McDonald's WAFL Round 5 PreviewFriday, April 15, 2016 - 12:13 PM - by Chris Pike

ROUND 5 of the 2016 McDonald's WAFL Premiership Season is again split over Saturday and Sunday with a Perth derby with both teams desperate to win while Swan Districts looks to build on the momentum of their first win of the year against the unbeaten reigning premiers.

The round gets underway on Saturday afternoon with three matches where East Perth faces West Perth at Medibank Stadium, East Fremantle takes on Claremont at ATOM Stadium and Perth hosts South Fremantle at Lathlain Park.

Then on Sunday with an 11.40am bounce down at Steel Blue Oval, Channel 7 will broadcast the clash between Swan Districts and Subiaco.

Peel Thunder has the bye after a 2-2 start to the season.

EAST PERTH (1-3, 8th) v WEST PERTH (1-3, 6th) – MEDIBANK STADIUM, SATURDAY 2.15PM
Selected teams 
Broadcast – 720 ABC Perth, 107.3 HFM

East Perth and West Perth have met in some bigger games on more important stages in recent years, but Saturday's first derby at Medibank Stadium will be crucial for where both end up in 2016.

The Royals and Falcons both enter the clash with 1-3 records so trying to come back from 1-4 will be difficult. However, improving to 2-3 will likely put the winner in the top-five by the end of the round and keep them in a good position to make a strong run in 2016.

And coming into the contest, East Perth will be buoyed by its first win of the season last Saturday against Peel Thunder by 30 points following losses to Claremont, Subiaco and South Fremantle to open 2016.

That was the Royals' best and most complete performance so far of 2016 and they will now be looking to build on that come Saturday in their first crack at West Perth since the Falcons beat them in last year's preliminary final.

West Perth, meanwhile, is coming off a 50-point loss to East Fremantle where the Falcons went goalless in the first and last quarters last Saturday at ATOM Stadium.

The Falcons will also still be without No. 1 ruckman Chris Keunen, prolific midfielder Shane Nelson, hard man Kody Manning, important defenders Joe Morrow and Laine Rasmussen, and quality leaders Luke Tedesco and Andrew Strijk for Saturday's derby against East Perth.

That's a lot of quality and experience out of the West Perth team but the Falcons' focus will be on making a stronger start after that has let them down in all four games so far in 2016, and on keeping possession of the ball better given a high possession game has been their great strength in recent years.

East Perth and West Perth have met in the 2013 grand final and 2015 preliminary final, so there has been more at stake in derbies in recent years but now the fate of their ability to contend in 2016 could very well depend on the result come Saturday afternoon at Medibank Stadium.

East Perth got on the board in 2016 with its first win over Peel Thunder last Saturday and will be looking to build on that momentum on Saturday against its fiercest of rivals.

To help in that cause, East Perth will field what appears to be a significantly stronger line-up on paper with the help of some West Coast Eagles players back in the Royals' 22.

Collingwood premiership player Sharrod Wellingham is making his return from a knee injury and will play for East Perth on Saturday while Tom Lamb and Luke Partington both come straight back in after missing last Saturday's win over Peel.

Mark Hutchings will also be straight back into the East Perth midfield after missing last week's game with the Thunder while Tom Cole and Patrick McGinnity will both play for the Royals.

Given West Coast plays Richmond at Domain Stadium on Friday night, there's no need for the Eagles to hold out any of their players from East Perth to be an emergency from Saturday's game with the Falcons.

There are other players pushing for selection in the reserves at East Perth as well including Shayne Hille who had 26 possessions and a goal last Saturday against Peel. Tom Omodei racked up 27 possessions and laid seven tackles while Agid Gardoud had 13 disposals and two goals.

In the absence of senior players including Strijk, Tedesco, Keunen, Nelson, Rasmussen, Manning and Morrow, West Perth will look to some youth to try and reinvigorate its playing group in search of a win over East Perth to avoid slipping to a 1-4 record.

Nathan Alexandre and Mitch Peirce remain in the mix to make their league debuts with the Falcons after continued impressive form in the reserves.

Last week against East Fremantle, Alexandre had 12 possessions, five tackles and a goal while Peirce finished with another 23 disposals, seven marks and four inside-50 entries.

Ben King is also a chance to come in for West Perth to strengthen the back-line and to play his first league game since 2014 after taking last season off.

Tyson Moulton is another potential debutant with the strong left-footer coming off 13 possessions in the reserves last week against the Sharks.

Max Duffy is another important player for West Perth who will miss Saturday's derby against East Perth at Leederville. His derby debut against the Royals will have to wait until potentially WA Day.

EAST FREMANTLE (2-1, 3rd) v CLAREMONT (1-2, 5th) – ATOM STADIUM, SATURDAY 2.15PM
Selected teams 
Broadcast – 91.3 SportFM 

With East Fremantle capable of cementing a spot in the top three and Claremont desperate to bounce back from a missed opportunity, Saturday's clash at ATOM Stadium looms as a fascinating one.

The Sharks delivered dominant first and last quarters last Saturday to beat West Perth by 50 points and now in their second consecutive match at home, they are looking to improve on their 2-1 start to the season.

East Fremantle opened the season with a commanding 49-point win over Swan Districts and then lost a game they perhaps shouldn’t have against Peel having led by nine points in the dying stages.

But the Sharks bounced back against the Falcons following the Round 3 bye and continued what has been an impressive start under new coach Rob Wiley.

Claremont, meanwhile, was completely dominant in almost all areas against Swan Districts last week.

The Tigers booted six goals to one in the first quarter and continued to control the game through the middle and rack up the shots on goal, but they just could not convert and in the end Swans made them pay for that snatching a six-point victory.

That came on the back of Claremont also blowing a good start against Perth to be overrun and losing by 17 points.

The Tigers did start the season emphatically beating East Perth by 76 points but now losses to the wooden spooners of the last two years and a team who was winless mean they need to bounce back with a vengeance against East Fremantle on Saturday.

East Fremantle dominated the first and last quarters last week to beat West Perth and as a result Wiley has little need to change a winning team unless Jamie McNamara passes a fitness test to play.

The captain missed last week's win over the Falcons after 43 possessions in his first two games as East Fremantle captain, and he would be a handy addition on Saturday to add another hard ball winner to the Sharks' midfield against a prolific Claremont on-ball brigade.

East Fremantle's reserves also did well beating West Perth last Saturday and from that team, Josh Cuneo and Jack Fletcher are pushing for selection in the league side.

Cuneo is part of the Sharks' leadership group and had a good game last week with 18 possessions, nine marks and a goal while big man Fletcher had 14 touches and 30 hit outs mostly in the ruck.

Claremont dominated a lot of the areas of the game against Swan Districts on Sunday but failed to put the game away on the scoreboard, and eventually lost by a goal.

Coach Michael Broadbridge looks set to back in the majority of that team to get the job done on Saturday against East Fremantle, but there is pressure on spots coming up from the reserves.

Haydn Busher was dropped last week and responded with 22 possessions, 12 marks and nine inside-50 entries in the reserves against Swan Districts while Cameron Palmer had 12 touches and Harrison McCracken 20 disposals.

The depth was further enhanced with Gerrick Weedon and Francis Watson both making their first appearances of 2016. Weedon had three goals from 16 possessions and six marks while Watson had just the nine disposals.

There are no outs from the Claremont team that lost to Swan Districts at this stage.

PERTH (1-2, 7th) v SOUTH FREMANTLE (3-0, 2nd) – LATHLAIN PARK, SATURDAY 2.15PM
Selected teams 
Broadcast – KIX Digital

Perth came up short against one unbeaten WAFL team last Sunday but get another chance at Lathlain Park this Saturday hosting South Fremantle.

South Fremantle has opened the season with a 35-point win over West Perth, 50-point victory over Swan Districts and 40-point win against East Perth leading into a bye last week.

Not only that, but the Bulldogs have won all three games over the Falcons, Swans and Royals in the league, reserves and colts in what has been a remarkable start to the season that they put on the line heading to Lathlain Park on Saturday.

Perth, meanwhile, only managed to kick four goals last Sunday in a 50-point loss to Subiaco but the Demons were vastly more competitive than that scoreline suggests.

Perth competed with Subiaco in all areas aside from kicking on goal and it was the 19 behinds that cost the Demons any chance of finishing closer than the 50 points.

And before that the Demons overrun a Claremont team who played finals last year and had thrashed East Perth in Round 1, so their form stacks up well leading into the clash with South Fremantle.

Also of interest, Clint Jones will be playing his first game against South Fremantle since returning to the WAFL in 2016 with Perth. The midfielder won two fairest and best awards with the Bulldogs and played in the 2005 premiership before embarking on a 149-game AFL career with St Kilda.

He has made some impact on return to the WAFL in his first three games with Perth this year too averaging 36.7 possessions.

South Fremantle has won the last three games over Perth, including two in 2015, with the Demons' last win being a remarkable comeback victory on a Friday night at Fremantle Community Bank Oval that spoiled the 300-game celebrations of Kris Miller.

That was on the back of the Demons winning all three games over the Bulldogs in 2013.

South Fremantle has won the last two games between the clubs at Lathlain Park following the Demons claiming victory in both meetings on their home deck in 2013.

Perth will still be down on big men strength on Saturday against South Fremantle with ruckman Christian Eyres, defender David Johnson and forward Spencer White still missing.

But Stephen Mills had a solid first game for the Demons last week and now will look to do the same against the team that recruited him from Queensland, South Fremantle, this Saturday.

Mills will provide back up to Angus Graham in the ruck and likely spend the rest of the team as a key defender on one of Zac Strom or Mason Shaw.

Brent Latch and Aaron Zucconi will also have important defensive roles for the Demons while they will look for the mid-size and small forwards like Callum Walley, Brennan Stack, Lachlan Dennis, Marshall Jones and Cody Leggett to help them kick a winning score.

Rowan Brookes could come in for his first league game of the season as well after kicking four goals from 15 possessions and seven marks in the reserves last Sunday against Subiaco.

Fraser Millar has been outstanding the first three weeks of the season in the reserves for Perth and could now make his league debut after another 30 possessions, nine marks, four tackles, four inside 50s and a goal on Sunday against Subiaco.

Lennon Marlin is another potential debutant for the Demons following another impressive reserves performance with 19 possessions and nine marks last week against the Lions.

South Fremantle has made just the one change to its team through the first three weeks of the season where they went through unbeaten.

That was Bailey Matera replacing Jacob Martinez in the Round 3 team where the Bulldogs downed the Royals on a Friday night at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.

There is continued pressure coming up from the reserves, though, and that's set to grow in the big men department with ruckman Brock Higgins set to play his first game of the year on Saturday in the reserves having missed the opening month through injury.

Shaun Bewick, Tom Vandeleur and Jacob Dragovich also continue to press for selection following continued strong form in the reserves for the Bulldogs to open 2016.

Bewick racked up another 36 possessions and eight marks two weeks ago against East Perth while Vandeleur had 16 touches, five tackles and a goal, and Dragovich 28 disposals and eight inside-50 entries.

SWAN DISTRICTS (1-3, 9th) v SUBIACO (4-0, 1st) - STEEL BLUE OVAL, SUNDAY 11.40am
Selected teams 
Broadcast – Channel 7

It's top against bottom when Swan Districts takes on Subiaco at Steel Blue Oval on Sunday but the black-and-whites will have more belief to take on the Lions following their first win of 2016 last Sunday.

Swan Districts' season could hardly have started worse with a 49-point loss to East Fremantle, 50-point defeat to South Fremantle and 52-point loss against Peel Thunder.

Then conceding six goals to one against Claremont at Steel Blue Oval last Saturday looked set to see that horror run continue. But Swans found something over the last three quarters and then with the final four goals of the game, stormed home to beat the Tigers by a goal to avoid an 0-4 start.

Going in winless against the unbeaten back-to-back premiers Subiaco would have meant some dark thoughts crept in at Swan Districts for Sunday's clash, but now with the confidence coming from a win they will look to take it right up to the Lions.

Subiaco has gone through the first four games of 2016 with a tight win over Peel but then comfortable victories over East Perth, West Perth and Perth.

Swan Districts is coming off its best performance of the season and its team should be strengthened on Sunday with the return of premiership player Justin Simpson.

Simpson brought up his 150th game with Swans in the Round 1 loss to East Fremantle, but hasn’t played since due to a hamstring injury. After being close to selection last week against Claremont, he should be right to come in and face Subiaco this week.

Nelson Ansey is another player who could come in and provide some size and versatility for the black-and-whites. He was solid in the reserves last Sunday against the Tigers with 16 possessions and six marks.

Sean Fletcher also got injured in Round 1 against East Fremantle but returned in the reserves last Sunday with 14 possessions and five tackles to put himself in the mix for a recall against the Lions.

Lindsay Murray is also in the mix to play for Swan Districts for the first time this year following 19 disposals and eight marks in the reserves.

Big man Jake Nuich is the only out at this stage for Swan Districts from the team that beat Claremont.

Subiaco continued its unbeaten start to the season against Perth last week but the Lions have still yet to play a game in 2016 at full strength.

Greg Broughton is still yet to appear in 2016 but is a chance of making his first appearance for the Lions since Round 14, 2010 on Sunday against Swan Districts after returning this year following a 118-game AFL career with Fremantle and the Gold Coast Suns.

Kyle Halligan made a hot start to the season for Subiaco with six goals in Round 1 against Peel Thunder. But has now missed the last two games through injury.

He should be right to return on Sunday to provide another goal kicking option alongside the Lions, though, along with the likes of Hamish Shepheard, Ben Sokol and Shaquille McKenzie.

Along with those two, Chris Bryan, Jordan Bestry, Matt Bogensperger, Sean Bradley and Justin Joyce are all pushing for selection with Subiaco.

Last week in the reserves against Perth, Bestry had 12 disposals and 20 hit outs, Joyce racked up 24 possessions, Bryan had 11 touches, Bradley 12 disposals and a goal, and Bogensperger 30 possessions.

From the team that beat Perth last Sunday, Subiaco loses premiership small defender Hayden Kennedy to a fractured leg while small forwards James Garcia and Dylan Clarke are also out of the line-up for a Lions team looking to go 5-0.