WAFL Match Report: Round Sixteen v West Perth

by Liam Maher

It was another great day of footy for East Perth, as the Royals secured a fourth straight win, both for the season and in derby clashes against arch-rivals West Perth. In a game of two halves, East Perth stormed home to produce a fantastic 26-point victory, setting themselves up perfectly for a massive final month of the regular season (15.11 – 101) to (11.9 – 75).

As the game got underway, both sides brought the trademark energy and physicality that this fierce derby is known for. The intensity around stoppages was immense, with clean possession being hard to come by early on. West Perth took advantage of their early opportunities, slotting a couple of quick goals before East Perth could settle.

The Royals had their chances throughout the term but were let down by costly errors and missed opportunities. While the key stats were even at quarter-time, the scoreboard told a different story with East Perth trailing by 25 points at the first break (2.1 – 13) to (6.2 – 38).

To start the second quarter, West Perth again started the stronger of the two sides, capitalising on their opportunities and maintaining scoreboard pressure. While East Perth began to clean up their ball use, they struggled to halt the momentum swings of their opponents. The Royals’ defensive structure was stretched, allowing West Perth to control play with a clean, possession-based kick-and-mark style.

Offensively, East Perth looked more dangerous, using quicker ball movement to generate inside 50s, but the quality of those entries let them down. Despite 10 inside 50s for the term, the Royals managed just one goal and four behinds. At halftime, East Perth found themselves in serious trouble, trailing by six goals and needing a big second-half response to stay in the contest (3.5 – 23) to (9.5 – 59).

East Perth needed a spark to turn the game around in the second half, and they delivered exactly that in a dominant third term. The halftime reset seemed to do wonders, as the Royals came out playing some of their best footy of the season. With slick ball movement, stoppage dominance, and rock-solid defence, they completely flipped the script. West Perth had no answers, struggling to gain any meaningful momentum.

Despite only having 10 inside 50s for the quarter, East Perth made them count, registering nine scoring shots (five goals, four behinds) while holding their opponents to just three behinds. By the final change, the Royals had cut the margin to just five points, setting up a thrilling last quarter with the game well and truly up for grabs (8.9 – 57) to (9.8 – 62).

The final quarter began with both sides ready to leave everything on the park in a desperate fight for victory. Mitch Schofield kicked his third goal within the opening two minutes to give East Perth the early edge, but West Perth refused to go away quietly. They responded with a goal of their own, only for Coby Burgiel to answer right back with his third of the day. Yet again, West Perth hit back, keeping the pressure on. The game was on a knife’s edge until the Royals shifted into top gear.

With relentless running, quick ball movement, and suffocating pressure, East Perth wrestled control and never looked back. Back-to-back goals gave them breathing room, and another classy finish from the pocket by Sam Van Diemen sealed the result. It was a brilliant second-half surge from the Royals, who completed a stunning comeback to run out 26-point winners (15.11 – 101) to (11.9 – 75).

A fantastic win in a game that saw a 10-goal turnaround in the second half gave East Perth their 10th win of the season as they charge towards final actions again in 2025. Milestone man Scott Jones dominated to ruck again with 55 hitouts as well as 22 disposals to celebrate a win in game 100. Captain Hamish Brayshaw (36 disposals, seven marks, seven inside 50s, one goal) also played a huge part in leading his team to victory. No surprise that Tom North (28 disposals, five tackles) and Angus Scott (28 disposals, five marks) racked up plenty of footy on the day also. Coby Burgiel, Ben Middleton and Mitch Schofield were all fantastic in the forward half, all finishing the day with three goals apiece.

Another win keeps the Royals firmly placed in 3rd place on the WAFL ladder. East Perth has its final two home games back-to-back in the next two weeks, starting with West Coast this Saturday. It is a WAFLW/WAFL double header as our women’s teams play out their final game of the season before the men’s League side takes to the field. Get down to Sullivan Logistics Stadium for 2.30 pm on Saturday August 2nd to cheer on the Mighty Royals!