An outstanding return to senior football by Chris Masten and a wonderful WAFL debut for Ryan Neates were the highlights in last weekend’s WAFL round of fixtures.

Masten, resuming in league football with East Fremantle, picked up 38 possessions in a brilliant display which is sure to have the match committee discussing his name in preparation for the game against Collingwood this Saturday night.

Neates, selected in the 2009 pre-season draft, had been restricted to reserves football by shoulder and finger injuries, and produced an eye-catching debut for Claremont in a team that dominated East Perth to win by around 100 points.

Almost all of the players engaged at Claremont enjoyed strong contributions, including Brett Jones, Tom Swift and Lewis Stevenson.      

In addition to those efforts, half-back Ashley Smith did his prospects of a call up to AFL action no harm with a terrific effort for Perth against Subiaco, while rookie Ashton Hams was close to South Fremantle’s best, again staking a claim for senior football.

Claremont v East Perth

Gerrick Weedon (reserves)
Played at half-forward and half-back in the first three quarters and struggled to get into game and have an impact. Was at his best in the final term where he covered more ground but was not at his explosive best.

Ryan Neates
Produced a very good debut, playing across half-forward. Showed plenty of run up the ground and worked back to goal, his good positioning front and square in the goal mouth rewarded him with two good goals.  Backed himself and was prepared to take game on, very lively and encouraging effort.

Lewis Stevenson
Set up many forward thrusts across half back and provided continuous run and rebound the whole game. Stevenson used the ball exceptionally by foot. He made very good position to receive handballs and lateral kicks out of the defensive 50.

Brett Jones
Brett Jones played the majority of the game as a key defender. He generally made good decisions and used the ball well.

Tom Swift
Swift played mainly on ball with stints on the wing and half back in the last quarter. He kicked the ball well with three inside 50s and one goal. He was clean at ground level and played well in a team that dominated.

Jarrad Oakley-Nicholls
Played majority at half-forward with a short time at half-back and on a wing. Oakley-Nicholls didn’t really get into the game or have a major impact.

South Fremantle v Peel

Ashton Hams
The versatile Hams played across half-back, on-ball and at half-forward and provided his team with good offensive run for the majority of the game. He used his body well in a contested situation. 

Callum Wilson
Wilson was used again at centre half-forward and also had a stint in defence in the final term. Though he was beaten in a one-on-one contested mark situation on a few occasions he gave his team a solid marking target forward of centre. 

Swan Districts v East Fremantle

Chris Masten
Produced a high possession game, playing on-ball and on the wing. Was generally clean with his hands and ran very strongly for the first three quarters in particular. A very good performance.

Tim Houlihan
Another solid game by Houlihan who showed good pace on a number of occasions and was clean with his hands. Much improved at ground level. Didn’t get out in as much space as previous week where he has averaged seven marks a game in last three matches. Tackled well and ran hard.

Mitch Brown
Brown started slowly but improved as the game went on.  He began deep at full-forward and was good at ground level. Was moved up the ground after half-time and appeared to have more impact on the game. A steady performance

Matt Spangher
Typically, Spangher ran off his opponent and tried to give his side good drive all day.  He was good one-on-one and produced a solid performance in a team beaten by 40+ points.

Tony Notte
Played with good energy, found space and lead with purpose.  Provided several strong contests to help bring the ball to ground. 

Subiaco v Perth

Will Sullivan
Worked extremely hard, with high intensity run over distance pushing deep forward as an option and covered his opponent effectively. Was very effective in centre bounces and showed  intent to take the game on.

Ashley Smith
Set up in defence very well to be used as a switch of play option and in the first quarter worked very hard to carry the ball and use his speed.  Was very proactive in linking up the play, his ball use was generally good, to the advantage of targets.