Round 4 WAFLW Match Report

It was a mixed visit on Saturday for Swan Districts to Fremantle Community Bank Oval with a WAFLW loss to South Fremantle but the Rogers Cup team hit back with a narrow victory.

It was Round 4 of the 2023 WAFLW season and Swan Districts started the visit to Fremantle Community Bank Oval with a 53-point league defeat to South Fremantle but the Rogers Cup team hit back with a six-point win.

Swan Districts had dominated the first six meetings over the past three seasons with South Fremantle with an average winning margin of 36.5 points, but things have changed significantly in 2023.

South Fremantle entered Saturday's game at Fremantle Community Bank Oval yet to lose in 2023 and Swan Districts had yet to win, and that trend continued in the Round 4 match up.

Aside from Swans having a brief flurry with the opening two goals of the second half, South Fremantle was in control of the contest to end up winning 12.8 (80) to 4.3 (27).

Carys D'Addario kicked two goals for Swan Districts with Courtney Zappara and Sarah Wielstra the other goal scorers.

It was tough going as the afternoon unfolded for Swan Districts but that doesn’t mean the effort wasn’t there from the players with captain Jess Cox doing all she could with 21 possessions, five marks, three inside 50s and two tackles.

Emma Nanut also finished with 16 disposals, Jaime Henry 16, Hope Ugle-Hayward 14 and Isabella Edgley 13.

Lauren Quaife had 14 hit outs in the ruck to go with six touches and three tackles with Wielstra adding six possessions, 15 hit outs and her goal.

South Fremantle was attempting to beat Swan Districts for the first ever time with the Bulldogs starting impressively at home with the first five scoring shots in the opening eight minutes of the contest.

That included goals to Noa McNaughton and Casey Byrne before McNaughton added another soon after with the Bulldogs racing out to a 25-point advantage.

Swan Districts did get a goal back thanks to Carys D'Addario shortly before quarter-time, but South Fremantle responded through Ella Ward to be 24 points to the good by the end of the opening term.

South Fremantle wasted no time to pull away further to open the second quarter either with two goals in the space of just over two minutes to Zoe Huggett to see the lead expand to 37 points.

Swans responded with another to last year's Rogers Cup leading goalkicker D'Addario, but it didn’t stop the Bulldogs momentum and another goal to McNaughton saw the home team leading by 38 points at half-time.

Swans did show signs of a fightback to start the third quarter with two quick goals in just over three minutes through Courtney Zappara and Sarah Wielstra, but the black-and-whites couldn’t keep the momentum going.

In fact, Swans would score just the one behind the rest of the game with South Fremantle kicking the last two goals of the third quarter courtesy of McNaughton and Byrne.

Mahaela Tuhakaraina also kicked two goals in the last term for South Fremantle to score the emphatic 53-point win to remain unbeaten still in 2023.

The Rogers Cup match up then followed at Fremantle Community Bank Oval with Swan Districts defeating South Fremantle 5.6 (36) to 4.6 (30) to improve to a 2-1 record on the season after the opening three matches.

Sienna Pollard kicked two goals in the win for Swan Districts with one each to Megan Carron, Alana Papalia and Tannah Lee.