Midfielder Byron Schammer and versatile rookie Clancee Pearce also pressed their selection claims in round four of the state competition, the pair sharing this week’s WAFL player of the round award.
Rhys Palmer played his second league game on the road back from a knee reconstruction, while Clayton Hinkley returned from shoulder and ankle injuries sustained a fortnight ago.
Perth had a bye, giving recruits Justin Bollenhagen and Joel Houghton the week off.
Ahead of this week’s fixtures, senior development coach Simon Lloyd shared his WAFL notes with fremantlefc.com.au.
West Perth 18.14 (122) d South Fremantle 18.11 (199)
Kepler Bradley
Kepler played forward, onball and in the ruck and took some good contested marks. He also showed some very good leading patterns up forward. Taking Kepler into a senior game you really want to be able to push him forward as well, so we want to make sure he’s a dangerous forward who puts on a lot of defensive pressure.
Ryan Murphy
Ryan played full-forward for most of the day, with bursts at centre half-forward. He was more involved in the game this week, taking 10 grabs and beating two separate opponents to kick 4.3. He was very team-orientated and is another example of the depth on our list.
Claremont 19.13 (127) d Subiaco 8.8 (56)
Byron Schammer
Byron’s work-rate was huge and his clearance rate out of the centre was high. He ran extremely hard for his 28 possessions and kicked a goal from a great front and centre. He’s working very hard to push back into the senior team.
Nat Fyfe
Nat’s positioning was very good, his work-rate was high and he constantly put a lot of pressure on the opposition. Nat’s got the ability to judge the flight of the ball better than his opponent and he kicked four goals. As he has done in previous weeks, he set up a lot of goals with his good use by hand. He’s doing very well.
Casey Sibosado (reserves)
Casey started the game up forward and went down back. We’re educating him on defensive pressure and the timing and patterns of his leads. He’s playing as a key backman on Matthew Pavlich at training, so he’s learning from one of the game’s greats.
Swan Districts 20.8 (128) d East Fremantle 14.7 (91)
Michael Walters
Michael played forward and wing and started at the centre bounces on a number of occasions. He was good in the contested situation and kicked three goals. We spoke to him about backing his skills and going through the corridor and there several pieces of play where he did take the more difficult option in the corridor and it paid off. Another in the selection frame.
Clancee Pearce
Clancee was best on ground from our point of view with 33 possessions. He played half-back flank for Swan Districts and controlled his opponent while continually rebounding defensive 50m. He tackled very effectively and there were a lot of his low, punchy kicks in the windy conditions. Excellent positioning and constantly set Swans Districts up through his efficient use and winning of contested ball. He’s been in the selection mix for the last few weeks.
Ben Bucovaz
Ben played forward and ended up kicking 2.3 when he could have kicked four goals plus in a solid game. He hit the contest very hard and took a big grab inside-50m and converted the goal. A very smart footballer. The thing we’re working on with Ben is his defensive pressure in the forward line.
Rhys Palmer
Rhys played midfield and on a forward flank, finishing with three goals. He was tagged heavily yet again and he took a couple of big hits. He ran freely all game, his hands were sharp and he was running hard both offensively and defensively. It probably took him until the last quarter to really shake the tag. We’re really happy with how Rhys is going, but he’s still a couple of weeks away from AFL footy.
Chris Hall
Chris had a very good second quarter playing on the wing in his return to league football. Probably the highlight of his game was a great tackle in the fourth quarter, which created a goal. He took a good contested mark and is improving as the weeks go on. We’re working hard on his running patterns.
Clayton Hinkley
It’s a real credit to Clayton that he got himself back up in a short space of time after injuring his shoulder and ankle in the same motion a couple of weeks ago. He played a large percentage of the game and didn’t back away from any hard tackling. He worked hard defensively and his extended running was evident.
East Perth 20.19 (139) d Peel Thunder 9.7 (61)
Hamish Shepheard
Hamish played forward and was more involved in the game on the weekend than he has been in previous weeks. He was good at ground level and showed good intent with his defensive pressure and aggression. We’re working on his positioning and where he’s leading. That’ll improve as the year progresses.
Zac Clarke
Zac played well and his ruck work, particularly at centre bounces, was very good, constantly out-jumping his opponent. He showed real intent in marking contests and ended up having 28 hit-outs. He’s also getting his hands on the ball a lot around the ground, which we’ve focused on, and he’s being used on the spread.
Dylan Roberton
Dylan has performed well so far as a defender, but our backline is pretty settled at the moment. We requested he play up the ground for East Perth this week and he was used mainly on the wing, having seven inside-50s. He won a lot of his own footy in the second half, which we were pleased with. He was one of East Perth’s better players.
Jesse Crichton
Jesse played back pocket in the first half and wing in the second. His decision-making was good and he used the ball very well, drilling a couple of passes low and hard to his teammates. He’s being coached very well at WAFL level, getting plenty of ground time and being used in a variety of positions.
Brock O’Brien (reserves)
He’s working very closely with Jason Weber and our conditioning staff. Our major focus with Brock is getting his body right, so he remains a long-term project with us.
The views in this article are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the club.
