WAFL Team of Round 1

IT was quite the exciting opening to the 2022 WAFL season with all games still up in the air during the fourth quarter and along the way there were plenty of standout individual performers.

Selected the WAFL Team of the Week for Round 1 was no easy task with there being genuinely at least five players from all 10 clubs who played in the opening weekend who made a strong case for a spot in the side.

The 2022 season got underway on Good Friday with three matches that saw Claremont beat West Perth 9.11 (65) to 8.13 (61) at Joondalup's Pentanet Stadium.

East Perth also defeated Swan Districts 12.7 (79) to 11.9 (75) at Leederville Oval and Peel Thunder kicked seven goals to one in the last quarter to beat East Fremantle 17.8 (110) to 11.12 (78) at Mandurah's Lane Group Stadium.

Then on Saturday, Perth beat the West Coast Eagles 9.8 (62) to 8.12 (60) at Lathlain's Mineral Resources Park and then in a Grand Final rematch at Leederville Oval, South Fremantle kicked the last three goals to defeat Subiaco 8.7 (55) to 6.11 (47).

PLAYER OF THE ROUND – JAKE FLORENCA (SOUTH FREMANTLE)

He is quickly making up for lost time after missing most of the 2021 season with his Achilles injury. He made an impact immediately late in the season still for South Fremantle and now started 2022 in outstanding form.

Having bided his time behind some gun experienced midfielders at South Fremantle including Ashton Hams, Tim Kelly, Ryan Cook and Shane Hockey, by 2020 he became a crucial part of the on-ball brigade.

He was a huge reason why South Fremantle finished that season on top of the ladder and then qualified for the Grand Final, but he heartbreakingly ruptured his Achilles tendon in the preliminary final win against West Perth.

He then missed the premiership triumph a week later but he worked diligently to get back late in the 2021 season and became an important part of the Bulldogs reaching a third consecutive WAFL Grand Final.

Now based on the way he started the 2022 season in Saturday's win for South Fremantle against Subiaco at Leederville Oval, he could well be set to further establish himself as one of the genuine stars of the competition.

He finished the game with 28 possessions, eight tackles, six marks, five inside-50 entries and two goals in a best on ground display for the Bulldogs against the Lions at Leederville Oval.

Players of the Round
Round 1 – Jake Florenca (South Fremantle)

WAFL TEAM OF THE WEEK - ROUND 1
BACK: Louis Passera (C), Chad Pearson (SF), Kyle Stainsby (S)
HALF-BACK: Lachlan Martinis (C), Tony Notte (SD), Matthew Taylor (P)  
CENTRE: Jarvis Pina (SD), Jye Bolton (C), Karl Worner (PT)
HALF-FORWARD: Ryan Kemp (SD), Fraser McInnes (P), Tyrone Thorne (PT)
FORWARD: Ryan Bennell (PT), Brayden Noble (SD), Alex Manuel (C)
RUCK: Scott Jones (EP), Jake Florenca (SF), Hamish Brayshaw (EP)
INTERCHANGE: Aaron Black (WP), Cam Eardley (EF), Leigh Kitchin (S), Steely Green (SF)

BACK POCKET – LOUIS PASSERA (Claremont)
It's hard to imagine the 21-year-old from Scarborough could have made a more impressive debut down back for Claremont in the narrow win against West Perth. Not only did he do well defensively holding dangerous former Tiger Keegan Knott to just seven kicks and one goal, but he was also impressive setting up play going the other way himself with 20 possessions, six tackles, five marks and a goal.

FULL-BACK – CHAD PEARSON (South Fremantle)
Looks set to continue his emergence into one of the best two-way defensive players in the league who keeps on getting better season on season. That appears right on track to happen again in 2022 on the back of his performance in South Fremantle's win against Subiaco on Saturday where he finished with 26 touches, seven marks, five tackles and two inside-50 entries.

BACK POCKET – KYLE STAINSBY (Subiaco)
He won the Subiaco fairest and best award back in the COVID-affected season of 2020, but it was in 2021 where he truly emerged as one of the best mid-size defenders in the competition as part of the premiership winning team. He started the new season impressively as well on Saturday even if the Lions did lose to South Fremantle. He finished the afternoon with 16 possessions, 11 tackles, three inside-50 entries and two tackles.

HALF-BACK FLANK – LACHLAN MARTINIS (Claremont)
He cemented himself as potentially the best and most damaging creative half-back in the competition last year for Claremont, and he picked right back up where he left off in the Round 1 win for the Tigers against the Falcons. In his 56th game for Claremont, he was outstanding with 35 possessions, eight marks and two entries inside the forward 50.

CENTRE HALF-BACK – TONY NOTTE (Swan Districts)
He was playing his 265th game for Swan Districts on Good Friday and he was every bit as good as he's been at any other point in his remarkable WAFL career. He positioned himself at centre half-back and cut off East Perth attack after attack. He took seven m arks in the opening quarter alone and by the end of the afternoon he had finished with 23 disposals, 14 marks and two tackles.

HALF-BACK FLANK – MATTHEW TAYLOR (Perth)
Having some good intercept markers and playmakers off half-back is one of the strengths at Perth and that was on display again in the season-opening win against the West Coast Eagles on Saturday. He was key to that slotting right back into his familiar role at half-back for the Demons and finished the afternoon with 32 possessions and seven marks.

WING – JARVIS PINA (Swan Districts)
The dashing emerging star was seen as a gun recruit for Swan Districts from Peel Thunder in 2022 to bring in some run for the black-and-whites. He delivered in spades what they were hoping for from him in Good Friday's clash with East Perth at Leederville Oval. He finished the game with an impressive 27 touches, 14 marks, seven inside 50s and three tackles.

CENTRE – JYE BOLTON (Claremont)
The four-time Simpson Medal winning 112-game gun midfielder started the new season across half-back for Claremont against West Perth on Good Friday. It didn’t take long for him to go back into the middle when the Tigers needed a spark and he delivered another trademark outstanding performance to be pivotal in the eventual victory. He finished the afternoon with 38 disposals, nine marks, four inside 50s and three tackles.

WING – KARL WORNER (Peel Thunder)
The Fremantle Dockers rookie made an impressive WAFL debut on Good Friday in the Peel Thunder win against East Fremantle in Mandurah. He was outstanding as well with his run and carry, and finishing ability. By the end of the evening, he had delivered 31 possessions, 10 marks, four inside 50s and two goals in Peel's victory.

HALF-FORWARD FLANK – RYAN KEMP (Swan Districts)
The dashing wingman has come west in 2022 having played in the VFL looking for a fresh started and he began life in the WAFL on fire against East Perth for Swan Districts on Good Friday. He kicked all three of his goals in the first half. He finished the game with 19 disposals, eight marks, three tackles, three entries inside the forward 50 and those three goals.

CENTRE HALF-FORWARD – FRASER MCINNES (Perth)
The Perth co-captain delivered a tremendous captain's performance to prove the match-winner for the Demons against his former West Coast Eagles team at Lathlain on Saturday. He kicked all three of his goals in a match-winning display in the final quarter on his way to 18 disposals and marks for the afternoon.

HALF-FORWARD FLANK – TYRONE THORNE (Peel Thunder)
The reigning Peel Thunder fairest and best winner started off the new season exactly how he finished the last, in fine form in the midfield as he continues to emerge as one of the most outstanding and consistent talents in the league. He ended the win against East Fremantle on Friday with 32 disposals, five inside-50 entries, three marks, three tackles and a goal.

FORWARD POCKET – ALEX MANUEL (Claremont)
Finding enough avenues to goal might be the one area that continues to be a work in progress for Claremont but he was the one that stepped up impressively with a match-winning performance for the Tigers against West Perth on Good Friday. Coming off kicking 42 goals in 2021, he started off 2022 impressively kicking four goals from 12 kicks, four marks and three tackles.

FULL-FORWARD – BRAYDEN NOBLE (Swan Districts)
Swan Districts will be relying on him to be their main forward target throughout 2022 and he started off in impressive fashion matching his career-best performance against East Perth on Good Friday. He kicked five goals from 11 kicks and nine marks in an impressive showing as the spearhead for the black-and-whites in his 81st WAFL appearance.

FORWARD POCKET – RYAN BENNELL (Peel Thunder)
It wasn’t an opening round of the 2022 WAFL with a whole lot of goals so a small forward who took his chances really stood out and that's exactly what he did in the Peel Thunder win at home against East Fremantle on Good Friday. He kicked three goals for the Thunder in the win from seven kicks and five tackles.

RUCK – SCOTT JONES (East Perth)
He proved to be the dominant ruckman on the ground in East Perth's eventual thrilling win against Swan Districts to open the new season on Good Friday at Leederville Oval. The man mountain gave his midfielders first use of the ball for most of the game with 43 hit outs to go with 10 possessions, three tackles and two inside-50 entries for the game.

ROVER – HAMISH BRAYSHAW (East Perth)
The prolific midfielder has returned to East Perth for the 2022 WAFL season and he started in impressive fashion to be instrumental in the win against Swan Districts with his performance on the ball for the Royals. He finished the afternoon with 30 possessions, nine marks, three inside-50 entries, two tackles and a goal.

INTERCHANGE – AARON BLACK (West Perth)
He might be sharing the captaincy with Dean Munns this season at West Perth, but what a remarkably inspirational leader he continues to be. Despite now being 29 and with 223 games under his belt, is showing no signs of dropping and even comes into this 2022 season fresh off an AFL debut at the West Coast Eagles. Was outstanding again in Good Friday's tight loss to Claremont with 32 touches, four marks, four tackles and a goal.

INTERCHANGE – CAM EARDLEY (East Fremantle)
The 130-game veteran started the season in tremendous fashion for East Fremantle despite his team's loss in Mandurah to Peel Thunder on Good Friday. He started the new season in impressive form for the Sharks delivering 30 touches, eight marks and four entries inside the forward 50.

INTERCHANGE – LEIGH KITCHIN (Subiaco)
The 134-game four-time premiership winner remains right at the peak of his powers based on the outstanding form he displayed to start the new season for the under strength Lions against South Fremantle on Saturday. He finished the afternoon with 28 possessions, eight inside-50 entries and five marks.

INTERCHANGE – STEELY GREEN (South Fremantle)
The 18-year-old might be small in stature but showed that he's big on heart as he produced quite the impressive WAFL debut in the win against Subiaco on Saturday for South Fremantle to open the new season. He was mighty impressive too finishing the afternoon with 25 possessions, seven entries inside the forward 50 and five feisty tackles.

UNLUCKY BUNCH
There were plenty of players who delivered tremendous performances across Round 1 but couldn’t quite fit into the Team of the Round, including:

East Perth's Harley Sparks, Kye Willcocks and Damon Greaves.

Claremont's Bailey Rogers, Sam Alvarez, Ronin O'Connor, Ryan Lim, Ben Edwards and Jack Lewsey.

West Perth's Trent Manzone, Luke Meadows, Mitch Peirce, Tristan Hobley, Zac Guadagnin, Michael Mallard and Mark Hamilton.

Swan Districts' Jesse Turner, Tobe Watson, Sam Fisher and Aidan Clarke.

Peel Thunder's Connor Blakely, Mitch Crowden, Joel Western, Lloyd Meek and Ethan Hughes.

East Fremantle's Jonathon Marsh, Blaine Boekhorst, Milan Murdock, Kyle Baskerville, Tom Bennett, Brynn Teakle and Luke English.

Perth's Andrew Fisher, Brayden Ainsworth, Austin Davis, Corey Byrne, Jacob Coniglio, Michael Sinclair and Haydn Busher.

West Coast's Jake Waterman, Xavier O'Neill, John Levien, Josh Browne, Brody Hough, Luke Strnadica and Zane Sumich.

Subiaco's Ben Sokol, Stefan Giro, Ben Golding and Abraham Clinch.

South Fremantle's Zac Strom, Toby McQuilkin, Haiden Schloithe, Tom Blechynden and Hamish Free.

Photo: Brayshaw showing desperation in stopping a Swan DIstricts thrust forward. Courtesy of Sports Imagery Australia