By Ken Casellas

A medium-sized forward flanker with deft skills and abundant pace caught the eye when Claremont travelled to Joondalup last Thursday night for an early pre-season scratch match against West Perth.

He is Anthony Treacy, who has moved from Broome to Perth in a bid to make a name for himself with the Tigers.

Treacy took a while to adjust to the tempo of the contest before revealing his class. He also showed a healthy appetite for the ball and impressed with a couple of powerful tackles in the second and fourth quarters. He booted Claremont’s sixth goal in the final term of a keenly-contested contest, won by Claremont 8.8 to 2.4.

Treacy shone for Cable Beach in the West Kimberley league last year and won the competition’s fairest-and-best award in a three-way tie with former Claremont and Western Bulldogs high-flier Zephaniah Skinner (Looma Eagles) and Derby Tigers star Wade Wungundin, who won the award in 2017.

Treacy also won the Young Guns award as the best under-23 player in the league.

Watching the scratch match was diminutive forward CJ Oakley, a teammate of Treacy’s at Cable Beach last year. Oakley has resumed training with the Tigers after enjoying an outstanding season with Cable Beach last year. He delighted the Claremont supporters with his brilliance in one league appearance in 2016 and ten the following year.

Another newcomer at Claremont who showed promise in the scratch match was Jalen McGee from Dandaragan in the Central Midlands Coastal League. McGee was an uncompromising defender who was under notice with a couple of splendid contested marks.

Jack Monaghan, a member of the Claremont colts side last year, also stood out in defence, particularly early with his strong marking ability. Contrasting in size was another 2018 colts player, small forward Isaac Barton, who showed excellent speed and skill in a forward pocket, as did Corey Mitchell.

Seasoned performers Anton Hamp (full-back) and Lachie Martinis (half-back flank) were outstanding, not only in their ability in one-on-one contests but also in their reading of the play and their superb foot passing.

Declan Mountford, back at Claremont after three seasons with North Melbourne, was a dominant midfielder in the first half during which he took three marks, had nine kicks, made three effective handpasses and laid three crunching tackles.

Also back in action were Alec Waterman and Harry McCracken, who have overcome illness and injury and will certainly bolster Claremont’s playing stocks. They each had five kicks in sparkling first-quarter displays.

Details:

Claremont 8.8 beat West Perth 2.4

Scorers---CLAREMONT: E. Simpson 3.0; B. Bennett, J. Bennett, C. Mitchell, T. Smallwood, A. Treacy 1.0; O. Eastland, A. Waterman 0.2; I. Barton 0.1; 3 points forced.