BULLDOGS TOO STRONG IN SEASON OPENER

WEST Perth was outplayed by South Fremantle at Fremantle Oval on Friday night.

The Bulldogs used the football better and took nearly double the number of marks that the Falcons did. This enabled their big men to hand off to their midfield and provide their forwards with a host of opportunities. West Perth’s pre-season form had been very good but it wasn’t reflected in the game that had both sides struggling in the blustery conditions.

The Falcons hit the lead for the first and last time of the game after Rohan Kerr finished from the square when on the end of a series of  a pass from Steve Potente. Kerr showed his class on a number of occasions during the game and was one of West Perth’s best. The rest of the term belonged to Souths as they took advantage of kicking to the scoring end of the ground. They kicked four majors to take a 20-point lead into the first change; 4.2 (26) to 1.0 (6).

West Perth dominated the first 10 minutes of the second quarter but only managed to reduce the margin to 12 points. The goal came from Aaron Black who finished after some good work in a congested pack. Ryan Cook, for the Bulldogs, then kicked the first of his two for the game to take the margin out to 18 points. West Perth once again wrested back control to kick the next two majors and reduce the margin to five at the 21-minute mark. The first went to Andrew Strijk who showed his finesse with a left foot snap from 30 metres out and Chris Keunen, in his 150th game, kicked accurately from the boundary after marking 30 out. The game became a scramble but unfortunately for West Perth, Cook kicked his second just before half-time to undo some of the good work. This gave the Bulldogs an 11-point lead going into the main break; 6.3 (39) to 4.4 (28).

The Falcons were really going to have to hang tough in the third quarter to stay in the game and they did that for the first 15 minutes. Ashton Hams extended the lead with a clever snap before Drew Rohde pounced on a Bulldogs defensive error to reduce the margin to 10 points midway through the term. Rohde played a steady game in what was his best league effort for West Perth. He is a player of promise. But as in the first term South Fremantle finished the quarter much better and kicked three goals to take a match winning 29-point lead into the last quarter. They led 10.5 (65) to 5.6 (36). The Falcons were going to have to kick at least as many goals in the last quarter as they had in the first three to win the game.

West Perth began the final quarter brightly with Kerr marking strongly 40 metres out and converting. At the six minute mark a strong tackle by Kody Manning saw the ball fall to Kerr who passed to newcomer Michael Lourey 30 out. He kicked accurately to score his first major for the Falcons. This reduced the margin to 17 points but Souths steadied to kick the next three and have the game in the bag midway through the quarter.  Manning kicked the only other Falcon goal at the 26-minute mark but at the final siren West Perth had been beaten by 35 points; 14.6 (90) to 8.7 (55).

It was a disappointing start to the season but there is plenty of improvement to come. A hamstring injury to Jordan Jones will be a concern to the coaching staff. The conditions made good footy difficult to play and hopefully the conditions at HBF Stadium next week will bring out the best in West Perth. Best players included Kerr, Rohde, Keunen, Luke Tedesco and Manning. Congratulations to Keunen on his 150th and earning life membership of the West Perth Football Club. A big test next week against Peel Thunder at HBF Arena, be there to get the boys over the line.

ARTICLE BY DARRELL KENT
IMAGES COURTESY OF BELINDA TAYLOR PHOTOGRAPHY