Aside from having dynamic on-baller Daniel Kerr available and star forward Mark LeCras pushing for inclusion as he recovers from a fractured arm, the Eagles have a string of players in the queue looking for the opportunity.
Aside from Kerr, who played his first game for East Fremantle on Saturday and worked into the contest in the second half, there were eye-catching performances at all WAFL venues.
Defenders Jacob Brennan and Ashley Smith maintained pressure for spots in the back half, Mark Hutchings was outstanding through the midfield and Murray Newman was lively up forward.
Hutchings had 36 possessions and racked up a double figure tackle count in a brilliant performance from West Perth, Smith was Perth’s best player with 23 disposals and nine marks in a brilliant win over Swan Districts and Brennan had 15 touches for East Fremantle.
Draftees Adam Carter and Brant Colledge played reserves after pre-season injury concerns, along with Brad Dick and all three will be pushing for senior selection this week. Carter had 19 touches and eight marks at half-back for South Fremantle, Colledge had it 18 times with seven marks for Perth and Dick finished strongly, after a quite start, when thrust into the midfield in the final term for East Fremantle.
Newman had 19 possessions and four marks for Swan Districts when his work rate was high, while Cale Morton was short of his own expectations and Jeremy McGovern was injured in the first quarter of Claremont’s victory against East Perth.
