WAFLW Round 3 Wrap

REIGNING premiers Claremont remain the standout team after the first three rounds of the 2023 WAFLW season with another Round 3 victory with wins across the weekend also for East Fremantle, South Fremantle and Peel Thunder.

While the Tigers remained undefeated after the first three games of their premiership defence, the Bulldogs also are yet to lose in 2023 while the Sharks and Thunder scored their second victories of the season.

The Round 3 action got underway on Saturday afternoon with East Fremantle winning a tight affair against Subiaco, prevailing 5.4 (34) to 4.4 (28) at Leederville Oval.

Then later on Saturday afternoon at Fremantle Community Bank Oval, South Fremantle made it back-to-back wins after a first up draw to defeat West Perth 6.13 (49) to 3.3 (21).

The other two Round 3 matches took place on Sunday beginning with Claremont staying unbeaten and keeping Swan Districts winless with the 5.10 (40) to 2.4 (16) victory at Steel Blue Oval.

The last game of the round then saw Peel Thunder keep East Perth winless to start life in the WAFLW competition with a 5.6 (36) to 1.5 (11) win at Leederville Oval.

After three rounds of the WAFLW season, Claremont sits atop the ladder with a perfect 3-0 record but South Fremantle is only half a game behind with the two wins and a draw from the opening three games.

East Fremantle sits in third position just percentage ahead of Peel Thunder with both teams sitting on a 2-1 record.

Subiaco is just behind at 1-1 followed by West Perth who are 1-2 while Swan Districts and East Perth remain winless after the opening three rounds.

Meanwhile in Round 3 Rogers Cup action, East Fremantle were impressive beating Subiaco 8.5 (53) to 1.9 (15). Elsie Simpson kicked three goals for the Sharks and Tiani Teakle two with Isobel Robinson the long goalscorer for Subiaco.

Perth was then still chasing a first win but it wasn’t to be with Claremont winning 11.7 (73) to 4.5 (29) at Lathlain's Mineral Resources Park. Georgia Webb and Annalise Fielding kicked three goals apiece for the Tigers while Mahalia Rukuata kicked three for the Demons.

West Perth then scored a 6.5 (41) to 3.1 (19) victory against South Fremantle with Isabella Hill kicking two goals for the Falcons as did Tiara Hodgson for the Bulldogs.

The last Rogers Cup game of Round 3 saw East Perth defeat Peel Thunder 10.4 (64) to 1.3 (9). Sophia Biship had a day out for the Royals kicking five goals with Fatoumata Toure adding two. Peel's lone goal was kicked by Ashlee Norwood.

What all that means is that after the first three rounds, Claremont and West Perth remain the two undefeated Rogers Cup teams with the Tigers just ahead of the Falcons through percentage.

East Perth has won two of the first three games while South Fremantle has played just twice for a win and a draw. East Fremantle and Subiaco both have one win from three games, Swan Districts has one victory from two matches while Peel Thunder and Perth are yet to record a victory.

WAFLW PREMIERSHIP SEASON – ROUND 3

SUBIACO 4.4 (28) lost to EAST FREMANTLE 5.4 (34)

East Fremantle and Subiaco both brought winning form into Saturday's Round 3 clash at Leederville Oval with the Sharks ending up winning a tight one over the Lions by six points.

After East Fremantle lost to Claremont in Round 1 and Subiaco drew with South Fremantle, both teams won in Round 2 to set up a terrific contest at Leederville Oval on Saturday night.

Not much separated the teams throughout the afternoon with East Fremantle did kick three goals to one in the opening quarter, and then with the first goal of the last term it was enough for the Sharks to hold on for the 5.4 (34) to 4.4 (28) victory.

Anjelique Raison might not have found a lot of the ball in attack for East Fremantle, but was able to make the most of her opportunities kicking two goals from five kicks and four marks.

Ashleigh Gomes led the Sharks from the front in terrific fashion ending up with 21 possessions and six marks with Sharon Wong working tirelessly once more for 19 touches and three tackles.

Beth Beckett also contributed 18 possessions for East Fremantle, Taya Chambers 15, Gabby O'Sullivan 14, Amber Kinnane 14 and Larissa Versaci 14 to go with four tackles.

Emmelie Fiedler put in another impressive performance in the ruck too with 22 hit outs to go with 11 possessions.

Amy Mulholland ended up kicking two goals for Subiaco from 14 disposals, three marks, two tackles and two inside-50 entries.

Subiaco captain Tarni Golisano was again terrific finishing with another 23 possessions, five marks and three tackles while Tiah Toth ended the game with 22 touches, four tackles and three marks.

Clare McCarthy also had 14 disposals for Subiaco while Beth Schilling had 14 touches, Joanne Cregg 14, Grace Hahnel 13 and Madison Dodd 13.

Tess Lyon battled hard in the ruck for 16 hit outs to go with five disposals and two marks.

It took only five minutes for East Fremantle to kick the first goal of the game through Anjelique Raison. Subiaco responded soon after with a goal to Amy Mullholland, but it was the Sharks who would have the better of the opening term.

East Fremantle added two more goals through Chloe Reilly and Gabby O'Sullivan to open up a 10-point advantage by quarter-time.

There was just the one goal apiece in the second quarter too with Subiaco's coming from Eva Popovsky and East Fremantle's from Mylee Leitch which saw the Sharks remain 10 points to the good heading into the half-time break.

The Lions got on the board first in the second half with Mulholland kicking her first goal of the game. That would prove the only goal of the third quarter with East Fremantle still leading by four points at three quarter-time.

In the end a second goal for Raison at the six-minute mark of the last quarter gave East Fremantle a match-winning lead evening though a tight finish was set up when Olivia Crane added a goal for Subiaco at the 10-minute mark.

However, that would prove the last score of the game with East Fremantle holding on for the six-point win in the battle of two in-form teams.
 

SOUTH FREMANTLE 6.13 (49) defeated WEST PERTH 3.3 (21)

East Fremantle and Subiaco both brought winning form into Saturday's Round 3 clash at Leederville Oval with the Sharks ending up winning a tight one over the Lions by six points.

After East Fremantle lost to Claremont in Round 1 and Subiaco drew with South Fremantle, both teams won in Round 2 to set up a terrific contest at Leederville Oval on Saturday night.

Not much separated the teams throughout the afternoon with East Fremantle did kick three goals to one in the opening quarter, and then with the first goal of the last term it was enough for the Sharks to hold on for the 5.4 (34) to 4.4 (28) victory.

Anjelique Raison might not have found a lot of the ball in attack for East Fremantle, but was able to make the most of her opportunities kicking two goals from five kicks and four marks.

Ashleigh Gomes led the Sharks from the front in terrific fashion ending up with 21 possessions and six marks with Sharon Wong working tirelessly once more for 19 touches and three tackles.

Beth Beckett also contributed 18 possessions for East Fremantle, Taya Chambers 15, Gabby O'Sullivan 14, Amber Kinnane 14 and Larissa Versaci 14 to go with four tackles.

Emmelie Fiedler put in another impressive performance in the ruck too with 22 hit outs to go with 11 possessions.

Amy Mulholland ended up kicking two goals for Subiaco from 14 disposals, three marks, two tackles and two inside-50 entries.

Subiaco captain Tarni Golisano was again terrific finishing with another 23 possessions, five marks and three tackles while Tiah Toth ended the game with 22 touches, four tackles and three marks.

Clare McCarthy also had 14 disposals for Subiaco while Beth Schilling had 14 touches, Joanne Cregg 14, Grace Hahnel 13 and Madison Dodd 13.

Tess Lyon battled hard in the ruck for 16 hit outs to go with five disposals and two marks.

It took only five minutes for East Fremantle to kick the first goal of the game through Anjelique Raison. Subiaco responded soon after with a goal to Amy Mullholland, but it was the Sharks who would have the better of the opening term.

East Fremantle added two more goals through Chloe Reilly and Gabby O'Sullivan to open up a 10-point advantage by quarter-time.

There was just the one goal apiece in the second quarter too with Subiaco's coming from Eva Popovsky and East Fremantle's from Mylee Leitch which saw the Sharks remain 10 points to the good heading into the half-time break.

The Lions got on the board first in the second half with Mulholland kicking her first goal of the game. That would prove the only goal of the third quarter with East Fremantle still leading by four points at three quarter-time.

In the end a second goal for Raison at the six-minute mark of the last quarter gave East Fremantle a match-winning lead evening though a tight finish was set up when Olivia Crane added a goal for Subiaco at the 10-minute mark.

However, that would prove the last score of the game with East Fremantle holding on for the six-point win in the battle of two in-form teams.
 

SWAN DISTRICTS 2.4 (16) lost to CLAREMONT 5.10 (40)

Claremont continued its unbeaten start to the WAFLW season with a 24-point win over Swan Districts on Sunday at Steel Blue Oval.

Swan Districts came into Sunday's game at home still chasing a first win of the 2023 WAFLW season while Claremont was out to stay unbeaten, and both trends continued by the end of the afternoon.

Even though Swans led by quarter-time, the Tigers worked their way on top to end up winning 5.10 (40) to 2.4 (16).

The result means that Claremont has won its first three games of the season to begin its premiership defence in perfect style. Swan Districts has now lost its opening three games of the season to Peel Thunder, Subiaco and Claremont.

Ella Smith kicked two of the five goals for Claremont in the win from her seven kicks, six tackles and three marks. Jacinta Valentini also produced a strong performance made up of 16 touches, fie inside 50s, four marks and a goal.

Claire Ortlepp was outstanding in setting up play from down back for Claremont to finish the game with 25 possessions, five marks, five tackles and three inside-50 entries.

Jayme Harken also finished with 20 disposals for the Tigers, Jasmin Stewart 19, Hayley Bullas 18, Brooke Whyte 17, Kate Orme 16, Andie Payne 15 and Sarah Viney 15.

Swan Districts' goals for the game came courtesy of Courtney Zappara and Riley Fisher.

Carys D'Addario has burst onto the scene in the WAFLW competition this season and was again a shining light on Sunday with 21 possessions, six marks, five tackles and four entries inside the forward 50.

Ruby Mahony also produced a strong showing for the black-and-whites finishing with 17 possessions while Kayley King had 16 disposals and Jaime Henry 16 touches to go with four marks and four tackles.

Sarah Wielstra continued her strong form in the ruck for Swans with 15 possessions and 13 hit outs while Lauren Quaife contributed 16 hit outs to go with four kicks and seven tackles.

Swan Districts was chasing its first win of the season and made an impressive start against the reigning premiers with the first goal of the game after just two minutes thanks to Courtney Zappara.

It took almost another 10 minutes for Claremont to manage its first goal of the game which came from Ella Smith, but the strong start from Swans continued with a second goal to Riley Fisher just before quarter-time to see the home team lead by four points at the first change.

The tide turned a little in the second quarter with Claremont managing the only two scores including a goal to Jacinta Valentini which helped the Tigers take a three-point advantage into the half-time interval.

Claremont managed to pull away further in the third quarter with the only two goals. They were kicked by Adele Arnup and Jasmin Stewart which saw the Tigers open up a 15-point lead by three quarter-time.

While both teams peppered the goals in the last quarter, the only goal kicked went the way of Claremont and that was a second of the game to Smith at the 11-minute mark with the Tigers going on to win by 24 points. 
 

EAST PERTH 1.5 (11) lost to PEEL THUNDER 5.6 (36)

Peel Thunder got back on the WAFLW winner's list with a 25-point win against the competition's newest team, East Perth, on Sunday at Leederville Oval.

The challenging start to life in the WAFLW competition continued for East Perth on Sunday with the Royals again managing just the one goal which came in the third quarter.

That means the Royals have kicked just the four goals in their first three games with Peel proving too strong on Sunday to score a second win of 2023 with the 5.6 (36) to 1.5 (11) victory.

Tanisha Anderson produced an impressive showing up front for Peel to kick three goals from her six kicks and six tackles. The Thunder's other goals came from Jorja Haines and Kira Phillips.

Chloe Wrigley was tremendous in the middle for Peel finishing with 23 possessions, 17 tackles and four marks for the game.

Jaide Britton also had 17 possessions and nine tackles while Evie Cowcher ended up with 16 disposals, Ebony Dowson 16, Greta McKinley 16, Lara Thomas 14 and Ebony Bilcich 14.

East Perth's lone goal in the contest was kicked by Bronwyn Hansen.

Chloe Sauzier showed exciting signs for East Perth by finishing with 16 possessions, six marks and five tackles.

Royals captain Jess Valvasori also had 15 possessions while Madeleine Goodman collected 14 disposals, Jessica Moore 14, Lillian Ninyett 12, Sarah Madden 12 and Tahlia Dawson-Gibbs 12.

Ruby Burgess fought hard in the ruck for 10 touches, three marks and 20 hit outs.

Peel was looking for its second win of the season and started impressively away from home with the only two goals of the first quarter. Both were kicked by Tanisha Anderson and that saw the Thunder lead by 13 points by quarter-time.

It took almost 16 minutes for the only goal of the second quarter to be kicked and that came from Peel's Kira Phillips which helped the Thunder to a commanding 18-point lead at half-time having kicked the only three goals of the opening half.

Peel did kick the first goal of the second half as well with Jorja Haines doing so at the 12-minute mark, but East Perth did get on the board before three quarter-time with a goal to Bronwyn Hansen.

The Thunder still led by 19 points at three quarter-time which became 25 points with a third goal to Anderson to start the last term and Peel went on to win by 25 points from there.