Rogers, Seton Excel

Claremont’s Bailey Rogers and Sam Seton were two of Western Australia’s best players when the side battled manfully and was defeated by 32 points by the Victorian Country side in the national under-18 carnival match at Kardinia Park in Geelong on Thursday.

Rogers, a robust defender, finished with 20 disposals and skilful midfielder Seton with 18 as WA went down, 8.15 to 4.7. WA won two of their six matches (by a point over South Australia and by 18 points against Victoria Metro).

The Victorian Country side was undefeated in six matches and won the championship.

A highlight of Thursday’s match for Claremont supporters came in the final quarter when the Tigers quartet of Declan Mountford, Rogers, Seton and Jake Waterman combined in an excellent passage of play which took the ball from the back pocket to the other end of the ground with a series of unerring passes.

Apart from the abovementioned quartet, the Tigers were also represented during the carnival by ruckmen David Ehlers and Jeremy Goddard.

Murphy trains impressively

The most heartening news at the club this week was that captain Jake Murphy resumed full training without being affected by his damaged heel. There now is a strong chance that he will resume playing after this weekend’s bye, in the reserves match against South Fremantle at the Showgrounds on Saturday week.

It was great to see so many past players at Claremont’s latest home-ground match, against Subiaco last Saturday week, and several of them tarried after the game to enjoy the presentation of awards. Those seen at the post-match function included premiership players Warren Ralph, David O’Connell, Mark Hann, Peter Melesso, Dale Kickett, Andrew Browne, Clay McLernon, David Crawford, Trinity Handley and Tom Lee. Among those, watching the action earlier in the day were 1964 premiership players Les Mumme and John Rogers.

Handley, who retired at the end of the 2014 season after 189 senior appearances with the Tigers, is still enjoying his football, starring for Dandaragan, along with former Tigers player henry Roberts. However, David Crawford, who notched 200 senior matches with the Tigers and retired at the end of 2013, is likely to have played his final competitive match with amateur club Trinity Aquinas. He damaged the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee at training a couple of weeks ago and has undergone surgery.

Also enjoying the post-match celebrations last Saturday were Claremont league premiership coaches Gerard Neesham (1987, 1989, 1991 and 1993) and Simon McPhee (2011).

In other news at the club, 2011 and 2012 league premiership player Tom Swift recovered from a long-term hamstring strain to resume in the reserves match against East Fremantle last Saturday and came through unscathed. However, Max Bentley will miss the rest of the season after receiving two fractures in a shoulder in the reserves match against Subiaco. A serious leg injury in the same match is likely to keep Toby Plant on the sidelines for at least another six weeks.

Baum is 1191^st Tiger

Teenager Isaac Baum became the 1191^st player to represent the Tigers in league football when he took the field against East Fremantle at East Fremantle Oval last Saturday --- and the game was only four minutes old when he earned his first kick, a pass which was marked by Beau Maister.

Baum, from Boxwood Hills in the deep south of the State and a former Scotch College student, impressed at his senior debut, playing in the midfield and in the forward line. His tackling and fierce attack on the ball are hallmarks of his game.

He is the eleventh player to make his league debut for the Tigers this year, following Kepler Bradley, Haydn Busher, Ryan Lim. Shane McAdam, Oliver Tate, Sam Seton, Toby Plant, Jack Beeck, Matt Palfrey and Francis Watson.

Maister, playing at full-forward, booted three goals against East Fremantle (whose total of 3.7 was the lowest scored by the Sharks in 274 matches against the Tigers over 90 years) and took his tally of major for Claremont to 100.

Maister is the 68^th player to have scored 100 goals for Claremont. He is also the 114^th player to notch a century of appearances for the club and the 42^nd to reach the milestone of 100 goals and 100 games.

Ian Richardson’s two goals against the Sharks took him into fifth place on the list of career goals for Claremont. Those second-half goals took his tally to 322, which took him past full-forward Jack Stewart, who played in 109 league matches between 1947 and 1953.

Richardson, who has played most of his career on a half-forward flank, was seen in a new role on a wing for much of the match against East Fremantle. And he certainly excelled in the midfield, particularly when he set the standard in the opening term when his first kick was a perfect pass to Kepler Bradley for Claremont’s opening goal and his second kick being marked by Keifer Yu for the side’s second major. It was also a pass by Richardson to Maister that brought up Claremont’s sixth goal.