Round 20 Colts Wrap

THE top five positions in the WAFL colts for 2018 are locked away with one round remaining following wins in Round 20 on Saturday by Subiaco, Claremont, South Fremantle and East Perth.

Despite winning on Saturday, Claremont can't make the finals with one game of the season remaining and neither can West Perth, Perth or East Perth.

Subiaco is guaranteed of the minor premiership with Peel Thunder, East Fremantle, Swan Districts and South Fremantle the other teams who will take part in finals action.

WAFL Colts Young Gun Round 20

All four Round 20 colts matches took place on Saturday morning with Subiaco winning a good battle with East Fremantle 9.13 (67) to 7.12 (54) at East Fremantle Oval.

Claremont also claimed a hard fought battle against Peel Thunder 9.7 (61) to 6.5 (41) at Claremont Oval showing what might have been for the Tigers in 2018 had they been able to qualify for finals.

South Fremantle secured its place in the finals by beating Perth 11.10 (76) to 5.6 (36) at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.

East Perth might be still anchored to bottom spot but played well at Leederville Oval to beat West Perth 12.7 (79) to 6.9 (45).

With one round remaining, Subiaco (14-3) is clear on top of the WAFL colts ladder ahead of Peel Thunder (11-6), East Fremantle (10-7), Swan Districts (9-8) and South Fremantle (8-9).

Claremont (7-10) is sixth in front of West Perth (6-12), Perth (6-11) and East Perth (6-11).

The final round this Saturday will see three of the four colts matches take place at Subiaco Oval on Sunday. East Fremantle plays South Fremantle at 10am with Peel Thunder taking on East Perth from 12.30pm and Subiaco facing Perth at 3pm.

Swan Districts plays Claremont at Steel Blue Oval in the usual 9am timeslot. 

CLAREMONT v PEEL THUNDER

Claremont still had an outside hope of reaching finals in the colts heading into Saturday's clash with Peel Thunder and the Tigers did well to record a 20-point victory over the second placed team.

It won't be enough for Claremont to break into the finals in 2018 but it was an impressive performance to beat the second placed Peel at Claremont Oval on Saturday.

Peel did start strongly to kick two goals to one in the first quarter before Claremont dominated the second term with five goals to nil to open a 25-point advantage at half-time.

Claremont added another two goals to one in the third quarter and then despite Peel kicking three goals to one in the last term, the Tigers still prevailed 9.7 (61) to 6.5 (41).

Despite the result, Peel will still finish in second position and will play in a qualifying final to open the finals series against either East Fremantle or Swan Districts.

Even though it was an impressive win, Claremont won't be able to make up the percentage gap on the fifth placed South Fremantle in the final round meaning their season will come to an end this Saturday at Steel Blue Oval.

It brings an end the remarkable colts run of Claremont who have taken part in the past five Grand Finals including three premierships. 

Isaac Barton kicked three goals for Claremont from 18 possessions and six tackles with Angus Longmire also kicking two goals to go with 15 disposals, 38 hit outs, four marks and three tackles.

Ben Schuhkraft kicked two goals as well for the Tigers while Max Grant compiled 27 disposals, Cameron Stedman 20, Oliver Henderson 19, Joel Krauss 19, Jacob Dorsett-Sawyer 19 and Ronin O'Connor 18.

Jonathon Ietto kicked two goals from five kicks for Peel while Lachlan Riley gathered 28 possessions, Cameron Gavin 24, Robert Hutson 20, Jarvis Pina 18, James Ewing 16 and David Yaccob 16.

SOUTH FREMANTLE v PERTH

South Fremantle secured its finals position in the colts beating Perth by 40 points at Fremantle Community Bank Oval on Saturday while ending the hopes of the Demons in the meantime.

Coming into the game, South Fremantle sat in fifth position at 7-9 with Perth not far behind at 6-10 so both teams remained a chance to play finals heightening what was at stake.

But South Fremantle proved too strong and the 11.10 (76) to 5.6 (36) victory meant that the Bulldogs are now guaranteed of taking part in finals action in 2018 while the Demons can't make it with one round of the season to go.

South Fremantle kicked two goals to one in the first quarter and then another three goals to two in the second term to head into half-time leading by 13 points.

The Bulldogs went on to kick the only two goals of the third quarter and kicked away further with four goals to two in the last term to secure the 40-point victory.

Jaxon Bellchambers kicked three goals for South Fremantle and Ira Jetta two.

Matthew Ward racked up 29 possessions for the Bulldogs, Manfred Kelly 24, Jack Redman 23, Bellchambers 22, Tom Blechynden 21, Enrique Aiken-Featherstone 20, James Russell 20, Lachlan Feeney 20, Braiden Quartermaine 20, Toby McQuilkin 16 and Jack Fenton 16 along with 32 hit outs, seven tackles and five inside-50 entries.

Ben Watson, Bailey Smith, Lochie Watkins, Hamish McFarlane and Nathan O'Driscoll were the goal scorers for Perth.

O'Driscoll amassed 28 possessions for the Demons, Zac Casey 23, Brodie Gray 22, Nyika John 18, Smith 17 and Elijah Taylor 17.

EAST FREMANTLE v SUBIACO

East Fremantle and Subiaco had a terrific battle at East Fremantle Oval on Saturday as the third and first placed teams locked horns with the Lions ending up prevailing by 13 points.

Subiaco and East Fremantle are still locked in first and third positions on the colts ladder despite the result on Saturday, but it was an intriguing battle and gave an insight to what a potential battle between the Lions and Sharks would look like during September.

Subiaco started strongly kicking the only three goals of the first quarter and then added another four to one in the second term to lead by 40 points at half-time.

East Fremantle did fire back with two goals to one in the third quarter and then four to one in the last term to close the final deficit to 14 points.

Subiaco is locked away as the minor premiers giving them the week off in the opening week of the finals while East Fremantle is third but does need to beat South Fremantle this Saturday to avoid the prospect of slipping to fourth and missing out on the finals double chance.

Ben Golding kicked two goals for Subiaco from 13 possessions and six tackles.

Liam Hickmott racked up another 29 possessions and nine tackles for the Lions with Tristan Hobley finishing with 27 disposals, Taj Schofield 27, Matthew Pannell 26, Jake McKinnon 20, Abraham Clinch 20, Jacob Peletier 19, Wil Hickmott 18 and Kyle Stainsby 17 to go with 10 tackles.

Luke Jackson kicked two goals for East Fremantle while having 14 possessions and 11 hit outs.

Jake Diggle amassed 28 possessions for the Sharks, Corey Robinson 23, Cameron Davidson 20, Tom Monaghan 19, Trent Rivers 19, Cody Smith 19, Jai Jackson 17, Tom Wright 16 and Nick Watson 16 to go with five marks and 27 hit outs on the back of a couple of games at league level. 

EAST PERTH v WEST PERTH

Neither East Perth nor West Perth could reach the finals in the colts no matter the result at Leederville Oval on Saturday but it was the Royals who beat the Falcons strongly by 34 points.

East Perth and West Perth might have been out of finals contention heading into the clash at Leederville Oval, but that didn’t mean they didn’t throw everything into trying to get a win over their arch rivals.

The Royals started strongly with three goals to one in the opening quarter and then added another four goals to one in the second term to head into half-time leading by 30 points.

East Perth went on to kick two goals to one in the third quarter and when after both teams kicked three goals apiece in the last term the Royals ran out 12.7 (79) to 6.9 (45) victors.

East Perth remains on the bottom of the ladder with a 6-11 record despite the win with a game to go in the final round against the second placed Peel Thunder.

West Perth's season is now over with the bye in the final round with a 6-12 record.

Rhai-Arn Cox kicked two goals for East Perth as did Callum McVee and Kyle Robinson.

Thomas Baulch compiled 32 possessions for the Royals, Damon Greaves 31 (10 tackles), Cooper Sparks 27, Robinson 23, Patrick Reilly 16 and Liam Martin 16.

Bailey Chalmers, Jack Burke, Alec Johnson, Daniel Rowe, Callum Johnson and Brady Alvaro kicked a goal apiece for West Perth.

Chalmers also amassed 29 possessions for the Falcons, Johnson 22, Tyron Hindmarsh 21, Ben Johnson 19, Alec Johnson 19 and Rowe 16.