A battalion of players searching for an AFL opportunity are charging down the hill after another round of WAFL fixtures where West Coast Eagles players dominated.
In the East Fremantle victory over Peel, all of the West Coast players made significant contributions. The same could be said of Claremont’s dominant display against Perth, as well as West Perth when they maintained their unbeaten start to the season with a convincing win over South Fremantle.
And even for the vanquished in that match, South Fremantle’s better players were West Coast representatives.
At East Fremantle Oval, Chris Masten put on a masterclass with 34 disposals, three marks and seven disposals in a contribution that made him almost a unanimous choice as best on ground,. If the match committee decides for the Carlton Mid Derby that it needs more midfield run, then Masten, after a fortnight at the Sharks, could be ready for a call-up.
The hard-running midfielder enjoyed an outstanding pre-season, but hurt his knee in the season-opener against North Melbourne. Other strong midfield contributions in the Sharks triumph came from Bradd Dalziell (34 possessions), Koby Stevens (24 disposals) and Tim Houlihan (28 touches).
Defensively, Jacob Brennan continues to develop and he put in another strong performance.
For Peel, Jordan Jones was under notice throughout, both in defence and through the midfield, while another of the club’s young defenders, Blayne Wilson, continues to evolve on a weekly basis. Ruckman-forward Scott Lycett did not have a big impact in attack, but worked well around the ground.
Claremont powered to an 83-point victory over Perth on the back of outstanding performances from Tom Swift and Lewis Stevenson. Swift has accumulated around 30 possessions consistently this season and gathered 29 touches in this game, while Stevenson had it 22 times and was a strong defensive rebounder.
Small forward Lewis Broome did not hit the scoreboard this week, but his defensive pressure - his chasing and tackling - remained important ingredients in the Tigers victory.
When West Perth coasted to victory against South Fremantle, Andrew Strijk was prominent with a couple of goals from 16 possessions and 10 marks, but it was probably the effort of players in the losing side that were most noticeable.
Andrew Gaff, after five AFL matches, made his WAFL debut for the Bulldogs and in a team that was out-gunned by 12 goals was simply brilliant. He had 34 touches and 10 marks in a terrific, hard-running display.
Inside the forward 50, South also had a strong and reliable target in Callum Wilson, who finished with 15 possessions, five marks and 3.4.
Developing forwards Antpon Hamp and Jeremy McGovern again played in the Claremont reserves and both were under notice, with around 14 possessions and six marks each, while McGovern kicked three goals to Hamp’s single major.
