Injury ends Hunter’s season

By Ken Casellas

The Claremont Tigers bounced back to their best form when they revealed admirable fighting qualities to defeat a determined East Perth side by 32 points at Leederville Oval on Saturday.

One of the most pleasing aspects of the victory was the side’s ability to overcome a couple of serious setbacks which left the interchange bench badly undermanned when key forward Jaiden Hunter and reliable half-back flanker Alex Pearce were ruled out of action for the second half of the contest.

Hunter damaged his right knee during a vigorous passage of play eight minutes into the second term and had to be assisted from the ground. Scans on his knee have revealed he had torn his anterior cruciate ligament, an injury which has brought his 2026 season to an end.

This will require a full knee reconstruction which is likely to keep him on the sidelines for 12 months. And this will result in coach Ash Prescott having to reorganise Claremont’s attacking division for next Saturday’s match against West Perth at Revo Fitness Stadium, and for the games leading into the finals series.

The 24-year-old Hunter is extremely disappointed at the devastating news that he requires surgery. But he remains positive about his prospects of resuming his career with the Tigers.

Over the previous four years Hunter has undergone two left knee reconstructions, surgery to cure stress fractures in his back, torn ligaments in his left elbow and a fractured finger as well as two bouts of concussion last year, with the second concussion forcing him to miss Claremont’s 29-point victory over Perth in a semi-final and the heartbreaking loss by five points to East Perth in the preliminary final.

Hunter will be sorely missed for the rest of this season, but his absence will provide opportunities for other Claremont forwards to shine. Last year Hunter scored 40 goals in 14 qualifying-round matches, and he has kicked 34 goals in 13 matches this year, including 7.1 against the West Coast Eagles, 4.2 against West Perth and 4.1 against East Fremantle.

Pearce has not missed a match this season and has been in splendid form on a half-back flank. He spent a few hours in hospital on Saturday night after receiving a knee in the back in a marking duel with powerful East Perth ruckman Scott Jones five minutes into the third quarter.

Fortunately, there was no sign of any serious damage to his ribs or kidneys, and he is hopeful of being fit to play next Saturday. However, that remains about a 50-50 prospect.

Injuries have hampered Claremont this season, with Ronin O’Connor, Samson Jennings-Hopkins, Austin van der Struyf, Max Minear and Callan England all forced on to the sidelines for several matches.

The good news is that Minear has recovered from a severe hamstring injury and is making a strong bid to return to action, while England is hoping his damaged ankle will mend in time to be fully fit before the finals.

Shining for the Tigers against East Perth last Saturday was Sam Alvarez, who was a dominant wingman who also shone during stints on a half-back flank. He ran hard, created numerous attacking sorties and his precision kicking and deft handpassing were features of the contest in which the Tigers emerged triumphant, scoring 12.11 and restricting the opposition to 8.3.

Alvarez took eight marks, had 17 kicks (including two goals), fired out 13 handpasses and sent the ball inside his side’s 50m attacking zone six times.

He led a spread of strong contributors who shared the ball to good effect. Overall, it was a more consistent combination that had been on show in previous weeks.

Tyson Headland got the ball rolling early with a sparkling dash forward producing the game’s opening goal after four minutes. Late in the quarter Bailey Rogers intercepted an East Perth clearing kick and evaded two opponents before his long kick sailed through for Claremont’s second goal at the 25-minute mark.

The Tigers had the use of the breeze in the first quarter, but led only narrowly, 2.2 to 2.1 at the break before dominating the second term in which they added 4.3 and held the Royals to a solitary goal, scored by Mitch Schofield after taking a spectacular high mark a couple of minutes before the half-time siren.

Claremont’s defenders were outstanding, with Jasper Peace in brilliant form, taking eight marks (three contested), having ten kicks and nine handpasses.

A tremendous spoil by Peace on an East Perth rival on Claremont’s left wing early in the last quarter led to Talon Delacey centering the ball, which was marked by a sprawling Kieran Gowdie, who kicked his second major, following his left-foot shot after receiving a handpass from Hunter early in the second term.

Peace was ably supported in defence by Anthony Davis, Dec Hardisty, Clancy Dennis, Josh Howard, Pearce and 19-year-old Joey Hopkyns, a tall left-footer who made a splendid league debut and proved the master of Schofield.

Details:
Claremont 12.11 (83) beat East Perth 8.3 (51)

Scorers—CLAREMONT: K. Gowdie 2.2; S. Alvarez, J. Musika, A. Waterman 2.0; T. Headland 1.1; A. Davis, J. Hunter, B. Rogers 1.0; T. Delacey 0.2; B. Elliott, J. Howard, R. Luscombe 0.1; 3pts forced. EAST PERTH: D. Craven, J. Peak 2.0; T. North 1.2; W. Cassidy, T. Lindberg, M. Schofield 1.0; L. Foley 0.1.

Best—CLAREMONT: S. Alvarez, J. Peace, D. Mountford, B. Rogers, Z. Mainwaring, A. Davis, O. Eastland, M. Spyvee, C. Dennis, T. Headland. EAST PERTH: A. Scott, J. Soutar, J. Peak, C. Stephens, K. Willcocks, L. Foley, L. Tedesco.