West Australian Football

THE WAFL finals series kicks off on Sunday with a second semi-final battle that Claremont and Swan Districts have been preparing almost half a season for and a cut-throat first semi-final battle between East Fremantle and East Perth that should be a cracker.

Claremont and Swan Districts separated themselves from the pack early in the 2010 campaign and were locked in to finish top-two fairly early on, and now play off for a grand final spot at Claremont Oval on Sunday.

East Fremantle returns to finals action for the first time in eight years and East Perth the first time in three when they meet to book a preliminary final berth at East Fremantle Oval also on Sunday.

THE West Australian Football League is celebrating another exceptional home and away season, with more than 200,000 spectators attending games in 2010 for the second consecutive year.

Last year was the first time since before WA became a two-team AFL state in 1995 that the WAFL had attracted more than 200,000 spectators for a season of home and away fixtures – a feat that has been repeated this year.

The attendance total reached 201,266 after the final round of fixtures at the weekend, which is only 3.2% down on last year’s record-breaking season, when attendance peaked at 207,924.

Claremont Colts midfielder Tom Ledger was honoured last night as the overall winner of the Colts fairest and best Jack Clarke Medal, which was presented during an AAMI WAFL Colts dinner presentation at Subiaco Oval.

The agile, high endurance midfielder, who positions himself well and finds a lot of the football, polled 36 votes to win the award ahead of Peel Thunder’s Joel Beasley on 34 votes, and East Perth’s  Ryan Maldenis and Swan’s Adam Faulkner on 33 votes each.

Ledger, who also possesses quality decision making skills, is renowned for his terrific work ethic and is greatly respected and liked by his team mates.

EAST Perth co-captain Michael Swan is pumped after the Royals' pulled off a massive finish to the season to make the finals but he knows that now they are there, there's no point not making a big impact.

The Royals looked virtually no chance of making the finals for just the third time since the hat-trick of premierships between 2000-02, but turned it around after a disastrous 2-7 start to put a host of dramas behind them to win the last six games to finish in fourth spot.

That will see East Perth travel to East Fremantle Oval to take on the Sharks in Sunday's first semi-final and it came after the Royals became just the second team all year to beat Claremont last Saturday at Medibank Stadium.

KEY Swan Districts play-maker Wayde Twomey is having a third straight outstanding WAFL season, this time with the added responsibility of stopping roles as he prepares for Sunday's second semi-final with Claremont at Claremont Oval.

Twomey arrived at Swan Districts from VFL club Werribee and over three seasons has established himself as one of the most creative players and best users of the ball coming out of defence.

While more time in the midfield might be something he craves, he has made the role across half-back his own and after being able to basically roam free in 2008 and 09, he has done some good stopping roles on dangerous forwards as well this year.