Peel Thunder produced a near-record breaking first half to set up a 62-point thumping of Claremont and secure the club’s fourth premiership.

From the opening bounce the Thunder had the game on their terms, and while they dropped away slightly after half-time, they were never in danger of conceding a lead.

Ultimately, the Peel outfit featuring 14 Fremantle-listed players proved too slick, fit and clinical in a 16.17 (113) to 7.9 (51) belting of the Tigers at Optus Stadium on Sunday.

Jeremy Sharp was crowned Simpson medallist, with the Sandover Medal runner-up outstanding with 27 disposals, seven inside-50s and a goal.

Cooper Simpson (25 disposals, five tackles and a goal) and Bailey Banfield (30 disposals and 12 marks) drove the game from half-back.

Up forward, young Fremantle key forward Charlie Nicholls capped off a breakout season with three majors, while reliable defender Hugh Davies was outstanding down back with 12 marks and 23 disposals.

For the Tigers, co-captain Bailey Rogers was brave but outmatched in the midfield with 25 disposals and six clearances, while Sam Alvarez (27 touches) worked tirelessly down back.

But they just had no answers for the outside run of the Thunder, especially in the first half when Peel kicked 12 goals to three before they matched Peel after the main break but the game was well and truly over.

It ensured a perfect start to the week for Fremantle ahead of their AFL grand final against Brisbane at the MCG on Saturday, with several teammates in the crowd watching on from a private box.

The Thunder came out hard and fast.

Small forward Tobyn Murray kicked the first goal after only 42 seconds, before big forward Nicholls opened his account to give Peel the first two.

They were all over the Tigers but kicking wayward in front of goal, booting 2.5 to within 13 minutes to establish the running.

Claremont finally settled when a contest forward of 50 gave Talon Delacey an opportunity to snap the Tigers’ first goal.

But they were over-possessing the football, handballing into danger and inviting the pressure from Peel who were more than happy to oblige.

And once they forced the turnover, the Thunder were relentless on the counterattack, using the vast turf of Optus Stadium to open Claremont up across the ground.

They also rectified their goalkicking, with Simpson, Jaren Carr and Sharp all slotting majors from incredible solo running efforts.

Nicholls was also causing a lot of havoc for Jasper Peace as the focal point in attack and by the first break the margin had blown out to a commanding 33 points.

The punishment continued after quarter time, as the Thunder ran in waves and persistently put the Tigers’ defence under incredible pressure.

Goals to Murray and Kyelan Sanders extended the margin to 46 points, before a Zac Mainwaring clearance set up Jack Musika who kicked a much-needed goal for the Tigers and ended Peel’s run of six unanswered goals.

Peel had no intentions of even slightly opening the door for the Tigers. They stood tall in tackles, kept their space and ran selflessly to create space and Claremont had no answers.

Mainwaring’s injection into the midfield helped Claremont get some ascendency at the clearances, but Davies proved nearly impenetrable in defence for Peel taking several intercept marks.

Such was their dominance, Peel fell only four points short of the most points in the first half of a grand final, which was 85 set by Claremont in 1991.

The Thunder’s rampage looked endless when opened the second half with a goal after only 54 seconds, before Scott Tuia snapped his second from the left forward pocket and a triple figure belting was on the cards.

Claremont managed to not only stem the flow but begin to look threatening.

However, for all their efforts they kicked only the one goal through Sam van Rooyen and it felt inevitable that Peel would once again begin a rampage.

It took until after the three-quarter time siren for the Tigers to manage consecutive goals with van Rooyen booting his second, but the result was well and truly beyond doubt.

Mainwaring finally found some space inside forward 50 early in the last term to hit the scoreboard and there were questions around whether Peel had put the cue in the rack, with several Dockers maybe thinking about their chances of an AFL grand final berth.

They lifted again as Claremont clearly began to tire, having had to expel a lot of energy just to work their way back in the contest.

Both Nicholls and Tuia kicked their third goals of the game respectively, before Mainwaring slotted the final goal of the game just before the final siren to give the Tigers a late consolation prize.

SCOREBOARD

PEEL THUNDER 6.6, 12.9, 14.12, 16.17 (113)

CLAREMONT 1.3, 3.4, 5.9, 7.9 (51)

Goals – PEEL THUNDER: C Nicholls 3 S Tuia 3 J Carr 2 T Murray 2 C Tregenza 2 K Sanders J Sears C Simpson J Sharp. CLAREMONT: Z Mainwaring 2 S van Rooyen 2 T Delacey J Musika A Waterman.

Best – PEEL THUNDER: J Sharp C Simpson B Banfield H Davies N O’Driscoll T Murray. CLAREMONT: B Rogers S Alvarez C England A Pearce Z Mainwaring.

Umpires: C Snadden M Adams L Fahey-Gilmour B Laycock. Crowd: TBC at Optus Stadium.