West Coast defender Will Schofield is waiting in the wings for a senior recall following an impressive display in the WAFL on Saturday.
Schofield’s 24 disposals, seven contested possessions and three effective spoils helped East Perth to its second-straight win of the year, an 11.10 (76) to 5.13 (43) triumph over 2016 premiers Peel Thunder.
The wily goal stopper was far from the only West Coast-listed player to impress at Rushton Park, with several Eagles standing up to lift the Royals to seventh position on the ladder.
Tom Lamb kicked four outstanding goals in the final quarter to get East Perth over the line and in-form tall Fraser McInnes – who only contested 25 ruck contests and played predominantly forward of the centre square – amassed 22 disposals, 14 contested possessions, five marks and one goal against the Thunder.
Midfielder Daniel Venables also looked more comfortable in the clinches en route to his best outing in black and blue for the year. The developing on-baller gathered 21 possessions, 14 hard-ball gets, laid six effective tackles and applied the heat to Peel’s ball users via 12 pressure acts.
Matthew Allen booted three goals from 12 disposals in just his second league game of the year following two hamstring injuries and fellow long-term rehabber Tom Cole stuck a game-high 10 tackles to go with his 11 disposals and four marks from half-back.
Lewis Jetta accumulated 17 possessions – seven of which were contested – and half-forward Malcolm Karpany continued his consistent play with 13 contested possessions, seven tackles and 17 pressure acts.
Eric Mackenzie produced another solid performance, which included 14 disposals and 11 effective spoils, while first-year defenders Josh Rotham and Tom Gorter collected 17 and 15 touches respectively.