WAFL RD 15 REVIEW | EAST PERTH

First-placed East Perth continued their top-flight winning streak last Saturday at Lane Group Stadium, securing a convincing 27-point victory in Round 15 & extending their lead at the top, Peel moves to fifth place with a 9 – 5 record.

Corey Tregenza made an impressive debut for the Thunder, contributing two goals in the first quarter, while Jack Sears and Clay Hall each kicked two goals for Peel. Sears displayed his versatility with 16 possessions, seven marks, and five tackles and Hall added 21 touches to his name.

Haydn Matthews impressed with 23 possessions, while Blair Bell had 20 touches and an impressive nine tackles. Brady Grey celebrated his 100th WAFL appearance with a solid performance, tallying 16 touches. Jacob Blight provided defensive stability with 16 disposals and seven marks.

Peel Thunder made a strong start, with Sears kicking the opening goal in the first quarter. Corey Tregenza, making his league debut, quickly made his mark with two stunning goals in the space of two minutes, boosting Peel’s advantage. The Thunder finished the quarter with a 20-point lead.

East Perth responded in the second quarter, notching the first two goals through Sam van Diemen and Riley Saunders. Sears answered for Peel with his second goal, maintaining the Thunder’s lead. However, East Perth rallied with goals from Liam Tedesco and former Thunder midfielder Michael Randall, bringing the Royals within a point.

Peel Thunder maintained their composure, with Travis Colyer kicking an impressive goal from outside 50 to conclude the half. At the long break, Peel held a 10-point lead.

The second half was convincingly Royals, scoring 10 goals to Peel’s 3. A late flourish from Clay Hall saw him collect 2 goals to reduce Thunders’ deficit but there wasn’t enough time on the clock to mount a proper comeback.

Peel has a bye round this weekend before coming up against West Coast on August 5th in Round 17.

Round 15 of the Reserves competition on Saturday started with Peel Thunder beating East Perth 9.9 (63) to 7.7 (49) at Lane Group Stadium.

Lachlan Cullen kicked four goals for Peel while Tay Wyburd ended up with 29 touches, Cameron Gavin 18, Deon Welhan 14 and Lachlan Beverly 14.

COLTS

Peel 10.6 (66) def by East Perth 13.4 (82)

Round 15 saw Colts football shift to the afternoon timeslot against the also 3-9 Royals who hold bragging rights after giving the Thunder the business earlier in the year during the Super Round.

The later timeslot seemed to rattle Peel early with East Perth kicking four goals in the first ten minutes of the match. The Thunder would strike back, taking a small lead into quarter time but again in the second quarter, it was the Royals who would hit the scoreboard regularly giving the home side something to chase in the second half.

The young Thunder chased and chased hard, but ultimately left all the work to be done too late and in the end East Perth were comfortable in their 16-point win.

The Good

• Second Half Comeback – Outscoring the opposition in the second half has not been in our DNA this year but the Thunder managed to outscore the Royals in the second half and play some attractive football while doing it.
• The Swingman – After struggling a little early in defence a move forward proved fruitful for Ethan Logan who finished with 3.1 and some strong contested marks. In a year where scoring has been difficult Ethan made hitting the scoreboard seem easy.
• Young Backs – Petersen, Grant, Martin, Axford, and Martin are just a few of the names we should all get used to as a part of the Thunder’s defensive group. All seem to be growing with each game and this week was no exception. Winning intercept possession was mainly due to our defenders catching the ball like they were wearing catcher’s mitts.

The Bad

• Starting the Game on Snooze – You can’t win many games of football after letting the away team kick four goals in the opening ten minutes. A confidence boost for the opposition but a grind for us to switch on and get back into the game.

We move into a double bye 3-10. Unfortunately, we have to live with this loss for three weeks, but it does give us an opportunity to reset before taking on perennial powerhouse, Claremont here at home. A great challenge to see how far we’ve come this season.

Our young group will relish the challenge and not back down in pursuit of that elusive victory.