WITH Tim Ruffles and Scott Thornton returning from lengthy layoffs in round seven of the state competition, more than a dozen of their Fremantle teammates turned out to support the pair in the South Fremantle v Perth reserves fixture.

Both made successful returns with restricted ground time, while Byron Schammer was the standout player of the round, winning Fremantle's WAFL player of the week award.

Clancee Pearce and Jay van Berlo were forced back to the rookie list to allow Ruffles and Thornton to play, and the youngsters had strong games.

Zac Clarke was Fremantle's emergency in the western derby, while Hamish Shepheard, Justin Bollenhagen and Joel Houghton were rested.

Ahead of this week’s fixtures, senior development coach Simon Lloyd shared his WAFL notes with fremantlefc.com.au.

Swan Districts 22.9 (141) d Claremont 17.6 (108)
Michael Walters
Michael played half-back, half-forward and on the wing. He showed some really good, aggressive tackles, his skills were very good and he won some 50-50 contests. He didn't mind playing down back and we'll see how he goes playing on some small forwards. With his skills, he could be very dangerous for us back there.

Clayton Hinkley
Clayton played on Luke Blackwell and won the battle, getting Blackwell frustrated at different times. There were times in the second quarter when Blackwell, a very talented player, got away from Clayton, but he was on top for the other three. He worked hard offensively, ran and carried the ball and showed great courage at times.

Clancee Pearce
Clancee played wing, half-back, half-forward and onball. He won a lot of the 50-50 contests and used his body very well. He tackled strongly and won 25 possessions. His skills, as always, were very efficient. He was one of Swan Districts' best and it was hard to find faults in his game.

Byron Schammer
Byron played onball and half-forward and played what was by far his best game for three weeks. His work rate was very high, he pushed back to support his backline and he was very good in contested situations, winning his own ball. He carried the footy really well and his skill level was very solid.

East Fremantle 14.16 (100) d West Perth 14.13 (97)
Chris Hall
Chris played mainly half-forward and had a good game. His work rate was very good, as it always is, and he was very clean, both at ground level and overhead. He spread hard to be dangerous when East Freo won the footy and there were a lot of occasions where he ran over 50m to receive the footy. He stood up when the game was on the line late.

Ben Bucovaz
East Fremantle coach Shane Woewodin was very happy with his performance and his involvement in the game was as good as we've seen. He went off twice with the blood rule and worked through that to have a very good game. A couple of his kicks were first class; he uses the ball very well going inside 50.

Steven Dodd
Doddy played back and was very solid. He showed excellent desperation, putting in five efforts on one occasion. He used the ball well and he ran the footy off half-back, which is one of the things that we've worked on. Steven can come in at any time and play his role when he gets his opportunity.

Kepler Bradley
Kepler played mostly forward with stints in the midfield but no time in the ruck. He competed really well at the ground level and his second efforts after marking contests were really good. He led well, looked dangerous and his kicking and decision-making were good.

Jay van Berlo
Jay played mostly on the wing with stints at half-forward and he was solid all day. He used the ball well by hand and foot and took some very good grabs. It's hard being a rookie at the moment, but Jay's gone back and played some really solid footy. He'll be ready when his next opportunity presents.

South Fremantle 17.18 (120) d Perth 15.4 (94)
Ryan Murphy
Ryan played deep forward with periods in the ruck. It really took him until the last quarter to get going, and that was as a result of being put into the ruck. He provided a number of really good contests in the ruck, which resulted in clearances. The way he played the last quarter, that's how he wants to play the entire game.

Scott Thornton (reserves)
Scott played at half-back for 50 minutes in his first game back from a groin injury. As a defender he played our game style and ran well in offence. He didn't have a great deal of it, but he was playing with a lot of new players and could have been used more. He'll go close to playing a full game this week.

Casey Sibosado
Casey played key back on West Coast rookie Callum Wilson, who kicked five of his seven goals on him, with the majority of South Fremantle's inside 50s going to the pair. He was involved in a large number of contests and he showed a great ability to spoil and rebound effectively. He was under siege and he held his head up.

Tim Ruffles (reserves)
Tim played his first game back from an ACL injury and played 40 minutes on a wing and across half-forward. He moved freely, demonstrated good speed, good change of direction and was involved in a number of contested situations. Some players come back from ACL injuries and are quite hesitant and cautious, but Tim threw himself into everything.

Subiaco 24.20 (164) d Peel Thunder 7.8 (50)
Jesse Crichton
Jesse played in the middle, half-back and half-forward and he had a good start to the game. Like his teammates, he probably faded as the game went on, with Peel beaten by nearly 20 goals. He has a really good work rate, which showed in the first half.

Brock O'Brien
Brock only played the first 20 minutes of the game and came off with a leg injury, which is being assessed. When he was on the ground he played down back and had five touches that were dangerous.

The views in this article are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.