TABtouch Team of Round 8

IT was the most competitive round of the 2018 WAFL season on Saturday and as a result there were comfortably 40 players who had genuine claims to be in the TABtouch Team of Round 8.

It was a tremendous Saturday afternoon of action in the WAFL for Round 8 with East Fremantle and Claremont pulling off some significant upsets, Swan Districts securing their spot in the top five and Subiaco holding off a determined Perth.

The action got underway at Leederville Oval with Swan Districts defeating East Perth 13.8 (86) to 11.7 (73).

Claremont then kicked the last goal of the game through Tom Lee to break the deadlock and beat South Fremantle 13.10 (88) to 12.10 (82) at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.

East Fremantle found its best performance of the season to beat Peel Thunder 8.13 (61) to 4.13 (37) at East Fremantle Oval while Subiaco kicked seven of the last eight goals to overcome Perth 15.12 (102) to 9.8 (62) at Lathlain Park.

The Round 8 results leave Subiaco (7-0) clear on top of the WAFL ladder ahead of South Fremantle (5-2), West Perth (4-3), Swan Districts (4-3) and East Perth (4-3).

There is then a significant gap back to Claremont (2-5), Peel Thunder (2-5), Perth (2-5) and East Fremantle (2-6).

M & J Chickens Player of Round 8

TABtouch TEAM OF THE ROUND (times named)
BACK: Kirk Ugle (1), Dylan Winton (2), Aaron Heal (3)
HALF-BACK: Alex Howard (2), Anton Hamp (2), Taylin Duman (1)
CENTRE: Nick Kommer (2), George Hampson (2), Kyal Horsley (6)
HALF-FORWARD: Brant Colledge (1), Lachlan Delahunty (4), Luke Partington (3)
FORWARD: Taryce Stewart (1), Tom Lee (1), Jack Petruccelle (2)
RUCK: Brock Higgins (3), Jye Bolton (4), Chris Phelan (3) 
INTERCHANGE: Nathan Blakely (1), Marlion Pickett (2), Jared Hardisty (1), Rhys Palmer (3)

BACK POCKET – KIRK UGLE (Swan Districts)
The small defender has been spending some more time up the ground as well this season with Swan Districts and continues to make a good impact wherever he lines up. Was important again in Saturday's 13-point win against East Perth finishing with 19 possessions, four tackles and a goal.

FULL-BACK – DYLAN WINTON (East Fremantle)
It might have been a challenging season to date for East Fremantle, to put it mildly, but he has been one player who can hold his head high for battling hard each week. He did that once again in the defence against Peel Thunder on Saturday and proved instrumental in the four-goal win finishing the afternoon with 21 possessions and seven marks against the side he started his WAFL career with.

BACK POCKET – AARON HEAL (Subiaco)
Continues to be rock solid down back for Subiaco in a team that is now undefeated after seven matches in 2018. But the Lions were challenged by Perth on Saturday and he was one of the reasons they did only concede nine goals in the finish with another strong performance defensively. He also had 16 possessions, seven marks and four tackles for the game.

HALF-BACK FLANK – ALEX HOWARD (Swan Districts)
He might continue to quietly go about his business for Swan Districts and surprisingly wasn’t considered for the KIA WAFL State Team, but is without question one of the very best defenders in the competition. Is rarely beaten and not only can he beat his opponents, but repels attacks and sets up play back the other way too. Had 16 possessions and four marks in Saturday's win against East Perth.

CENTRE HALF-BACK – ANTON HAMP (Claremont)
With South Fremantle going small in attack in the absence of Ben Saunders, he was Claremont's lone tall defender for much of the afternoon and he put in a tremendous display helping the Tigers return to the WAFL's winner's list. He did a good job holding Mason Shaw to five kicks and three marks while having 13 disposals, four marks and three tackles himself.

HALF-BACK FLANK – TAYLIN DUMAN (Peel Thunder)
It wasn’t a great day overall for Peel Thunder losing to East Fremantle by 24 points at East Fremantle Oval and only managing to kick four goals, but the majority of their better players ended up being down back. Ethan Hughes and Shane Kersten were also strong performers, but he was the standout ending up with 25 possessions, 14 marks, five tackles and two inside-50 entries.

WING – NICK KOMMER (East Fremantle)
The former East Perth and Essendon hard nut was building some early season form nicely having joined East Fremantle in 2018 and had been sorely missed while out injured since Round 3. He showed just how much he had been missed on Saturday with a tremendous showing in the win against Peel ending up with 23 disposals, nine tackles, five inside 50s and three marks.

CENTRE – GEORGE HAMPSON (East Fremantle)
Understandably he had been as frustrated as anybody with East Fremantle's struggles over the past four games in particular but rather than drop his head, he only kept lifting his performances to the point where he delivered a remarkable effort on Saturday in the win against Peel. Finished with 38 possessions, 13 tackles, 10 inside 50s, six marks and a goal to be M & J Chickens Player of the Round.

WING – KYAL HORSLEY (Subiaco)
The Subiaco captain has had a remarkable career and is already a triple premiership player and dual fairest and best winner, but it's hard to argue against the 30-year-old veteran of 168 WAFL games being in career-best form right now. He continued that in Saturday's hard fought win against Perth producing 33 possessions, nine inside 50s and a goal.

HALF-FORWARD FLANK – BRANT COLLEDGE (Perth)
The former West Coast player might have not quite delivered for Perth the type of performances to lead from the front they might have hoped over the past 18 months, but he did exactly that on Saturday against Subiaco. Put in a tremendous showing for the Demons made up of 26 possessions, nine inside-50 entries, seven tackles, five marks and a goal.

CENTRE HALF-FORWARD – LACHLAN DELAHUNTY (Subiaco)
The big man is having a remarkable impact wherever used right now whether as a hard-leading centre half-forward, back up ruckman or even big bodied midfielder or wingman. That versatility might very well have him the most valuable player in the league right now and he provided Subiaco with another 27 possessions, 24 hit outs and four marks on Saturday against Perth.

HALF-FORWARD FLANK – LUKE PARTINGTON (East Perth)
It was a tough day for East Perth against Swan Districts on Saturday at Leederville Oval, especially through the first three quarters, but he was one of the strong contributors all afternoon for the Royals. Ended the game with 33 possessions, seven tackles, five inside-50 entries and four marks.

FORWARD POCKET – TARYCE STEWART (Swan Districts)
Following an interrupted pre-season, he wasn’t quite setting the world alight in the reserves to start 2018 but was backed in to make his first league appearance of the season on Saturday and it paid off in Swan Districts' win against East Perth. He ended up kicking four goals from eight kicks and three marks showing his quality even off limited preparation.

FULL-FORWARD – TOM LEE (Claremont)
With Beau Maister missing from the Claremont forward-line through concussion having kicked eight goals the previous week, more burden went on to his shoulders on Saturday against South Fremantle. He stood tall kicking three goals eight side of half-time and then marking and goaling to win the game for the Tigers at the 29-minute mark of the final term.

FORWARD POCKET – JACK PETRUCCELLE (East Perth)
The West Coast-listed small forward put in a standout four-goal effort East Perth back in Round 4 to earn him his AFL debut. He then didn’t look out of place in the Eagles line-up before getting hurt and made his return for East Perth on Saturday and looked good again with three goals from 14 possessions in the loss to Swan Districts.

RUCK – BROCK HIGGINS (South Fremantle)
The State ruckman once again delivered a performance full of heart despite South Fremantle losing to Claremont at home on Saturday. He did the majority of the work on his own in the ruck once more and got the better of his battle with Claremont youngster Oliver Eastland and did all he could to get the Bulldogs over the line with 21 touches, 56 hit outs, four tackles and three marks.

RUCK ROVER – JYE BOLTON (Claremont)
The 2016 Sandover Medallist and this year's Simpson Medal winner from the State game triumph in Adelaide continues to be in stunning form on the ball for Claremont. Was instrumental in the Tigers' one-goal win over South Fremantle finishing with 30 possessions, 10 tackles, three marks and three inside-50 entries.

ROVER – CHRIS PHELAN (Subiaco)
He could have made the Team of the Round just about based on his dominant first quarter alone for Subiaco, but the 156-game veteran continued on for Subiaco and had a strong afternoon in the 40-point victory over Perth. Ended up with 31 possessions, eight inside 50s, five tackles, three marks and the two first quarter goals.

INTERCHANGE – NATHAN BLAKELY (Swan Districts)
Was decidedly unlucky to not earn the spot as the No. 1 ruckman in the team this week after a standout performance in Swan Districts' win against East Perth where he took on both Fraser McInnes and Nathan Vardy. Delivered his best performance of the season on return from two years out of the game with 27 possessions, 24 hit outs and three marks.

INTERCHANGE – MARLION PICKETT (South Fremantle)
His move into the midfield has been a masterstroke so far this season by South Fremantle coach Todd Curley even though he has been superb the past three seasons down back. Then when Shane Hockey went off early on Saturday, he had to step up even further against Claremont and he finished with a career-high performance with 36 possessions, six tackles, six inside 50s and four marks.

INTERCHANGE – JARED HARDISTY (Claremont)
Was given the job to run with Haiden Schloithe for much of the afternoon and while it wasn’t quite a tagging role on the Sandover Medallist, he was able to contribute strongly to Claremont's eventual six-point win against South Fremantle. Finished the afternoon with 26 possessions, six tackles and four entries inside the forward 50

INTERCHANGE – RHYS PALMER (Swan Districts)
Continues to be in outstanding form for Swan Districts and is clearly loving his time back in the WAFL following his 123-game AFL career at three clubs over the previous decade. Was tremendous again in Saturday's win against East Perth with 26 touches, five tackles, three marks, three inside-50 entries and two goals.

UNLUCKY BUNCH
There were plenty of players who delivered tremendous performances across Round 8 but couldn’t quite fit into the Team of the Round, including:

South Fremantle's Dylan Main, Haiden Schloithe and Cory Dell'Olio.
Claremont's Kane Mitchell and Ryan Murphy.
Perth's Clint Jones, Cody Ninyette, Mitch Lague and Clayton Giblett.
Subiaco's Zac Clarke, Ben Sokol and Clancy Wheeler.
East Fremantle's Jonathon Marsh, Ambrose Ryan and Jarrad Jansen.
Peel Thunder's Ben Howlett, Stefan Giro, Ethan Hughes, Michael Apeness, Blair Bell and Shane Kersten.
East Perth's Julian Ameduri, Shayne Hille, Nathan Blee, Francis Watson, Matthew Allen and Patrick McGinnity.
Swan Districts' David Ellard, Jesse Turner and Tobe Watson.