half and Claremont wasn’t going to let it slip desperate to avoid bowing out in straight sets.

Claremont kicked away further to lead by 42 points at three quarter-time and it was more of the same in the last quarter with the Tigers kicking five goals to two to claim the emphatic and impressive 16.15 (111) to 8.4 (52) victory.

For the third time in his 86-game WAFL career, Alex Manuel kicked five goals for Claremont. It's the first time he's kicked five goals in a game since 2018 and he picked the perfect time to come up huge for the Tigers.

Max Spyvee also kicked three goals for Claremont as did Tyron Smallwood while Callan England chimed in with two important goals.

Dual Sandover Medallist Jye Bolton is still chasing that elusive premiership with Claremont and he racked up 33 possessions with fellow Sandover Medal winner Bailey Rogers finishing with 28 touches and a goal.

Lachlan Martinis gave great drive off half-back once again with 27 possessions with Ben Elliott finishing with 21 touches, Ronin O'Connor 20 and Ryan Lim 18 as he celebrated his 150th game to earn life membership with the memorable victory.

Oliver Eastland also stood up impressively in the ruck opposed to Lloyd Meek with 19 touches, 23 hit outs and four tackles. Meek had 14 disposals and 33 hit outs for the Thunder.

Dual premiership player Blair Bell kicked three goals for Peel with Neil Erasmus adding two to go with 18 possessions, six marks and four tackles.

Fremantle midfielder Mitch Crowden capped off an outstanding season with Peel with another 27 possessions, seven marks, six tackles, six inside-50 entries and a goal.

Karl Worner also picked up 25 touches for the Thunder, Nathan Wilson 22, Ben Hancock 20, Matthew Johnson 19 and Haydn Matthews 18.