WAFLW FINALS UPDATE

Words Courtesy of Chris Pike

WAFLW PREMIERSHIP SEASON – SEMI FINALS

SECOND SEMI-FINAL: CLAREMONT 4.5 (29) defeated SOUTH FREMANTLE 2.1 (13)

Claremont is the first team into the WAFLW grand final for 2023 after earning a hard fought 16-point second semi-final victory against South Fremantle at Revo Fitness Stadium on Sunday.

The two teams finished in the top two positions at the end of the home and away season to set up the second semi-final match up with a spot in the grand final up for grabs for the winner.

On the back of winning last year's premiership, Claremont has gone through without losing a game in 2023 winning 13 matches and having a draw with East Fremantle. The Tigers' last loss was the second semi-final last year to the Sharks.

South Fremantle, meanwhile, had its best ever WAFLW season winning 10 games, losing three and drawing one to qualify for the finals for the first time as they attempted to beat Claremont for the first time on Sunday.

And the Bulldogs did battle hard, but the Tigers did enough to remain undefeated in 12 months by scoring the 4.5 (29) to 2.1 (13) victory to book in a grand final berth.

South Fremantle will have a second chance to join Claremont in the grand final by playing host to East Fremantle in the preliminary final this Sunday.

Claremont's goals in the second semi-final were kicked by Jayme Harken, Tess Blackburn, Kobi Nichols and Sarah Viney.

The Tigers midfield was on top throughout a lot of the afternoon too with Matilda Sergeant collecting 22 possessions, Harken 22 and Viney 19 to go with nine tackles.

Kate Orme provided great run too in her 16 touches while Claire Ortlepp ended the second semi-final with 15 disposals, Andie Payne 14, Rebecca Tuckey 14, Sarah Garstone 13 and Bridie Garlick 13.

Both South Fremantle's goals in the game were kicked by Bethany Bond from her three kicks and four tackles.

South Fremantle coach Craig McNaughton mixed things up a little to try and knock off Claremont including using the competition's standout ruck Ariana Hetherington as a big bodied midfielder with Zoe Huggett and Ella Ward sharing the ruck role.

Huggett ended the game with 39 hit outs while Ward had 12 with Hetherington finishing with 15 disposals, nine tackles, four inside 50s and two marks.

Teenage sensation Renee Morgan ended up with 16 possessions for the Bulldogs, Molly O'Hehir 14, Kahra Sprlyan 12, Noa McNaughton 11, Hunter Cronin 11 and Lauren Vecchio 11.

It was a hard fought first quarter between the competition's top two teams and everything you would expect with a grand final spot on the line with South Fremantle taking it right up to the reigning premiers.

Claremont hadn’t lost a game since the second semi-final last year so it marked a 12-month stretch without a loss, but on that day against East Fremantle they were the second placed team trying to hand a dominant side a defeat.

So the Tigers certainly weren’t taking anything for granted but Claremont did open up the second semi-final with the first goal of the contest at the four-minute mark thanks to Sarah Viney.

South Fremantle responded shortly after, though, with their first ever goal in the WAFLW finals courtesy of Bethany Bond and it was game on in the second semi-final.

The Tigers did get a second goal on the board before half-time, though, thanks to Tess Blackburn and that saw the minor premiers head into the main break leading by eight points.

The Bulldogs were taking it right up to them, though, and a second goal to Bond to open the second half suddenly made it just a two-point ball game once more.

However, South Fremantle weren’t able to manage another goal the rest of the game despite their best efforts and despite it remaining a tremendous contest around the ground.

Claremont did get another goal thanks to Jayme Harken early in the third quarter and then it was Kobi Nichols running into a goal for a nice finish after receiving a brilliant handpass to seal the win for the Tigers who prevailed by 16 points to move straight into the grand final.

Meanwhile, in the Rogers Cup action, the first semi-final on Sunday at Revo Fitness Stadium saw Claremont defeat East Perth 9.6 (60) to 1.1 (7).

The second semi-final took place at Revo Fitness Stadium as well with West Perth advancing to the grand final by beating South Fremantle 7.11 (53) to 2.2 (14).

The goals for South Fremantle were kicked by Annalie Polimeno and Nicole Taylor-Thorpe.

Those results mean that the season is over for East Perth, West Perth is into the grand final and South Fremantle and Claremont will clash this weekend in the preliminary final.

Big weekend coming up for both teams (WAFLW and Rogers). The two preliminary finals will be hosted back to back at our home ground - Fremantle Community Bank Oval. 

Our WAFLW side is playing East Fremantle at 3.15pm on Sunday July 9. Following our WAFLW team, the Rogers Cup will bouncedown at 5.10pm for a night game against Claremont. 

Set to be a cracking two games for our Women's side in our first ever dual prelims.