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McDonald's WAFL Round 8 PreviewFriday, May 6, 2016 - 1:55 PM - by Chris Pike

ROUND 8 of the 2016 McDonald's WAFL Premiership Season is One Life Round and it presents four fascinating match ups with West Perth and Peel shooting for a third straight win, East Fremantle trying to challenge Subiaco, South Fremantle and Claremont looking to bounce back, and Perth and Swan Districts just desperate for four points.

All four One Life Round matches are on Saturday afternoon with three of them at 2.15pm and the 7mate broadcast fixture between Perth and Swan Districts to bounce down at 2.40pm at Lathlain Park.

West Perth will host Peel Thunder at HBF Arena with both teams on two-game winning streaks while Claremont will play its first game of the season at the Showground hosting South Fremantle.

The undefeated Subiaco will take on East Fremantle at Medibank Stadium with the Sharks looking to win for a second time in six days at the Leederville venue.

WEST PERTH (3-4, 6th) v PEEL THUNDER (4-2, 3rd) – HBF ARENA, SATURDAY 2.15PM
Selected teams 
Broadcast – 107.3 HFM

West Perth and Peel Thunder both made finals last year, are each on two-game winning streaks and looking to continue that form in what shapes as a tremendous contest at HBF Arena on Saturday.

Following a slow start to the season, West Perth has found some form the past two weeks with wins over Swan Districts and Claremont to have improved to a 3-4 record and being 4-4 heading into its bye next week would be a good result considering the Falcons were 1-4 at one stage.

Peel has also been impressive the past two weeks beating Claremont by 21 points and then dominating Perth last Saturday to win by 77 to improve to a 4-2 record. A win on Saturday will see the Thunder close in on a top two spot with a clash against the second placed South Fremantle next week.

The last time the two teams met was in last year's qualifying final but the two teams are both significantly different from that day when West Perth beat a greatly under strength Peel by 109 points.

HBF Arena isn’t a happy hunting ground for Peel, though, with West Perth winning its last 10 at home over the Thunder. Peel's last win at Joondalup came in Round 21, 2006 and they have only ever won twice in 21 attempts at the venue.

West Perth's improvement the past two weeks has seen them collect their two highest possession tallies of the season and kick their two highest scores, but Peel is in some imposing form itself.

Over the course of the season, West Perth has started slowly losing its first quarters by a total of 71 points over six games while Peel has started strongly outscoring their opponents by 57 points, so the start on Saturday could go a long way to deciding the final result.

West Perth has now found form the past two weeks with wins over Swan Districts and Claremont, and the Falcons have pulled up well from last Saturday's win over the Tigers in Kulin with no player out of the side at this stage.

While Chris Keunen, Luke Tedesco, Joe Morrow, Matt Guadagnin, Matt Fowler and Brayden Antonio are among the players still sidelined, West Perth has been buoyed in recent weeks with the returns of Shane Nelson and Kody Manning.

Now another player who was an important part in the Falcons set up in 2015, Matt Johnson, could play his first game of 2016.

After initially deciding not to play on this season, he has returned and strung together four games in the reserves and kicking six goals on his powerful left foot to put himself in the mix to add another option across half-forward for West Perth to the likes of Joel Leeson, Andrew Strijk, Steve Potente and Max Duffy.

Mitch Antonio had a strong colts career with the Falcons and has graduated to senior football in 2016, and after some good performances in the reserves he could make his debut on Saturday against Peel Thunder to provide West Perth with another option in attack.

Kris Shannon is also in the mix to return for the Falcons to provide potentially another option across half-forward, but he can also provide some pace and running ability further up the field if selected.

There are plenty of changes at Peel who is coming off two wins and much of that is down to moves at selection by Fremantle in the AFL.

Garrick Ibbotson played just the one game back in the WAFL last week against Perth for 22 possessions and he is straight back into the Dockers side to take on the GWS Giants at Domain Stadium on Saturday night.

Nick Suban also had a strong game last week for Peel with 22 disposals and three goals to earn a recall for the Dockers while defender Ethan Hughes has also been selected for his AFL debut following continued strong performances.

Matt De Boer, Ed Langdon and Jack Hannath have all been named as emergencies for Fremantle but two of the three should still line up for the Thunder on Saturday against the Falcons.

Peel's team will receive a significant boost in height with Zac Clarke dropped by Fremantle to try to regain some form in the reserves. His combination likely with Hannath presents a big challenge for the likes of Seva Mozhaev and Tyler Keitel from West Perth.

Brady Grey got a taste of AFL football and did some nice things for the Dockers, but he is back to Peel on Saturday while Darcy Tucker has also been dropped by Fremantle and will play his first WAFL match since Round 1.

Tendai Mzungu will also be back in Peel's midfield on Saturday with Ben Hancock, Josh Mathers, Kieran May, Andrew Haydon and Brad McGowan all in the selection mix as is potential 18-year-old debutant Alexander Bray.

Shane Yarran looks to be out for Peel after his one and only game of the season so far last week when he kicked three goals after being traded by Peel. That will be one less forward West Perth will need to match up on and it could allow hard man Kody Manning to remain forward.

CLAREMONT (2-4, 7th) v SOUTH FREMANTLE (5-1, 2nd) – CLAREMONT SHOWGROUND, SATURDAY 2.15PM
Selected teams 
Broadcast – 91.3 SportFM

Claremont and South Fremantle are both coming off tough losses heading into Saturday's clash which will be the Tigers' long-awaited opening home match of the season at the Claremont Showground.

Claremont was set to open its home season two weeks ago against Peel Thunder, but that game was moved to Medibank Stadium and now belatedly the Tigers will hit their temporary home deck for the first time in 2016 to host the Bulldogs.

The Tigers come into the clash needing to win as well to maintain touch with the top five having lost four of their last five matches. Claremont has started the past two years horribly slowly and while they have recovered, the Tigers put a great effort into turning that around in 2016.

That started impressively with a 76-point thumping of East Perth in Round 1 but a bye and then loss to Perth in Round 3 saw the Tigers' start to hit a speed bump. A shock loss to Swan Districts as well hurt and Claremont is the only team that both the Demons and Swans have beaten in 2016.

While Claremont bounced back impressively to beat East Fremantle, losses the past two weeks to Peel and West Perth see the Tigers hold a 2-4 record and it's important for their confidence they don't slip to 2-5.

But South Fremantle will be hungry to bounce back from its first loss of the season last week as well suffered at the hands of Subiaco by 31 points at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.

The Bulldogs had won their opening five matches of the season impressively up until that point and now they will be determined to show it was just a blip on the radar and not the start of a trend to kick off a losing slide like what happened in 2015.

Claremont will also be looking to stop a concerning trend that haunted them in the second half of last year as well.

The Tigers have been the best starting team in the WAFL this season outscoring their opponents by 94 points in six matches, but they have finished poorly being outscored by 33 points in last quarters and that has cost them several potential victories.

The game will also be noteworthy to see new South Fremantle forward Steven Edwards and returning Claremont defender Dylan Ross playing against their old sides for the first time in 2016 after being involved in a swap between the two clubs over summer.

Claremont continues to play some good football without getting over the line as coach Michael Broadbridge continues to search for the right mix to get the Tigers' third win of the season.

Hugo Breakey, Haydn Busher and Justin Speed have all come into calculations to be brought into the Claremont side from the one that lost narrowly to West Perth last Saturday in Kulin.

Breakey has been in solid form in the reserves after playing the first four games of 2016 in the league side. He worked hard for another 17 possessions in the midfield last week to keep his name in the mix at the selection table.

Busher returned to the league side in Round 6 kicking two goals but he didn’t play again last week in Kulin against West Perth. He looks set to return to the team to add another marking target in attack to Beau Maister and Darcy Cameron to stretch South Fremantle's defence in the absence of Josh Pullman and Chris Luff.

Speed could make his debut for Claremont following another 14 possessions, 13 tackles and a goal in the reserves last Sunday against West Perth at HBF Arena. 

South Fremantle's task of bouncing back from its first loss of the season will be made tougher with key defender Josh Pullman going out with an ankle injury.

He has done a tremendous job so far in 2016 in his first taste of playing as a defender, and his absence could be especially tough to cover considering Claremont's forward-line features Cameron, Maister and potentially Busher.

With Chris Luff still needing at least another week in the reserves to pick up form and fitness after missing the opening four games of the season, it could provide some big opportunities in the back-line for the Bulldogs.

Brad McPhail looks set to make his league debut and his reward will likely be a job on either Maister or Cameron with Wilson needing to play a closer checking role than the one he is best at when he reads the play to take marks from opposition entries, and set up play from defence.

South Fremantle coach Todd Curley might also have the option of throwing Zac Strom back into the defensive role he had mostly played in his league career up until moving to centre half-forward in 2016.

In doing so, Brock Higgins looks likely to play his first game of the season after building some strong form the last three weeks in the reserves following a calf injury.

Last week, Higgins had 21 possessions and 38 hit outs but he could be used up forward if Strom is needed down back and with Ben Saunders also under an injury cloud following hurting his knee during last week's loss to Subiaco at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.

Jake Florenca, Tim Stewart and James Laurino have continued to be in strong form in the midfield in the reserves all season for the Bulldogs in a team that hadn’t lost a game in 2016 up until last Saturday against Subiaco. That trio is again in calculations for a call up on Saturday against Claremont.

Dylan Main is the only other player out of the South Fremantle side from the one that lost to Subiaco with Brendan Verrier still unavailable through selection after copping a knock to his upper thigh two weeks ago against East Fremantle.

SUBIACO (6-0, 1st) v EAST FREMANTLE (3-3, 4th) – MEDIBANK STADIUM, SATURDAY 2.15PM
Selected teams 
Broadcast – KIX Digital

East Fremantle returns to familiar territory on Saturday and will be looking for a second win in six days at Medibank Stadium when the Sharks attempt to hand Subiaco its first loss of 2016.

East Fremantle stopped a two-game losing run last Sunday by beating East Perth impressively by 37 points at the Leederville ground that was made all the more impressive considering the Sharks conceded the opening four goals of the contest.

Now the Sharks are back at the same ground in search of another four points but this time the opponents are the undefeated back-to-back premiers Subiaco.

Coming off winning the last two premierships, Subiaco has answered all comers so far in 2016 beating Peel Thunder, East Perth, West Perth, Perth, Swan Districts and then South Fremantle last Saturday by 31 points at Fremantle Community Bank Oval in the battle of the undefeated sides.

That sees the Lions full of confidence atop the ladder as the only remaining unbeaten team in the WAFL with a 6-0 record.

Beating Subiaco at Medibank Stadium is something East Fremantle has only managed three times in 20 attempts since the Lions began calling the ground home in 2003.

Subiaco has also won its last five matches anywhere over East Fremantle, and remarkably 31 of the last 36 dating back to 2002.

Subiaco remains undefeated after six games this season but coach Jarrad Schofield continues to be unable to get what he would consider his best 22 out on the park with defender Jordan Lockyer and forward Kyle Halligan still out for Saturday's clash with East Fremantle.

Rhys Waters also goes out of the Lions' line-up following his first game of the season last Saturday against South Fremantle where he had nine possessions and kicked a goal.

Liam Ryan, Chris Bryan, Simon Moore and Max Walters are among the players in the Subiaco reserves who continue to perform solidly to put themselves in contention for league selection.

Ryan is a lively small forward and has kicked 11 goals in four games this season to be a chance to be a like for like replacement for Waters.

Moore gathered 19 possessions and six tackles last week in the reserves, Bryan 13 disposals and a goal, and Walters 19 touches and six inside-50 entries to put them all in the mix for selection for what would be the first league game of the season for each of them.

Despite beating East Perth last week with a strong performance after quarter-time, East Fremantle did so without key players Josh Simpson and Matthew Jupp.

Jupp is still out this week leaving a big job to do against Subiaco's forward-line to Sam Read and Dylan Winton.

But after they did well last Sunday against East Perth's Fraser McInnes, Tom Lamb, Paul Johnson and Jonathan Giles, they will be confident of keeping Hamish Shepheard, Clancy Wheeler and Lachlan Delahunty in check.

But someone will need to step up to the role on Ben Sokol who kicked seven goals in a match-winning performance for the Lions last Saturday against South Fremantle.

Simpson missed last Sunday's win over East Perth but before that he was outstanding with 25 possessions and two goals in the Anzac Derby loss to South Fremantle, and he will come straight back into the Sharks team this Saturday against Subiaco.

Jesse Adamini, Josef Hebiton and Jayden Schofield are also in the mix to play following good performances in the reserves last Sunday.

Adamini had another 23 possessions for the Sharks, Hebiton 11 disposals in defence and Schofield 31 touches and seven marks to put each of them in contention for selection.

PERTH (1-5, 9th) v SWAN DISTRICTS (1-5, 8th) – LATHLAIN PARK, SATURDAY 2.40PM
Selected teams 
Broadcast – 7mate

Perth and Swan Districts do battle in the broadcast match on 7mate on Saturday with both clubs desperate for their second win of the season with the loser to firm as wooden spoon favourite for 2016 despite it only being Round 8.

Both Perth and Swan Districts had reason to be buoyant of improved seasons coming into 2016 with some maturing young players and handy recruits, but things haven’t quite gone to plan yet.

Perth's season didn’t start too badly with a competitive showing against West Perth in Round 2 and then an impressive come from behind win over Claremont in Round 3.

But back to back games of kicking a combined 8.33 against Subiaco and South Fremantle saw the Demons begin to struggle and losses since to East Perth and Peel Thunder have seen them unable to get close against two sides with plenty of AFL talent.

The absence of Spencer White, Dene White, David Johnston and Aaron Zucconi isn’t helping Perth's cause either, but while Angus Graham, Clint Jones, Aidan Tropiano and Julian Jacobs are fighting hard in the middle, they aren’t getting enough support in kicking goals or stopping them.

Things are equally frustrating at Swan Districts with the black-and-whites down on manpower and confidence following losses to Subiaco and West Perth prior to last week's bye that came after their lone win of the season over Claremont at Steel Blue Oval.

Both Perth and Swan Districts' lone wins of the season have both come against Claremont when each of them were able to overrun the Tigers in the last quarter to take the four points.

The Demons and Swans are each struggling to kick goals both averaging only 55 points a game so far this season.

Perth has added three players to its squad from the team that lost to Peel Thunder last Saturday.

Toby Gianatti spent a week back in the reserves and the tough defender performed strongly finishing with 22 possessions, seven inside-50 entries and six marks to put himself back in contention to take on Swan Districts this Saturday at Lathlain Park.

The Demons have only kicked more than 10 goals once this season and have kicked a combined 21 goals in losses to West Perth, Subiaco, South Fremantle and Peel, so finding an avenue to a goal is a focus for coach Earl Spalding.

Rowan Brookes returned to the reserves last week against Peel and was outstanding with 29 possessions, 11 marks and two goals so he could earn another opportunity on Saturday against Swans.

Lachlan Dennis is another who has shown some ability in front of goal and could return to the Perth line-up on Saturday in an attempt to kick a winning score.

Swan Districts is having a similar problem as Perth struggling to kick winning scores having kicked more than 10 goals once as well and averaging a score of 55 points across their six games so far in 2016.

That has been largely on the back of losing Ryan Davis and Tim Geappen coming into the season, and now Ricky Cary, Murray Newman and Jake Nuich among the players currently out of the Swans line-up.

Brody Sutton could be given the chance to make his debut for Swan Districts to try and provide some goals. He kicked five goals from 15 possessions and eight marks prior to the bye against West Perth in the reserves so could be a viable option for coach Greg Harding.

After Brayden Hackett played three impressive league games to start his career prior to the bye, Swans could blood another youngster on Saturday as well with Aidan Clarke a chance to make his debut. He is in some outstanding colts form and two weeks ago against Subiaco he had 27 touches and two goals.

Ben Whitsed is in the mix to earn another chance in the side as well with the seven-game midfielder continuing to perform solidly in the reserves with Lindsay Murray in the mix for his first game of 2016, and Jesse Turner his fourth.

Swans' hopes of scoring their second win of the season won't be helped with the absence of experienced and talented pair Aaron Elari and Kirk Ugle either.