Wet and Windy Conditions foil Thunder

The reigning Premiers came into the 2^nd Semi Final full of confidence after thumping lowly Subiaco in their final home and away game last weekend. Unfortunately with a spot in the Grand Final up for grabs a much harder opponent in South Fremantle stood in their way and made it 2 from 2 against the Thunder in 2020 as they took full advantage of the breezy conditions on their way to a 6.2 (38) to 3.3 (21) victory.

The breeze was a huge factor in all the games played at Leederville on Saturday with the bulk of the scoring kicked to the Vincent Street end of the ground. South Freo setting the trend early with a 3-goal to zero opening term. The Thunder responded with all 3 of their goals kicked in the second. Shauna Bicker, in 50^th game slotted a couple set shots and Maddison Rimmer added another later in the term and all of a sudden, the Thunder were only down a goal at half-time.

The Bulldogs buoyed by their heartbreak from a year ago didn’t let up in the third and added another couple with the wind to make it awfully tough in the last with the conditions deteriorating. The Thunder had their chances in the last but couldn’t take advantage, only managing 3 behinds with the wind. Which means in a complete repeat of last year will again have to win through via a Preliminary Final if they are to set up another Grand Final date with South Fremantle.

The girls will have to take care of Claremont this weekend, a side which they only managed to hurdle in the final term a month ago at Revo Fitness Stadium, as they kicked 2 final term goals to take out a 9-point victory. It will be the first home final of the day at David Grays Arena on Sunday with bouncedown scheduled for 10:30am.

ROGERS CUP FINAL

PEEL GOALS: Bicker 2; Rimmer 1.

It was a massive occasion for the League side as they took the field in a final for the first time under the Peel Thunder banner. After struggling in their first WAFLW season, the girls have had a remarkable change in fortunes, turning from easy beats to one of the top sides with largely the same players. Facing the daunting task of the League Leaders on their home deck, the girls took it right up to Subi in the wet and windy conditions, ultimately falling just short in the last going down 4.4 (28) to 3.4 (22)

The rain largely held off in the first half, which was reflected on the scoreboard as Subiaco jumped out of the gate and kicked 2 first quarter goals to hold the upper hand early in the contest. The Thunder took full advantage of their chance with the wind in the second term with 7 scoring shots to 2. While they probably didn’t take full advantage of their dominance in the period, Kate Bartlett worked some magic with 2 snapped goals both on her right and left from almost the exact same spot on the ground and Chloe Wrigley drilled a set-shot in between to give the Thunder a 2-point half time lead.

During the half-time break the rain got far heavier and it was to the detriment of the spectacle as once Subiaco kicked the opening goal of the third quarter the game became far more defensive with a Grand Final spot up for grabs. Numbers were put behind the ball, which made scoring and breaking the scrums and packs incredibly difficult as the majority of the play in the second half was played between the arcs.

In the last, the ball was situated deep in the Thunder’s forward line for large periods but the no-one could quite break the deadlock or find a way through the congestion to find an answering goal to possibly extend the game into extra-time. In what was a fitting conclusion to the game, time expired during a boundary throw-in deep in the Thunder’s forward pocket, as Subiaco secured their first WAFLW finals victory and booked their place in the Grand Final. The Thunder meanwhile must now face the daunting challenge of last year’s Premiers but will take some solace in the fact they have beaten them once already this year and they will play them on their home ground.

Be here at David Grays Arena on Sunday to catch all the action as the Thunder play host to their first WAFLW finals fixture with a trip to Joondalup and Grand Final berth on the line from 2:30pm.

WAFLW LEAGUE FINAL

PEEL GOALS: Bartlett 2; Wrigley 1.

PEEL BEST: Wrigley, Rowley, Britton, Bilcich, Church, Bartlett