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Meadows masterclass helps West Perth bite Sharks
Tuesday, May 9, 2023 - 1:01 AM
Meadows masterclass helps West Perth bite Sharks
John Townsend
West Perth have maintained their composure under intense East Fremantle pressure as midfield star Luke Meadows helped hold off the surging Sharks in the team’s most significant win of the season.
Up by just three points late in the match at the WACA Ground on Saturday, the Falcons kept their cool before Meadows guaranteed the victory with a pair of goals in time-on in the last quarter.
The 15-point result, 10.12 (72) to 7.15 (57), was West Perth’s first win at the cricket ground since their pre-Joondalup days in 1992 and steered them back to fourth place on the ladder.
The Falcons produced a record 169-point win over an undermanned West Coast last month but that mammoth victory did not require the depth of resolve, skill and fighting spirit required to hold off another team with genuine finals credentials.
No player on the ground matched the impact of Meadows, the long-kicking midfielder, whose best work came in the critical opening and closing moments of the contest.
He was exceptionally busy in the first 15 minutes of the game when West Perth took advantage of the strong easterly to open proceedings with three unanswered goals.
Mitch Dobson set the scene in the first minute with a monster 60m left-foot kick that provided the first of his four goals while Meadows responded to the danger in the final stanza by producing the two strikes that ended East Fremantle’s bid to snatch the lead for the only time in the game.
Meadows will be a pivotal member of the WA team that will take on South Australia in Adelaide this month and he warmed up for his fifth State appearance with 19 kicks, five handballs and a display of great power, timing and influence.
The win also provided an ideal celebration for livewire forward Keegan Knott’s 100th club game.
The absence of co-captain Aaron Black with a hamstring injury has provided opportunities for lesser lights to shine though few Falcons have matched Meadows’ appetite to impose himself on the competition.
Nathan Murray has been a revelation in Black’s absence and his 27 possessions, complemented by an identical return from evergreen veteran Shane Nelson, ensured West Perth had the better of the midfield battle.
But it was at either end that the Falcons were able to expose the cracks in East Fremantle’s make-up.
Dobson was the stand-out with his bag of goals, including the only major scored by either team in the grinding third term, but the recall of the muscular Tom O’Donnell meant spearhead Tyler Keitel had an effective foil and could be called on as a back-up ruckman to lively teenage debutant Riley Sprigg.
The defensive group was even more impressive with East Fremantle kept goal-less in two quarters.
Zac Guadagnin (13 possessions and seven marks) worked feverishly in the opening period to single-handedly stop several East Fremantle attacks, Noah Pegoraro (14 and five) played an identical role in the frenetic last quarter while Rohan Scurria (14 and four) maintained the impressive start to his league career.
West Perth also boast a potent weapon in Ben Johnson who several times landed the ball beyond the centre after taking the kick-in from an East Fremantle behind.
Although opponent Luke English escaped the defender’s close attention to secure the two early goals that tightened the screws on West Perth in the final term, Johnson’s 16 kicks provided an effective springboard for his team-mates.
After a full season in the colts and several reserves matches to start this year, Sprigg revealed a strong leap and considerable physicality in his ruckwork against Reuben McGuire though his most valuable learning experience may have come against the smaller though far more experienced Jarrad Jansen.
The 19-year-old had 44 hit outs against three opponents and laid six tackles to underline his physical presence.
One of the most pleasing elements for coach Darren Harris is West Perth’s depth.
Black should be available soon while fellow premiership player Mark Hutchings had 30 disposals in the reserves on his return from a calf complaint and senior defender Mark Hamilton got through his second reserves game after needing hamstring surgery last year.
WEST PERTH 4.3 5.6 6.10 10.12 72
EAST FREMANTLE 0.3 3.7 3.10 7.15 57
GOALS – WEST PERTH: Dobson 4; Meadows 2; Murray, A Lynch, O’Donnell, Keitel.
EAST FREMANTLE: Leggett 3; English 2; Baskerville, Lawler.
BEST – WEST PERTH: Meadows, Murray, Pegoraro, Guadagnin, Dobson, Nelson, Scurria.
EAST FREMANTLE: Jansen, J Marsh, Leggett, Murdock, Eardley.
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