Anything and Everything Fremantle
Posts tagged WAFL
Young Dockers in black and blue
Feb 12th
East Perth have bolstered their playing stocks with two promising young Dockers in today’s allocation of interstate AFL players to WAFL clubs.
Second-year Docker Jayden Pitt will swap his Demons jumper for the black and blue after asking to be moved due to a lack of opportunity at Perth, while excitement machine Hayden Crozier also became a Royal.
The draft-style allocation saw Peel Thunder once again choose a mature-aged interstate player – 24-year-old Dockers rookie Lee Spurr – with the first pick, as predicted by thewest.com.au.
Freo flex their muscles
Feb 7th
Fremantle midfielder Jayden Pitt will be allocated to a new WAFL club later this month as part of a push to help the teenager’s development.
Pitt, 19, played eight matches for the Dockers last year after being taken with the club’s first selection in the 2010 national draft at No.20.
The slightly-built Pitt was dropped after the western derby loss to West Coast in round eight and his form with Perth in the WAFL subsequently dipped.
Pitt’s involvement with the Demons ended on a sour note last August.
He had been an emergency for the Dockers’ clash with St Kilda in Melbourne and flew back in time to play for Perth against Subiaco in round 20, but was held out of the match by Fremantle after a mix-up between the two clubs.
It was not the only hiccup in the relationship between the clubs during the season.
Fremantle chose to shift Justin Bollenhagen from Perth to Swan Districts after the Demons said they could not guarantee the forward a league match in his comeback from injury.
WAFL presidents bump reserves push
Feb 6th
West Coast and Fremantle will play scratch matches against two WAFL clubs next month to test an AFL reserves model proposed for 2013.
The Eagles play Perth on Friday, March 2, while the Dockers take on South Fremantle a week later.
But the prospect of a permanent arrangement next year has diminished after a WAFL working party rejected a compensation offer from the two AFL clubs, describing it as a “pittance”.
Club presidents Haydn Raitt (South Fremantle), Brett Raponi (West Perth) and Peter Harvey (Swan Districts) asked Fremantle and West Coast for an annual licence fee of $1.35 million – $150,000 per WAFL club.
In return, the WAFL clubs would have used their byes to play weekly scratch matches against West Coast and Fremantle teams.
Solitary AFL game stalls Sibosado’s career
Jan 31st
De-listed Docker Casey Sibosado’s future is in limbo because of a quirk in the WAFL salary cap points system which may have priced him out of all clubs except Claremont.
Sibosado’s solitary AFL game, in round 24 against the Western Bulldogs last year when the Dockers picked their team from 23 fit players, has elevated his value from eight points as an AFL rookie-listed player under WAFL rules to 12 points as a listed player who played an AFL match.
Claremont, his club of origin, can take him at a cost of just one point.
But Sibosado, 21, who played only three games for the Tigers in 2009 and was shifted to Perth to get senior opportunities, has made it clear his preference is to stay at Perth, where he has played 30 matches over the past two seasons. The Demons, who have recruited strongly over summer, asked other clubs for permission to downgrade his value so they could retain him but the only club to support them was Claremont.
Spurr and Neale on Thunder radar
Jan 28th
Peel Thunder are tossing up between Fremantle pair Lee Spurr and Lachie Neale for the first selection in next month’s allocation of interstate AFL draftees.
Spurr, 24, was the Dockers’ first rookie draft pick at No.8 last year.
The 183cm utility player looms as the club’s latest mature-age wild-card on the back of three premierships with SANFL powerhouse Central District.
Neale, who has played senior football for Glenelg in the SANFL, is a 177cm pocket rocket capable of playing as an inside midfielder and forward.
Tigers duo in line to join Dockers
Dec 5th
Fremantle could have revealed two of their likely rookie squad additions for 2012 after Claremont pair Tom Lee and Kane Mitchell today joined the AFL club’s pre-season training.
The Dockers today received permission from the AFL for the Tigers duo to join in their skills sessions.
The pair were key members of Claremont’s 2011 WAFL premiership team, Mitchell collecting 27 possessions and applying eight tackles while Lee had 15 possessions.
Lee spent time with Adelaide after being drafted in 2008.
Former Collingwood squad member Brad Dick and delisted Docker Clancee Pearce have also been training with Fremantle int he hope of getting another chance at AFL level.
Fremantle have committed to securing former St Kilda defender Zac Dawson in next month’s pre-season draft.
East Perth’s Freddie Clutterbuck is training with Melbourne in the hope of winning a rookie squad berth.
Dimmer quits South Fremantle, Hasleby in
Nov 23rd
WAFL coaching ranks are in turmoil after four-time premiership coach John Dimmer dropped a bombshell by quitting South Fremantle just as his recent player Paul Hasleby was finalising his bid for the vacant Claremont job.
Hasleby has been appointed to the Bulldogs coaching job on a two-year deal, the club revealed this afternoon.
Hasleby had to move swiftly given that Claremont are likely to appoint their new coach tomorrow.
Triple East Perth premiership captain Jeremy Barnard is the other main candidate to take over the reigning premiers after Simon McPhee moved to St Kilda.
Hasleby completed his final interview with Claremont today just as Dimmer was resigning after eight seasons and two premierships with the Bulldogs.
WAFL Watch: Opportunities present
Sep 1st
It has been a tough end to the season for Fremantle’s regular WAFL players, but the club’s injury crisis has presented unexpected opportunities for the group this Saturday against the Western Bulldogs.
Justin Bollenhagen (three games) and Ben Bucovaz (one) have been named to take on the Dogs at Etihad Stadium while Hamish Shepheard, Joel Houghton and Casey Sibosado, who have not played a senior game for Fremantle, are emergencies.
Their selection in the 25-man squad is the result of a crippling injury list that left Fremantle applying to the AFL for special dispensation to upgrade another rookie this week.
However, assistant coach Simon Lloyd has challenged the group to take any opportunity they are given in the club’s final game of the 2011 season.
“Sometimes you get opportunity through good fortune and other times it’s though your performance,” Lloyd said. “Whatever the opportunity is, it’s just a matter of taking it.”
WAFL reserves compromise
Sep 1st
The 2013 WAFL season is likely to extend to 27 weeks and include three separate competitions as part of a deal to avoid AFL reserves teams being introduced to the State league.
The nine WAFL presidents have endorsed a proposal for all clubs to give up their AFL-listed players and to play regular matches against West Coast and Fremantle teams. But the Eagles and Dockers would not enter the WAFL premiership competition and instead would take part in a separate cup competition that would compete for a significant cash prize.
A detailed proposal will be submitted to the WA Football Commission and the AFL clubs next month after the concept has been digested by WAFL chief CEOs and boards.
Bucovaz, Dockers wait on WAFL tribunal
Aug 30th
Ben Bucovaz will appear before the WAFL tribunal tonight in a hearing that will determine whether he is available for Fremantle’s final match of the season.
Bucovaz was playing for East Fremantle on Saturday when he was reported for striking Subiaco’s Danny Hughes in the last minute of the match.
The WAFL match review panel referred Bucovaz to the tribunal yesterday after finding video footage supplied by the league and ABC television did not provide a clear view of the incident.
Under the agreement between the WAFL and the two local AFL clubs, Bucovaz will not be able to play for the Dockers if he was suspended by the State league tribunal.
Bucovaz, 20, made his Fremantle debut in the round 13 match against Melbourne but has not added to his AFL tally.
He has played 13 league matches for the Sharks this year for a total of 24.
