Connection the key for West Perth improvement

Connection the key for West Perth improvement

John Townsend

Improving the connection between midfielders and forwards will be a major focus for coach Darren Harris and his team as West Perth’s attempt to right their wobbling premiership defence.

Spearhead Tyler Keitel the league’s leading goal-kicker battled to escape close-checking defender Gus Dewar for much of the match but still presented as an option to his team-mates more than a dozen times.

Keitel finished with just 1.1 from his two shots at goal while his greatest impact came when he moved up the ground where he produced a game-high six inside 50 entries.

It was a costly move that left West Perth without a key target and they surrendered two goal-less quarters kicking into the breeze and were unable to wrest back Subiaco’s momentum once the Lions extended their lead into double figures just before half-time.

The 9.12 (66) to 6.9 (45) score underlined the value of West Perth’s defensive set-up, with newcomer Rohan Scurria proving a revelation as he kept Jaimon Alone to just one kick while likely State representatives Noah Pegoraro and Zac Guadagnin enhanced their reputations as miserly defenders.

Ben Johnson’s penetration means he is the designated starter after opposition behinds, enabling him to gather a team-high 23 kicks with several of them approaching the centre circle.

But the absence of hamstrung skipper Aaron Black, the lack of impact of reigning fairest-and-best winner Mitch Peirce and Shane Nelson’s reduced effectiveness under a heavy tag left the Falcons vulnerable in the middle.

Anton Hamp’s retirement after a quietly influential stint in the forward line last season, and Keegan Knott’s absence with an ankle injury that ended his sequence of 238 consecutive matches from his start in the Claremont colts in 2011, left West Perth short of attacking experience.

The irony in their modest attacking performance was that their goals included several samples of outstanding forward play.

Lively wingman Joe Hinder kicked a trademark running goal from long range in the first term to provide the team’s biggest lead of the game, Sam Rotham produced a stunning dribble in the third, Mitch Dobson drilled a testing set shot and the final strike came just before the last break when Conal Lynch capped his return from a fractured eye socket by landing a tough shot alongside the boundary.

The problem came not in the excellence of the highlights but in the lack of bread-and-butter conversions from orthodox ball movement.

Luke Meadows and Aidan Lynch won plenty of the football with 22 possessions each and 18 tackles between them, and Nelson’s class was evident when he overcame Rylie Morgan’s tag to gain 23 disposals.

Eight of them came from free kicks with Morgan’s close attention at stoppages occasionally coming to the umpires’ attention.

And Nathan Murray maintained his strong response after being called into the league team. He had 30 possessions and three goals last week and while not as prominent against a Lions team with more teeth than Swan Districts, his 19 touches were hard-won.

 Yet finding the football was not the major issue, even though veteran Subiaco ruckman Zac Clarke used his experience and athleticism to wear down Michael Mallard but should use the experience as one of the most valuable learning opportunities of his short career.

The defeat meant West Perth slid out of the top five but they have an opportunity to return when they take on East Fremantle at the WACA Ground on Saturday.

Finding a way to connect their prolific midfielders and potent forwards may determine whether that happens.

SUBIACO 1.4 4.8 8.8 9.12 66

WEST PERTH 2.3 2.5 6.7 6.9 45

GOALS – SUBIACO: Borchet, Sokol 2; Schofield, Robbins, Clarke, Kentfield, Braut.

WEST PERTH: Dobson, Rotham, Keitel, Rundle, Hinder, C Lynch.

BEST – SUBIACO: Clarke, Dewar, Savigni, Rohde, W Schofield, Heal.

WEST PERTH: A Lynch, Pegoraro, Scurria, Nelson, Meadows, Murray.