South West AFL Watch: ‘Nothing untoward’ in treatment of Busselton product Jye Amiss after week of attention

After a week in the headlines due to his coach expressing concerns over his off-ball treatment, Busselton product Jye Amiss was held goalless in Walyalup’s (Fremantle) 48-point loss to Sydney at Optus Stadium on Friday night. An incident with Richmond’s Ben Miller last weekend prompted a frustrated Justin Longmuir to publicly air his frustrations with how opposition defenders were treating the 20-year-old key forward. Amiss endured some close checking from a succession of Swans opponents in the Dockers’ defeat, but when speaking on ABC Radio on Saturday, club chief executive Simon Garlick said no issues had been raised over his treatment. “I didn’t notice anything specifically last night and certainly in chatting post-game with (football boss) Joe (Briety) and other coaches and JL, nothing was specifically raised,” he said. “I haven’t seen the replay yet, but I don’t think there was anything untoward or majorly concerning from last night in specific to Jye.” But Garlick backed Longmuir amid accusations he had been overly protective of the 20-year-old. “Jye’s got an innate ability from a forward craft perspective and he leads incredibly well, so you want your players to have a fair opportunity to lead at the footy,” he said. “We understand there are blocks going on in footy and defenders are going to make it as difficult as possible for the key forwards to have a run at the footy, but that’s also got to be done within the laws of the game and we felt that there was some acts that weren’t quite up to that standard.” Reuben Ginbey (Dunsborough) and Brady Hough (Harvey) both featured for Waalitj Marawar (West Coast) as they lost to reigning premiers Collingwood by 66 points on Sunday. Ginbey gathered 19 disposals in the heavy defeat while Hough registered nine disposals as he minded last year’s Norm Smith Medal winner Bobby Hill. Harvey-Brunswick-Leschenault juniors Clay Hall and Ethan Hughes both featured in the WAFL, with Hall continuing his push for a senior debut by gathering 20 disposals in the Eagles’ reserves 92-point loss to West Perth and Hughes registering 18 disposals in Peel Thunder’s 19-point victory over Swan Districts. West Coast will be known as Waalitj Marawar for Sir Doug Nicholls Round. Fremantle will be known as Walyalup for Sir Doug Nicholls Round.