BULLDOGS BEAT ROYALS AT HOME

SOUTH Fremantle’s WAFLW team were back in action at home to East Perth on Saturday afternoon and produced a performance to deliver the 35-point victory.

The WAFLW competition took a break over Easter following the opening month of the season but the Bulldogs were back to Fremantle Community Bank Oval on Saturday to play host to the league’s newest team, East Perth.

The Bulldogs might have won just one of their four WAFLW matches this season, but it had been a tough fixture up against the two grand final teams of the last two years, Claremont and East Fremantle, and the season’s other undefeated team coming into Rd6, West Perth.

South Fremantle had played some impressive football across the matches and then they produced a strong all-round showing at home on Saturday to end up beating the Royals 7.12 (54) to 3.1 (19).

It was the 50th WAFLW game for South Fremantle since joining the competition in 2020 and as a result ever-reliable defender Pia Durk celebrated her 50th game milestone with the win on Saturday.

Shannyn Pomersbach, Poppy Stockwell and Tahleah Mulder all kicked two goals apiece in the win for South Fremantle with Mulder especially prominent also having 19 possessions, five tackles and four inside-50 entries.

There were plenty of standout performers for the Bulldogs in the win too with 2022 fairest and best winner Liusaidh Gilchrist finishing with 20 possessions, nine inside 50s, six tackles and three marks.

Madizen Wilkins also finished with 16 disposals for South Fremantle, Caitlin Pears 16, Kahra Sprlyan 16, Alyssa Smogavec 15, Summer Mollross 14 and Charlie Vandenberg 14 to go with 15 hit outs, six marks and five inside-50 entries.

It was all South Fremantle in the first quarter on Saturday at Fremantle Community Bank Oval which included Poppy Stockwell kicking the game’s first goal at the six-minute mark.

She added a second soon after and then Tahleah Mulder added a third goal for the Bulldogs before quarter-time to put her team in front by 21 points.

East Perth not only scored for the first time in the game early in the second quarter, but it was a goal thanks to Courtney Lindgren.

It took more than 15 minutes into the quarter for the Bulldogs to add a fourth goal of the contest which was kicked by Shannyn Pomersbach.

The trading of goals continued with Lucy Greenwood kicking truly for the Royals before Tara Lee-Anne Garlett added another for South Fremantle.

That had the Bulldogs leading by 22 points at half-time before it was a goal apiece in the third stanza with the lead extending out to 27 points for the home team by three quarter-time.

South Fremantle then kicked the only goal of the final term thanks to Mulder and the Bulldogs would end up scoring the 35-point victory.

South Fremantle’s Rogers Cup team was also in action on Saturday afternoon at Fremantle Community Bank Oval and went on to beat East Perth 6.7 (43) to 1.5 (11).

Eva Flynn kicked three of the six goals in the win for the Bulldogs with the other goalkickers Holly Barnes, Hannah Young and Nicole Taylor-Thorpe.

WAFLW PREMIERSHIP SEASON – ROUND 6

SOUTH FREMANTLE                        3.3          5.4          6.9          7.12        (54)

EAST PERTH                                       0.0          2.0          3.0          3.1          (19)

SOUTH FREMANTLE – Goals: Pomersbach, Stockwell, Mulder 2; Garlett.

Best: Gilchrist, Mulder, Wilkins, Stockwell, Vandenberg, Pomersbach, Wilkins, Pears, Sprlyan.

EAST PERTH – Goals: Greenwood, Ninyett, Lindgren.

Best: Sauzier, Ninyett, Madden, Verbrugge, Banks.