WAFL Team of Round 3

Whata Round 3 it was of the 2021 Optus WAFL Premiership Season with standout performances throughout round 3, but nothing could beat Greg Clark kicking the match-winner in the game of his life for Subiaco.

The Lions ended up winning 14.10 (94) to 14.7 (91) on the back of Greg Clark's match-winning goal to wrap up an afternoon where he could end up nothing but the WAFL Player of the Week.
    
PLAYER OF THE ROUND – GREG CLARK (SUBIACO)
His progression has been right on track with expectations from colts captain to regular league player, premiership player and now leader, but his performance on Saturday for Subiaco against West Perth is going to be mighty tough to top.

Clark has always been someone that even when Subiaco were going through successful eras that was earmarked has someone capable of leading that new generation when he was a standout colts captain.

That transformation has certainly been happening and he did get a couple of league opportunities in a Subiaco premiership year of 2015 but then after cementing himself for a lot of the 2016 season, he lost his place ahead of the finals with the Lions ending up losing the Grand Final to Peel Thunder.

He took his game up another level in 2016 and this time played in Subiaco's first two finals, but he lost his spot in the Grand Final but the heartbreak of that wasn’t what it could have been given it turned out to be another loss to the Thunder.

But over 2018 and 2019, Clark had no worries about his place in the team and there would be nothing stopping him being part of Subiaco's success. They would win back-to-back premierships and he was a key member of the sides of both teams.

He then had another good year in the shortened 2020 WAFL season and has started 2021 brilliantly, and there's no question his performance on Saturday in Subiaco's three-point win against West Perth was the best of his 77-game career.

Not only did he finish with the remarkable numbers of 37 possessions, 11 marks, eight tackles and five entries inside the forward 50, but he kicked the winning goal in the dying stages in remarkable fashion.

With Subiaco forcing a boundary throw-in in their forward pocket and trailing, Lachlan Delahunty tapped it down to the waiting Clark, who weaved his way through space to kick truly and kick the Lions into the lead and they remained unbeaten in 2021.

WAFL TEAM OF THE ROUND
BACK: Lachlan Martinis (C), Blake Schlensog (SF), Blake Wilhelm (WP)
HALF-BACK: Cody Leggett (EF), Michael Sinclair (P), Nelson Waite (SD)
CENTRE: Cameron Eardley (EF), Leigh Kitchin (S), Greg Clark (S)
HALF-FORWARD: Steven Edwards (SF), Ben Sokol (S), Matt Riggio (SD)
FORWARD: Jesse Palmer (SD), Tyler Keitel (WP), Harry McCracken (C)
RUCK: Corey Gault (SD), Haiden Schloithe (SF), Declan Mountford (C)
INTERCHANGE: Jye Bolton (C), Lloyd Meek (PT), Ben Hancock (PT), Milan Murdock (EF)

UNLUCKY BUNCH
There were plenty of players who delivered tremendous performances across Round 3 but couldn’t quite fit into the Team of the Round, including:

Harry Marsh, Jordan Faraone, Lachlan Delahunty, Hayden Kennedy, Max Walters and Rowen Powell.