Stevo makes light of flight
Four hours on a plane, arriving in Perth at 2am and hitting the sack an hour later is not the ideal preparation, but for Lewis Stevenson it was all part of the
As an emergency for last Friday’s night’s clash with Hawthorn, Stevenson sat through the match at the MCG and then headed home on the red-eye out of Melbourne touching down in Perth in the small hours of the morning.
From there, it was off to bed, up mid-morning and then a matter of driving to Claremont Oval for the match against Subiaco where Stevenson shrugged off the unusual preparation and was one of the Tigers’ best.
He had 20 possessions in the back half and was a prime mover for the Tigers, who won comfortably. Teammates Gerrick Weedon, Tom Swift and Jeremy McGovern all contributed to the Claremont victory, with Weedon perhaps having the most significant impact from that group on the game.
Wingman Bradd Dalziell was in a similar position to Stevenson, travelling to Melbourne as an emergency, but he returned on an earlier flight home and was also unaffected by the journey. He had 34 touches and kicked a couple of goals in a commanding performance that was central to a dominant East Fremantle performance.
Brad Dick ensured his name remained on the collective lips of the match committee with another three-goal haul for the Sharks while big forward Scott Lycett presented well for the Thunder, taking nine marks, 16 possessions and a goal, giving further proof of his growing confidence and stature.
Premiership forward Quinten Lynch was in the thick of the action for West Perth against arch rival East Perth.
Playing in a key forward post as well as in the ruck, the Q-Stick had 17 touches, eight marks and two goals ensuring that, with a day time fixture, he remains in the mix.
Small forward Murray Newman made an auspicious return from a minor knee injury to kick three goals against Perth, but almost more impressively, he also took 12 marks and had 15 kicks - only one of which was a handball.
Perth gave some cheek against the second-placed Swans before sliding to defeat and the return to form of Ashley Smith was a key ingredient. Smith had 31 possessions, enjoying some freedom on a wing, and also took seven marks in his most complete performance for several weeks.
Big forward Fraser McInnes had 11 touches and two marks, finishing off his work with two goals, while Simon Tunbridge also worked hard in attack, with nine possessions, three marks, three tackles and two goals.
Ryan Neates had 19 touches, four tackles and two goals in the Claremont reserves, while teammate Anton Hamp had 11 disposals and six marks and for East Fremantle Callum Papertalk kicked two goals from eight possessions.