After The Game With Snaps Truly – Rd 11 V Yartapuulti

See, I told you we’d beat Port.

And Luke Jackson’s girlfriend has clearly decided she now really loves it here, because Dogga seemed immeasurably more settled and consequently, played out of his skin.

And – thanks for your concern – I didn’t even need a crown after breaking a tooth eating toast last week. The dentist simply used a piping bag to fill my mouth with amalgam. I don’t have a pretty smile, but today it is a big one.

In the pouring rain at Optus, Walyalup withstood a challenging first half where Yartapuulti tackled hard, created lots of opportunities, and frankly were fighting for their season and coach Ken Hinkley’s football legacy.

Georgiades kicked two of their three opening goals and it took a couple of brilliant individual efforts from the first-year kids Dudley and Reid to keep us in touch.

Sad news though for another youngster, Cooper Simpson who, having just earned his place on a half back flank, barely tied his laces before being cleaned up and forced out of the game.

We await the prognosis.

This was a hard slog of a match and yet it was punctuated with some of the best goals I have seen Walyalup players kick in recent times.

Take Matt Johnson’s effort early in the second term. A great ball getter but an often-awful user of it, he burst clear to effortlessly kick a goal on the run from 50.

Shortly after, Reid tapped cleverly to Freddy who straightened up and finished beautifully.

And more was to come.

One worrying moment – Alex Pearce may well face MRP censure for an impact on Darcy Byrne-Jones, who would later be subbed out under concussion protocols.

Alex deserves to be let off because, frankly, he is perhaps the nicest bloke I’ve ever met.

At the half, Freo in front, but by just 8 points.

At the resumption, a soft 50 metre free kick enabled Switta to kick his second and again Dudley and Reid combined to give Walyalup some much needed breathing space.

Alex Pearce took yet another intercept mark; received another 50-metre benefit and then banged home his third goal of the season. After which, he bravely endured Pat Voss riding him like a Melbourne Cup winning jockey crossing the line.

Walyalup blew the game apart in the third quarter, with four goals to nil.

Serong and Brayshaw, well held early, were spoon fed opportunities by the dominant Jackson, who after taking a mark on the boundary and in keeping with the mood of the night, decided to kick the drop punt instead of a more speculative banana. He nailed it. The margin 32 points at three quarter time.

It was quickly extended. From the opening bounce, Serong won the ball, gave it to Brayshaw who found Voss who marked strongly. To the delight of his teammates, he flushed it cleanly from range.

Bergman kicked Yartapuulti’s first goal of the second half, but as the rain tumbled, Walyalup continued to produce high quality finishes.

Murphy Reid with the outside of his right foot, made it four for the night.

Jye Amiss, who’d fought hard without much reward, kicked a fine drop put from a long way out and Dudley exploded through a pack and low hanging clouds to blast another one.

A Bolton snap right near the end made it a clean 100-point outing and Walyalup were 49-point winners.

This was an emphatic victory, characterised by moments of brilliance and with just one game to go – against Gold Coast away – before the bye, Walyalup have put themselves within striking distance of playing finals footy.

A good response to some lacklustre early performances.

Now …

I don’t usually do a Winner and Loser of the Week, but today I think there are two deserving of mention.

Winners: The Sunderland Association Football Club, back in the English Premier League late on Saturday night after having previously endured a long and humiliating fall from grace; beautifully documented in the series “Sunderland ‘Til I Die.” See it on Netflix, and recognise the pain of footy fans everywhere.

And the Loser: Initially I thought it was David With Little To Be Proud About, but by week’s end he I opted for James Magnussen, the former Olympic swimming star who became the face of the horrendous “Enhanced Games” or as it should be known “The Circus of the Grotesque” in Las Vegas.

The event invites athletes to sniff, inject and gobble whatever they want in a bid to break world records in the pool and on the track and at the weight lifting.

It’s obviously unethical. It’s clearly dangerous and it’s an insult to all those athletes who spend entire careers trying to “win clean.”

And here was James, encouraging a new generation to get on the gear because he “feels like he’s 18 again.”

James is a deluded loser.

Dear Readers,

Don’t take drugs (unless officially sanctioned by a hotelier) or grown in a bathtub in the shed.

Yours truly,

Snaps Truly.

* By our multi-talented and amazingly insightful footy scribe, SNAPS TRULY. Snaps has seen and done it all. He may or may not have been a fringe player at Fremantle. Don’t miss Snaps’ report after each Freo Dockers match here on the Shipping News throughout the 2025 season.

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