WAFL Insider, round eight: West Perth’s flag curse looms again, Ryan Maric’s mixed Eagles debut

Lightning strike threatened Royal strike

Lightning threatened to ruin what ended up being a potentially significant day in East Perth’s campaign on Monday.

The Royals led West Perth by 29 points after an impressive start and the first of Shayne Hille’s three goals.

But bad weather forced a halt to play just before time-on started in the second term. If the lightning had forced an end to the game, the result could have been declared a draw.

An abandoned game may have impacted the fight for a top-five finish at the end of the season, too.

The game restarted after a 30-minute break, with Hille kicking the only goal before half-time.

East Perth replaced West Perth in fifth place on the ladder with a 36-point win.

Falcons fail to back-up

Reigning premier West Perth has a 1-4 record against the top five sides, leaving it a real threat of missing finals after winning a title, again.

The past three times the Falcons won premierships, in 2013, 2003 and 1999, they failed to play finals the following year.

In 1995, West Perth beat Subiaco in the grand final and then finished fourth the following season.

Three of the past five title winners have missed finals the following season.

Peel won in 2017 and finished seventh in 2018, while Subiaco won in 2019 and 2021 and missed out in the following years.

Right hands on the ball

East Perth’s win over West Perth demands attention.

The top three possession-getters were all Royals: Angus Schumacher, Mitch Crowden and Nick Robertson. The trio, who have all been on AFL lists, had 102 touches between them.

State representatives Angus Scott (29 touches, seven marks and a goal) and Hamish Brayshaw (22 touches and two goals) were also very good.

Ruckman Scott Jones, with 51 hit-outs, four marks and 23 possessions, played a big part in East Perth’s midfield success.

Sharks bitten in the wet

The derby, between East Fremantle and South Fremantle, also suffered a 30-minute lightning delay, at the WACA Ground.

However, because the break occurred after half-time, the team leading when play stopped would have collected the four premiership points if it hadn’t continued.

South Fremantle had just taken a two-point lead (2.5 to 2.3), after a Caleb Datson snap.

The margin blew out to 13 points at the last break.

The Sharks had their chances for victory, with 19 to 10 inside 50 entries for the final term, including 12 of the first 14, yet they only added 0.6 to 1.1 for the quarter.

Dogs tackle challenge head on

Monday’s bad weather produced two scrappy games, especially the Fremantle derby.

Before round eight, the average number of tackles laid per game was 114.

East Perth and West Perth smashed that, with a combined 165 tackles.

But South and East Fremantle left that number behind, laying a total of 212.

Bulldog Tom Blechynden contributed 16 tackles, the most of any player this season, while East Fremantle’s Kyle Baskerville had 15.

Hickmott driving Lions

Subiaco’s Liam Hickmott’s past month has been eye-catching.

The son of former Geelong and Carlton utility Adrian Hickmott impressed in the Lions’ six-point win over Peel Thunder.

Hickmott, 23, had 30 possessions, following 34 touches and eight marks against Swan Districts a week earlier.

He averaged 22 possessions a game over the first four rounds and almost 30 per game since.

Subiaco has the worst percentage of the top five sides, having not kicked 10 goals in any of its past five games.

But the Lions are the last team to play West Coast, where this weekend they need to kick a big score.

Disappointment put in rear view

Thomas Edwards kicked Swan Districts’ first goal in its 81-point win over West Coast.

It was from a similar distance and angle as the shot he missed after the siren a week earlier that would have won the game against Subiaco.

He went on to kick 6.2 against the Eagles.

His third goal came after another spectacular mark, something the 23-year-old is becoming known for.

He might have kicked more if not sidelined for an extended period in the third term to receive stitches.

Filling their boots

Subiaco’s Ben Sokol sits four goals off the Bernie Naylor Medal leaders, but is the only player in the league’s top 10 goal kickers yet to play against West Coast.

Some have made the most of their chances against the undermanned Eagles. Thomas Edwards’ bag of six goals on Sunday was the third-biggest tally against the Eagles this season.

West Perth pair Tyler Keitel and Mitch Dobson booted 10 and eight against them, respectively. They sit in first (25 goals) and third (17) on the goal kicking leaderboard.

Swans’ Jesse Palmer managed only one goal on Sunday, taking his season tally to 16.

Also on 16 is East Fremantle’s Cody Leggett, who has two bags of five goals this season, against West Coast and Subiaco. He was kept goalless by South Fremantle on Monday.

Maric thrown right in

West Coast threw mid-season draftee Ryan Maric straight into the action just a few days after landing in WA.

He had a mixed WAFL debut, kicking a goal from a mark and set-shot late in the opening term of the Eagles’ loss to Swan Districts.

He finished with the one goal and only five touches, not collecting a possession after half-time.

Maric, 18, was opposed to former Fremantle Docker Tobe Watson.

The newest Eagle has had a big few weeks, playing his first two VFL games for Box Hill, being drafted, moving states and playing with new teammates.

No chance to score

Perth missed Essendon draftee Jaiden Hunter from its attack, managing only 6.11 from 34 inside 50 entries against Claremont.

The Demons had 33 fewer inside 50 entries than the Tigers, who kicked 19.17 without Jack Buller; who, like Hunter, was picked up in the AFL’s mid-season draft (by Sydney).

However, those 34 entries were two more than the Demons managed a week earlier, when they kicked 12.5 to beat South Fremantle by four points.

The inaccurate 6.11 came from 17 shots at goal, the same number that netted them 12.5 against the Bulldogs.

Looking to step up

The 14 Fremantle-listed players in Peel’s side averaged 60 AFL games each.

Neil Erasmus continues to impress and picked up 25 touches and six tackles against Subiaco.

Liam Henry’s run was impressive and kicked a goal to go with his 22 touches and five tackles.

With 30 possessions against the Lions, Will Brodie is averaging 29.5 touches a game at WAFL level this season.

West Coast had six AFL-listed players in against Swan Districts, with nine AFL and only 68 WAFL games between them.

Campbell Chesser’s ball use was a highlight, as he picked up a season-high 19 possessions.