WAFL R9 & WAFLW R13 Wrap Up with Jacob Landsmeer - Thanks to The Left Bank

Sharks slide to derby defeat

East Fremantle’s up and down season has continued, suffering a 14-point defeat at the hands of South Fremantle at Fremantle Oval on Monday.

In front of a bumper public holiday crowd of 7,468 the Sharks were playing catch up all day after conceding the first six goals of the match, closing to within seven points early in the last quarter before Souths steadied to win 13.9 (87) to 10.13 (73), leaving the Sharks just inside the top five after nine rounds of their premiership defence.

The traditional June public holiday Monday clash carried extra significance for 2024, both Fremantle clubs heading in to the round inside the top five with South Fremantle bouncing back strongly from a disappointing 2023 season that saw them miss finals for the first time since 2015.

The Sharks were yet to find their best football for the season, holding their nerve in round eight with a four-point win over Perth at Revo Fitness Stadium.

Bill Monaghan’s side lost star ruckman Brynn Teakle to the mid-season rookie draft days out from the clash, leaving third gamer Lachlan Blakiston to shoulder the majority of the ruck duties.

After a wet Sunday, beautiful conditions greeted the sides for the clash at the Port, fans filing in to see the biggest home and away season game for both sides.

South Fremantle made the fast start, former captain Dylan Main in dominant form early as he kicked the first goal of the contest, following up with two more in the first quarter alone to help his side establish an early lead.

While there was no doubting the Sharks physicality around stoppages, Souths speed on the spread was catching them on the hop, Matthew Parker, Manfred Kelly and Isiah Winder all influential for South Fremantle.

East Fremantle steadied late in the term but couldn’t find a much-needed goal, Jono Marsh’s brilliant blind spin and shot on the run missing from 25 metres as the margin stood at 25 points at the opening break.

Mitch Zadow looked to lift his team early in the second term but after 5 minutes of field position Souths surged and scored at the other end, goals to Riley Colborne and Main extending Souths lead to 36 points.

Cody Leggett broke the scoring drought for the Sharks as he intercepted a Chad Pearson kick and slotted truly, the second term a far more free flowing and even affair that saw the Sharks work their way back in to the contest.

Blaine Boekhorst bobbed up with a classy major, Dillon O’Reilly and Jono Marsh found the target as Milan Murdock and Tom Joyce lifted East Fremantle in midfield while Tom Bennett capped off a five-goal term with a strong contested mark in a pack, kicking truly as Souths had their lead trimmed to 18 points at the half.

Main was causing problems for the East Fremantle defence, the 2020 premiership captain with five goals at half time in a virtuoso performance up forward.

Boekhorst kicked his second major just after half time in his 100^th WAFL appearance, but Main was in the action again as he ran down Matthew Jupp, running in to kick his sixth goal and keep Souths lead at three goals.

Bill Monaghan’s side had the better of the third term but couldn’t quite put it on the scoreboard, Murdock magnificent in midfield along with Kyle Baskerville while Jarrad Jansen again had an impact as both an onballer and ruckman.

Cody Leggett slotted his second, but Souths again responded through veteran Zach Strom, East Fremantle able to keep in touch thanks to a running goal from Jansen just before the three quarter time siren.

The Sharks had whittled the lead down at every change but needed to overcome a 14 point deficit in the final term, kicking to what had been the scoring end of the day at the Town Hall End of Fremantle Oval.

Zadow opened the scoring with an early goal to bring the margin to single figures, Souths again with an answer to snuff out any momentum as Josh Branchi goaled from a brilliant Riley Colborne clearance.

Lachlan Turley and Kaden Harbour made certain of the result for the Bulldogs with majors, the Sharks with too much work to do after a sluggish start despite a gallant fight right to the end.

Boekhorst finished the game with his third goal, giving him six majors in two games upon his return from a serious knee injury.

The 14 point triumph was South Fremantle’s sixth win from eight matches in season 2024, solidifying third spot on the table while resigning their cross-town rivals to a 4-4 record, just percentage inside the top five.

Milan Murdock shrugged off the disappointment of being overlooked in the mid-week AFL rookie draft with a 32 disposal game, Tom Joyce with 27 disposals of which 20 were in the opening half.

Kyle Baskerville also had 27 touches in a clean midfield showing, while Tom Bennett ran hard all day for 23 disposals, 9 marks and a goal.

The forward line again struggled for impact, only able to kick 10 goals from 49 inside 50’s, talls and smalls alike unable to impact the scoreboard in a meaningful way.

The league side will now regroup for a Sunday date with West Perth at the same venue, assuming the role of home side with East Fremantle Oval still unavailable for use.

Earlier in the day the Reserves had a thrilling win over the Bulldogs in a high quality match, Kobe Austin with a brilliant late goal to seal a 14.4 (88) to 12.8 (80) victory.

The Sharks burst out to an early lead, only to have their 18 point quarter time margin whittled away thanks to a five goal to two second quarter.

Souths then had the better of the third term, pushing out to a 20 point lead entering time on before East Fremantle kicked the final two goals of the term to set up a tight finish.

Five goals to two in the final quarter replicated the first term for the Sharks, who edged out their opponents in an excellent contest to record their fifth win of the season to maintain third spot.

Kobe Austin kicked 3 goals, while in a low disposal game Ethan Paholski had 21 disposals and Ben McGuire 19 for the winners.

The Colts suffered an agonising four-point loss to South Fremantle, overrun in the final quarter as the Dogs kicked four goals to one in the last term, winners 10.8 (68) to 9.10 (64).

Taj Forrest kicked 3.2 in a strong showing, Kaydn Wilson with two goals, Elijah Stockden continuing to show his ball winning ability with 24 touches in midfield.

A dominant run of form continued for the East Fremantle Women’s side, recording a tough 5.4 (34) to 3.4 (22) win over Swan Districts at Bassendean Oval on Sunday.

On a wet and wild afternoon the Sharks edged ahead of a plucky Swans outfit with a two goal third term, neither side able to score a goal in the worst of the conditions in the final term.

The victory was the ninth in a row for Matt Templeton’s team, all but locking away the minor premiership with two rounds remaining.

Zipporah Fish was again outstanding with 27 disposals and a goal as well as 7 inside fifties, Chloe Wrigley continuing her dominant first season in blue and white with 22 touches of her own.

Emmelie Fiedler won 23 hitouts and kicked a goal playing in the ruck, the Sharks with no multiple goal scorers in a low scoring game but Sarah Wielstra had four shots on goal, unfortunately all of those kicks registering behinds.

In the Rogers Cup the young guns produced a dominant 60 point win over Perth, kicking six first term goals to show the gulf in class between the two sides.

Sienna Lilly kicked four goals in a dominant display while Grace Freeman nabbed three for the winners, the young Sharks on their way to a finals berth of their own currently sitting on second spot with just one match left in the home and away season.

All three men’s grades face West Perth at Fremantle Oval on Sunday 9 June, while the women’s league side hosts East Perth at the same venue at 3:10pm on Saturday.

The Rogers Cup side has the bye.