WAFL 2026: East Perth star recruit Cooper Stephens out of Sandover race after accepting one-match ban

One of the favourites for the Sandover Medal race has dropped out of the running after East Perth accepted Cooper Stephens’ ban for striking. Stephens was cited for striking during the third term of Saturday’s 20-point win over Swan Districts and was hit with a two-week suspension by the Match Review Panel, reduced to one with an early guilty plea. It means the 25-year-old will be ineligible for the league’s top award while the Royals will now have to face East Fremantle without two of their premier midfielders, with star Hamish Brayshaw not expected to return from a calf injury until round four. Stephens joined the Royals after being delisted by Hawthorn in 2024 but missed the entire 2025 season after tearing his ACL in the pre-season. However, he has made up for lost time, particularly in the absence of Brayshaw, collecting 31 disposals and five marks in their tight loss to Subiaco, while in their win over the Swans, Stephens had 18 touches. “It’s like having a new recruit, to lose him last year, he came out hot last week, and he’s just bloody hard at it,” teammate Mitchell Schofield said after the win. “It’s hard without Hamish, but he’s been that guy to step up and be our leader, and that’s how we do it, it’s always about being that next man up.” Stephens was drafted with pick 16 in the 2019 National Draft to Geelong, playing seven games in 2022 before being traded at the end of the season to Hawthorn, where he didn’t play a senior game. His suspension is another frustrating setback for himself and the Royals, who have been on the losing side of the last two WAFL grand finals. They will have to dig deep against East Fremantle, who won both of their encounters last season but have also lost star players to AFL duty and injury. East Perth will host East Fremantle on Saturday from 5.10pm