West Coast Eagles players pressing for an opportunity at AFL level continued to shine in the WAFL at the weekend.

At Claremont, where the Tigers continued their winning form after a struggle against Perth, tagger Pat McGinnity, midfielder Tom Swift and defender Brett Jones were all under notice.

East Perth maintained their slim hopes of a top four finish by beating East Fremantle and central to that success was the effort of Ben McKinley, while the rookie-listed Jarrad Oakley-Nicholls produced one of his most consistent efforts of the season.

The Sharks might have been out-pointed for most of the day, but one of the players who could hold his head high was defender Matt Spangher who kept a couple of the Royals’ tall key forwards under wraps.

Ruckman Will Sullivan was also among Perth’s best, while a couple of squad members playing reserves also put in strong contributions - Tony Notte kicking five goals for Swan Districts and Gerrick Weedon finding touch and confidence for Claremont.      

East Perth v East Fremantle

Ben McKinley
Started the first three quarters in the midfield and then moved forward, playing mainly at centre half-forward. Played a consistent team game, shared the ball well and certainly showed an enthusiasm for the contest.  His ball use overall was good and he had six inside 50 entries.

Jarrad Oakley-Nicholls
One of his best games for he season, Oakley-Nicholls was very busy, his work rate was good and he pushed hard up the ground. He found good space across half-forward a number of times but was not used.  He kicked a good goal and was involved in setting up others. Capped his game with eight ackles.

Matt Spangher
Played full-back on Zac Clarke and Zac Beeck and did a good job. He didn’t concede a goal to his direct opponents and a real feature of his game was his spoiling. Achieved his focus points and in a defence that was under siege all game and held up extremely well.

Tim Houlihan
Deployed on a wing, across half-forward and on-ball, Houlihan worked hard in a scrappy game. After a sluggish first half, when he struggled to break free of his opponent, he ran harder, had 11 second half possessions and won several 50-50 contests.

Koby Stevens
Copped a heavy knock in the third term, but to that stage had not enjoyed his best day. The good news is that his AC injury is expected to sideline him for only a week or two.

Claremont v Perth

Tom Swift
Used largely on a wing and was involved in several centre bounces, but was generally a bit more outside than usual. He showed his speed on a couple of occasions but his game was tarnished by the quality of his disposal by foot where he missed a couple of targets.

Pat McGinnity
Played as a tagger on Mizungo and did a reasonable job but appeared to be sore in the second half of the game. He generally used the ball well over short distances and kicked a nice goal on the run.

Ryan Neates
Pushed hard up the ground but did not always display his usual zip and dash. He picked up 17 posessions, which was encouraging given the ground was very heavy which may not have suited his style.

Beau Wilkes
Showed his versatility once again by starting at centre half-back and then shifting to centre half-forward half-way through the second quarter. As usual he was strong in the contested marking situations and provided good run out of defence. When forward he presented well and was lively while only getting one shot on goal.

Brett Jones
Solid as always across half-back, Jones used his dash to good effect on a couple of occasions. He was supreme in the one on one contests and generally used the ball to the advantage of his team.

Will Sullivan
Showed very good variety with run-up and hit zones, for hit outs won, at centre bounce. Thought his way through the majority ruck contests, showing a lot of variety and agility to out-position opponents. Sullivan’s second efforts were excellent in the first half, following up contests to lock the ball in or to win possession, although his intensity dropped away in the final quarter.

Gerrick Weedon (reserves)
Could easily have kicked three goals, but missed opportunities meant he had to be content with just one. Played across half-forward and his work rate was good, where he used his change of pace to good effect.  His disposal was good and he was involved in more contests than in previous weeks. 

Swan Districts v Peel

Tony Notte (reserves)
Dropping back to the reserves, Notte was looking for a solid four-quarter hit out and he certainly produced. He played four quarters of consistent football, took seven marks, four of those contested. He hit targets by hand and foot and kicked five goals.