DARREN MONCRIEFF
Monday 30 January 2012
WAFL club Claremont will show the fruits of its labours in WA's North West when the defending premiers take on East Fremantle in Kununurra in July.
The Tigers are enjoying a fruitful relationship with the vast Kimberley region, its allocated zone, in the State's north, with several Indigenous players joining the club and contributing to its overall success at Colts, reserves and league level in recent times.
Last year, the Kimberley's Alroy Gilligan (pictured) and Gerrick Weedon played in Claremont's premiership side when they defeated Subiaco in the WAFL Grand Final.
The July 28 match will be one of three WAFL games played in the country that weekend.
It will have been 11 years since Kununurra hosted a WAFL match for premiership points, that was when Subiaco and Swan Districts played there in 2000.
The last premiership match in the Kimberley was in Broome in 2006.
"There is a lot of talent, particularly Indigenous talent, coming from the North West," a spokesman from the WAFC said.
"We want to take top-level football up there and showcase it for people that might not otherwise get to see a game."
East Kimberley football development officer Aaron Dunster said plenty of planning had gone into securing the game for Kununurra.
"It's going to be a massive boost for the region because everybody can make their way to Kununurra to watch State football at its best," he said.
The WAFL's country games are partly funded by the WA State Government's sports enrichment scheme.
AboriginalFootball@westnet.com.au
Last Modified on 30/01/2012 19:20