Swans Hammer Sharks To Return To Form

SWAN Districts returned to form in the most emphatic way imaginable dominating East Fremantle at Steel Blue Oval on Saturday to end up with a 90-point victory.

Swan Districts started the season under new coach Adam Pickering encouragingly with wins against Perth and Peel Thunder, but losses to Subiaco and West Perth meant they needed to bounce back on home turf on Saturday.

The heat was also on East Fremantle coming off a 94-point Anzac Derby victory at home to South Fremantle having only managed to narrowly beat Perth so far in 2018 while also losing to Peel Thunder and Claremont.

It was Swan Districts clearly at a different level right from the first bounce on Saturday in what turned into an embarrassing performance from East Fremantle and one full of promise for the black-and-whites.

Swans couldn’t have possibly been any more dominant all over the field going on to lead by 35 points at quarter-time, 73 points at half-time, 91 points at three quarter-time and then going on to record the 22.17 (149) to 9.5 (59) victory.

The win steadies the black-and-whites with a 3-2 record on the season while the Sharks slip to 1-4 and bottom spot on the ladder with it hard to find any reasons to suggest improvement on their three-win season of 2017.

Corey Gault delivered a best on ground performance for Swan Districts with the reigning Swan Medallist kicking four goals in the first half and finishing the afternoon with 23 possessions, 11 marks and 14 hit outs.

Matthew Rogers also kicked two goals for the black-and-whites as did Todd Banfield, Brayden Noble, Levi Ridley, Albert Dean and Steven Payne.

Rhys Palmer elected to join Swan Districts in 2018 on return to the WAFL following his 123-game AFL career and he enjoyed his first experience against the Sharks on Saturday finishing with 28 possessions.

Matt Riggio also collected 25 disposals for the black-and-whites, David Ellard 24, Jesse Turner 23, Payne 23, Warrick Wilson 20, Tobe Watson 19, Dean 19 and Ridley 18.

Nathan Blakely was also impressive in the ruck for Swans finishing with 21 possessions and 14 hit outs.

The response from East Fremantle following the big Anzac Derby loss to South Fremantle wasn’t there with the Sharks not managing to score in the first 27 minutes of their visit to Steel Blue Oval on Saturday.

Swans, on the other hand, took full advantage and in that time set up a match-winning advantage with opening quarter goals to Corey Gault (three), Jesse Turner, Matthew Rogers, David Ellard and Warrick Wilson.

At least the Sharks kicked a couple of goals before quarter-time through Jack Perham and Tom Marshall, but Swans remained well in control with a 35-point advantage.

There would be no momentum build by East Fremantle, though, with Swan Districts continuing on its merry way with two early goals in the second term to Levi Ridley and Kirk Ugle.

Brayden Noble then added another and the lead for the black-and-whites grew to 54 points before East Fremantle third goal of the opening half to Russell Wynne.

It was all Swans from there leading into half-time with goals to Todd Banfield, Gault, Albert Dean and Rhys Palmer as the lead ballooned to 73 points by the main break.

Once more there were no signs of life shown by the Sharks coming out of the half-time break either with the black-and-whites edging towards a 100-point advantage when Steven Payne and Ridley kicked goals inside the opening seven minutes of the third term.

Swans' lead was 91 points by the last change after another four goals to one in the third term.

East Fremantle at least avoided a triple-digit loss with five goals to four in the last quarter, but that was about their only positive to take out of a dismal afternoon where Swans returned to form and confidence in emphatic style.

Swan Districts also came away with an impressive reserves victory at Steel Blue Oval on Saturday beating East Fremantle 18.13 (121) to 15.4 (94).

Swans' reserves started on fire with six goals to three in the opening quarter and then added another six to four in the second to lead by 33 points at the main break.

The high-scoring reserves affair continued and only five points separated the teams by three quarter-time, but Swan Districts kicked away in the last term with four goals to one to win by 27 points.

Steven Wityk kicked three goals for Swan Districts as did Brad Fullgrabe and Ben McGillivray. Josh Power, Chad Daniels and Tom O'Brien all kicked two goals each as well.

Freddie Clutterbuck amassed 30 possessions for Swans, Adam Faulkner 29, Ethan Maguire 22, Lochie Huntley 19 and Aaron Wheeler 17.

The middle match of the day of colts action at Fremantle Community Bank Oval saw East Fremantle beat Swan Districts by 24 points.

East Fremantle made a fast start kicking four goals to one in the first quarter before still leading by 18 points at half-time, 26 points at three quarter-time and then going on to claim the 14.8 (92) to 11.2 (68) victory.

Kade Walldrot kicked three goals for Swan Districts from 10 kicks and five entries inside the forward 50.

Patrick Farrant and Jackson Beck both kicked two goals as well for Swans.

Riley Garcia amassed 23 possessions for Swan Districts, Mitchell Bain 20, Brenton Hilton 20, Graydon Wilson 16 and Jarred Cameron 15.

Swan Districts heads to Fremantle Community Bank Oval this Saturday for the last game before the State match against South Australia to take on a South Fremantle team on a three-game winning streak.

It's the first time the teams will have played one another since the Bulldogs beat Swans by 80 points in last year's first semi-final at the same venue.

SWAN DISTRICTS                             7.5          14.9        18.12     22.17     (149)

EAST FREMANTLE                            2.0          3.2          4.5          9.5          (59)

SWAN DISTRICTS – Goals: Gault 4; Rogers, Banfield, Noble, Ridley, Dean, Payne 2; Palmer, Ellard, Ugle, Riggio, Turner, Wilson.

Best: Gault, Palmer, Blakely, Payne, Palmer, Riggio, Ellard, Turner, Wilson.

EAST FREMANTLE – Goals: Perham 3; Hampson 2; Snadden, Howson, Marshall, R Wynne.

Best: Schofield, Hampson, Snadden, Perham.