Swans keep unbeaten WAFLW run going

SWAN Districts remains the dominant unbeaten team of the 2021 Optus WAFLW Premiership Season but the result against South Fremantle on Saturday at Steel Blue Oval remains in the air.

It was the battle of top against bottom at Steel Blue Oval on Saturday afternoon, and unsurprisingly things played out to expectations during the first half.

Swans were back on home turf at Bassendean's Steel Blue Oval on Saturday to open Round 9 in the WAFLW competition, which was being played this weekend having been forced to be rescheduled back three weeks ago thanks to the COVID-19 lockdown.

Despite Rounds 10 and 11 having already been played, the rescheduled Round 9 was slotted in to take place this weekend and the final four weeks of the home and away season to follow all pushed back one further week.

It did always appear it was a big job ahead of South Fremantle with the Bulldogs heading to Steel Blue Oval on Saturday afternoon searching for their first ever win in the WAFLW competition.

Their challenge was up against a Swan Districts team who reached the first ever WAFLW Grand Final back in 2019, again played finals in 2020 and now has been the dominant team of the competition so far in 2021.

The two teams first did battle this season back in Round 2 and on that occasion Swan Districts came away with the 53-point win against South Fremantle at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.

Saturday afternoon's game was just the second time they have faced one another and the contest played out true to form as the first half unfolded at Steel Blue Oval.

In the end, Swan Districts was leading the game over South Fremantle 6.2 (38) to 0.1 (1) late in the second quarter before a nasty yet accidental incident took place.

South Fremantle young player Cali Hunt was involved with a clash with a Swan Districts player that left the 20-year-old Bulldog motionless on the ground for some time. She eventually left the venue in an ambulance.

The good news is that a couple of days later, Hunt appears to not have suffered serious or long-term injuries, but the serious nature of the incident combined with the significant time delay meant that the rest of the game was abandoned.

Whether or not the result will be a draw, not counted at all for the season or announced as a win for Swan Districts is yet to be determined.

Either way Swan Districts sits clear on top of the WAFLW ladder either with a perfect 10-0 or 11-0 record while South Fremantle remains winless from either 10 or 11 attempts this season.

Emma Nanut ended up kicking two goals for Swan Districts with one each to Brianna Hyde, Shannan Rene, Tara Stribley and Sarah Wielstra.

Meanwhile, Swan Districts' WAFLW Reserves team also had an impressive win against West Perth at Joondalup's Provident Financial Oval on Sunday afternoon, prevailing 9.7 (61) to 1.1 (7).

Shannon Matthews had a day out for Swan Districts kicking four goals in the win while Fiona Boucher and Emily Stott kicked two goals each, and Jacinta Anderson the one.

Alexandra Elward, Emily Hocking, Sophie Sambel, Shannon Matthews and Kayla May were all among the best performers on the day for Swan Districts.

And then in the Rogers Cup action for Round 9, Swan Districts' Youth Girls team couldn’t quite complete the hat-trick for the weekend, with West Perth winning 17.8 (110) to 1.0 (6) also at Joondalup.

Swan Districts goal came from Katlynne Badger while Jayde Stokoe, Siofra Clarke, Sarah Price, Kloe Taylor and Danielle Wright all battled hard as the game went on.