Round 1 WAFL Match Report

Swan Districts got off to the perfect start to the 2024 WAFL season beating the West Coast Eagles by 64 points with Leigh Kohlmann kicking six goals, and Nik Rokahr and Jye Chalcraft starring through the middle.

After a string of heartbreaking tight losses to start the 2023 season, a winning start to 2024 was the order of the day for Swan Districts and that came to fruition at Steel Blue Oval on Saturday.

Swans didn’t have it all their own way throughout the day, but six goals to one in the second quarter, and eight to one in the fourth set up the eventual 21.11 (137) to 10.13 (73).

The victory means that Swan Districts is still yet to lose to West Coast in the WAFL with the two teams having now played one another nine times.

Swan Districts has been calling out for a spearhead in attack and Leigh Kohlmann is back at the club and playing his first league game since 2020, he produced a career-best performance in the win on Saturday.

Kohlmann ended up kicking six goals from 10 kicks and eight marks to make it the first time he's kicked more than three goals in a WAFL game.

Swans had plenty more scoring avenues as well with Jiah Reidy lively kicking three goals as did Jackson McLachlan while Tom Edwards, Jesse Turner and Ayden Cartwright all chipped in with two.

The Swan Districts midfield was dynamic too and the addition of recruits Jye Chalcraft and Nik Rokahr paid immediate dividends.

The pair won their team's fairest and best awards last year with Geelong in the VFL and Norwood in the SANFL respectively, and showed why in their WAFL debuts on Saturday in spectacular performances.

Chalcraft finished with 35 possessions, six marks and three inside-50 entries with Rokahr producing 32 touches and nine marks while co-captain and reigning Swan Medallist Jesse Turner had 29 touches and 14 marks to go with his two goals.

Jarvis Pina also racked up 26 disposals, Aidan Clarke 23, Josh Cipro 22, McLachlan 19 and Will Collins 17.

It took less than two minutes into the game for Swan Districts to kick the first goal courtesy of the returning Leigh Kohlmann who instantly showed what a strong target in attack he will be.

The flying start continued with another to Jiah Reidy and Swans had two on the board inside three minutes, but they wouldn’t add another in the quarter.

West Coast did manage two goals themselves which cut the Swan Districts lead to just a point by quarter-time.

Swan Districts were then going to the scoring end in the second quarter and took full advantage starting with a goal to co-captain Jesse Turner after just a couple of minutes.

Kohlmann then caught fire up forward in stunning fashion to kick the next four goals of the game to be proving quite the imposing presence. By the time he kicked his fifth goal of the game 19 minutes into the second term, Swans were in control leading by 29 points.

That would remain the half-time margin and while a goal to Nathan Blakely to start the second half pushed that lead out to 35 points, West Coast then picked up some momentum over the next 20 minutes to make it a real contest again.

The Eagles were able to kick six goals in just over 20 minutes and threatened to take the lead getting to within two points on two separate occasions before three quarter-time.

However, late goals for Swan Districts to Turner, Josh Cipro, Brad Lynch and then a sixth to Kohlmann were enough to steady things for the black-and-whites and make it a 21-point margin again by the last change.

Swans might have only added one more goal in the opening 10 minutes of the last quarter, they soon put on the afterburners kicking another seven goals to one in the space of the next 20 minutes.

That included second and third goals to Jackson McLachlan, two to Ayden Cartwright, and a second to Reidy and Tom Edwards on the way to the impressive first up 64-point victory.

Swans will be in action again this coming Saturday against East Perth at Leederville's Sullivan Logistics Stadium where the Colts and Reserves will open their seasons.