Tigers Share The Load

By Ken Casellas

The Claremont Tigers are concentrating on a team brand of football with everyone contributing and playing their specific role.

This was illustrated in the match against Swan Districts at Revo Fitness Stadium on Saturday when every member of the side performed strongly, with a dominant midfield, an unyielding and well-knit defensive unit and twelve individual goalscorers combining to produce a well-earned 39-point victory, 14.17 to 9.8.

The Tigers remain unbeaten after five rounds of qualifying matches and are preparing for what should prove to be an extremely tough opponent in Perth at Lathlain Park next Saturday.

Leading the way against a tenacious and determined Swan Districts was Claremont’s co-captain and outstanding centreman Callan England, who performed superbly, taking seven marks, having 17 kicks, with five inside 50s, firing out 18 handpasses and applying four tackles.

Ollie Eastland maintained his grand form as he dominated the ruck duels against Nathan Blakely and Caleb Ernst, with his 45 hit-outs providing a feast of opportunities for his teammates.

England, cool and composed, reads the play magnificently and invariably delivers the ball with great precision. Co-captain and fellow midfielder Bailey Rogers had an unusually quiet first quarter before blossoming as the match progressed, finishing with five marks, 17 kicks, five handpasses, a game high seven inside 50s as well as two tackles.

An illustration of Claremont’s strong performance is the fact that the side penetrated its 50m attacking zone 60 times to the opposition’s 38 times. The Tigers took 17 marks inside their forward 50m zone, resulting in seven goals, five behinds and two accurate passes.

Details:

Claremont 14.17 (101) beat Swan Districts 9.8 (62)

Scorers—CLAREMONT: J. Hunter 3.2; K. Gowdie, A. Waterman 1.2; T. Delacey, O. Eastland, B. Rogers, Z. Mainwaring, S. van Rooyen 1.1; B. Banfield, B. Elliott, C. England, D. Mountford 1.0; J. Musika 0.2; T. Headland, A. Pearce, M. Spyvee 0.1; 1pt forced. SWAN DISTRICTS: B. Watson 2.1; L. Kohlmann 2.0; C. Loftus, Z. Provest 1.1; L. Cotellessa, J. McLachlan, J. Petric 1.0; J. Cipro 0.2; C. Hincliffe, L. Steed 0.1; 1pt forced.

Best—CLAREMONT: C. England, O. Eastland, B. Elliott, S. Alvarez, A. Davis, K. Gowdie, B. Banfield, T. Delacey, B. Rogers, D. Mountford. SWAN DISTRICTS: A. Stephens, J. Cipro, J. Pina, J. Turner, N. Blakely, C. Hinchliffe, J. Pasini, S. Bright, B. Lynch.