Defenders rarely gain the plaudits generally reserved for the flashy midfielders and the goalkicking aces. But they are highly important members of any team and one in the Claremont side who has performed admirably in the first five matches of the season without basking in any sort of spotlight is back pocket specialist Greg Colbung.

The 17-year-old Colbung, from the Royals club in Albany, has shown steady improvement and has proved highly dependable. His clean ball handling and decision making were highlights of the match against Peel Thunder at the Claremont Showgrounds on Saturday morning.

Along with fellow backmen Harry Court, Francis Watson, Cam Smith, Nick Barrow, Matthew Cairns, Robert Simons and Josh Barty, Colbung made life difficult for the Peel forwards and Claremont simply enjoyed a romp in the park in coasting to a 73-point victory, with the visitors managing just three goals in ideal conditions.

Powerhouse midfielders Alec Waterman and Jared Hardisty again showed the way. Each is a fearless competitor, blessed with remarkable stamina and an unquenchable appetite in their quest to gain possession of the ball. Waterman finished with six marks, 17 kicks, 16 effective handpasses, three tackles, six clearances at stoppages and five inside 50s. Hardisty had 12 kicks, 17 effective handpasses, three tackles and two clearances.

And again midfielders Sam Humphry and Bailey Rogers and wingers Ryan Lim and Harry Taylor were in grand form.

Humphry was in the thick of the action from the outset and he booted a goal from the left pocket 40 seconds after the opening bounce and a minute later he fired a pass to full-forward Sam Bevan for another goal. And when Matt Palfrey booted a goal from the right pocket the Tigers led, 3.0 to 0.0 after just four minutes.

However, it took another seven minutes for the next goal. Hardisty started the attacking move from half-back and he delivered an excellent pass to Bevan, who got the ball on to ruckman Jake Jones. Then Jones delivered to Barty for goal No. 4.

Peel got on the board late in the quarter with behinds Brayden Westwood and Brandon Smith and the Tigers scored their fifth goal (from Waterman) in the final minute, following a splendid passage of play involving Taylor, Lawrence Evans, Rogers, Court and Bevan.

The Claremont players appeared to become complacent in the second quarter. Their work rate deteriorated and Peel simply outplayed the home side, even though they managed only one goal for the term, while Claremont also scored one goal, a free-kick to Humphry.

A gusty wind was becoming stronger in the third quarter when the Tigers lifted their intensity and outscored Peel, 4.4 to 1.1. A snap from Harry McCracken after a stoppage at half-forward saw the first of Claremont’s goals posted for the quarter. An excellent pass from Taylor was marked 50m out by Isaac Baum for the next goal.

Rogers received a handpass for the next and Waterman gained the clearance at the resultant centre bounce when he handpassed to Jack Prendiville, whose kick forward was marked in fine style by Evans for another major.

Peel replied with a goal to Jacob Goodrick six minutes later and then a wonderful pass from Court found Lim for Claremont eleventh goal and a lead of 58 points at three-quarter time.

Coach Ross McQueen made several positional changes for the final quarter, most notably being the move of Cairns from full-back to full-forward, Bevan from full-forward to centre-half-back, Adam Volaric to centre-half-forward, Taylor from a wing to a back pocket and forwards Baum and Evans to the centre wings.

McCracken opened the scoring with a goal after some strong cohesive play from Watson, Volaric and Taylor. Six minutes later Volaric and Barty got the ball to Rogers in the left pocket where he received a free-kick and curled in a clever goal. Harry Wilkinson became the side’s eleventh individual goalkicker when he made full use of a 50m penalty.

Peel remain winless in 2014 and the Tigers must be prepared for a far more testing time when they meet top side South Fremantle at Fremantle Oval next Saturday morning.

by Ken Casellas

Details:

Claremont 14.14 (98) beat peel Thunder 3.7 (25)

Scorers---CLAREMONT: S. Humphry, H. McCracken 2.1; B. Rogers 2.0; L. Evans 1.4; S. Bevan, M. Palfrey 1.1; J. Barty, I. Baum, R. Lim, A. Waterman, H. Wilkinson 1.0; R. Simons 0.1; 5pts forced. PEEL: J. Goodrick 2.1; B. Tingey 1.0; M. Wallace 0.2; J. Adams, B. Smith, B. Westwood 0.1; 1pt forced.

Best---CLAREMONT: A. Waterman, H. Court, J. Hardisty, S. Humphry, G. Colbung, R. Lim, H. Taylor, R. Simons, F. Watson, J. Barty, B. Rogers. PEEL: M. Curnow, B. Walsh, B. Westwood, L. Shepherd, J. Goodrick, B. Milward.