WAFL

Midfielders

Jay van Berlo (WP) 27 disposals (14 kicks, 13 handballs) 4 marks
Played reserves
Jay played in the midfield, directly on teammate Cam Sutcliffe. They had a good battle for the majority of the game. Jay worked hard, particularly running hard forward of the ball, and won lots of clearances. He tackled strongly and used the ball well. It was a consistent four quarters from him.

Cam Sutcliffe (EF) 25 disposals (17 kicks, 8 handballs) 4 marks, 1 goal
Played reserves
Cam played midfield on Jay van Berlo. He ran hard defensively to support and also ran hard the other way to attack inside 50. His ability to cover ground is very good. He kicked the ball well, with five inside 50’s. Both he and Jay had a really good hit-out.

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WAFL Watch – Part 3 – Rucks and Forwards

Zac Clarke (EP) – 26 disposals (13 kicks, 13 handballs), 8 marks, 6 tackles, 18 hitouts, 1 goal
Zac started deep forward and looked very dangerous when one on one. He used his body really well in aerial contests, where he took some strong marks. He kicked the goal of the day in the first quarter, but ended up kicking 1.4, so conversion is obviously a focus for him. He rotated with Johnson in the ruck, which worked well. A good game from Zac.

Kepler Bradley (WP) – 18 disposals (10 kicks, 8 handballs), 5 marks, 10 hitouts, 1 goal
Kepler played a mixture of high and deep forward and had some short stints in the ruck as well. He saw a lot of the ball early and looked comfortable close to goal. He showed some really long 80-metre-plus leads to receive the ball on half-back and work it forward. He looked dangerous as a deeper forward and his positives were his work rate and his leading patterns. Kepler is really starting to find some consistency after coming back from injury.

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WAFL Watch – Part 1 – Midfielders

Fremantle rookie Haiden Schloithe has pleased Fremantle’s coaching staff with his dedication and diligence to learn since joining the club late last year.

Schloithe was Fremantle’s WAFL Player of the Round for his 22-possession effort for South Fremantle last weekend.

He has worked his way into the senior side after starting the season in the Bulldogs’ reserves.

Fremantle assistant and senior development coach Simon Lloyd said Schloithe had already exhibited good signs of development since arriving at the club.

“I think with Haiden, the biggest change has been that he has developed physically, but he also is starting to assert himself around the contest a lot more,” Lloyd said.

“He shows us that he can play as an inside midfielder and that he is learning the craft. We have seen that through improvements in his ability to reposition his opponent.”

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WAFL player of the round Tom Sheridan has impressed Fremantle’s coaches since arriving at the club last November after being selected with the 16th pick in the National Draft – Freo’s top selection.

Assistant and senior development coach Simon Lloyd said the 19-year-old’s major strength was his running ability.

“Tom’s an elite runner,” Lloyd said.

“He covers a lot of ground and his mindset is to work hard both defensive and offensively in transition.

“He’s very team -orientated in the way he thinks about the game and where he runs to.

Lloyd said a major area of focus for development for Sheridan was his size and weight.

“That’ll happen over time and you can see it already,” he said.

Tom’s come to Fremantle to play AFL football and he is only going to improve.”

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