The Swan Districts Round 3 Wrap-Up

It was a new-look games format for Round 3 at Steel Blue Oval over the weekend, with the League men’s side playing in the 12:40pm timeslot on Saturday, as the curtain raiser for the top women’s WAFLW team.

Playing against one of the powerhouse sides of the competition in Subiaco, it was the Rogers Cup girls who were able to celebrate their first victory of the season, while the men’s Reserves side registered a draw, having played catch-up all day.

Check out the breakdown of each game below…

WAFL Colts

It was a tough day for the Colts boys on Sunday afternoon, going down to a strong, big-bodied Lions side 6.9 [45] to 17.8 [110].

Having learnt from their mistakes of last week where they disposed of the ball mostly by hand, their kicking kept them in the game, being down by less than four goals at halftime.

Subiaco’s Colts showed that they may well be the side to beat in 2020, kicking 10.4 to 3.6 in the second half, moving to third on the ladder with a 65 point victory.

Coach Simon Bergin said there were some pleasing signs, despite the heavy loss.

“Our ball movement was better, and we were stronger around the contest” he said.

“We controlled the first quarter and won the forward 50 entries, but again struggled to score, which is something we will continue to work on.”

Ayden Cartwright continued to pour on the disposals, leading all possession getters with 24, while Jamison Ugle, Joseph Salmon and Ashley Brockbernd were judged best afield.

Zane Trew left the ground early with concussion, while Alec Clark also received a head knock during the game.

WAFL Reserves

It was pressure footy for the Reserves side, with the ball locked mainly in the middle of the ground throughout the first term. The only difference being that Subiaco scored each time they went inside 50, with the Swans forwards often being caught behind their opponents in attack, registering no score heading into the first break.

With the ball locked in their opponents half early on in the second, it was Tom Edwards who broke the drought, kicking the Swans first major with a nice snap around the body. Patrick Farrant and Atem Deng followed suit, to close the gap to 11, heading into halftime.

Holding the Lions to a solitary goal in the third, the deficit continued to decrease as the Swans looked in control heading into the final term.

A motivating three quarter time rev-up by coach Paul Saylor, encouraged each one of his players to take their moment and finish the game strong, seeing them come out firing in the fourth to take the lead for the first time in the day.

Another nail-biting finish couldn’t split the teams however. With the game ending in a draw, 8.1 [49] to 7.7 [49].

Recruit Jacob Sideris received best on ground honours, followed by Mitchell Bain and Nathan Ireland.

WAFL League

The Swans League side came up against a refreshed, hungry Lions squad, having come off the bye last week and a Round 1 loss to Claremont.

As expected, it was a tight, fiery start to the game as team’s swapped goal for goal in the first term. The Lions kicked away with only a few minutes left in the quarter to take a 14-point lead into the first break.

A fourth goalless quarter this season in the second saw the black and whites opponents begin to open up a decent lead, with inaccuracy keeping them in the game. The half time address from the coaches emphasized the need to attack the ball harder, with some lacklustre efforts resulting in opposing scoring opportunities.

Contested ball and clearances improved in the third, with the black ducks outscoring the Lions to give them a sniff going into the final term.

The Swans peppered the scoreboard early in the fourth, with their efforts resulting mainly in behinds. Subi then took the game on their own terms, kicking away to take the victory 6.4 [40] to 11.13 [79].

Co-captain Matt Riggio says that the loss gives them the opportunity to improve in areas needed for them to compete with the best teams in the competition.

“As a team I think we were competitive for most of the day” he said.

“We matched them in clearances and contested possessions, we just let ourselves down with a couple of little things going forward, along with turnovers that went back for direct goals.

“They’re one of the benchmarks of the competition and we know what we need to work on to get better.”

Recruit Frank Anderson was voted best on ground, with key defender Brandon Erceg runner-up. Nathan Blakely received the Golden Grunt award in his first league game back for the season.

WAFLW Rogers Cup

The Swan Districts Rogers Cup girls held their Subiaco opponents to just 1-point to take out their first win of the 2020 season, 3.3 [21] to 0.1 [1].

A win next week against bottom-placed East Perth could see them sitting knocking on the door of the top four.

WAFLW Reserves

Having come off an exciting victory against Claremont last week, our Swans WAFLW Reserves were quietly confident they would be able to hold Subiaco winless on Sunday afternoon at home.

Unfortunately it wasn’t meant to be, with injuries during the game hitting the group hard, as the Lions controlled the scoreboard for most of the day, taking the victory 3.4 [22] to 6.7 [43].

WAFLW League

In a quick start for our Swans WAFLW side, Sarah Wielstra opened the day with her first goal in WAFLW, after taking a strong mark in the goal square and converting truly.

Contested possession and on-ball pressure around the ground was good in the first term, with the women obviously having that as a focus coming into the game.

The second term saw the black and whites start running and carrying the ball more, but basic errors let them down, particularly when pushing forward. The ruck combination of Stephanie Graskoski and Wielstra saw them overpower their AFLW-listed opponent, helping the mids get first hands to the ball while nullifying Subiaco’s attack from stoppages.

The third quarter saw the teams locked in a tight arm wrestle, with the sides holding each other scoreless until the Lions converted a major inside the final minute of the term.

A tough final quarter saw Subiaco blow the game open, taking the win 2.5 [17] to 6.8 [44].

Head coach, Jo Taylor, spoke after the game that although there were some pleasing signs, it was very obvious what the group needed to improve on at training.

“We need constant work on our structures, along with some other bits and pieces” she said.

“Our backs stood up well today. We had Olivia Cripps who at just 15 years old held her own, along with Aimee Ralph who had her best game of the season.

“We won plenty of the ball through our midfield and defended well, we just didn’t quite have that connection with our forwards.

“That’s something we’ll continue to work on and can fix going into next week.”

Olivia Cripps was outstanding in just her second game of league football, being voted by her team mates as the Players Player of the day.

Hayley Cole, Eilish Grundon and Aimee Ralph were given the coaches best on ground honours.

With the men’s sides on the bye this weekend, head down to Steel Blue Oval on Sunday for some great footy action, with our Rogers Cup girls taking on East Perth from 11am, and our senior teams battling East Fremantle at 12:45pm and 2:45pm respectively.

Saturday 8^th August

Colts (Men’s)                     Bye

Reserves (Men’s)             Bye

League (Men’s)                 Bye

Sunday 9^th August

Rogers Cup (Women’s) 11am

Reserves (Women’s)      12:45pm

League (Women’s)          2:45pm