2000 Westar Rules season

Peel have visions of a huge upset before Subiaco seize complete control in the third quarter where the Thunder total only 39 possessions.^[5]

• Subiaco, previously criticised as “soft”, produce a superb display in difficult conditions due to a strong sea breeze.^[6]
• Injury-plagued Swan Districts ruckman Travis Edmonds leads the Swans to a comfortable win after being behind all day.^[7] Swans kick the last eight after Perth won the first three quarters.

• Peel Thunder record their first ever home-ground win, ending a run of 32 home-ground losses.
• For the third straight week, Perth fade out in the last quarter, this time after Cleve Humphreys of South Fremantle kicks out on the full from point blank range.^[8]

A snap from Swan Districts’ Joel Cornelius is originally paid as a goal but reversed by the field umpire, giving Subiaco the match.^[9]

• Peel Thunder kick their first score of twenty goals, and their score remains easily the Thunder’s highest losing score on record (the nearest approach being 121 points against Claremont in the last round of 2006)^[10]
• Dean Buszan kicks ten goals, still a Peel club record^[11]

• The Thunder break their record for the highest score for the second straight week^[10]
• “Twin Towers” Buszan (who missed all of 1999 through injury)^[12] and Greg Sanders kick six and seven goals.^[13]

On a Weekend promoted by Westar as “Belt Up WA”, Tregenza kicks eleven for the Sharks^[14]

• Despite the loss of Andrew Donnelly, Subiaco crush the previously promising Thunder with state centre half-back Richard Ambrose taking over his centre half-forward role and the Peel midfield thrashed.^[15]
• 1999 Simpson Medallist Christian Kelly ends East Perth’s unbeaten start to 2000 with a superb display on the ball, backed up by outstanding display from the whole West Perth defence.^[16]

After revealing they required $200,000 to pay off crippling debts and avoid folding, Swan Districts overcame wet conditions in the first half to kick 8.5 (53) to 3.3 (21) after the long interval, with half-forward flanker Mark Piani kicking four goals.^[17]

• Subiaco’s devastating midfield and a fine display by Perth reject Anthony Beattie seemingly seal Claremont’s fate for 2000.^[18]
• Peter Kelly kicks nine goals for the Swans in a dour game to keep the Demons winless.^[19]

• Sixteen-year-old Trinity College boy Ashley Sampi steals the show during a brilliant return to form by South Fremantle with seventeen kicks and some amazing individual skills.^[20]
• Peel, with Dean Buszan out for the season due to persistent ankle problems, are restricted to 0.1 (1) in the first half as Anthony Jones shows himself ready for an AFL recall and Claremont keep their finals hopes alive.^[21]

• Westar Rules schedule games for the Pilbara town of Karratha and the Kimberley town of Kununurra. Despite good attendances, the experiments were not repeated until 2011 and 2013 respectively.
• Swan Districts record what would become their last win against the Lions until the Foundation Day Saturday of 2006, setting a record streak of thirteen losses in between.^[22]
• Peel Thunder become the first WANFL/WAFL/Westar Rules team to fail to score in the second half since Subiaco against East Fremantle in 1954. The Thunder kick 4.4 in the first nineteen minutes in heavy rain and gale-force winds but only one point midway through the second quarter afterwards.^[23]

Ultra-defensive tactics cost Perth a maiden victory for 2000 after hitting the lead^[24]

In perhaps the highest-standard Westar Rules match for a long time despite rainy conditions,^[25] Josh Wooden’s running play allows East Perth to defeat the finals charge of the financially stricken Swans.^[26]

Peel’s wasteful forwards and an elementary error during a late-game kick-in where they leave reigning Simpson Medallist Christian Kelly unmarked cost it a fifth win^[27]

• On a rainswept Arena Joondalup,^[28] strong rivals West Perth and East Perth play the lowest-scoring WANFL/WAFL/WASFL/Westar game since West Perth 5.4 (34) beat Perth 3.4 (22) in 1964.^[29]
• The score is West Perth’s lowest since kicking 2.9 (21) against East Fremantle in the 1925 Semi-Final.^[30]
• In Toodyay, Perth, despite having 33 more marks and 20 more kicks, still cannot break their duck for the season as Clayton Gardiner’s size and power convert chances too well.^[31]

After John Todd tries to play Craig Callaghan, who was controversially ruled ineligible for the Westar finals and is taken off after tossing, the Swans fall under on- and off-field pressure against the seventh-placed Bulldogs.^[32]

• Perth escape their first-ever winless season with a convincing victory over Swan Districts. Perth were previously winless with a round to play and won in 1923, though they had drawn one game.
• The Demons are neck-and-neck with Swan Districts before the report and send-off of Swan fullback Steve Kelderman for striking an umpire lets Perth run away and kick 10.7 (67) to 0.2 (2) for the rest of the game.^[33]
• East Fremantle give West Perth, who needed to win by eight-and-a-half goals to make the four, not the slightest whiff of a chance with a solid win that made critics rethink their finals chances.^[34]

Claremont’s lack of an effective forward (no Tiger kicked more than one goal) costs it a game they were expected to win.^[35]

Since the two finals were played on the same day at the same venue, the attendance figure is the same.

The Sharks are unexpectedly stronger at the finish in a hard and tough game.^[36]

East Perth overcame the loss of vice-captain Rod Wheatley (hit in the face by a ball soccered by Leigh Willison) to win their first premiership in 22 years comfortably.^[37]