Manuel labour extinguishes Perth threat

John Townsend

Jack Buller has left but Alex Manuel is back and he loves playing at Lathlain.

Manuel was in the driver’s seat when Claremont steamrolled Perth by 84 points at Mineral Resources Park on Saturday to remain within touch of top position.

Playing his first match of the season after a concussion and knee cartilage damage delayed his start, Manuel kicked five goals in the 19.17 (131) to 6.11 (47) rout.

It was the second time he has landed a five-goal bag at the ground and took his record to six wins from as many visits.

“It is a bit of a happy hunting ground,” Manuel said. “I’m just happy to be on the park and very happy to be part of a good win.”

And Manuel, 27, was eager to accept responsibility in the absence of the Sydney-bound Buller, saying the Tigers had adopted a “next man up” policy to address any injury or availability issues across the season.

Buller was taken at No.15 in the AFL’s midseason rookie draft but is only contracted to Sydney for the rest of the season and could return to Claremont for finals if the 11th-placed Swans fail to qualify.

“I wouldn’t say I’m like-for-like because it’s pretty hard to do what Jack does in the contest but I think we have a bit of a different dynamic with him gone,” Manuel said.

“We want to get more speed on the ground. He’s left a hard hole to fill but we have a next man up mentality.”

Claremont’s forward line functioned superbly against Perth with Max Minear providing a magnetic target – and excellent kick in attack - while the team’s multiple small forwards had a significant impact.

Zac Mainwaring and Talon Delacey maintained their remarkable streak of being the only WAFL players to kick multiple goals in each of the past five matches while Tyron Smallwood matched the pair’s two majors.

And Jack Lewsey was the beneficiary of a Mainwaring gift on the 50m line that the defender landed to record the first goal of his 80-game career.

Manuel worked his way into the game but showcased his versatility by converting a couple of strong marks on the lead as well as crumbing several opportunities.

He was pleased with his return after the pre-season setbacks.

“It’s been a very frustrating start to the year with a pretty bad concussion in the last week of preseason and then the knee pulled up sore,” he said.

“It’s been a strong team to get into as well.

“But I did a solid four-week block and that puts me in good stead hopefully for the back half of the year.”

Claremont opened with their best quarter of the season – a brutal 7.6 onslaught that prevented any prospect of an upset – with captain Declan Mountford leading from the front and each of the six multiple goal-scorers getting on the board at least once.

Like Manuel, Mountford had a late start to the season as he recovered from off-season shoulder surgery and a patella tendon issue but has since strung together five increasingly influential league performances.

He won 24 possessions in the midfield and provided a reliable outlet from stoppages and an effective avenue between the team’s prolific rebounding defenders and the multi-pronged attacking division.

Mountford got Claremont’s scoring underway with a long bomb six minutes into the match, added another major early in the second half to equal his career-best return and provided the cool and dynamic leadership required for any team to succeed in the biggest games.

Wingman Sam Alvarez had the best half of his short career while rebounding defenders Lachlan Martinis (26 disposals), Teia Miles (25) and Jye Bolton (27) not only waxed between them at half-back but delivered the ball inside 50 on 15 occasions.

Perth’s only scores in the first term came from unforced Claremont turnovers in defence but the Tigers rectified that aspect after the first break and stormed home with a percentage-boosting late surge.

Claremont have a group of seasoned players in career-best form, including Callan England who relished Lathlain’s open spaces to win the ball a personal best 33 times, while ruckman Ollie Eastland’s influence is now expected rather than desired.

Add the quietly effective stoppers in Jack Maibaum and Anthony Davis, and a cohort of emerging youngsters, and Claremont have a group to enhance the manual labour of their stars.

CLAREMONT 7.6 8.12 13.14 19.17 131

PERTH 2.2 4.5 4.10 6.11 47

GOALS - CLAREMONT: Manuel 5; Minear 3; Mountford, Delacey, Smallwood, Mainwaring 2; Lewsey, Treacy, Sheldrick.

PERTH: Stubbs, Quartermaine 2; Sinclair, Hayward.

BEST – CLAREMONT: Mountford, England, Manuel, Eastland, Bolton, Davis, Elliott, Alvarez.

PERTH: Avery, Taylor, Byrne, Stubbs, Clark.