Thirteen Fremantle players were in action for Peel at the weekend in a game that saw the travelling side defeat Perth for their tenth win of the season, regaining top spot on the WAFL ladder.  

Peel have fought back after the round 15 loss to East Fremantle, with a 19-point victory over Perth pushing as strong finals contenders.  

An outstanding first quarter by Peel kicking five goals help set up a strong lead.  

Cooper Simpson (11 disposals, two goals) drew first blood with a goal to set the tone for the Thunder.

Odin Jones (seven disposals, one goal) and Nathan Wilson (four disposals, one goal) followed with goals eventually ending the quarter with Peel ahead by 19 points. 

An explosive start by Neil Erasmus (34 disposals, eight tackles) continued his stellar form in the midfield with Will Brodie (31 disposals, four tackles) and Nathan O’Driscoll (28 disposals, 21 handballs) creating dominance over Perth’s midfield.    

Perth however displayed fight in the second quarter securing four consecutive goals to finish the first half behind by only a point.

Early in the third term Perth again took advantage with an early goal, creating a four-point lead for just their second time in the match. 

A quick reply from Luen Colton (eight disposals, two goals) scoring a clever goal for Peel in front of a vocal group of Perth supporters regained the lead for the travelling side.  

Matthew Taberner (eight disposals, three goals) continued his strong form providing two of his goals late in the third term leaving Peel with a critical 15-point lead going into the final quarter.  

Perth presented themselves with opportunities in the fourth, having three consecutive scoring shots, but only managing to convert one major.

The recent strong form of Karl Worner (21 disposals, 10 handballs) continued as he dominated in the blackline, generating great rebounding efforts for Peel with Ethan Hughes (14 disposals, nine marks) and Joel Brown (seven disposals, four marks).  

Fremantle key forward Sebit Kuek (six disposals, one goal) struck a dagger to Perth in the fourth quarter kicking Peel’s last goal for the match, in his first league appearance for the Thunder in over a year after returning from an ACL injury. 

Peel continued to put pressure on Perth’s backline in the closing minutes forcing two rushed behinds leaving the final scores with the visitors 13.8 (86) to 10.7 (67) and Peel re-claiming top position on the WAFL ladder.  

Reflecting post-match Karl Worner highlighted how important it is connecting with all players and playing as a team.

“Connection is a really important piece, part of our backline," Worner said.

“We're lucky to have such experienced campaigners like Hughey’s (Ethan Hughes) back there and young blokes like Bowey, and Joely Brown.” Worner said.

Worner also praised the work of the midfielders throughout the game. 

“Our midfielders, credit to them they really go to work. We were able to get the ball to ground and were really tough around the footy," he said.

Leading up to finals, Worner reflected on how important it was for the group to trust themselves and their game plan.

“Just trusting ourselves and what’s put forward to us," Worner said.

“It was a good win for us on the weekend, we got Claremont next week so mostly things stay the same in what we value, but we will shift our mindset a little bit to Claremont who I believe had a pretty good win today.” 

Peel will now face Claremont in round 18 at Lane Group Stadium on Saturday 3 August.  

Peel Thunder: 5.2 7.3 10.6 13.8 

Perth: 2.1 7.2 8.3 10.7 

GOALS 

Peel Thunder: 3 Matt Taberner, 2 Luen Colton, Cooper Simpson, 1 Brady Grey, Taj Wyburd, Patrick Voss, Odin Jones, Sebit Kuek, Nathan Wilson. 

Perth: 4 Aaron Clarke, 2 Joseph Chaplin, Kane Johnston, 1 Austin Davis, Blake Schlensog