Palmer, who was rewarded with Fremantle’s WAFL player of the week award, has now played two reserves games and three league games as he returns from a knee reconstruction through the WAFL.
After having his move from Claremont cleared last week, Casey Sibosado debuted for Perth and played his best WAFL game, while Michael Walters impressed for Swan Districts.
East Perth’s Hamish Shepheard was rested while Jesse Crichton took advantage of a Peel Thunder bye to return home to Tasmania.
Ahead of this week’s fixtures, senior development coach Simon Lloyd shared his WAFL notes with fremantlefc.com.au.
Subiaco 15.11 (101) d East Perth
Dylan Roberton
Dylan played the majority of the game on the half-back flank and played on some very hard-running forwards, including West Coast’s Mark Nicoski for a large period of the game. He went into the middle for some centre bounces in the last quarter and played a solid game. Dylan ran hard both offensively and defensively and continues to improve his positioning and body work.
Zac Clarke
Played on in-form ruckman Michael Rix in the first half, who is nine years older than Zac and had 41 hit-outs last week. It was close to an even contest for the first half, before Rix came off injured, and Zac won his position in the second half. He was very clean around the stoppages, but we would have liked him to get more football around the ground. He’s facing some good ruckmen every week and going well.
Swan Districts 17.13 (115) d Perth 15.9 (99)
Michael Walters
Played up forward and onball and looked very sharp around the footy, showing really good awareness. He got a lot more of the footy and his disposal was excellent as always. Michael’s run was a lot better than last week, but we want him to run similar to someone like Stephen Hill, with similar patterns. He’s getting better every week and we’re happy with his progress.
Clayton Hinkley
Had a quiet first half after hurting himself early, but he came back on and worked very hard in the second half to finish the game well. He was given the job of tagging Ross Young and laid seven tackles and won some contested footy where he put his body on the line. In this last month he’s shown us some real resilience, battling a couple of injuries and coming out on top.
Casey Sibosado
Very good on the day, Casey played his best WAFL game. He played mainly at centre half-back and pinch hit in the ruck. He won the one-on-ones, rebounded well, positioned himself very well and made good decisions. It’s an important year for Casey, so we need to see him playing regular senior footy. He’s worked very hard and that’ll take care of itself as the year progresses. The move to Perth should give him some good opportunities.
Justin Bollenhagen
Played mainly across half-forward with a short spell on the wing. Justin’s pace is his greatest attribute - when he wants to go, no one can stay with him - and his ball-use is very good. But when he’s out of the game he needs to find a way to get more involved. He’s kicked six goals over the last two weeks at league level, which is great.
Joel Houghton (reserves)
Joel played forward and in the ruck at times, and continued to impress with his leading patterns in attack. He has great endurance and always runs hard and presents as an option. Tackling and being involved consistently over four quarters is what we’re working on with Joel.
Claremont 17.15 (117) d West Perth 12.12 (84)
Byron Schammer
Byron worked hard but didn’t get as much of the ball as he has in previous weeks. He played half-forward and onball, finishing with 19 touches and seven tackles. He’s been up for a period of times and is showing good leadership around the club by pushing hard for selection every week.
Kepler Bradley
Kepler played onball and forward and looked more dangerous than he previously has in attack. He kicked one goal from four shots and finished with 24 possessions. Kepler has maintained his consistency at WAFL level to make sure he’s ready to go when his opportunity presents.
East Fremantle 18.15 (123) d South Fremantle 11.11 (77)
Rhys Palmer
His work-rate was very good and he was especially busy around clearances. He had 31 possessions, his disposal was clean and he kicked two goals. When the momentum swung South Fremantle’s way in the third quarter he was able to bring that back. He’s very confident in where he’s at and it’s a credit to him, and the support staff, for the amount of work he’s put in.
Chris Hall
Chris played wing and half-forward and moved into the middle for a couple of centre bounces. He started very fast and got involved through his work-rate. He handled the ball cleanly and had several inside 50s. Chris is going into games expecting to play well and he’s being rewarded for his hard work.
Ben Bucovaz
Played half-forward and centre half-forward and took a couple of good contested marks. He’s a very clever player, uses the ball well both sides and has the ability to really work his way out of traffic and find a target. We’ve been working on his forward pressure, and he had a couple of tackles, one resulting in a goal. Some really positive signs.
Steven Dodd
Doddy played half-back on West Coast rookie Callum Wilson and had a good start. He attacked the footy early and was able to nullify his opponent in the air. He had a really good battle with Wilson, but was beaten a couple of times in the second half. Much like Byron, he’s pushing for selection and is very important to the group.
Ryan Murphy
Ryan kicked 3.1 this week after booting seven last week, so there are some positive signs there. He had to work really hard for the footy that he got this week and he provided some good pressure up forward. His attack on the ball, particularly early in the game, was quite good.
