McDonald's WAFL Round 2 PreviewFriday, March 25, 2016 - 2:21 AM - by Chris Pike

ROUND 2 of the 2016 McDonald's WAFL Premiership Season takes place over Easter beginning with the now annual Good Friday clash of the Medibank Stadium co-tenants followed by three games on Saturday afternoon.

The round gets underway on Good Friday at Medibank Stadium with Subiaco taking on East Perth in a battle of the Leederville co-tenants.

Then on Saturday afternoon, West Perth hosts Perth at Joondalup's HBF Arena, Peel Thunder plays East Fremantle at Mandurah's Bendigo Bank Stadium and Swan Districts takes on South Fremantle at Bassendean's Steel Blue Oval.

SUBIACO v EAST PERTH – MEDIBANK STADIUM, FRIDAY 3.10PM
Selected teams 
Broadcast – Channel 7, 720 ABC Perth

Subiaco and East Perth couldn’t have had more contrasting starts to their 2016 seasons last Saturday but one thing the battles between the Medibank Stadium co-tenants have produced the last decade are unpredictable and surprising results.

The Lions are coming off winning the last two WAFL premierships and after a slow start to trail by 16 points at half-time last week against Peel Thunder at Bendigo Bank Stadium, they finished strongly to win by eight.

Meanwhile, the Royals also got off to a slow start with a scoreless opening quarter at Medibank Stadium against Claremont. But East Perth staged no comeback going on to lose by 76 points.

East Perth only has to look back to last Good Friday for some confidence though.

Following a similarly disappointing Round 1 loss to East Fremantle to start 2015, the Royals scored a hard fought win over Swan Districts and then put in an outstanding performance to beat the Lions by 64 points.

That served as a measure of revenge for East Perth after Subiaco had upset them in the 2014 grand final.

But the Lions did go on to win their last two meetings of 2015 winning another premiership with the Royals falling short of a third straight grand final by losing the preliminary final to West Perth.

Since the two teams became official co-tenants in 2004, Subiaco has won 23 of the 34 meetings at Medibank Stadium.

Subiaco won the first eight battles at Leederville between the two up until a remarkable comeback win from East Perth in Round 9, 2007 that really got the rivalry rolling.

The Lions won the next four before another thriller in the Anzac Day clash in 2009 that saw East Perth prevail and since then it has been an even battle, but surprising results have been the order of the day.

The first Good Friday battle between the two took place in 2011 with Subiaco winning by 16 points in front of almost 5000 people. Then in 2013, the Lions again won by 15 points in front of a crowd of 3406.

In 2014, Subiaco also won by 24 points with 3440 in attendance before last year East Perth scored a big win in front of a crowd of 3086.

From the Subiaco team that beat Peel last Saturday, the Lions have made just the one change with premiership player Scott Hancock going out of the team after injuring his knee. He will require a reconstruction after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament meaning his 2016 is over.

The Lions have a more than handy replacement with Adam Cockie to return after missing Round 1 through suspension.

The 2008 premiership player will be playing his first game for Subiaco since the 2011 grand final loss to Claremont having spent the past four years in the VFL playing with Sandringham.

East Perth had a day to forget to open the season against Claremont made the more disappointing because it coincided with co-captain Craig Wulff playing his 270th game for the Royals to break Derek Chadwick's club record.

From that team, the Royals look set to lose Dom Sheed, Brant Colledge, Jack Redden and Mark Hutchings to West Coast duties with all four a chance of lining up against the Brisbane Lions at Domain Stadium on Sunday.

David Roche will make his debut with the Royals after returning to the club in 2015 after previously playing colts and reserves last in 2011. He had 15 possessions, five marks and a goal in the reserves last week.

Corey Adamson will also receive a call up following 26 disposals and nine marks last week with Matthew Allen another debutant after 13 touches and two goals in the reserves.

Julian Ameduri had 27 possessions in the reserves and Tom Omodei 30 to be other two inclusions for the Royals to take on the Lions.

WEST PERTH v PERTH – HBF ARENA, SATURDAY 2.15PM
Selected teams 

West Perth and Perth are both searching for their first wins of 2016 when they meet at HBF Arena on Saturday with the Falcons coming off a disappointing Round 1 loss and the Demons the opening weekend bye.

The Falcons and Demons enter 2016 after vastly different 2015 seasons with West Perth coming off making the grand final and looking to improve enough to go one step better while the first step for Perth is to find a way to be competitive again.

An impressive performance on Saturday at the Joondalup venue, therefore, is important for both teams to start building some momentum in 2016 meaning both will be desperate to come away with the four points.

West Perth had every reason to be positive heading into the season but it wasn’t an ideal start last Saturday at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.

After the Falcons kicked the opening two goals, they were outplayed the rest of the afternoon before losing by 35 points.

Ironically it was the exact same 35-point margin in Round 1 last year against the same opponent at the same venue.

And 12 months ago the Falcons rebounded with a Round 2 win over Peel and Round 3 win over Perth at HBF Arena to set up their 2015 season that ended up in the grand final.

They will be confident of being able to get their 2016 back on track starting this Saturday.

Perth, meanwhile, had the bye in Round 1 and enter 2016 on the back of two successive wooden spoons and having won just two of its last 34 matches but there is reason for vast improvement at the Demons for the new season heading into Earl Spalding's second year in charge.

West Perth has had a good recent record over Perth as well having won the last eight meetings between the two clubs by an average of over 47 points.

The Demons' last win over the Falcons came in Round 18, 2011 by 29 points at HBF Arena.

From the West Perth team that lost to South Fremantle last Saturday, 2013 premiership player and 118-game veteran Steven Browne returns after missing the opening round through suspension stemming from the grand final loss to Subiaco.

Steve Potente did his chance of returning no harm with 28 possessions in the reserves last week while James Batterham and Sam Rotham are two players also in the mix for their first league appearance of 2016.

Blake Wilhelm is the only player out of the West Perth at this stage.

A lot of the optimism at Perth coming into 2016 is based around an impressive group of recruits including former AFL players Clint Jones, Angus Graham and Spencer White who will all make their debuts for the Demons on Saturday.

They aren’t the only new arrivals with Kristian Cary, Taran Etto and Laine Wilkins all set to make their first appearances for the Demons as well to open their 2016 campaign.

Key defender Aaron Zucconi also returns to Perth to resume his 98-game career that started in 2005 and ended in 2012, until now. His return is important to give the Demons some size and experience in defence following the departure of Chris Billings.

Midfielder Julian Jacobs is another player to return to Perth who will add further depth to an on-ball brigade already consisting of Sandover Medallist Aidan Tropiano and captain Dene White as well as Jones, Michael Sinclair and Liam McKenna.

PEEL THUNDER v EAST FREMANTLE – BENDIGO BANK STADIUM, SATURDAY 2.15PM
Selected teams 

Peel Thunder gets a second opportunity to score a win at Bendigo Bank Stadium this Saturday but East Fremantle appears rejuvenated coming into 2016 and started the new season in impressive fashion.

Peel fielded a strong team with 18 Fremantle-listed players to open the season last Saturday against Subiaco. The Thunder started well leading by 16 points at half-time before going on to lose by eight points.

They now get a second straight home game to start 2016 against an East Fremantle team who started its run under new coach Rob Wiley and captain Jamie McNamara impressively last Saturday.

East Fremantle beat Swan Districts by 49 points at ATOM Stadium in a strong start to the year after a horror finish to 2015 that saw the Sharks lose 12 of their last 13 matches.

It was an encouraging start to the new year for East Fremantle with experienced brigade Cameron Eardley, Liam Anthony, Sean Henson, McNamara and Brock O'Brien especially prominent.

Recruits Jesse Crichton and Matthew Watson also had some good moments as did the returning Brett Peake and Josh Simpson.

With Tim Bristow, Andrew Stokes and Miles Franklin others suggesting they can take the next step with the Sharks in 2016, there was plenty to like but the challenge now is to back it up against a team coming off a finals appearance in 2015.

Peel made the finals for the first time since entering the WAFL in 1997 and while the Thunder lost to West Perth and East Perth, the Thunder are wanting to get another crack at it and losing their first two at home won't be a good start.

From the team that lost to Subiaco last Saturday, Peel will lose Harley Bennell to a calf injury that he suffered while delivering 23 possessions and four goals.

But while Zac Clarke, Matt de Boer, Clancee Pearce, Alex Silvagni and Lachie Weller are in the mix to play for Fremantle in Round 1 of the AFL season against the Western Bulldogs on Sunday, they are all perhaps more likely to still line-up for the Thunder on Saturday.

Several players put their hands up for a call up at Peel in the reserves last week, though, including Mitch Gill, Ben Hancock, Jake Dowding, Andrew Haydon, Brayden Lawler, Josh Mathers, Corey Morris and Ryan Nyhuis.

There is little need for change at East Fremantle coming off the impressive win over Swan Districts but Matthew Bannister, Jayden Schofield and Dylan Winton come into calculations.

If Winton plays, it will be his first game with the Sharks since crossing from the Thunder over summer.

SWAN DISTRICTS v SOUTH FREMANTLE – STEEL BLUE OVAL, SATURDAY 2.15PM
Selected teams 
Broadcast – KIX Digital

Swan Districts opens its season at Steel Blue Oval this Saturday hunting for its first win of 2016 but South Fremantle head to Bassendean full of confidence after an impressive Round 1 victory.

South Fremantle began its season in impressive fashion last Saturday beating West Perth by 35 points at Fremantle Community Bank Oval while Swan Districts went down to East Fremantle at ATOM Stadium by 49 points.

Now the Bulldogs hit the road for the first time in 2016 and Swans gear up for their first home game of the new season.

Swans have a good recent run at home over the Bulldogs having won six of the last seven meetings between the two at Steel Blue Oval. The only South Fremantle win since Round 5, 2011 came in Round 21, 2014.

Swan Districts won the only meeting with South Fremantle at Bassendean last year in Round 4 by 21 points. That saw Swans hand the Bulldogs their first defeat of 2015 and now they will attempt to do the same again this Saturday.

Swan Districts' cause wasn’t helped last week against East Fremantle with ruckman Nathan Blakely and Sean Fletcher all injured early in the piece.

Now those two are out of the team to take on South Fremantle this Saturday while the black-and-whites have suffered another significant loss with Justin Simpson out of the team.

He played his 150th game with Swans last Saturday to earn life membership and he played well with 26 possessions and six marks, but he won't be there for the clash with the Bulldogs.

Troy Yukich looks set to be the replacement in the ruck for Swans with Blakely out injured after he had 31 hit outs in the reserves last Saturday.

The back-line will be helped in the absence of Simpson with the inclusion of Alex Howard who put in a solid performance in the reserves coming off an interrupted pre-season.

Jacob Burnham, Ben Whitsed, Tyson Hodge and Rudy Riddoch are all in the mix to come into the league side for Swan Districts as well after playing in the reserves last week.

Not only did South Fremantle win last week, the way the Bulldogs did it was most impressive.

Josh Pullman, Blayne Wilson and Marlion Pickett were all outstanding in key defensive roles with Zac Strom, Mason Shaw and Ben Saunders providing strong targets in attack.

The midfield then made up of Ashton Hams, Shane Hockey, Tim Kelly and Brendan Verrier were all prolific while Ryan Cook and Haiden Schloithe were dangerous in roaming roles.

And the Bulldogs came through that game unscathed as well but Shaun Bewick (21 possessions, eight marks) and Tom Vandeleur (16 touches, five marks, one goal) were impressive in the reserves to be in the mix to come into the team.

Bailey Matera missed last week through injury but is also a chance to come into the Bulldogs line-up on Saturday.