WAFLW Round 16 Match Report

Swan Districts couldn't quite get over Peel Thunder in the third Grand Final rematch of the WAFLW 2022 season leading to a nervous wait now with the bye in the final round.

For the third time this season, Swans and the Thunder met on the back of taking one another on in the Grand Final of 2021.

The two teams had split the first two encounters in 2022 but it was Peel who proved too strong on Saturday at Steel Blue Oval beating Swans 7.7 (49) to 4.8 (32).

The result means that while Peel is secured in third position with one round of the season to go, Swan Districts has the bye this coming weekend and faces a nervous wait to see if they will take part in the finals action.

Swans do remain in fourth position on the WAFLW ladder with a 6-8 record, but Subiaco is only percentage behind them in fifth spot.

The equation is now simple and if Subiaco beats Peel this Saturday at Leederville Oval then Swan Districts misses finals. If the Thunder beat the Lions, then Swans will remain in fourth position and play finals.

Swan Districts' goals for the day came courtesy of Courtney Zappara, Shannan Rene, Hope Ugle-Hayward and Sarah Wielstra.

Ruby Mahoney finished the afternoon with 17 possessions and 11 tackles for Swan Districts with Abbygail Bushby gathering 17 touches, Ugle-Hayward 14, Isabella Edgley 14, Lauren Osborne 14 and Wielstra 14 in the ruck to go with 18 hit outs, five marks, four inside 50s and three tackles.

While Swan Districts had the first couple of scoring attempts for the game, it was Peel who kicked the first goal of the third Grand Final rematch of 2022 thanks to Jade Briggs.

However, Courtney Zappara responded shortly before quarter-time and that saw Swans head into quarter-time leading by three points.

Jordain Thompson put the Thunder back in front with an early goal in the second term before Holly Britton also kicked truly to extend the lead to seven points, and the Thunder were still on top by five points at the half-time break.

Peel's lead was back out to 11 points with a goal to Briggs to open the second half but Hope Ugle-Hayward soon responded for Swan Districts to bring the home team back within five points.

Peel was then back up 11 points with a goal to Kira Phillips before Swans got one back courtesy of Shannan Rene. The Thunder maintained an 11-point lead at three quarter-time, though, following a late goal to Ella Roberts.

Peel's lead grew to as much as 20 points early in the fourth quarter with a goal to Thompson, and from there the Thunder went on to claim the 7.7 (49) to 4.8 (32) to guarantee themselves a finals appearance.

Meanwhile also on Saturday, it was an impressive win for the Swan Districts' WAFLW Reserves, beating Peel Thunder 5.7 (37) to 0.4 (4).

Renee Holwill, Mahalia Rukuata, Hayley Hill, Karina Donatti-Whyatt and Amber Ugle-Hayward all kicked a goal apiece in the win for Swan Districts.

The win keeps Swan Districts secure in third position on the WAFLW Reserves ladder with seven wins from 12 matches this season ahead of the bye in the last round leading into the finals.