Select grade below

FALCONS STORM INTO FOXTEL CUP GRAND FINAL

Wednesday, June 25, 2014 - 2:03 PM - by CHRIS PIKE

WEST Perth thumped the Western Storm on Tuesday night by 74 points to advance to the Foxtel Cup grand final and to give the Falcons a chance to win a second premiership within the past 10 months.

West Perth controlled its Foxtel Cup semi-final from the outset on Tuesday night at Patersons Stadium and ended up winning 15.7 (97) to 3.5 (23) against the upstart Storm led by Seva Martin's three goals up forward and Aidan Lynch's 24 possessions and nine clearances in the middle.
The Falcons now qualify for the Tuesday July 22 Foxtel Cup grand final against the winner of next Tuesday's other semi-final between East Perth and Williamstown.
By qualifying for the grand final, West Perth is guaranteed of $40,000 in prize money for losing and $100,000 with a victory giving the Falcons a chance of backing up last year's WAFL premiership by claiming the Foxtel Cup trophy for 2014.
The Falcons dominated from the outset and it started with a goal to big man Seva Martin who spent the night at full forward in the absence of regular key forward targets Nick Rodda and Marcus Adams.
Martin has rarely had the chance to show what he can do outside of the ruck in his career, but displayed encouraging signs as a key forward on Tuesday night finishing with 11 possessions, five marks, 11 hit outs, two clearances and three goals.
West Perth's team included seven premiership players from last year but had plenty of fresh faces including Aidan Lynch, Mitch McPhee, Corey Chalmers and Ben King making their senior football debuts.
Lynch led the way in the middle all night for the Falcons with 24 possessions and nine clearances – both game highs.
McPhee was also impressive up forward kicking three goals from 11 touches and five marks while Chalmers ended up with nine possessions and King three to go with three tackles and two marks.
Jack Thrum also did well in the midfield for West Perth gathering 18 possessions while Brayden Antonio finished with 15 disposals, Trent Manzone 13, Luke Meadows 12, Shaun Marusic 12, Steven Browne 11, Joe Morrow 11 and captain-for-the-night Matt Guadagnin 10.
Matt Johnson also booted two goals for West Perth from nine possessions and six marks.
Chris Keunen did well in the ruck before resting in the final quarter ending up with eight possessions, 19 hit outs and three marks in his first game since suffering an eye injury in the WA Day derby loss to East Perth.
West Perth made the perfect start to the Foxtel Cup semi-final with a goal to big man Martin after just over a minute. Guadagnin then got in on the act as well shortly after for a flying start.
Kris Shannon then delivered a clever snap and the lead was out to 21-0 before the Storm eventually managed to score two behinds in the opening quarter, but the Falcons were in control by 19 points at the first change.
McPhee then opened up the goal account in the second quarter with his first of the night to open up a run of four quick goals for the Falcons before half-time.
Marc Crisp, Antonio and Ray Bartholomew all got in on the act that in the second quarter as West Perth's lead extended to 44 points by the main break with the Tasmanian visitors managing just the three behinds for the entire first half.
It then only took 40 seconds for West Perth to kick the opening goal of the third quarter through Johnson and then Martin added his third with the lead extending to 56 points.
The Storm finally kicked their first goal of the night at the 10-minute mark of the third quarter but Marusic and McPhee then added majors again before three quarter-time as West Perth's lead built to 61 points.
McPhee then added his third early in the last term with West Perth leading by 68 points and then 74 by the final siren when Manzone goaled from long range as time expired.
WEST PERTH 3.3 7.5 11.6 15.7 (97)
WESTERN STORM 0.2 0.3 1.5 3.5 (23)
WEST PERTH – Goals: Martin, McPhee 3; Johnson 2; Guadagnin, Shannon, Crisp, Antonio, Bartholomew, Marusic, Manzone.
Best: Lynch, Martin, Manzone, McPhee, Thrum, Antonio, Meadows.
WESTERN STORM – Goals: Russell, W Hanson, Barker.
Best: M Hanson, Blackberry, B Thorp, Bardenhagen, C Thorp.
BY CHRIS PIKEWEST Perth thumped the Western Storm on Tuesday night by 74 points to advance to the Foxtel Cup grand final and to give the Falcons a chance to win a second premiership within the past 10 months.

West Perth controlled its Foxtel Cup semi-final from the outset on Tuesday night at Patersons Stadium and ended up winning 15.7 (97) to 3.5 (23) against the upstart Storm led by Seva Martin's three goals up forward and Aidan Lynch's 24 possessions and nine clearances in the middle.

The Falcons now qualify for the Tuesday July 22 Foxtel Cup grand final against the winner of next Tuesday's other semi-final between East Perth and Williamstown.

Read More [+]

FOXTEL CUP SEMI-FINAL PREVIEW V WESTERN STORM

Tuesday, June 24, 2014 - 2:42 AM - by CHRIS PIKE

WEST Perth takes on Tasmania's Western Storm at Patersons Stadium on Tuesday night in a Foxtel Cup semi-final with a grand final berth at stake.

The game will be shown live on Fox Footy but all supporters are encouraged to come down to Patersons Stadium if possible.
The game begins at 6.30pm with entry free to the stadium from 6pm. The general public can gain access through Gate 26 with the two tier stand open for public seating – blocks 103 to 113, 207 to 213 and 303 to 313.
The game might not have four premiership WAFL points on the line for West Perth, but there is plenty riding on the result. A victory for the Falcons will see them qualify for the Tuesday July 22 grand final.
That means that West Perth would earn at least $40,000 in prizemoney just for qualifying for the grand final and potentially $100,000 if they are then able to go on and win it.
West Perth qualified for the Foxtel Cup semi-final by beating the VFL's Box Hill Hawks at Etihad Stadium in a thriller by a point back on May 6 while the Western Storm also won a nail-biter against the SANFL's West Adelaide by four points at Adelaide Oval on April 29 to advance.
Remarkably it is the Storm's first season in existence in the Tasmanian State Football League after they replaced last year's premiers and the now defunct South Launceston.
West Perth currently sits in fifth position on the WAFL ladder with a 5-6 record to be three matches currently outside of the top-four while the Western Storm currently sit in second position in the TSFL with an 8-2 record.
This year is the second time that West Perth has participated in the Foxtel Cup with the last time being in 2012 when the Falcons beat Ainslie at Blacktown in Sydney before going down to Williamstown while making history as the first WAFL club to ever play on the MCG.
West Perth's team does include seven WAFL premiership players from last year's grand final victory over East Perth with another two in Aaron Black and Nick Rodda named as emergencies.
Aidan Lynch, Mitch McPhee, Ben King and Corey Chalmers come into the West Perth line-up and will make their senior debuts while Luke Tedesco and Marcus Adams are unavailable through injury, and Shane Nelson, Andrew Strijk, Jay van Berlo and Dan Hunt rested.
From the Storm team that did defeat West Adelaide to open the Foxtel Cup competition for 2014 there are only three changes for the semi-final with Cody Thorp, Trent Page and Beau Tuthill coming in at the expense of Tim Jones, Jake Huett and Roy Thomas.
On that night the Storm put enormous pressure on their West Adelaide opponents applying an enormous 84 tackles in the shortened format while winning 110 contested possessions out of their 161 for the match, and that adds up to West Perth facing a physical contest on Tuesday night.
The winner of the semi-final on Tuesday night will be the first team through to the grand final of 2014 in the Foxtel Cup with their opponents to be decided next Tuesday night when East Perth plays the VFL's Williamstown also at Patersons Stadium.
FOXTEL CUP SEMI-FINAL TEAMS
WEST PERTH
Backs: Mitch van Berlo Shaun Marusic Kris Shannon
Half Backs: Luke Meadows Joe Morrow Steven Browne
Centres: Brayden Antonio Ray Bartholomew Rohan Kerr
Half Forwards: Matt Guadagnin Max Alexander Mitch McPhee
Forwards: Marc Crisp Seva Martin Corey Chalmers
Followers: Chris Keunen Jack Thrum Trent Manzone
Interchange: Ben King Aidan Lynch Matthew Johnson Cameron Branch Emergencies: Aaron Black Nick Rodda Drew Rohde
         
WESTERN STORM
Backs: Lewis Ritchie Tom Reinmuth Chris Taylor
Half Backs: Clinton Drake Will Hanson Jordan Bennett
Centres: Jade Child Matt Hanson Billy Jack
Half Forwards: Shaun Collis Mitch Hills Zane Brown
Forwards: Braden McGee Bart McCulloch Alex Russell
Followers: Cody Thorp Jay Blackberry Thane Bardenhagen
Interchange: Beau Thorp Trent Page Beau Tuthill Logan Barker  
Emergencies: Jonathan James Brodie Palfreyman Darryn Thomas
BY CHRIS PIKEWEST Perth takes on Tasmania's Western Storm at Patersons Stadium on Tuesday night in a Foxtel Cup semi-final with a grand final berth at stake.

The game will be shown live on Fox Footy but all supporters are encouraged to come down to Patersons Stadium if possible.

Read More [+]

AARON BLACK PLAYER COLUMN – ROUND 13

Monday, June 23, 2014 - 7:37 PM - by AARON BLACK

A WEST Perth premiership player will be writing a column for the club's website every week of the 2014 WAFL season. This week's edition is Aaron Black's latest offering.

WHEN I first started playing at West Perth there was a real age gap for me with the senior guys in the team because I started pretty young. Now a few years have gone past, guys who I went to school with like Shane Nelson and Mitch McPhee are around the club, it has made it a lot more exciting and we can have a bit more fun together around the club. Playing with Shane in the league team the past two and-a-half years has been a really enjoyable, especially with what we achieved as a team last year. I think having guys you grew up with, who are good friends makes you really enjoy your time that little bit more and makes being at the club that little bit more special.

Read More [+]

BILL GETS GRILLED – BILL MONAGHAN Q & A

Monday, June 23, 2014 - 7:12 PM - by CHRIS PIKE

WEST Perth premiership coach Bill Monaghan will be conducting a weekly question and answer segment for the club's website. Here he looks ahead to Tuesday night's Foxtel Cup semi-final against the Western Storm at Patersons Stadium.

QUESTION: What sort of team are you looking to field in the Foxtel Cup semi-final?

Read More [+]

ANDREW KRAKOUER RETIRES FROM WAFL FOOTBALL

Thursday, June 19, 2014 - 4:59 PM - by CHRIS PIKE

THE WEST Perth Football Club wishes to confirm that Andrew Krakouer has announced his retirement from WAFL football.

Read More [+]

WEST PERTH MISS CHANCE TO RETURN TO TOP FOUR

Monday, June 16, 2014 - 7:40 PM - by CHRIS PIKE

WEST Perth might have only lost to East Fremantle by nine points at Joondalup's HBF Arena on Saturday but it's a result that leaves the Falcons with plenty of work to do to make the finals in 2014.

Read More [+]

FALCONS MAKE FINALS A DIFFICULT TARGET

Monday, June 16, 2014 - 2:55 PM - by DARRELL KENT

WEST Perth lost its fourth game of the season by two goals or less at HBF Arena in Joondalup on Saturday against East Fremantle. It has been a case of close but so far this year and as a result their chances of retaining their premiership crown hangs by a thread.

Read More [+]

ROUND 12 PREVIEW V EAST FREMANTLE

Friday, June 13, 2014 - 7:24 PM - by CHRIS PIKE

WEST Perth and East Fremantle meet at Arena Joondalup on Saturday with the winner to occupy fourth position on the WAFL ladder come Saturday night.

West Perth enters the game with a 5-5 record and given its percentage will leapfrog East Fremantle into fourth spot with a victory, but a loss for the Falcons will leave them with plenty of work to do in order to try to make the finals still in 2014 and defend their 2013 premiership.
West Perth comes into the game having beaten Claremont by nine points last Saturday following a 16-point loss to East Perth and before that two straight wins against Subiaco and Peel Thunder.
The Sharks currently hold fourth position with a 6-4 record so if they win over the Falcons they will improve to 7-4 and be two games clear of the fifth-placed Falcons.
East Fremantle has now put together an improved run of form with wins over Perth, South Fremantle and Peel Thunder to make up for losses prior to that against Swan Districts, East Perth and South Fremantle.
The Sharks also built up a match-winning lead over the Falcons at East Fremantle Oval in Round 1 and withstood a spirited West Perth comeback in the final quarter to win by three points.
East Fremantle also thrashed an undermanned West Perth line-up by 73 points in Round 22 last year despite the Falcons going on to win the premiership and the Sharks missing the finals altogether.
West Perth's team will be well short of full strength with premiership veterans Chris Keunen and Matt Guadagnin again missing through a bruised retina and badly corked thigh respectively for the second straight week.
Andrew Krakouer also remains sidelined while emerging power forward Marcus Adams is also out of the team to take on the Sharks. Adams has had an outstanding first season to date with the Falcons mostly as a key forward but also as a back up ruckman.
However, the absence of Keunen, Guadagnin, Krakouer and Adams does offer opportunities to others with Seva Martin to carry the load in the ruck, Jack Thrum to keep getting chances in the midfield, Kris Shannon to get more time as a small forward and potentially Matt Johnson to come in and offer another forward option without Adams.
Johnson has not played a league game this year since Round 2, but has been in good form in the reserves including a season-high 23 possessions last week and five goals the week before.
Premiership veteran Ray Bartholomew will also make his return after missing the last three games against Subiaco, East Perth and Claremont following surgery on his fractured cheekbone and eye socket suffered early in the Round 8 win over Peel Thunder.
Ben King and Jordan Mills are both a chance to make their league debuts for West Peth as well with Mills especially likely to play if Jordan Jones doesn’t overcome a knee complaint suffered in last week's win over Claremont.
West Perth might be missing some key players, but East Fremantle is again without star defender Steven Dodd who has now still not played a game since the WAFL's State game victory over the NEAFL in Sydney back on Saturday May 24.
Young key forward Brandon Ellis is also out of the East Fremantle line-up having played the first four of his league games with the Sharks over the past four matches.
However, the Sharks have some key players to return and none more so than the hard-running AFL-experienced Bradd Dalziell who is back after missing last week's victory over Peel Thunder.
Tyler Chalwell, Michael Edwards and Boston Williamson have also continued to work hard in the reserves and show some good form to ensure that they remain in contention to also come back into the East Fremantle line-up to take on the Falcons this Saturday.
RESERVES TEAM
M Alexander, B Antonio, C Branch, C Chalmers, J Embley, M Fowler, M Geraghty, P Harvey, J Kirwen, A Lynch, B McNamara, M McPhee, S Money, J Morrow, D Munns, B O'Regan, J Regan, D Rohde, K Shannon, D Sorgiovanni, T Sutherland, M Van Berlo, B Walton, B Wilhelm, T Young
COLTS TEAM
N Alexandre, A Allen, M Antonio, M Ashfield, N Beutel, A Charlie, M Douglas, K Egan, K Fullgrabe, J Gray, C Hinchcliffe, C Lynch, T Manners, W Michell, T Moulton, B Mountford, J Nolan, M Peirce, D Robertson, L Roe, S Rotham, J Sheehan-Nel, A Smith, M Walley, A Wenn
BY CHRIS PIKEWEST Perth and East Fremantle meet at Arena Joondalup on Saturday with the winner to occupy fourth position on the WAFL ladder come Saturday night.

West Perth enters the game with a 5-5 record and given its percentage will leapfrog East Fremantle into fourth spot with a victory, but a loss for the Falcons will leave them with plenty of work to do in order to try to make the finals still in 2014 and defend their 2013 premiership.

West Perth comes into the game having beaten Claremont by nine points last Saturday following a 16-point loss to East Perth and before that two straight wins against Subiaco and Peel Thunder.

Read More [+]

BILL GETS GRILLED – BILL MONAGHAN Q & A

Thursday, June 12, 2014 - 8:41 PM

WEST Perth premiership coach Bill Monaghan will be conducting a weekly question and answer segment for the club's website. Here he discusses last week's win over Claremont and looks ahead to playing East Fremantle this Saturday.

QUESTION: No matter what the performance was like against Claremont, it was just such an important four points to come away from the Showground with?
Read More [+]

RAZOR BACK, JONES A CHANCE, THREE STARS RULED OUT

Thursday, June 12, 2014 - 7:45 PM - by CHRIS PIKE

RAY Bartholomew is set to make his return for West Perth this Saturday against East Fremantle at Arena Joondalup with Jordan Jones in doubt while Matt Guadagnin, Chris Keunen and Andrew Krakouer have again been ruled out.

Premiership player and 160-game veteran Bartholomew will make his return from a fractured cheekbone suffered in the Round 8 win over Peel Thunder while Jones is battling a medial ligament injury suffered in last week's win over Claremont at the Showground.
Meanwhile, ruckman Keunen will miss his second straight week with an eye injury, veteran premiership midfielder Guadagnin is out for his second straight game with a corked thigh and Krakouer will again miss with a knee problem.
Bartholomew copped a heavy knock to his face early in the Round 8 clash against Peel and played out the rest of the match despite fractures to his cheekbone and eye socket, but has since had surgery to insert plates and missed the games against Subiaco, East Perth and Claremont.
However, the 29-year-old is now right to return this Saturday against East Fremantle albeit with a helmet on his head.
"Ray got clearance last week from the doctor that this week is the way to go. He will wear a helmet for at least a couple of weeks just in case he does happen to get a knock on there so the blow that he will get is minimised," coach Bill Monaghan said.
"It's plated so in theory it is stronger than if he didn’t have the plate there. It's more that the bone hasn’t healed underneath the plate yet so another knock will disturb that and disrupt the natural healing process, but with the plate on there he is right to go.
"He has trained really well the last couple of weeks and he has recovered well. He is such a hard worker on and off the field that we expect him to be back and firing on all cylinders this week."
Monaghan is also unsure about his star utility Jones in regards to his availability for the clash with the Sharks on Saturday, but is hopeful he will get up.
"Jordy got a slight tweak of his medial that is not dissimilar to what Michael Johnson did. From talking to our doctors and physios, the general feel is that if they can strap you up and get you back out there, generally it's right at the minor end and it's touch and go for the following week," he said.
"But as Fremantle saw with Michael Johnson, if you can't go back out then it's possibly up to a month off. We are probably looking at a Grade 1 strain of the medial for Jordy which means he is going to be touch and go for this week.
"He will have to get through a fitness test on Thursday night. While he was on reduced capacity, given that he played the game out and was still serviceable we are hopeful that he will play."
Keunen will again miss the game following the bruised retina he suffered in the WA Day derby against East Perth, but Monaghan is confident he might play in the Foxtel Cup clash with Western Storm on Tuesday June 24 or at least the next WAFL match in Round 13 against South Fremantle.
"Chris is purely being guided by the medicos at the moment and he is on no play this week. It is a two-week recovery just to let the bruising and bleeding go down in that eye," Monaghan said.
"It's a potentially major injury if you push it so it is all about not getting his blood pressure up and things like that to cause any more bleeding.
"The doctors are really confident that with another week off he will be ready to go and we will strongly consider playing him in the Foxtel Cup given he has had two weeks off, and that it's a shortened game. We are not certain we will do that, but we will look at it and Sev (Seva Martin) might need a bit of a rest after this week as well."
Guadagnin has also been ruled out for this Saturday with the badly corked thigh he copped against East Perth but played out the rest of the game with. Monaghan sees him as being on a similar time frame to Keunen.
"Matt won't play this week either. With that cork, the fact that he did it so early and kept playing was not what you need to do to help recover quickly," he said.
"You need to stop the bleeding quickly so it bled significantly more than it needed to, but we needed him out there on the ground against East Perth. It means that he has struggled to get over it.
"We might look at playing him in the Foxtel Cup or leave him for the South game after that, but that will be guided by how he trains. He trained Tuesday night in terms of some running and kicking, but he didn’t join in the main training."
However, Krakouer's immediate future remains unclear as he continues to battle a nagging knee complaint.
"That is an on-going issue that we haven’t been able to get to the bottom of yet, and we are a little unsure of when he will be available," Monaghan said.
"It is what it is on that one. I don’t like saying that, but he isn’t available for selection this week. That is the simple answer."
BY CHRIS PIKERAY Bartholomew is set to make his return for West Perth this Saturday against East Fremantle at Arena Joondalup with Jordan Jones in doubt while Matt Guadagnin, Chris Keunen and Andrew Krakouer have again been ruled out.

Premiership player and 160-game veteran Bartholomew will make his return from a fractured cheekbone suffered in the Round 8 win over Peel Thunder while Jones is battling a medial ligament injury suffered in last week's win over Claremont at the Showground.

Meanwhile, ruckman Keunen will miss his second straight week with an eye injury, veteran premiership midfielder Guadagnin is out for his second straight game with a corked thigh and Krakouer will again miss with a knee problem.

Read More [+]