Sinclair and Colledge make TABtouch WAFL Team of the Year

THE TABtouch WAFL Team of the Year has been selected for 2018 and 20 of the 26 players named will all be taking part in this Sunday's semi finals featuring Subiaco, South Fremantle, West Perth and Claremont.

Over the course of the 2018 WAFL season, the www.wafl.com.au team selected a Team of the Round after each weekend of football.

Based on those 21 teams selected, the TABtouch WAFL Team of the Year has been named featuring 22 players and four emergencies that have earned their place in the side based on the number of times they were named throughout the season.

The might mean some star players who missed large parts of the season or weren’t quite as consistent miss out like Swan Districts' Rhys Palmer, South Fremantle's Cory Dell'Olio and Mason Shaw, Claremont's Jared Hardisty, Haydn Busher and Alex Manuel, Subiaco's Brad Stevenson, and East Perth's Luke Partington.
 
Every player that was named to the Team of the Round on six or more occasions has been included in the Team of the Year, with Subiaco's Lachlan Delahunty and West Perth's Shane Nelson named in 13 of their 18 games for the season.

Subiaco captain Kyal Horsley and West Perth veteran Andrew Strijk were both named 12 times throughout the season with Perth's Michael Sinclair, Subiaco's Hayden Kennedy and Josh Deluca, and Aaron Black named nine times.
 
Subiaco's Chris Phelan, Peel Thunder's Danyle Pearce and Claremont's Jye Bolton were selected on eight occasions, and Claremont's Anton Hamp and Kane Mitchell, Perth's Brant Colledge, South Fremantle's Shane Hockey and Nick Suban, and Subiaco's Zac Clarke picked seven times.
 
South Fremantle's Haiden Schloithe and Marlion Pickett, Subiaco's Ben Sokol, West Perth's Blake Wilhelm and East Fremantle's George Hampson were named to the Team of the Round six times and made it into the final 26 of the Team of the Year.
 
Of the 10 players who were nominated five times throughout the season, West Perth's Tyler Keitel, Subiaco's Jordan Lockyer and East Perth's Patrick McGinnity made the final 25.
 
Throughout the 21 rounds of the 2018 WAFL season, a total of 161 players were named at least once to the Team of the Round.
 
East Perth had the most players nominated with 23 of them earning a spot at least once, while Subiaco had 22 players, Swan Districts 19, Peel Thunder 18, South Fremantle 18, Claremont 18, Perth 16, West Perth 15 and East Fremantle 12.
 
In terms of players earning the most spots over the season, Subiaco was the dominant team and understandably so given they went through the campaign undefeated. The Lions made up 99 of the 462 positions available across the 21 rounds.
 
West Perth players claimed 65 of the positions, South Fremantle 62, Claremont 53, East Perth 47, Perth 41, Swan Districts 31, Peel Thunder 34 and East Fremantle 26.
 
The back-line of the TABtouch WAFL Team of the Year features Subiaco's Lockyer and Claremont's Hamp as the key position players with Subiaco's Kennedy, Perth's Sinclair, South Fremantle's Suban and West Perth's Wilhelm around them.
 
Subiaco's Aaron Heal, East Fremantle's Jayden Schofield, Claremont's Haydn Busher and South Fremantle's Shaun Bewick all made strong cases throughout 2018 too.
 
The midfield was the one most difficult to narrow down but Subiaco's Horsley, West Perth's Nelson and Claremont's Bolton picked themselves as did Subiaco's Phelan and West Perth's Black as the wingmen.
 
South Fremantle's Pickett, Claremont's Mitchell, Subiaco's Deluca and Peel's Pearce made up spots on the bench with East Fremantle's Hampson, East Perth's McGinnity, South Fremantle's Hockey and Swan Districts' Turner the emergencies.
 
Peel's Ben Howlett, Subiaco's Leigh Kitchin, West Perth's Luke Meadows, East Perth's Luke Partington and Claremont's Tom Curren were the next cabs off the rank in terms of midfielders.
 
West Perth pair Keitel and Strijk shared the Bernie Naylor Medal making them natural selections in the forward-line alongside Subiaco's Ben Sokol and Lachlan Delahunty. South Fremantle's Schloithe and Perth's Colledge fill the half-forward spots as players who can go in the middle too.
 
Perth's Cody Ninyette, South Fremantle's Brandon Donaldson and Mason Shaw, and Claremont's Alex Manuel were other forwards named in the Team of the Round at least four times.
 
At different points of the season, South Fremantle's Brock Higgins and East Perth's Fraser McInnes were in line for the ruck spot, but Subiaco's Clarke finished off so dominant he banged down the door for selection.

M & J Chickens Players of the Round
Round 1 – Rhys Palmer (Swan Districts)
Round 2 – Fraser McInnes (East Perth)
Round 3 – Cody Leggett (Perth)
Round 4 – Shane Nelson (West Perth)
Round 5 – Patrick McGinnity (East Perth)
Round 6 – Marlion Pickett (South Fremantle)
Round 7 – Andrew Strijk (West Perth)
Round 8 – George Hampson (East Fremantle)
Round 9 – Nick Suban (South Fremantle)
Round 10 – Ben Howlett (Peel Thunder)
Round 11 – Michael Bennell (Perth)
Round 12 – Kyal Horsley (Subiaco)
Round 13 – Lachlan Delahunty (Subiaco)
Round 14 – Cody Ninyette (Perth)
Round 15 – Brant Colledge (Perth)
Round 16 – Aaron Black (West Perth)
Round 17 – Patrick Italiano (Swan Districts)
Round 18 – Shane Hockey (South Fremantle)
Round 19 – Luke Partington (East Perth)
Round 20 – Zac Clarke (Subiaco)
Round 21 – Alex Manuel (Claremont)