Ben Bucovaz and Joel Houghton played crucial roles in wins for East Fremantle and Perth, while Jesse Crichton was among Peel’s best players in a disappointing loss.
Houghton, who was making his league debut, won Fremantle’s WAFL player of the week award for his three-goal game.
Michael Walters and Clayton Hinkley were rested with Swan Districts having a bye, while Alex Silvagni and Clancee Pearce travelled to Adelaide as emergencies.
Ahead of this week’s fixtures, senior development coach Simon Lloyd shared his WAFL notes with fremantlefc.com.au.
Perth 23.12 (150) d Peel Thunder 8.11 (59)
Casey Sibosado
Casey played at centre half-back and full-back at times and started the game really well possession-wise. He slowed a little bit as the game went on, as the ball spent most of the day in his side’s forward half. Casey won his position and used the ball really well. He continues to benefit from his move to Perth and is playing with flair and rebound.
Tim Ruffles
Tim played at half-forward in the first half and moved onto a wing after half time. He worked his way into the game in the second half and laid some really strong tackles, finishing with five. A couple of his kicks inside 50 found their target and he continued to get the necessary run in his legs as he works back from a knee injury.
Justin Bollenhagen
Justin played mainly forward with a run on the wing and while he did well to kick three goals, we would like him to win more of the footy. He still comes in and out of games and we’ll continue to work on ways to get Justin more involved. His line at the contest was improved and he had an impressive 100m chase down the wing.
Joel Houghton
Joel played his first league match and had a very good game as a tall forward, finishing with three goals and 17 possessions. His leading patterns were very good and he used the ball well. He had a hand in another three or four goals and his work-rate was very consistent all day.
Jesse Crichton
Jesse played mainly on a wing and was one of his team’s best players, finishing with 20 possessions. He used the ball well by hand and foot and made some good decisions. We wanted him to receive more footy through handball receives, which he did, and he put really good pressure on the opposition causing turnovers. It was an improved offensive game from Jesse.
West Perth 19.10 (124) d East Perth 24.9 (153)
Zac Clarke
Zac started forward and changed into the ruck. His leading patterns early were very good and he attracted the footy. His ruck work was pretty good, jumping well at the centre bounces and getting his hands on the ball, and he was played behind the ball in the third quarter where he positioned himself well to take a couple of marks.
Hamish Shepheard
Hamish started at half-forward and was very lively early, finishing up with three goals. He used the ball really well by hand and foot and had four inside 50s, which either went to advantage or hit the lead. The best thing about Hamish is his attack on the contest, particularly in a pack mark situation.
Dylan Roberton
Dylan didn’t have his best day out, having a number of goals kicked on him by Anthony Tsalikis and Quinten Lynch. Considering it’s his first year he’s put on a heap of weight and he’ll probably play a handful of senior games before the season is out. He just didn’t have his rebound this week and he was out-marked.
South Fremantle 10.10 (70) lost to East Fremantle 18.17 (125)
Scott Thornton
Scott played half-back on Aaron Monk, who kicked a couple of goals, and Ben Bucovaz booted one on him as well. While he had a number of spoils, he couldn’t get into the game offensively, so we’re looking for him to rebound out of defensive 50m continually. Scott was able to do this when he first came back and it’s something we’ll keep working with him on.
Ryan Murphy
Ryan played forward and went into the centre bounces on occasion in the second half. He took a couple of strong contested marks, both of which resulted in goals, and he finished with four. He showed excellent timing with his leads, but the best thing for me was a long chase that finished with a strong tackle and a free kick for Ryan. There was a lot more effort in his forward pressure.
Ben Bucovaz
Ben played forward and often started up the ground at centre bounces. His forward pressure was excellent, and at one stage he made five strong efforts to pressure the South Freo defence, which resulted in a turnover. He was really strong around the footy and he ended up kicking 2.4 from 17 possessions in a really solid game.
Chris Hall
Chris played just over a half and came off a little bit sore. Early in the game he gathered a fair amount of it and he read the game well. At one stage he had a strong chase that resulted in a goal, but his game was obviously limited by injury. Hopefully we can get him up for this week.
Claremont 21.15 (141) d Subiaco 13.14 (92)
Byron Schammer
Byron played just over a half, given he’s played a fair amount of football in recent weeks. He showed a strong work-rate, which was evident in his hard running both offensively and defensively, and displayed some really good body work at centre bounces. Byron had three inside 50s in the second quarter and showed good defensive pressure.
The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the club.
