Round 6 Rogers Cup Wrap Up

The challenges keep on coming for our Rogers group, this week it was taking on last years’ premiers in South Fremantle and the game opened up like a Grand Final would with both teams running at lightning speed with the ball bouncing from half back to half back, plenty of early fumbles as the players settled into the pace of the game.

The 2021 Falcons are proving they have not only improved considerably with their skills but the resilience of the team to absorb pressure and then return fire is what appears to be the differentiator. They moved to an impressive 6 wins from 6 games this week by overcoming a very competitive Bulldogs running away in the last quarter to win 5.8 (38) to 2.0 (12) and maintain a 1 game advantage on top of the ladder.

South Fremantle’s run was setting the tone for the match as they moved the ball quickly and playing on as much and as quickly as possible, a Ruck infringement deep in the forward zone created the converted opportunity for the Bulldogs and when a turnover across half back turned into a second for the quarter our West Perth players knew they were in for a battle.

Jekylah Garlett who has proven very flexible to play forward or back, was taking good contested marks all over and certainly stemmed the flow of many South Freo attacks as was Hayley Porter who kept driving the Falcons forward. At the first break South Freo held a 2.0 (12) to 0.2 (2).

A 5-minute break, a recharge and a reset by the coaches and the Falcons stepped it up, both teams putting each other to the test, but it was all happening in the Falcons forward half of the ground, which showed they were starting to enforce their influence over the game. When Jeevna Heer intercepted a South Freo clearance delivered with usual precision to Caitlin Thomas who kicked truly from 30 mtrs out the signs were there for a West Perth awakening. The strong field advantage just wasn’t showing on the scoreboard and by halftime South Fremantle even though they were well held by the Falcons defence, still held the lead 2.0 (12) to West Perth 1.3 (9)

After the long break both team defenses were playing the strongest role in the game, with the ball constantly rebounding off half back, what was evident was Chanel Scott and Holly Morris’ combined ruckwork was given West Perth first use of the ball, which was happening all over the ground, several missed opportunities by the Falcons saw them cut the margin and eventually gain the lead 1 point at a time, when the siren sound for three quarter time West Perth held the lead for the first time by the slimmest of margins 1,7 (13) to 2.0 (12)
 

Kudos to the strength and conditioning team at APHQ, because 3 quarters of draining intense footy didn’t stop the Falcons who really came to life, the midfield of Kayla van den Heever, Jasmine Kolodynski and Tayla Anthony stepped up another gear and started to take advantage of the dominance they had for most of the day. A quick clearance and goal to the leagues leading goal scorer Elissa Price widened the margin to 7 points and when Ebony Jackson powered her way through a pack a goaled the warning signs were there for South Fremantle> The pain kept coming the forwards really asserted their presence and created a goal for Amber Rundle and Tayla Anthony’s best on field performance was topped off with the final goal of the game.

So, the Falcons now head into the Easter break for some well earned rest and prepare for the second placed East Fremantle.