WAFL 2025: South Fremantle avenge earlier season loss to West Coast Eagles with belting of wooden spooners

South Fremantle tuned up for a run at the premiership with an 87-point belting of wooden spooners West Coast at Mineral Resources Park on Saturday. The Bulldogs avenged an earlier loss to the Eagles — remarkably their only one of the home-and-away season — in fine style, smashing hapless West Coast all over the ground in the 22.12 (144) to 9.3 (57) victory. Even more impressive, they did it without star midfielder and Sandover medal fancy Matt Parker who was a late withdrawal with soreness. And the margin could have been greater had the Bulldogs not taken the foot off the gas in the second half, having wrapped up the win early. Midfielders Jake Florenca (32 disposals and six clearances) and Tom Blechynden (35 and four) ensured Parker wasn’t too sorely missed with strong performances, while Hamish Free (14 disposals, 42 hit-outs and six clearances) was dominant in the ruck. Up forward Trey Ruscoe (seven goals) and Brandon Donaldson (five goals) were unstoppable, while Chase Bourne booted a career-high four goals. It was all one-way traffic early, with the Bulldogs jumping out of the blocks to kick the first five goals in 15 minutes to signal their intent. Jack Williams (two goals) finally got the Eagles on the board in the 19th minute of the first term to give the home side something to celebrate. West Coast kicked goals sporadically, but they were simply an easy kill for the merciless Bulldogs who hunted in packs and spread hard to expose them defensively. By half-time the result was beyond doubt as the visitors led by 67 points, but the Bulldogs had a clear intent to try to get Ruscoe as many goals as possible to be a chance to win the Bernie Naylor Medal. Ruscoe was left one-out in the goal square against Josh Burke, with teammates looking for him at every opportunity. At times it didn’t work as their obvious plan allowed the Eagles to set up strong defensively, but given their dominance on the scoreboard it didn’t cost the Bulldogs. And Ruscoe cost himself, finishing with seven behinds to miss out on what could have been the biggest haul of his career. The only real highlight for West Coast came in the third term when father-son prospect Charlie Banfield kicked a long-range goal to the delight of family and friends in the crowd. SCOREBOARD SOUTH FREMANTLE 7.2 14.4 18.7 22.12 (144) WEST COAST 2.1 3.1 7.3 9.3 (57) Goals – SOUTH FREMANTLE: T Ruscoe 7 B Donaldson 5 C Bourne 4 H Schloithe 3 H Free R O’Hehir M Ward. WEST COAST: J Williams 2 C Banfield C Datson T Edwards-Baldwin D McCarthy A Mercer J Petruccelle J Walsh. Best – SOUTH FREMANTLE: J Florenca T Blechynden H Free B Donaldson T Ruscoe A Drage I Winder. WEST COAST: H Sparks T Edwards-Baldwin D McCarthy J Petruccelle. Injuries – SOUTH FREMANTLE: M Parker (soreness) replaced in the selected side by A Ferreira. WEST COAST: C Jamieson (illness) replaced in the selected side by J Burke. Umpires: C Snadden T McPhee G Simmonds A Crowhurst. Crowd: About 400 at Mineral Resources Park.