Round 16 "Tiger Talk" - with Jake Murphy

Round 16 Vs. South Fremantle

After a come from behind win in the sweltering heat of Kunnarra, the tigers boys were back to the cold reality that was Perth. The task this week was the ever-improving South Fremantle. A team who despite being positioned on the bottom of the WAFL ladder, were in good form of late and we only have to rewind 4 weeks to their 12-goal domination against East Fremantle to remind our selves of what they can do.

The reserves team was in desperate need of a victory and they were buoyed by the inclusions of Ryan Neates and Sharrod Wellingham, while Luke Blackwell was given the green light to run out the whole game. Unfortunately despite the strong midfield dominance, they boys squandered a half time lead to lose the game by 21 points. Leaving them 2 and a half wins outside the top 4. This left it up to the League team to make sure the club came home with a win as both the colts and now reserves had gone down.

After a strong first half, we were in complete control and if it wasn’t for some poor shots on goal, we could have had the game sown up. This poor accuracy in front of goals would come back to bite us, as South got an early jump in the 3^rd quarter and ended up kicking 6 unanswered goals to have the game tied up at 3 quarter time.  

The last quarter was neck and neck and went for a physically demanding 38 minutes. The boys were out on their feet, there was stoppage after stoppage in South Fremantle’s forward line as we were trying to hold onto a 4 point lead. They had several chances late in the game but their best chance came with less than 30 seconds to go and if it wasn’t for a lunging tackle from Nick Winmar we could have been on the wrong side of a tight game.

Although it wasn’t our best performance there is no denying that good sides find a way to win, no matter the situation, and this was a classic example of that.

Round 16 was also the Naidoc round, were every club wore a specially designed jumper and celebrates the Aboriginal and Torres straight islander cultures and recognizes the contributions of indigenous Australians in various fields. Claremont has always had a strong history of indigenous players and had non greater than the 1981 Claremont premiership pair and brothers Jimmy and Phil Krakouer.

This week also saw the boys hold their annual Ladies night upstairs in the members lounge at Claremont Oval. Now ladies night is a lot of hard work. The Boys have to set themselves for a big couple of weeks in the gym and their diet is strictly tuna and almonds. After the match, the boys quickly shoot off to the nearest pharmacist and purchase enough fake tan to make Victoria Beckham proud. The once milky white Richard Cronin transforms to tall tanned rooster!

Throughout the night some select players perform skits, amongst other things, onstage to provide some quality entertainment for the female guests. There were a lot of strong performances but it’s very hard to go past Ethan Panizza, whose sharp dance moves and muscular frame had the girls begging for more.

This week presents another huge challenge as we host Swan Districts at Claremont Oval. Swans had a big win against Perth last week and will no doubt come to play!

by Jake Murphy