WAFL RD 4 MATCH REPORT

WAFL | BULLDOGS HIT BACK EMPHATICALLY

South Fremantle responded in the best possible way to their equal record WAFL winning streak ending the week before by heading north to Joondalup and coming away with the 30-point win against West Perth.

The Bulldogs had won 17 straight matches and had the chance to set a new record for the club last week before losing at Fremantle Community Bank Oval in a thriller to Claremont.

The mission was to bounce back on Sunday at HIF Health Insurance Oval for South Fremantle and that was accomplished with the eventual 11.11 (77) to 7.5 (47) victory against West Perth.

Mitch Geier and Trey Ruscoe kicked two goals apiece for South Fremantle with Ruscoe also having 12 touches and three marks, and Geier 11 disposals and three marks.

Isiah Winder was outstanding once again for the Bulldogs with 29 possessions, seven marks, six tackles, three inside-50 entries and a goal.

Chad Pearson also finished with 24 disposals, Jake Florenca 22, Roan O’Hehir 21, Lewis Rayson 21, Toby Dodds 21, Ethan Hughes 20 and Tom Blechynden 20.

Then there was young big man Aidan Harvey stepping up in the ruck in the absence of Simpson Medallist Hamish Free to have 17 touches and 18 hit outs.

It was a perfect start at Joondalup for South Fremantle with a goal inside the first five minutes to Lucas Robinson before Brandon Donaldson and Trey Ruscoe also added majors in the opening term.

That saw the Bulldogs hold the Falcons to just one solitary behind to quarter-time and to be leading by 20 points at the first break.

The lead for South Fremantle was then out to 26 to start the second term with a second goal to Ruscoe before West Perth did spring to life with three goals in the space of 11 minutes to cut the Bulldogs lead to seven points.

South Fremantle did manage the last goal of the half, though, thanks to Roan O’Hehir and that saw the reigning premiers leading by 15 points by the main break.

It was again a flying start to the second half for the Bulldogs with the first four goals inside 14 minutes with a couple to Mitch Geier and one each to Tom Blechynden and Ashton Ferreira.

That saw the lead for South Fremantle blow out to 38 points before Jordan Boullineau kicked another from a tight angle shortly before three quarter-time.

The Bulldogs also kicked the only goal of the last quarter through Isiah Winder. That completed the 30-point victory and the strong bounce back performance from the defending premiers.

The Reserves game followed on from the WAFLW clash at HIF Health Insurance Oval on Sunday and it wasn’t quite the result South Fremantle were after with West Perth ending up winning 13.18 (96) to 9.8 (62).

West Perth made a flying start kicking the only seven goals of the first quarter and even with South Fremantle hitting back with four goals in the second term, the Falcons were up by 39 points still at half-time.

The Bulldogs did outscore the Falcons in the second half too with five goals to four but West Perth still ended up winning by 34 points with South Fremantle now sitting on a 1-3 record in the Reserves after four rounds.

Connor McDonald kicked three goals for the Bulldogs from 15 possessions and six marks with Cooper Clarke-Dehring also kicking another two majors.

Jack Green collected 24 possessions for South Fremantle, Louis Poulson 19, Jacob Donald 18, Josh Young 17, Byron McFarland 16, Taj Longmuir 15, Lachlan Princi 14, Hayden Eades 14, Zane Triscari 14 and West Love 14 to go with 16 hit outs.

The day’s action at Joondalup wrapped up on Sunday evening with the Colts continuing their undefeated start to the season beating West Perth 19.5 (119) to 7.8 (50).

The dominant performance from the Bulldogs began with five goals to one in the opening quarter before another six goals to two in the second term to see them leading by 52 points by the half-time break.

It was another four goals to three from South Fremantle before four more goals to two in the final term on the way to the eventual 69-point victory to improve to a perfect 4-0 record to start the 2026 Colts season.

Sam Hookham had a night out up forward for the Bulldogs kicking six goals from nine kicks and five marks with Jye Hunt also kicking four goals, Jarrah Hayden two, Nick Allen two and Cooper Matera two.

Riley Stannard also racked up 30 possessions for South Fremantle, Chance Vanderhoek 28, Dylan Noble 28, Jack McAuliffe 24, Coby Douglas 19, Chayse Parsons 19 and Kaidan Freight 15.

SULLIVAN LOGISTICS WAFL PREMIERSHIP SEASON – ROUND 4

SOUTH FREMANTLE                        3.3          5.5          10.5        11.11     (77)

WEST PERTH                                      0.1          3.2          7.3          7.5          (47)

SOUTH FREMANTLE – Goals: Ruscoe, Geier 2; O’Hehir, Ferreira, Blechynden, Winder, Donaldson, Robinson, Boullineau.

Best: Winder, Pearson, Rayson, Hughes, Harvey, Florenca, O’Hehir, Dodds.

WEST PERTH – Goals: Keitel 4; Dehavilland, Hinder, Demarte.

Best: West, Bevan, Keitel, Guadagnin, Dehavilland, Johnson, Wooden.