Western Australia ended South Australia's domination and claimed interstate bragging rights with a nailbiting one-point triumph in Perth on Saturday. 

Led by strong-marking forward Brent LeCras, who had a stint with the Port Adelaide Magpies, WA held off a gritty SA bid in conditions made difficult by heavy rain in the lead-up to the clash.

LeCras was named the Simpson Medallist as the best WA performer. He nailed two last-quarter goals to cap an outstanding game and lead his side to its first victory over SA since 1994. WA now has a 45-44 win-loss record over SA.

"The boys were fantastic and I could not be more proud of them," SA coach Darel Hart said. "They never stopped fighting. They had every right to give up in the last quarter against the wind but they kept fighting on.

"In the third quarter we kicked four points in a row with the wind. But WA could probably say the same thing when they had the wind and, to their credit, they played well. The last quarter was our best and we kept working hard into the breeze."

Exciting youngster Lewis Jetta set the home side alight when he nailed two goals in the opening nine minutes.

The first came from a 50m penalty to Sturt's Brodie Martin who was caught hanging on to Jetta's jumper after he marked. The second was a tremendous snap following a stray handball from SA onballer Jeremy Clayton.

WA appeared surer with its skills and decision making in the slippery, wet conditions while SA had a want for flair-style football unsuited to the conditions.

When the visitors realised the best option was kicking long and direct, full forward Brant Chambers rewarded the efforts of team-mates with an explosive first-term performance.

The dual Ken Farmer Medallist nailed 3.2 in the first quarter and fed his Sturt teammate Craig Evans another to have SA nine points clear at quarter-time.

After WA bagged two early goals in the second term to regain the frontrunning, SA was dealt a huge blow when ruckman Craig Parry was forced from the field holding his right shoulder.

WA had gone into the game with Jamie Graham as the only specialist ruckman and Hart had to use Ryan Ferguson as an aid to Brad Dabrowski.

With WA lifting the intensity around the ball, it was able to utilise its running game with tremendous effect.

The Sandgropers, aided by a swag of clumsy SA turnovers, worked the ball out of defence far too easily at times and linked well on the broad expanses of Leederville Oval.

Aided by the wind in the third term, SA regained the ascendency with skipper Jade Sheedy and Brett Backwell getting their hands to plenty of possessions.

But WA, despite failing to kick a goal in the third period, would have been satisfied to trail by just seven points at the final change.

SA was without the services of onballer James Allan because of a hamstring injury, but they refused to be suppressed going into the strong wind. Every time WA nailed a goal and appeared set to blast away, SA kept nagging at its opponents to stay in close contact and keep the result in doubt right up until the siren.

"To win against a state like SA means a lot to us," WA coach Scott Watters said.

"The conditions were tough - neither side had played in wet conditions too often this season.

"The players got the job done. It wasn't pretty, but there was great commitment to state footy."
Story by Warren Partland
Courtesy of The Advertiser

WA 12.10 (82)
SA 12.9 (81)

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