Code Black as skipper steers Falcons into top five

Code Black as skipper steers Falcons into top five

John Townsend

Darren Harris admitted he was nervous at half-time on Sunday after West Perth’s goal-less first term and shaky opening hour threatened to lead to the team’s first three-game losing streak in five seasons.

Captain Aaron Black was not so concerned.

After 247 1/2 league games, two flags and a lifetime of football experiences, Black knew the 23-point deficit against South Fremantle would be erased if the team could only discover its best form.

And he might have been buoyed by the statistical quirk that makes this round West Perth’s best with two-thirds of their 126 round nine games ending in victory.

“When you’re coach it’s a bit out of your control,” Black said after West Perth produced a blistering second half at Pentanet Stadium to win running away by 27 points, 12.14 (86) to 9.5 (59), and return to the top five.

 “It was up to us as players to pull our fingers out a little bit and just play our brand.”

That brand has been somewhat ragged in recent weeks with the candid Black saying his men knew they had to change their approach if they were to overcome the Bulldogs.

“We knew we needed to move the ball with a bit of speed on it,” he said.

“We did that in the second half.

“Being behind meant we had to try to win the game whereas before we were trying not to lose.

“I think we’ve been doing that for the last few weeks.”

State defender Noah Pegoraro (15 disposals, four marks) and the pacy Joe Hinder (20 kicks and nine inside 50s) kept West Perth in the game in the first half, kicking the team’s only three goals – including two time-on strikes in the second term to reduce the 36-point lead - and taking the attack to South Fremantle at every opportunity.

Key defender Mark Hamilton was lost to a knee injury early in the match but the benches were equalised when South playmaker Matt Parker hobbled off with rib damage after smashing into a behind post.

But the game changed in the second half as Black’s impact as a permanent forward, Pegoraro’s versatility and the single-minded commitment of backman Zac Guadagnin (nine marks and 26 disposals) and on-ballers Shane Nelson (33 possessions), Luke Meadows (23) and Nathan Murray (25 and eight tackles), dragged the Falcons back into the game.

Black had a specific role to play from the goal-square and accepted the task with such relish that he kicked three goals and twice hit the post, including a ground ball effort that might have challenged the goal of the year contenders if it hadn’t grazed the post padding.

“I didn’t even leave the 50 in the second half,” he said. “Our aim was to hold structure forward of the ball so that was part of the role.

“I’m a bit of an undersized leading target and I’m playing a little bit more as a genuine forward than a small defensive one.”
Black sparked the second half comeback with his first major, Meadows quickly maintained the momentum with a long strike after a flying mark at half-forward then Nelson bounced through a 50m bomb to cut the lead to two points.

South workhorse Zac Strom kicked two late majors to get the lead out to 14 points but West Perth, who had kicked just three behinds kicking into the strong breeze in the first term, turned for home knowing the wind would aid their cause.

So it was to be with West Perth’s remarkable 24 forward 50 entries keeping the ball camped at their scoring end for most of the final term.

Black soon kicked his third to secure the lead for the first time in the game, Pegoraro swooped to get his second during a stint in the ruck and with mids and forwards joining the party, the resurgent West Perth doubled their score while keeping the Bulldogs to two rushed behinds.

WEST PERTH 0.3 3.4 6.7 12.14 86

SOUTH FREMANTLE 3.1 7.3 9.3 9.5 59

GOALS - WEST PERTH: Black 3; Pegoraro, Hinder 2; Meadows, Murray, Nelson, Dobson, Keitel.

SOUTH FREMANTLE: Z Strom 3; Kelly, Donaldson 2; Colborne, Stephens.

BEST - WEST PERTH: Pegoraro, Black, Hinder, Guadagnin, Nelson, Murray.

SOUTH FREMANTLE: Florenca, Blechynden, Main, James, Pearson, Z Strom.