ROUND 8 - THUNDER DOWN THE TIGERS

Peel Thunder ended their losing streak with a 23 point win over Claremont at the Fremantle Community Bank Oval on Saturday.

It was the first Thunder League game for Michael Tassone who kicked one of the team’s goals for the day and rounded out the day with eight disposals and five tackles.

“It was definitely a lot quicker and faster, hits are a lot harder and you have less time to react and make a decision so it’s definitely a big step up,” he said.

“It was a pretty good feeling to snag one early, playing in the forward line is always a good feeling.  It was good when all the boys got around you and stuff like that so yeah, it was good.”

Tassone joked he would love to play for the Thunder next week against Swan Districts at Bendigo Bank Stadium, but he would have to see what coach Cam Shepherd ‘Shep’ had to say.

Griffin Logue  returned to the Thunder backline this week and played a good game, ending the day with 5 marks and 17 disposals.

Taylin Duman, who walked away with 21 disposals and 9 marks this round, said “The team’s focus moving forward is to sustain the team’s effort round to round.”

“I guess it’s just sustaining it now, we can’t do it for one week and then drop off the next, we’ve got to be able to sustain it week after week.”

The fourth quarter fizzle still seemed a bit of an issue for the team this week, with Claremont managing to score 4 goals in the fourth quarter and reduce the Thunder’s lead.

“Finishing off games probably hasn't been something we’ve been too good at. We’ll hit the track, recover well and hopefully improve on that next week. They did come hard late but we stuck to our structures and it really worked for us.” Duman said.

Other key players this week included Leroy Jetta, a consistent performer for the Thunder, and Captain Gerald Ugle who kicked four goals this week.

Next week’s game against Swan Districts will prove whether or not the Thunder are able to repeat their winning effort at Bendigo Bank Stadium. League game time 1.40pm.

Written by Keely Liron