R5 Wrap Up with Jacob Landsmeer thanks to The Left Bank

LEAGUE REPORT WITH JACOB LANDSMEER THANKS TO THE LEFT BANK

East Fremantle has slumped to their second loss of the season, suffering a 15 point defeat to reigning premiers West Perth at the WACA on Saturday. 

Strong winds made the match a scrappy contest from the outset, the Falcons leading for almost the duration of the game in the 10.12 (72) to 7.15 (57) result. 

The loss was compounded by a hamstring injury to Harry Marsh, who exited the game in the first quarter and played no further part. 

The Sharks-Falcons clash loomed as game of the round, both teams finishing in the top 3 last season, West Perth winning the premiership and the Sharks finishing third having hosted a preliminary final. 

The Sharks won a thriller in the corresponding match last season, defeating Darren Harris’ men by two points at the WACA. 

The 2023 instalment promised a similarly close score line, both teams primed for an assault on the top five and indeed the premiership.

A heavy breeze favouring the Western end of the ground provided a scoring end for the visitors in the first term, the Sharks midfield out worked by the Falcons as the only four goals of the quarter went the way of West Perth. 

It could have been an even greater deficit if not for some great defensive marks from Cameron Eardley and Max Murphy, quelling the threat of West Perth key forward Tyler Keitel. 

Marsh left the game at the 15 minute mark of the first term after pulling up short from a contest on the wing, leaving the Sharks a key midfielder down for the majority of the match.

Cody Leggett sparked his team back in to the contest in the second stanza, kicking his sides first two goals as his robust physicality proved troublesome for the Falcons defence.

Reuben McGuire was dominant in the ruck which gave the midfield first use of the ball, Tom Joyce and Kyle Baskerville influential around the contest. 

Crucially though the Falcons were able to scrounge a goal at the Eastern scoreboard end, a three goal to one quarter in favour of the blue and whites leaving the margin at 11 points to West Perth at half time. 

The third term became a gritty arm wrestle, the Sharks defending grimly for most of the quarter with West Perth unable to make the most of their wind advantage. 

Only one goal was scored for the term, Milan Murdock lifting his impact in midfield after only one kick in the first half while Jonathon Marsh’s physicality and strength in the contest was looming large, the Falcons leading by 3 goals with a quarter to play but East Fremantle crucially kicking to the scoring end. 

Jarrad Jansen was swung in to the ruck in the last quarter, Reuben McGuire sent to defence as coach Bill Monaghan spun the magnets after only three goals in the first three quarters. 

They had two in four minutes to start the last quarter thanks to Luke English, who sparked life in to the contest with a brace of majors. 

In the blink of an eye West Perth’s lead was trimmed to five points, Nathan Murray answering with a scrambled snap to give the Falcons some breathing space. 

Cody Leggett quickly responded with his third major, East Fremantle attacking relentlessly with Jansen dominant in the centre square and reigning best and fairest Murdock at his feet. 

With the game on the line West Perth found another gear to see off a gallant East Fremantle challenge, Luke Meadows with two goals late on in the match to seal the contest for the visitors. 

East Fremantle never gave up in the dying minutes but ran out of time, left to rue their inaccuracy as they had the same amount of scoring shots but kicked 7.15 to their opponents 10.12. 

East Fremantle Football Operations Manager Brad Dodd was disappointed to finish on the wrong side of a close contest.

“I think it was a fairly tight, physical game between two good teams,” he said. 

“The pressure was high and scoring was difficult, especially into the breeze”.

“We gave ourselves a chance to win the game in the last quarter, but ultimately like all good teams do, West Perth responded and found a way.” 

Dodd also gave an update on Marsh’s hamstring injury. 

“We think it’s fairly minor, but a minor hamstring injury is generally three weeks. 

“I wouldn’t expect him to play again until after the (state game) bye.”

Jansen was outstanding firstly in defence keeping Falcons spearhead Keitel to one goal before going in to the ruck, winning 20 disposals and 17 hitouts to be one of his side’s best.

Leggett kicked 3.3 from limited supply, Jonothon Marsh (19 disposals) and McGuire (18) also impactful in a low disposal count game for the Sharks midfield, in what was a contested game throughout. 

The Sharks return to the WACA in round six to face Subiaco, looking to record their fourth win of the season. 

RESERVES

The East Fremantle Sharks Reserves side have fallen to their 3rd loss in a row with a 33 point defeat against West Perth on the weekend. Despite the result, there were plenty of positives as the group strives to turn around the slow start. 

Like the League side, the Reserves started slowly and halfway through the 2nd quarter they had conceded the first 5 goals of the game to leave themselves with a challenge ahead. 2 quick goals left the side trailing by 19 points at the main break- with both teams going inside 50 19 times in the first half but West Perth were far more efficient. Lennon Marlin was excellent in the first half, with 15 disposals and 4 intercept marks- providing a significant obstacle for the Falcons forward forays. 

A big 3rd quarter was needed into the breeze but it was all West Perth, only poor conversion on goal keeping the Sharks in the game. Going into the last quarter the Sharks trailed by 40 points and a big final term was required. When Ben McGuire kicked the 2nd goal of the last at the 5 minute mark to reduce the margin to 28 the Sharks fins were up but they couldn’t close the gap any closer and West Perth closed out the win. 

Better players for the Sharks were Lennon Marlin, who played back and had 28 disposals and 10 marks, 9 of those intercept, Jack Walsh, who returned to form after a down display against Perth, collecting 25 disposals and laying 10 tackles. Other solid contributors were ruckman Lachlan Blakiston, Mid-Forward Orien Kerr, the diminutive Matt Williamson and Corey Holmes. 

The Reserves next take on Subiaco at the WACA ground form 11.30am next Saturday. 

COLTS

Looking to bounce back from last week we took on West Perth on a cold wet winter’s morning at the WACA.

The wet conditions made for a scrappy affair early as both sides struggled to come to terms with the slippery surface. Overuse of the ball didn’t allow us to get our game going the way we would have liked , but we persevered well and got the reward of the only goal in the first term , thanks to many repeat inside 50 entries.

The game opened up in the second term as the surface dried allowing some cleaner passages of play from both sides. We adapted our game looking to use the ball by foot more allowing us to link up better across the zones. A three goal to two term saw us going into the long break with a handy 13 point lead.

The third quarter continued to be an arm wrestle with both sides applying good pressure making goals hard to score.

The final quarter began with us holding a 21-point lead and needing to maintain our intensity to snuff out any challenge from West Perth who were kicking with a slight breeze. West Perth chipped away at our lead and closed the margin to nine points mid-way through the term but a late goal to Griff Vladich allowed us to maintain the buffer and finish the game with a hard fought 11 point victory.

Our key forwards worked hard with Griff Vladich finishing with 3 goals and Jack Cocking with 2 goals.

Sam Otto continued his excellent form in the midfield finishing with 22 diposals and 13 hitouts. James Spadanuda worked hard in his role change to the midfield with 32 disposals and 5 inside 50 entries. Jack Cocking also presented well all day for the midfielders providing a great marking option up forward.

We now look to this week’s game against a fourth placed Subiaco , 9am at the WACA this Saturday.

IMAGES: Pixell Photography

This Saturday, May 13th  East Fremantle Football Club is pleased to support the annual A Team awareness Round where East Fremantle and Subiaco Womens teams will play the annual A Team round, 2pm at the WACA.

Both our WAFL and WAFLW Squads will wear custom A Team training shirts to bring awareness to the TBC1D24 Foundation and their efforts to fundraise to secure further research into this rare condition.

Close to our hearts is Ariella Italiano, aged 8 who was diagnosed with TBC1D24  at the age of three.  Each child with TBC1D24 experiences a unique medical journey, for Ariella, this includes epilepsy, hypotonia and global developmental delay.  Ariella's biggest challenge is frequent paralysis, which occurs every two to three days and will see her whole body paralysed for periods of, or the entire day.

More information about the Foundation can be found here: