Swans Back To Winning List In Style Beating Royals

SWAN Districts returned to the WAFL winner's list in style after a three-week break to blow East Perth away for three quarters to set up the eventual 13-point victory at Leederville Oval on Saturday.

Swans and the Royals both came into Saturday's contest at Leederville Oval having had remarkably similar starts to the season.

East Perth was one position ahead on the ladder having beaten West Perth who Swan Districts had lost to, but aside from that both clubs had beaten East Fremantle, Peel Thunder and Perth so far in 2018 while losing to top two teams Subiaco and South Fremantle.

They had both lost to South Fremantle in their last hit outs as well, East Perth last week by 68 points at Leederville Oval and Swan Districts back in Round 7 prior to the State game break by 13 points at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.

That set the stage for a fascinating and potentially season-defining battle and it was Swans who came out firing having not played in three weeks since that loss to the Bulldogs at the port.

Swan Districts kicked six goals to two in the opening quarter and then still led by 12 points at half-time.

Swans kicked away further in the third term with four unanswered goals and then despite six goals to two from East Perth in the last term, Swan Districts was never seriously threatened going on to win 13.8 (86) to 11.7 (73).

Nathan Blakely had some quality opposition up against him in the ruck in the form of East Perth's Eagles pair Fraser McInnes and Nathan Vardy, but he was the standout big man in the game with 27 possessions and 24 hit outs.

Rhys Palmer also continued his outstanding form for Swans with another 26 disposals, five tackles and two goals.

David Ellard also picked up 23 possessions (six tackles) for the black-and-whites, Jesse Turner 23, Kirk Ugle 19, Matt Riggio 19, Alex Howard 16, Todd Banfield 15 and William Reidy 15.

It was a day of mixed emotions for both Swans coach Adam Pickering and former East Perth fairest and best winner Steven Payne coming up against the Royals for the first time in black-and-white colours. Payne performed well with 18 possessions.

Taryce Stewart came into the Swan Districts team for his first league game of the season and he kicked four goals from eight kicks as he made the most of his opportunities.

It took just a minute into the game for East Perth to get the perfect start when returning West Coast small forward Jack Petruccelle kicked truly.

But Swans responded soon after through Taryce Stewart in his first league appearance of 2018. The Royals hit back through big man Fraser McInnes, though, and there was little indication of what was to come.

Between the 18 and 32-minute mark of the first quarter, Swans delivered some inspired football with goals to David Ellard, Kirk Ugle, Rhys Palmer, Jesse Turner and Corey Gault to take a 26-point advantage into quarter-time.

Again East Perth kicked a goal in the opening minute of the second quarter thanks to Nathan Vardy but Swans soon replied through Warrick Wilson to restore the 26-point lead.

That would be Swans' only goal of the quarter and East Perth added two more before the break but the black-and-whites remained in control to the tune of 12 points at half-time.

After East Perth kicked the first couple of behinds of the second half, Swan Districts went on a run of four unanswered goals over the space of 13 minutes with one each to Todd Banfield and Brayden Noble, and two to Stewart to set up a match-winning 34-point lead.

Swans were still up by 37 points at three quarter-time and despite East Perth kicking six goals to two in the final terms, the black-and-whites still went on to impressively win by 13 points.

East Perth's reserves came away with a comfortable 15.14 (104) to 4.8 (32) win against Swan Districts at Leederville Oval on Saturday.

East Perth started on fire kicking eight goals to one in the first quarter and then held Swans scoreless in the second term kicking two more goals themselves to lead by 63 points at the break.

Swans' had a better third quarter with three goals to one but the Royals kicked another four unanswered goals in the last term to come away with the 72-point victory.

Ethan Maguire, Josh Power, Tom O'Brien and Matt Blake were the goal scorers for Swan Districts.

Levi Ridley racked up 28 disposals for Swans, Adam Faulkner 21, Lockie Huntley 21, Freddie Clutterbuck 19, Brody Sutton 15 and Brad Fullgrabe 15 to go with six marks and 11 hit outs.

The day started well for Swan Districts at Leederville Oval with the colts claiming a 31-point victory against East Perth.

There was just the one goal kicked in the opening term with the conditions at its worst for the game with that lone major going East Perth's way.

East Perth then kicked away further in the second term with three more unanswered goals to have held Swan Districts goalless and to just four behinds in the first half.

But Swans came out a different unit in the second half starting off kicking three goals to two in the third quarter and then playing some scintillating football in the last term piling on eight goals to no score to East Perth.

That saw Swan Districts secure the 11.5 (71) to 6.4 (40) win and improve to a 5-2 record in second position on the ladder while East Perth sits last at 1-6.

Kade Walldrot kicked four goals for Swan Districts, Nathan Ireland three and Jarred Cameron two to go with 25 possessions, seven marks, six inside-50 entries and five tackles.

Riley Garcia also racked up 25 possessions for Swans along with nine tackles and nine inside 50s.

Mitchell Bain collected 24 disposals, Joel Curtis 24, Jackson Beck 17, Denzel More 17 and Brenton Hilton 17.

Swan Districts returns home to Steel Blue Oval on Saturday to host Perth with the chance to string a couple of wins together and further cement a position inside the top five.

SWAN DISTRICTS                             6.2          7.3          11.6        13.8        (86)

EAST PERTH                                        2.0          5.3          5.5          11.7        (73)

SWAN DISTRICTS – Goals: Stewart 4; Palmer 2; Ellard, Ugle, Banfield, Gault, Noble, Turner, Wilson.

Best: Blakely, Palmer, Ellard, Stewart, Ugle, Watson, Turner, Payne.

EAST PERTH – Goals: Petruccelle 3; Allen 2; Maginness, Ameduri, Hart, McInnes, Partington, Vardy.

Best: Partington, Ameduri, Blee, Hille, Watson, Petruccelle, McGinnity.

Photos by The Sports Photo.