Ledger Shines In New Role

Tom Ledger, cast in the unfamiliar role of a defender, accepted the challenge with considerable relish and emerged as a principal architect in Claremont’s wonderful victory over the highly-fancied West Perth at Joondalup on Saturday.

The two-goal triumph over the reigning premiers provided a tremendous stimulus for the Tigers who had underperformed and underachieved in their first-round 65-point loss to Perth the previous weekend.

This was a turnabout of immense proportions and the performance reflects great credit on coach Michael Broadbridge, who did not mince his words when he declared that the side’s feeble effort against Perth was totally unacceptable.

He demanded a far greater commitment --- and he got that from a group hellbent on atonement after such a lack-lustre first-up display. The players responded to the challenge magnificently and the Tigers were stronger, fitter, more purposeful, disciplined and desperate than the home side.

Every one of the 22 men who wore the Claremont jumper stepped up to the mark and showed that the rewards are great when they follow instructions dutifully, are prepared to help each other and have confidence in their own ability. Many players had specific roles against West Perth and these men were fully prepared to sacrifice personal glory and to accept the challenge of performing unglamorous tasks.

Celebrations were kept well in check. It was a memorable victory to savour. But no one is getting carried away or getting ahead of himself. Not one player is preparing to rest on his laurels. From the start of the new week the focus is firmly on the challenge of doing battle with the unbeaten Subiaco side at East Fremantle Oval next Saturday.

In a nutshell, Claremont suffocated the Falcons and deprived them of the freedom they sought. This was achieved by constant pressure applied by all Claremont players, and West Perth simply were denied space and given little time in which to develop a cohesive brand of football. This was in stark contrast to the insipid effort against Perth.

The Ledger move was a masterstroke. A week earlier Ledger, in his league debut for the Tigers, was surprisingly ineffective on a centre wing. Against West Perth Broadbridge was extremely keen to find a player who could set up attacking moves from the half-back line, and he punted on Ledger, instructing him to line up on a half-back flank and to become a rebounding player.

Ledger, opposed mainly by James Batterham, seized the opportunity and became a major springboard of attack. His fierce attack on the ball and his creativity set up many promising forward sorties. Several times he impressed with his courage as he ran fearlessly with the flight of the ball to win possession and turn defence into attack.

In a tough, dour first half the lead changed hands seven times and the scores were level on four occasions. However, the Cardinals were in front at the three changes, leading by a goal at quarter time, two points at half time and four points at three quarter time. But one had the feeling for the greater part of the contest that the Tigers had the measure of West Perth.

This proved correct with Claremont adding 2.4 in the final term and holding the home side scoreless. Rain began to tumble down at the 25-minute mark before it developed into a deluge. These were the conditions that really suited the tigerish Matt Orzel and he and his teammates hurled themselves into the fray without hesitation as they controlled proceedings until the final siren.

Orzel was one of a band of outstanding Claremont midfielders, notably Luke Blackwell, Jake Murphy, Ryan Neates and Matt Aitchison.

Blackwell had 13 clearances from stoppages and Murphy had 12. Murphy applied seven tackles and Orzel and Aitchison each had six tackles. Neates again made full use of his sparkling speed to be a driving force, while Aitchison, in his first league appearance for the Tigers, performed grandly in his tagging role against West Perth playmaker Matt Guadagnin.

Powerful teenager Brenden Abbott, from the Royals club in Albany, made a wonderful league debut, playing fearlessly in a back pocket, while other Great Southern teenagers Steven Edwards (in defence) and Darcy Cameron (ruck) made valuable contributions.

The 18-year-old Cameron certainly came of age as ruckman of considerable promise in only his second WAFL match. He leapt high to gain 49 knocks and he was a clear winner in his duel against 30-year-old 206cm 132-game veteran Chris Keunen.

Andrew Foster again made his presence felt in attack and his three goals in a low-scoring contest were the result of his hard work and application. Keegan Knott made his WAFL debut in a forward pocket and showed that he deserves further trials in the senior side.

Tall forward Anton Hamp has not hit the scoreboard in the opening two matches, but he and John Williams help to organise the side in attack. Hamp performs many unobtrusive actions and he will soon be rewarded with a bag of goals. In a stout defence which restricted the Falcons to eight goals it was again Brandon Franz who was outstanding, keeping his opponent Marcus Adams extremely quiet.

Twenty-one-year-old Jack Richardson made an auspicious start to his league debut by booting the first goal of the match at the ten-minute mark of the opening term. He took a mark in right pocket before calmly steering the ball through the tall uprights.

West Perth replied with goals in the next five minutes to Shane Nelson and Jay van Berlo. These came after free-kick to Nelson and a free-kick and 50m penalty to van Berlo. A goal to Matthew Fowler increased West Perth’s lead to 12 points before Claremont replied six minutes later when Ledger drove the ball forward with a left-foot kick from the left wing. He copped an elbow and Hamp received a free-kick downfield where he handpassed to Max Bentley for Claremont second major.

The Cardinals went forward threateningly late in the term, but they were thwarted when Aaron Holt smothered a kicked off the boot of Aaron Black to foil his shot at goal.

Claremont started the second quarter with great endeavour and were rewarded for their efforts with an early goal to Ledger. West Perth hit back five minutes later with a mark and goal to full-forward Anthony Tsalikis. Not a goal was scored in the next 11 minutes of tough, uncompromising football until some good work from Hamp and Knott resulted in a goal to Foster.

Nine minutes passed before Neates chipped in to mark a West Perth clearing kick and he executed a smart short pass to Foster, who booted a splendid goal from 55m on the boundary line at right half-forward.

A goal to Keunen at the 30-minute mark of the second quarter was followed by two more home side goals early in the third term to give the Falcons breathing space with a 15-point advantage. Neates was at his inspirational best and he foiled West Perth with a great smother off the boot of Brayden Antonio. Soon after that Neates fearlessly hurled himself at the ball and earned himself a free-kick.

It took Claremont 21 minutes to score their first goal of the quarter. It came when Foster handpassed to Abbott, venturing downfield from the back pocket. Abbott revealed wonderful dash before slamming home his first goal in league football.

Five minutes later a move instigated in the centre of the ground by Blackwell and Aitchison ended with Foster gaining possession and getting the ball on to Williams, whose handball to Richardson in the goalsquare gave him his second goal.

Soon afterwards Cameron, revealing wonderful composure, snapped truly after some excellent work in the midfield from Murphy and Blackwell. This gave the Tigers a four-point lead before West Perth hit back with another goal to Tsalikis.         

Early in the final term Blackwell handpassed to Murphy, whose kick was marked by Mark Seaby. But only a point resulted. Shortly after that a Murphy handpass set up a Neates goal which put the Tigers back in front. This was followed by behinds from Bentley and Hamp as the Tigers were assuming control.

Cameron showed his worth at the 11-minute mark as he pulled down a great saving high mark at half-back. It was all Claremont as Foster handpassed to Aitchison for another behind. Twenty-one minutes had elapsed when Cameron received a free-kick. He booted the ball deep into attack where Foster ran on to the loose ball before notching his third major. 

Cameron was asserting a powerful influence on the game and his spirited, wholehearted chase after West Perth’s Steven Browne on the right wing enabled Edwards to pounce on the ball and drive the Tigers into attack. No score resulted and at the 25-minute mark the rain began to fall. There was no further score and Claremont emerged triumphant after a tremendous four quarters of disciplined, unselfish teamwork.

by Ken Casellas

Details:

Claremont 10.10 (70) beat West Perth 8.10 (58).

Scorers---CLAREMONT: A Foster 3.0; J. Richardson 2.1; M. Bentley, R. Neates 1.1; B. Abbott, D. Cameron, T. Ledger 1.0; M. Aitchison, A. Hamp, K. Knott, M. Orzel, H. Roberts, M. Seaby 0.1; 1pt forced. WEST PERTH: A. Tsalikis 3.0; M. Fowler, S. Nelson 1.1; C. Keunen, N. Rodda J. van Berlo 1.0; S. Potente 0.2; B. Antonio, J. Batterhamm, M. Guadagnin 0.1; 3pts forced.

Best---CLAREMONT: L. Blackwell, J. Murphy, T. Ledger, D. Cameron, R. Neates, M. Aitchison, M. Orzel, B. Franz, A. Foster. WEST PERTH: S. Nelson, A. Black, S. Browne, A. Strijk, A. Tsalikis, L. Rasmussen, L. Tedesco.