2006 WAFL season

• West Perth’s seemingly undersized defenders Josh Pearce, Dion Fleay and Darren Atkinson win the match against the clubs expected to be the biggest challenger to 2005’s elite.^[14]
• Peel coach Chris Waterman vows to keep playing the club’s 2004 and 2005 colts premiership players, as the Thunder win a fast-paced and entertaining duel between the cellar-dwellers of the modern WAFL.^[4]

• Former ACT player David Mapleston’s excellent marking shows Subiaco – established as the richest and most professional club in the WAFL – have replaced former Bernie Naylor Medallists Brad Smith and Lachlan Oakley with remarkable efficiency, and it shows in the manner by which they overcome the Tigers.^[16]
• Despite 37 possessions – 79 in two games – from 2000 Brownlow Medallist Shane Woewodin, East Fremantle are never in the hunt against a solid Perth team who are warned of the task ahead against Subiaco.^[17]

• Subiaco take advantage of Hawthorn’s failure to draft Caine Hayes – recommended to the Hawks by Subiaco coach Peter German – as he returns to a running-type role to crush the improved Demons.^[19]
• Improved support for the prolific 34-possession Woewodin from Joel Sofi, Nic Polce and Kris Miller, means East Fremantle after two big losses upset the still-winless Royals, who are clear last with three tough matches to come.^[20]

• Peel Thunder’s opening of 10.5 (65) is their record score for any quarter.^[23] Darren Bolton’s fleet-footed movement shows coach Waterman knew what he was doing when he offered the overweight 29-year-old a lifeline. Peel, however, do lose key on-baller Daniel Haines for the rest of 2006.
• Swan Districts’ 40-point deficit at half-time is the biggest overcome to win at Arena Joondalup.^[24]
• East Perth fail to keep up with the speedy Tigers and suffer their tenth consecutive defeat, adding to severe financial problems associated with their off-season recruiting.^[25]

• In an embarrassing thrashing where Subiaco never hit peak form but are under no pressure at any stage after the Sharks had only one kick in the first twelve minutes,^[10] East Fremantle kicked:

1. their second-lowest score since 1915^[a] when they kicked 2.2 (14) with a scoreless second half against Perth
2. their second-lowest ever against Subiaco ahead of 2.4 (16) in 1912.^[28]
3. the lowest score ever by a visiting team at Leederville Oval and the second-lowest in the history of the ground.^[29]

• Coach John Dimmer dismisses talk of South Fremantle going through the season undefeated after a fourteenth consecutive victory against a depleted West Perth, who finish with seventeen fit men and cannot counter eight-goal Ryan Murphy or forty-possession Daniel Gilmore.^[30]

• East Perth’s “flooding” tactics hold out Subiaco apart from a burst of five goals in time-on of the second quarter that consign the Royals to a twelfth consecutive loss when they were threatening the upset of the season to that point.^[32]
• South Fremantle extend their winning run to fifteen matches as they run away with three goals in the last two minutes of the half after Swans score only 0.5 (5) from a long period of sustained attack in the second quarter.^[33]
• Daniel Bandy is heckled by the Lathlain crowd after he joined several former AFL teammates at Claremont rather than the Demons where he began his senior football, but still plays a critical role – both in the ruck and attack – in the Tigers’ big win.^[34]

• Claremont break South’s fifteen-match winning streak thanks to a miserly defence that allows no goals after quarter-time except one brief three-goal burst, plus an amazing display by ex-Docker centre half-forward Anthony Jones. Jones finished with 25 possessions, 14 marks, and kicks 6.2 (38).^[37]
• A concrete-and-matting based cricket strip across the centre of Mukinbudin’s oval caused rival captains Simon Duckworth (West Perth) and Chris Bossong (Perth) to imagine they were tossing for innings, and caused much criticism of the WAFL for taking the league to towns lacking the requisite infrastructure.^[38] Perth won a thriller after being behind narrowly most of the afternoon.^[36]

• Perth comfortably win to create a surprise challenge for the finals but rookie coach Simon Eastaugh is not happy with his team’s skill against the winless Royals, whose thirteenth consecutive loss was their longest run of “outs” since 1929.^[40]
• Ex-St. Kilda defender Daniel Wulf constantly streaks into attack to decimate Peel after half-time, when he scores an amazing three goals amongst Swans’ 17.9 (111) to 3.8 (26) romp for the half.^[41]

East Perth’s strong forward give them an easy first win for 2006 under new coach Peos. Troy Wilson scores nine goals to justify his state selection, but Andrew Merrington and Ben McKinley play equally well.^[42]

• In inflicting Subiaco’s first defeat of the season, Swan Districts break a record losing streak of thirteen against the Lions, with their previous win being in Kununurra during the fourteenth round of 2000.^[46] Swans’ win is amazing given they were without Daniel Wulf, Shane Beros, Morris Coppin and Daniel Piani, and leading goalkicker Chris Maguires scores only two behinds. Adam Lange, overlooked by state selectors, gave a dominant 28-possession display.
• In front of the season’s biggest non-Grand Final crowd and the unveiling of statue to commemorate John Gerovich’s famous mark in the 1956 Preliminary Final between the two clubs, South Fremantle achieve the biggest half-time lead in open-age WA(N)FL competition, leading by 20.6 (126) to 1.8 (14).^[47] They finished with the highest score in the WAFL since Claremont kicked 33.28 (226) against East Perth in 1987.
• South Fremantle set records for highest score and biggest margin over their derby rivals,^[48] beating 107 points from 1980 and 28.21 (189) from 1976.^[49]
• Seven Bulldogs score three or more goals, with Ryan Murphy kicking five in the second half after starting in defence, and Daniel Gilmore score two from seven shots and over 40 possessions.

• Perth win only their fifth game at East Fremantle Oval since 1980 to rise to clear fifth when the siren sounded before Tim Malseed could kick an easy goal that would have produced the WAFL’s first drawn match since the opening round of 2003.^[b]
• Key forwards Ryan Hewitt and Ryan Murphy each kick five goals and take nineteen marks between them as South Fremantle kick the first seven goals, which proves enough to win despite tough East Perth resistance.^[52]

• Perth coach Simon Eastaugh is pleased with his club’s effort, saying they showed the ability to match it with Subiaco until three quick goals midway through the third quarter moved the Lions clear for good.^[54]
• Swans’ loss of ruckman Ames allowed Tiger follower Michael Gardiner to run rings around the black and whites and leave the top three twelve points clear.^[6]

• Perth’s impressive commitment moves them within a game of the four, but coach Eastaugh refused to talk “finals”. South Fremantle challenge and early Demon lead for a brief period during the final quarter before a Richard Kelly tackle in defence leads to a goal to Shane Paap, which that player immediately duplicates.^[55]
• With eleven goals against Eagle-listed Brett Jones,^[56] Troy Wilson becomes the first Royal to kick double figures in a match for a decade as East Perth, winless after eight weeks, record a major upset.
• West Coast interchange ruckman Mark Seaby takes advantage of Gardiner’s AFL recall to decimate a Swan Districts ruck duo with eight WAFL matches between them and leave Swans in the four only on percentage.^[7]

• East Perth coach Peos talks “finals” for the first time as a crushing win, led by Craig Wulff and Andrew Merrington, over Swan Districts leaves the victims inside the four by only 0.5 percent.^[58]
• A harsh training session after the Perth loss has a South Fremantle team depleted by injuries and Docker calls holding out an inaccurate West Perth to stay second and keep the Falcons a game out of the four.^[59]
• Peel coach Waterman laments injuries after an inspired third quarter has the Thunder on track to defeat one of the pacesetters before “one-on-one” tactics that Peel cannot handle win the game for the Tigers in the last.^[60]

• East Perth fade out after a very tough three quarters, with ex-Royals Caine Hayes and Paul Ridley booed for their sparking of the Lions when they are rested late in the match.^[63]
• East Fremantle fall apart after a strong start, but the match analysis is dominated by coach Dunbar’s accusation that playmaker Shane Woewodin, who was kept quiet by Ray Bartholemew, was illegally impeded for most of the match.^[64]

• South Fremantle move ahead in the battle for second position as they just hold off a Claremont team that in dewy conditions did not goal between quarter-time and ten minutes into the last quarter.^[66]
• Despite midweek predictions that Perth and East Perth would fight out fourth position, West Perth are the team to take advantage of Swan Districts’ thrashing by jumping the Demons and never being threatened even when Andrew McDougall kicks his four goals for the game in the third quarter.^[67]
• East Fremantle, with only two wins in thirteen matches, kick their most accurate score by excess of goals over behinds and the most accurate against Swan Districts.^[68] It is their second highest score and most goals ever against Swan Districts.^[69] Former defender Andrew McCarrey kicks eleven goals straight and Michael Griffiths against shows Swans’ ruck weakness and gives Woewodin and Kris Miller complete midfield control.
• Peel Thunder lead Subiaco for all but the first thirteen and last thirteen minutes – before the Lions escape a giant upset by kicking 10.1 (61) in the final quarter of what was previously a low-scoring match.^[70]

• Perth move to within percentage of the four with a favourable draw remaining whilst East Perth are eliminated after a slow start and the loss of key defender Craig Wulff.^[74]
• Peel end a run of ten consecutive losses in a spiteful match, whereby young rover Haydn Ballantyne overcomes being hit and treated in the opening quarter to be the dominant player for the remainder of the match. Owing to Peel’s failure to formally complain, Ballantyne was the only player reported on video evidence and was suspended for headbutting despite his great performance.^[75]

• Former Perth spearhead Chris Maguire returns after one week in the reserves to end a Swan Districts horror stretch with four of eight final quarter goals against a passionless Demon team.^[78]
• Anthony Tsalikis, who trained at Hopetoun and worked in Ravensthorpe as an engineer, gives West Perth an upset win to move clear in the four against expectations of Perth taking their place.^[79]
• Returned forward Dean Buszan kicks eight goals in a match for the second time, being as of 2013 one of only two Thunder players to do this.^[80] As of 2014, Buszan holds the record for most goals in a match on both sides of Peel v East Perth.

• For the third occasion in four matches, Subiaco race away after being in difficulties for most of the contest, as a “wall of players” in the Demon midfield stops Subiaco’s running game until Josh Wooden is moved into the centre and uses his skill to break the “wall” down.^[82]
• Mark LeCras’ 7.5 (47) from over thirty possessions – including thirteen in the first quarter – leaves West Perth two wins clear in the four, birtually sealing the finalists with a month of the home-and-away season remaining.^[83]

Debutant Callum Wilson’s five goals leads South Fremantle to a brilliant win after having trailed by fifteen points early in the second quarter.^[85]

• Cameron Heise’s ability to put pressure on Paul Medhurst, along with Subiaco’s ability to spread the goalscoring with ten single goalkickers all but seals the double chance and Subiaco’s “home” final.^[87]
• Peel’s commitment and efficient ball use have them ahead of the Falcons almost all afternoon on the only wet day of the season^[88] despite a few bad discipline errors, in the process virtually sealing the wooden spoon with East Fremantle’s last hope to defeat almost invincible Subiaco.^[89]
• Port Melbourne recruits Michael Griffiths, Joel Sofi and James Kondarovskis combine for the first time to end the finals hopes of an uninspiring Perth and mathematically keep the Sharks’ hopes of avoiding the wooden spoon alive.^[90]

Eight goals from in-form Mark LeCras – an Eagle emergency in Brisbane when the Falcons lost to Peel – fails to add confidence because of the prospect of a permanent AFL call-up weakening the club.^[93]

• With Mark LeCras kicking five goals for West Coast^[96] and Josh Head blanketing Tsalikis, West Perth’s attack fails completely and give no sign they can match the top three in the finals.^[97]
• Peel record the second highest losing score in their history^[98] as Buszan kicks eight goals in a match for the third time, remaining the sole Thunder player to do so until 2008.^[80] He did this despite having a dog chew up his football boots six weeks beforehand.
• The Thunder trailed by 64 points early in the third quarter after Claremont kicked 10.7 (67) to 1.0 (6) in the second quarter, but their determination has them come back strongly in the best form in their WAFL history.^[99]

This was the first final ever played at Claremont Oval, and underlined the superiority of the top three with the Falcons’ heaviest defeat since 1997,^[100] despite Claremont losing Paul Medhurst to the AFL.^[101]

• This was the first final at Leederville since the 1935 First Semi between East Perth and East Fremantle – the last season before all finals were played at Subiaco due to the league establishing permanent headquarters there.^[102]
• Subiaco came from 25 points down to beat a South Fremantle team that kicked only five goals in the second half from sixty entries inside their forward fifty metres.^[103]

South Fremantle hang on when a Claremont kick on the siren does not make the distance but have problems with the availability of key players Andrew Siegert, Ashton Hams, Travis Gaspar and Daniel Gilmore.^[104]

Subiaco completely dominate against a Bulldog side with Gaspar, Siegert and Gilmore under fitness clouds, kicking 15.7 (97) to 5.2 (32) after half-time.