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McDonald's WAFL Round 14 PreviewFriday, June 24, 2016 - 1:11 PM - by Chris Pike

IT is Know Your Score Round for Men's Health in the WAFL this Saturday highlighted by a clash between two in-form teams in the top three positions while East Fremantle and Peel Thunder try and consolidate their top five spots, and Subiaco look to maintain top position.

The undoubted match of the round takes place at HBF Arena as a West Perth team on a seven-game winning streak hosts South Fremantle who sits in second position and could potentially regain top spot with a victory.

The league-leading reigning premiers Subiaco also host Claremont at Medibank Stadium while Perth takes on an East Fremantle side at Lathlain Park needing to bounce back after a thumping from Subiaco.

Peel Thunder's winning run also ended last week as they look to rebound on Saturday hosting the bottom placed Swan Districts at Bendigo Bank Stadium.

The sixth placed East Perth has the bye hoping to see East Fremantle and Peel go down to remain two games out of a spot in the top five.

WEST PERTH (8-4, 3rd) v SOUTH FREMANTLE (9-2, 2nd) – HBF ARENA, SATURDAY 2.15PM
Selected teams 
Broadcast – 720 ABC Perth

West Perth and South Fremantle enter Saturday's clash at HBF Arena sitting in third and second position respectively and the result could go a long way to determining a top two finish come the end of the season.

The Falcons are currently the form team in the WAFL having won seven matches in succession and now another win on Saturday over the Bulldogs would see them just percentage off a top two position.

Meanwhile, the Bulldogs bounced back from losing the WA Day Foundation Derby prior to the state game beating Peel Thunder last Sunday at Bendigo Bank Stadium.

They might have dropped top spot to Subiaco on percentage, but do have a game in hand on the Lions and a win over the Falcons would leave South Fremantle well placed for the minor premiership.

The two teams haven’t played since Round 1 of the season when South Fremantle beat West Perth by 35 points at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.

While West Perth won the last meeting between the two teams at HBF Arena last year, going to Joondalup holds no fear for South Fremantle with the Bulldogs having won the previous four meetings at the venue prior to 2015.

South Fremantle remains the best attacking and second best defensive team in the league coming into Round 14 while West Perth is averaging a score 73.8 points a game, but is solid enough defensively conceding just 75.1 with those numbers improving dramatically in the seven-game winning run.

South Fremantle is the second best starting team in the league and the best last quarter team while West Perth has scored 64 points fewer than its opponents in first terms, and 17 less in last stanzas during the season.

West Perth is the form team of the competition having won its last seven matches but the Falcons continue to find injuries with Nick Rodda (quad) and Trent Manzone (hand) the latest to be sidelined.

Manzone would be missing anyway after a four-week suspension following last Saturday's win over Claremont.

The loss of Rodda will be partly offset with another big man Mark Hamilton right to return after missing the win over Claremont with an ankle injury suffered prior to the state game break against East Perth.

Joel Leeson looks to be the natural replacement for Manzone as well after making a strong return in the reserves last week with 21 possessions and two goals after a hand injury of his own.

Then coach Bill Monaghan has some interesting decisions to make on the selection of premiership veteran Chris Keunen and Luke Tedesco.

Keunen played the best of his five reserves matches off a broken leg last week against Claremont with 19 possessions, 29 hit outs, five marks and a goal.

So he could come in to provide support to Seva Mozhaev in the ruck against Brock Higgins, or Monaghan might like to allow Mozhaev to go one-on-one opposed to the South Fremantle workhorse.

Tedesco has also been in solid form since losing his place in the side with a back injury but his position is currently well stocked by the likes of Luke Meadows, Steven Browne, Blake Wilhelm, Laine Rasmussen and Drew Rohde making it tough for him to break in for what would be his 150th appearance.

South Fremantle might be coming off a good win over Peel Thunder, but is suffering some injuries to key players.

Coming into that game the Bulldogs were without Haiden Schloithe (foot) and Blaine Johnson (hamstring) and then during the contest lost Ashton Hams to a calf injury and Adam McIntosh to a broken leg.

While Johnson is an outside chance of returning on Saturday against West Perth, it's unlikely he will take his place in the side while Schloithe, Hams, McIntosh and small defender Matthew Gundry guaranteed of not playing.

Josh Pullman looks certain to return for South Fremantle following one game back in the reserves last week where he had 21 possessions, 14 marks and a goal.

Chris Luff is also in the mix to make his first game of the season to further strengthen the Bulldogs' back-line while lively forward Tyson Pickett could make his debut following another three-goal effort last week against the Thunder.

James Laurino and Brendan Verrier are the most likely players to come into the South Fremantle side to help cover the absence of Hams in the midfield as well.

SUBIACO (9-3, 1st) v CLAREMONT (3-8, 7th) – MEDIBANK STADIUM, SATURDAY 2.15PM
Selected teams 
Broadcast – Heritage FM 107.3

Subiaco returned to some ominous form last week to reclaim top spot on the WAFL ladder but Claremont heads to Medibank Stadium on Saturday looking to claim a big scalp after a season of frustration.

The Lions had lost three of their last five matches heading into the state game break and then last week's clash with East Fremantle. The Sharks had thrashed the Lions by 80 points in their earlier meeting, but Subiaco got revenge last Sunday beating East Fremantle by 78 points.

That win saw the two-time reigning premiers replace South Fremantle on top of the ladder courtesy of percentage but with the Bulldogs having played one less game, the Lions do need to keep winning if they want to stay on track for a second straight minor premiership.

Claremont, on the other hand, all but saw its finals hopes slip out the door last Saturday with a three-point loss to West Perth with the Tigers just falling short of what would have been a miraculous comeback.

That is now twice against West Perth this season along with games against East Fremantle, Peel Thunder, Perth, South Fremantle and Swan Districts that Claremont has lost but were in winning positions of.

That has left the Tigers struggling with a 3-8 record so finals are a long way out of reach at this point but they continue to be hard to beat and a strong performance against Subiaco could be just the beginning they are after to finish the season strongly.

Subiaco has won the last three games over Claremont, though, and remain the second best attacking and best defensive side in the league.

Claremont is scoring well at 86.7 points a game to only be behind the top two teams but is conceding 79.1 points, better than just Swan Districts, Perth and East Perth.

Depth again is suddenly a strong suit at Subiaco with the continuing return of premiership stars following a tough run leading into the state game break.

Jordan Lockyer, Lachlan Delahunty and Wayde Twomey all returned in last week's 78-point win over East Fremantle and now this week another dual premiership star Brett Robinson is set to to make his return.

Robinson started the season strongly kicking nine goals and averaging over 22 possessions in the opening eight games. He will now be back on Saturday to add another midfield and half-forward option for the Lions.

Ben Sokol and Dylan Elliott are also fighting to get back into a league line-up that now is tough to find a position in.

That is best highlighted by the fact that from the reserves Brad Stevenson, Hayden Yarran, Max Walters, Shaquille McKenzie, Matt Bogensperger and Daniel Leishman have all played strong league football previously, but can't currently get a look in.

That is not only because of the returning stars from injury, but also with the likes Braden Fimmano, Liam Ryan, Chris Bryan and Dylan Clarke grabbing their opportunities that have presented.

Claremont's hopes of staying in the finals race took a significant hit last week but only just with the three-point loss to West Perth.

And now the hopes of the Tigers taking it up to Subiaco have been hit significantly with exciting big man Darcy Cameron out through injury following that loss to West Perth. He has 22 goals this season while providing Mitch Andrews strong support in the ruck.

Claremont has several different options to bring in a replacement to the forward-line for Cameron with Ben Higgs, Rowen Powell and Gerrick Weedon all in good form.

Higgs kicked three goals last week in the reserves against West Perth as did Weedon while Powell finished with 31 possessions, eight marks and a goal.

Haydn Busher was terrific in defence last week for Claremont on Michael Lourey but he could push forward this week in the absence of Cameron. That would open the door for a return of Anton Hamp or Dylan Ross who both had good games in the reserves last Saturday against the Falcons.

Midfielder Ryan Lim will also be straight back in for the Tigers after being unavailable for selection.

Last year's fairest and best winner Matthew Davies and East Perth recruit Tom Shanahan have both been omitted.

PERTH (3-8, 8th) v EAST FREMANTLE (7-5, 4th) – LATHLAIN PARK, SATURDAY 1.40PM
Selected teams 
Broadcast – KIX Digital, 7mate

East Fremantle continues to miss some key personnel and now the Sharks need to bounce back against Perth on Saturday at Lathlain Park or be vulnerable of dropping from the top five.

East Fremantle was terrific back in the WA Day Foundation Derby beating South Fremantle by 39 points and despite coming in confident last Sunday after beating Subiaco by 80 points back in Round 8, the Sharks suffered a disappointing loss to the Lions to the tune of 78 points.

That leaves the Sharks in fourth position on the ladder at 7-5 to be a game now out of third position and just percentage ahead of the fifth placed Peel Thunder.

They remain two games clear of the sixth placed East Perth but a loss would still leave the Sharks fighting with the Royals over a spot in the finals.

Perth continues to be considerably more competitive in 2016 despite having just the three wins and again last week the Demons fought hard before ending up losing to East Perth by 33 points.

Scoring continues to be Perth's biggest problem averaging just 63.6 points a game while East Fremantle's defence is rock solid conceding just 70.7.

Perth's midfield has been its great strength all season but it was missing one of the key cogs Julian Jacobs last week against East Perth.

He is averaging 27 possessions a game this season and now returns on Saturday against East Fremantle to team up with Clint Jones, Aidan Tropiano, Liam McKenna and ruckman Angus Graham.

While that midfield is the strength of the Demons, it is the weakness of East Fremantle right now with stars Liam Anthony, Cameron Eardley and George Hampson still missing through injury. 

If Perth is a chance of the upset, that midfield will need to dominate and it's certainly possible of happening with the calibre of players the Sharks are without.

Perth could also add another goal kicking option in the form of Brennan Stack who found some form last week in the reserves with four goals from eight kicks and five marks. Todd Stevenson could add further height and versatility following 16 disposals last week against the Royals in the reserves.

Two of East Fremantle's star performers back in the WA Day Foundation Derby win over South Fremantle were defender Josh Cuneo and forward Jack Perham. Both are now out of the team this week following last Saturday's thumping at the hands of Subiaco.

None of East Fremantle's stars will return to play Perth but several in-form players from the reserves are pushing for selection including Dion Anthony, Matthew Bannister, Tyler Chalwell, Jacob Green and Jake Solomon.

Last week in the reserves against Subiaco, Green kicked three goals from 18 possessions, Chalwell had 27 disposals and nine marks, Bannister 18 touches, Anthony 33 possessions and a goal, and Solomon 13 disposals, nine marks and 29 hit outs.

PEEL THUNDER (7-5, 5th) v SWAN DISTRICTS (1-10, 9th) – STEEL BLUE OVAL, SATURDAY 2.15PM
Selected teams 
Broadcast – 91.3 SportFM

A finals bound team in Peel Thunder against the team on the bottom with one win might appear a mismatch on paper, but the Thunder enter Saturday's clash at Bendigo Bank Stadium undermanned potentially opening the door for the black-and-whites.

Peel remains in fifth position on the ladder with a 7-5 record despite a loss to South Fremantle last Sunday. Before that the Thunder had won three games in-a-row to be in good form, but they are now missing a large chunk of the players who played significant parts in those wins.

Swan Districts was desperate to get to the state game break followed by a bye to try and get some players back, and to regroup after a start to the season that included just one win in 11 attempts.

In those 11 games, Swans was averaging just 51.6 points a game, 12 fewer than the next worst, and conceded 98.9 a game which is eight more than the next worse as well.

Over the course of the season, Swan Districts has been the worst performing team in in first quarters, third worst in second quarters, and by far the worst in third and fourth quarters.

But this is a significantly different looking Peel team on Saturday and it should be a fascinating contest to see who comes out with the four points.

A win for Swans would keep them a chance to avoid the wooden spoon in 2016 and for Peel would go a long way to guaranteeing a second straight finals appearance with a victory.

Peel needs to win against the wooden spoon bound Swan Districts but doing so to maintain its gap in the top five won't be easy with the majority of its Fremantle-listed players unavailable.

With the Dockers only having 27 players available for selection this week and Ed Langdon and Garrick Ibbotson both unlikely to play for Peel on Saturday due to being Fremantle emergencies, it's a different looking Thunder line-up to what they've had all season.

Clancee Pearce, Josh Deluca and Shane Yarran appear the only three AFL-listed players who will play for Peel on Saturday opening the door for a Swan Districts upset.

Tendai Mzungu, Ibbotson, Langdon, Matt De Boer and Brady Grey were all strong performers for Peel in Sunday's loss to South Fremantle but all go out of the side either through injury or travelling with the Dockers.

Young key position players Matthew Uebergang also injured a hamstring as he joins Michael Apeness, Tanner Smith, Zac Clarke, Jack Hannath and Sam Collins as players of good size unavailable to Peel.

To make matters more desperate for the Thunder, former Carlton midfielder Brad Walsh is also out of the team after being one of their most consistent performers all season averaging over 19 possessions a game.

It is a young and inexperienced group of potential inclusions for Peel made up of Mitch Gill, Nathan Fahey, Jake Dowding, Keegan Power, Alexander Bray, Karl Collard, Mitch Curnow, Michael Humble, Haydn Matthews and Corey Morris.

Things are looking more positive at Swan Districts following the state game break and a bye.

State defender Kirk Ugle is an important inclusion for the black-and-whites to play his first game since Round 6 and his reward could be a job on Peel captain Gerald Ugle.

Big man Ricky Cary will also return from an ankle injury that sidelined him against Perth back on WA Day. Prior to that, he did well in a defensive role on Claremont's Darcy Cameron and now this week he will likely move to his familiar role as a key forward target.

Ruckman Troy Yukich will also get another chance to be the No. 1 big man for Swans and he will look to take advantage of a deplete Peel in the big men stocks.

Last week Nick Merritt battled hard as a debutant teenager but was outmatched by South Fremantle's Brock Higgins and he could get some help this week with the inclusion of Jake Dowding.

Jacob Coniglio could also return for Swan Districts to take on Peel while Laurence Grescos is the only out at this stage from the team that lost to Perth by 54 points