Swan Districts produced a superior brand of team football and exerted greater pressure to emerge triumphant over Claremont in the grand final at Subiaco Oval on Sunday morning when the Tigers failed to take full advantage of the wind in the first and third quarters and were defeated by 20 points.

Emerging as a wonderful shining light in a losing cause was the youngest player on the ground, Claremont’s highly-talented 16-year-old Sam Petrevski-Seton, who delighted the sparse crowd with his dazzling skills in yet another wonderful display which reinforced his prospects of becoming a league star for Claremont and a champion in the AFL competition.

Seton, from Halls Creek and a student at Clontarf, played mainly on a half-forward flank and on a wing. He is a beautifully balanced footballer who is not eligible for the AFL draft for two years. He was Western Australia’s outstanding player in the AFL national 16’s carnival on the Gold Coast in July and won the Kevin Sheehan Medal as the fairest-and-best player in division one of the competition.

Swans were more composed than the Tigers in Sunday’s grand final and they thoroughly deserved their success. They were the trendsetters in the competition throughout the year in which they played in 22 matches for just two losses, while Claremont ended with 15 wins and eight defeats.

Claremont, coached by Ross McQueen and ably assisted by his lieutenants Mark Paris, Chris Payne and Sam Wallace, enjoyed a successful season and several talented players will go on to represent the club in senior ranks.

Captain Sam Bevan won the toss and elected to kick to the eastern end with the aid of a fresh breeze. However, the Tigers failed to take advantage of the wind and trailed Swans by two points at quarter time.

Swans were never headed after they scored the opening goal with just 29 seconds on the clock. They went straight into attack from the first bounce and centre-half-forward Sean Fletcher gained possession in the goalsquare and dribbled the ball through for a team-lifting goal.

The Tigers hit back just under four minutes later after midfielder Jared Hardisty was awarded a free-kick at left half-forward. The ball ended out of bounds ion the left pocket and then Swans cleared to the opposite pocket where Jack Prendiville was rewarded for a fine tackle with a free-kick which he converted into a goal.

Two minutes later Swans captain and full-forward Nelson Ansey received a free-kick 60m out. Then a 50m penalty enabled him to bring up full points.

Nerves seemed to be affecting Claremont and the side was unable to develop any efficient system. A goal to Lindsay Murray increased the Swans lead to 12 points before Seton snapped truly from the right pocket after Isaac Baum had started the forward move.

Baum handpassed to Seton, who drove the ball forward where Francis Watson got it to the right pocket where the hard-running Seton gained possession and kicked a goal.

About half-way through the quarter Watson was switched from a forward pocket into defence and Harry McCracken went from a back pocket into attack. Chad Daniels booted the fourth goal for Swans just before the 17-minute mark to extend the lead to 12 points. Claremont replied with behinds to Ryan Lim and McCracken.

At last the Tigers were developing more system and Sam Humphry handpassed to Jacob Delaporte, who booted the ball high forward where full-forward Bevan rose to take an excellent contested mark. But his shot struck the top of the left goal post. A minute later Lim handpassed to Harry Taylor and the ball went to the right pocket where Harry Court met with interference in a marking duel and was awarded a free-kick. But only a behind resulted.

Two minuted before the quarter-time siren Claremont centre-half-back Matt Cairns got the ball after a Swans kick sailed out of bounds on the full. Seton then took a mark and delivered to Bevan, who soared from behind his marksman Dylan Smith to take a mark. Bevan’s major reduced the deficit to two points.

Prendiville had been outstanding in the opening quarter during which the side received grand service from Hardisty, Seton, Lim and Bailey Rogers (in defence).

Nineteen-year-old Ben Whitsed dominated the centre clearances early in the second term and was largely responsible for Swans taking a firm grip of the contest. Five minutes into the quarter Swans led, 7.0 to 3.4, after Swans had booted three goals in the space of 3min. 10sec.

Two minutes later Claremont full-back Matt Palfrey denied Swans by taking a strong mark in front of a pack. And then neither side was able to score for the next five minutes. Then the drought was broken after Chad Daniels took a mark a couple of metres out and was placed on a difficult angle on the left.

His shot sailed across the goalmouth. But a Claremont misdemeanour resulted in the umpire returning the ball to Daniels and awarding him a 50m penalty. This placed Daniels dead in front from point-blank range. The Daniels goal extended the Swans lead to 26 points.              

The Tigers had been smashed at the stoppages. But they rallied and stemmed the tide. Bevan was working hard up the ground and he took a mark at centre-half-back to start a move involving Tom Gajewski, Court and Alec Waterman (who was working feverishly after a quiet opening term to lift his side). Waterman delivered to Alec Manuel, who took a strong mark opposed to Jake Taylor.

This was Claremont’s first venture inside the 50m attacking zone for the quarter (after 16 minutes). But Manuel’s shot was another poster. Claremont took charge for the next five minutes as Waterman, Hardisty, Seton, Baum and Humphry worked hard to lift the side and Rogers, Taylor and Nick Reid defended strongly.

Turnovers and fumbling were hurting the Tigers before, finally, after 20 minutes, they scored their only goal for the quarter, with Humphry fighting hard to gain possession and then handpass to Gajewski.

The half-time deficit was 18 points and Claremont had the use of the breeze in the third quarter as the rain arrived. Inaccuracy continued to plague the Tigers, who added a wasteful 3.6 to go into the three-quarter time break with a score of 7.13 against a Swans score of 10.3.

Waterman lifted his rating from the outset as he worked feverishly to lift the Tigers. Five minutes into the term he worked hard to drive the ball forward and he followed up by applying a great tackle on Jacob Coniglio to earn a free-kick. But his shot veered to the right to register a behind.

Two minutes later Waterman drove the ball to the goal square where Court soccered a much-needed major. Waterman then gained the clearance at the resultant centre bounce before Gajewski sent the ball forward. He met with interference after kicking the ball and a free-kick was awarded down the ground to Manuel in the right pocket. Another behind was the result.

Lim relieved the pressure with a grand saving mark in defence and then Hardisty and Seton combined with Scott Trickey to get the ball to Baum, whose pass found Seton. Again a behind was the result.

A great overhead mark in the heavy rain deep in defence by Adam Volaric thwarted Swans, but soon afterwards Fletcher booted his second major for Swans. Claremont went into attack where Manuel fought hard and was rewarded for his efforts with a free-kick. Manuel’s shot was off line, but 80 seconds later McCracken booted a goal after some splendid work from Rogers.

The Tigers then had five players in the centre square for the bounce down. Swans earned a free-kick for this infringement and Robert Mostert scored his side’s tenth goal.

Claremont were not to be denied and Watson delivered to Lawrence Evans, whose handpass to McCracken enabled him to boot his second goal in the space of three minutes.

McCracken and Evans then scored behinds and in the final 30 seconds of the quarter Watson and Delaporte took saving marks deep in defence.

The rain continued to tumble down in the final term. The ball was slippery and the ground was waterlogged as the last 25 minutes of the contested degenerated into an unsightly scramble. Claremont struggled to come to terms with the conditions and failed to score, while Swans added 1.6 to record a convincing 20-point victory.

Details:

Swan Districts 11.9 (75) beat Claremont 7.13 (55)

Scorers---SWAN DISTRICTS: J. Shaw 2.2; C. Daniels 2.1; S. Fletcher, R. Mostert 2.0; N. Ansey, L. Murray 1.1; B. Whitsed 1.0; A. Dean, E. Maguire 0.1; 2pts forced. CLAREMONT: H. McCracken 2.2; S. Bevan, H. Court, S. Seton 1.1; T. Gajewski, J. Prendiville 1.0; A. Manuel 0.3; R. Lim, A. Waterman 0.2; L. Evans 0.1.

Best---SWAN DISTRICTS: A. Dean, J. Daniels, E. Maguire, L. Ridley, B. Whitsed, J. Coniglio, C. Daniels, S. Fletcher, W. Wilson. CLAREMONT: S. Seton, A. Waterman, B. Rogers, J. Hardisty, S. Bevan, R. Lim, S. Humphry.