By Ken Casellas

Footballers suffer a wide variety of injuries which keep them on the sidelines. But fresh ground was broken last week when a spider prevented Claremont’s promising teenage defender Harry Sinclair from taking part in any of the club’s three scratch matches against Peel Thunder at Rushton Park on Saturday.

The rusty-haired Scotch College graduate was laid low last week by a spider bite to his right elbow. His arm became red and swollen and he became feverish.

However, he recovered well enough to travel to Mandurah and helped out as a runner in the reserves practice match. 

Later in the day the pink shirt of team runner was worn in fine style by league full-back Brandon Franz. He fractured a bone in the little finger of his right hand at training a couple of weeks ago and the finger was in a splint.

However, the indomitable Franz is confident he will be able to take his place in the side for the round one league match against East Perth at Leederville Oval on Saturday.

Claremont supporters left  Rushton Park in a happy state after the league side had fought back to finish 18 points behind a powerful Peel combination, stacked with Fremantle Dockers. Of particular note was the wholehearted start by muscular midfielder Jye Bolton.

Bolton, recruited from Werribee in the VFL, was outstanding in the opening term with two marks, six kicks, three effective handpasses and a crunching tackle.

Many Tigers fans were of the opinion that the WAFL competition will continue to be compromised with Dockers players strengthening the Thunder when they’re not required for AFL action. The same applies to East Perth, the West Coast Eagles affiliate WAFL club.

It was wonderful to watch former Swanbourne junior and Claremont colts and league player Matt de Boer playing so superbly for Peel.

De Boer, who celebrated his 26^th birthday last Thursday, was chosen in the 2009 rookie draft by the Dockers and has chalked up 134 AFL appearances. He was a livewire midfielder who had 17 kicks and made 18 handpasses.

De Boer, a WA 18s representative and chosen in the all-Australian side, played 14 league matches for Claremont before being drafted. He then appeared in four senior matches in 2009 and one in 2011 for the Tigers. He has played eight times for Peel in the past two seasons.

He is a hard-running midfielder who can also be used effectively as a defensive forward. It is interesting to note that he was the leading tackler for the Dockers in 2015, with a season’s tally of 106 tackles, an average of 5.6 tackles per game. His career average is an outstanding 5.1, boasting a record high of 13 tackles against Richmond in June 2012.