WAFLW ROUND 15 REVIEW

Words Courtesy of Chris Pike

SOUTH FREMANTLE 5.6 (36) defeated SUBIACO 2.5 (17)

South Fremantle guaranteed its place in the finals in the 2023 WAFLW season by beating Subiaco by 19 points at Fremantle Community Bank Oval on Saturday afternoon.

It was a crucial game for both teams with South Fremantle looking to lock away a place in the finals of the competition for the first time with Subiaco also trying to enhance their prospects of being there.

It was the penultimate round of the season and raising the stakes for South Fremantle was the fact they were coming off the bye and two losses to Claremont and East Fremantle, so they hadn’t won for a while despite remaining in second position.

The Bulldogs would prove too strong for the Lions going on to win 5.6 (36) to 2.5 (17) with the result meaning South Fremantle now holds a 9-3 record with a draw to not only be guaranteed of playing finals, but also of a second place finish.

Subiaco is now precariously placed in fifth spot and need to score a thumping win against West Perth in the last round while needing East Fremantle to lose heavily to Peel Thunder at the same time.

Noa McNaughton kicked two goals in the win for South Fremantle from eight kicks to go with two tackles and two entries inside the forward 50.

Ariana Hetherington produced another commanding performance in the ruck for the Bulldogs and finished with 24 possessions, 21 hit outs, five marks and a goal.

Luci Gilchrist also picked up 20 touches for South Fremantle, Kloe Bassett 20, Renee Morgan 19, Lauren Vecchio 19 and Jasmine Bazeley 17.

Hayley Corlett kicked Subiaco's only two goals of the match in the first quarter and ended the afternoon with 11 possessions and five marks.

Tarni Golisano put together a strong performance despite the loss for Subiaco with the captain finishing the afternoon with 30 possessions, six marks, five tackles and four inside-50 entries.

Grace Hahnel also collected 21 disposals for the Lions, Tiah Toth 20, Olivia Crane 19, Madison Dodd 17 and Madizen Wilkins 16.

With so much at stake for both teams coming into the contest, it was Subiaco who got the better of the start at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.

The Lions would kick the only two goals of the opening quarter thanks to H Corlett inside the first five minutes of the contest in what was a stunning start.

The only problem for the Lions was they wouldn’t kick another goal for the rest of the afternoon despite still leading by 13 points at quarter-time having held South Fremantle to just one behind.

It took more than eight minutes into the second quarter for South Fremantle to kick its first goal of the game and that came courtesy of Noa McNaughton.

That would be the only goal kicked by either team in the second term as well with Subiaco still leading by seven points at half-time.

It took just three minutes into the second half for Ella Ward to kick South Fremantle's second goal of the game to make it a one-point contest. McNaughton then kicked her second of the day heading towards three quarter-time and the Bulldogs were in front for the first time.

South Fremantle then confirmed the victory that locked away second position heading into the finals with goals in the last term to Ariana Hetherington and Hunter Cronin to secure the 19-point win.
 

ROGERS CUP

South Fremantle defeated Subiaco 14.7 (91) to 2.7 (19) at Fremantle Community Bank Oval. Nicole Taylor-Thorpe kicked four goals for the Bulldogs, Rosie Anderson three and Alira Fotu three.