South West products Lauren Quaife and Adi Griffith on wrong end of heartbreaking WAFLW grand final loss

South West products Lauren Quaife and Adi Griffith were on the wrong end of a heartbreaking one-point loss in Sunday’s WAFLW grand final. The pair’s Swan Districts side had progressed through to the season decider on the back of a one-point win over East Fremantle in the elimination final and beating Subiaco by two points in the preliminary final but were given a taste of their own medicine by Claremont, who held on for a 3.6 (24) to 3.5 (23) victory to claim their third premiership in the past four seasons. Harvey-Brunswick-Leschenault’s Quaife, a two-time State representative who has established herself among the competition’s best rucks, had one of her best performances of the season in the grand final, winning 38 hit-outs against a Tigers tag-team who combined for 32. While still age-eligible for the under-19 Rogers Cup competition, 18-year-old South Bunbury product Griffith earned a spot in Swans’ senior side in the back half of the season. The WAFL’s final series starts this week, with an East Perth side boasting South West talent including Scott Jones (Busselton) and Sam Van Diemen (Bridgetown) set to come up against Claremont in the first qualifying final, while the elimination final will see Augusta-Margaret River brothers Jono and Harry Marsh’s East Fremantle take on Perth. HBL’s Ethan Hughes and Eaton’s Isiah Winder have played key roles for minor premiers South Fremantle, who earned direct passage to the second qualifying final by finishing on top of the ladder. After an injury-interrupted season, Bunbury’s Connor Blakley has been featuring for Swan Districts’ reserves side in recent weeks, winning a game-high 33 disposals in a win over Peel Thunder on Saturday which secured their spot in the finals. His brother Nathan was initially selected in the league side but dropped back to the reserves to play what may have been the pair’s final game together.