Rogers Cup Round 8 Wrap Up

Last Sunday bought the longest road trip in WAFLW Footy, Joondalup to Mandurah, with brings the prospect of taking on the might of Peel Thunder, who have set the benchmark in Rogers Cup football since its inception. Our young Falcons were less intimidated by that than in previous years having overcome Peel at Provident Financial Oval only 3 rounds earlier with a come from behind win.

The game was played in warm conditions, something also not normal for a game at David Grays Arena, a ground well known for high winds and plenty of rainy days, it was another First vs Second clash and the football early match the weather conditions. It was hard, contested footy at its best, with both teams forcing turnovers and hard tackles the primary focus of both teams. The physicality of the game was great to watch, except for one Peel Back who tried to escape across the half back line until she ran into the freight train in Kayla van den Heever coming the other way, she certainly knows now what a tennis ball off a racquet must feel like.
It took 10 minutes before the nil all deadlock was broken by a solitary point from the Falcons.

The backline stalwarts of Jess & Kaitlyn Roper, Liliana, Grassenis, Emma Lilford, Karla Stagg, and Claire Norbury just would not give Thunder an inch and an repeatedly shut down any thought of getting close to the goal square. Ebony Jackson was certainly up and about early as well with several good contested marks around the ground. When Mahli Turland was awarded a free kick just outside the 50m arc and kicked to Chloe Shearing the first goal of the quarter was on the board, but it was just as the siren sounded. So after an enthralling 18 minutes of footy West Perth took a 7 pont advantage into the first break 1.1 (7) to Peel 0.0 (0).

The second started similar to the first with Peel winning the first clearance and immediately tried to catch the Falcon backs off guard, but they were only able to produce a point. Jeevna Heer was also active early with her usual run on the wing and intercept play. The heavy tackles continued throughout the quarter and plenty of hard sustained runs. The Falcons ability to link up all over the ground was giving them dominance on the field, they just couldn’t do any damage on the scoreboard, so after an intense half of footy, still only the solitary goal kicked, 
West Perth now 1.4 (10) and Peel 0.1 (1).

There is nothing like a long break to reassess strategies and effort, it looked initially like the same game was going to unfold early in the third, but then West Perth flicked the switch, literally, the ball was moving around all over the place in an attempt to get around the Peel press, Megan Norbury was using her pace to good effect and breaking from half back right up to half forward. When Elissa Price took a good mark and hit her counterpart in Chloe, who duly converted giving her and the team two goals for the day. Liliana’s tenacity is unmatched and not uncommon for her to take on 2,3 or 4 opponents and still be able to deliver the ball to a teammate.The Falcons pressure was definitely starting to force cracks in the Thunder armour as Pricey weaved her way through a pack and kicked truly and it wasn’t much longer before she doubled up and put the Falcons 4 goals up. The West Perth Midfield were capitalizing on its dominance and with the forwards leading strongly it was producing results. Holly Morris was proving it’s not all about the ruck with her strong tackling around the ground as well. The quarter finished with Peel succumbing once again to high pressure from the West Perth forward line and the deft touch of Mahli Turland put through the fourth Falcons goal of the quarter, it looked like Peel were on the ropes 34 points behind. West Perth 5.5 (35) to Peel 0.1 (1).

The last was a gang tackle frenzy by the Falcons and just more run, run, run, this is a fit side that can be hard and physical when it needs to be and high skilled, fleet footed at other times, there was no better way to finish off the game then to have the Elissa and Chloe slot another through each to win convincingly by 47 points and holding Peel Thunder to the solitary point kicked in the second quarter, Final Score West Perth 7.6 (48) to Peel Thunder 0.1 (1). Claire Norbury claimed best on ground for her consistent, solid and dependable effort across the backline and her sister Megan got the coach’s nod for her long sustained running across the four quarters