McDonald's WAFL Round 11 PreviewFriday, May 27, 2016 - 12:47 PM - by Chris Pike

THREE matches in Round 11 of the 2016 McDonald's WAFL Premiership Season take place on Saturday afternoon featuring four of the top five teams while Sunday features two sides desperate to return to the winner's list.

With the top of the table South Fremantle having the bye, the third placed East Fremantle looks to continue its winning form up against the fourth placed Peel Thunder at ATOM Stadium.

East Perth and Subiaco are also looking to rebound from disappointing losses when the Medibank Stadium co-tenants lock horns in a battle of sixth against second with the third clash on Saturday featuring Perth hosting the on-fire West Perth at Lathlain Park.

Then on Sunday afternoon, two teams with just three wins between them for the season clash at the Claremont Showground with Claremont taking on Swan Districts in the televised match for the round on Channel 7.

EAST FREMANTLE (6-3, 3rd) v PEEL THUNDER (5-4, 4th) – ATOM STADIUM, SATURDAY 2.15PM
Selected teams 
Broadcast – KIX Digital

Rarely in history have East Fremantle and Peel Thunder done battle with both occupying spots in the top five and coming off victories, but that's exactly the case ahead of Saturday's clash at ATOM Stadium.

Both the Sharks and Thunder are looking to continue their winning form in what shapes as a potentially season-defining contest as they try to close in on a top two position.

East Fremantle is in some stunning form at present having won four straight matches since a narrow loss to South Fremantle. Since then the Sharks have beaten East Perth, Subiaco, Perth and Claremont in impressive fashion to now sit with a 6-3 record.

With a strong percentage, East Fremantle could finish the round in second position with a victory and if Subiaco happens to lose to East Perth.

That would set up a tantalising WA Day Foundation Derby with the top of the table South Fremantle the following Monday, but Peel will want to have something to say about that on Saturday.

The Thunder returned to the winner's list last Saturday beating East Perth by 14 points in horrible conditions at Bendigo Bank Stadium. That saw them bounce back from losing the last two games against West Perth and South Fremantle for last year's finalists to steady in fourth position at 5-4.

If the last meeting between the two teams is any indication as well, then Saturday's clash could go down to the wire. East Fremantle looked set to win back in Round 2 leading by nine points late in the game but two goals before the siren for Peel to Alex Pearce saw the Thunder escape with a three-point win.

Peel might have beaten East Fremantle 12 times since entering the WAFL in 1997 but only one of those victories has come at Shark Park – way back in Round 18, 2011. The Sharks have won their last 15 at home over the Thunder by an average of 52 points.

Both teams have been good starting teams over the course of the season with East Fremantle winning its first quarters by a total of 79 points and Peel by 48. But in second halves, the Sharks have outscored their opponents by a total of 96 points and Peel is minus six after half-time.

George Hampson has been incredibly important in East Fremantle's four wins in the past four games but the Sharks will need to find a way to do it without him on Saturday as he goes out of the side. Over the last four games, the Subiaco premiership player has averaged 28.3 possessions a game and kicked 10 goals.

Sharks captain Jamie McNamara also goes out of the team and will miss his third game of the season as he battles niggling injuries. Another important player, defender Sam Read also won't be there against Peel on Saturday.

East Fremantle should welcome back important defender Matthew Jupp whose presence takes on greater importance in the absence of Read. He hasn’t played since Round 6.

Jesse Adamini, Jacob Green, Tom Hooker, Tom Marshall and Jake Solomon are all in the selection mix for East Fremantle as well.

Green could be the replacement for Hampson considering his ability to play half-forward to kick goals and for stints into the midfield.

Meanwhile, Adamini put himself in the mix with 27 possessions in the reserves last week against Claremont while Hooker had 23 disposals and five tackles, Marshall 15 touches and eight tackles, and Solomon nine possessions, six tackles, 20 hit outs and a goal.

There are changes galore at Peel and largely because of the turnover in players through injury and form at Fremantle in the AFL.

Michael Barlow was remarkable last week with 44 possessions and three goals in the win over East Perth and it's no surprise he earned an AFL recall for the Dockers against St Kilda at Etihad Stadium.

Cameron Sutcliffe also had just the one game back in the WAFL last week and is back in for the Dockers while Sam Collins will be rewarded for his strong form this season in defence for Peel by earning his AFL debut.

Jack Hannath has also travelled with Fremantle to Melbourne as the emergency meaning the ruckman won't play for Peel against East Fremantle on Saturday.

But his place will be taken by the once again demoted Zac Clarke with the big man coming back for Peel with a point to prove that he belongs back in the AFL.

Anthony Morabito also looks right to return from a hamstring injury that kept him out of games the last two weeks against South Fremantle and East Perth.

Michael Humble looks set to make his league debut following some strong colts form for the Thunder with small defender Josh Mathers along with Nathan Fahey, Mitch Gill, Richard Wight, Keegan Power, Brad McGowan, Alexander Bray and Kieran May in the selection mix.

On top of Barlow, Collins, Sutcliffe and Hannath out for Peel, Josh McMahon and Calvin Thorne are two young players who have impressed so far in 2016 who go out.

EAST PERTH (4-5, 6th) v SUBIACO (7-2, 2nd) – MEDIBANK STADIUM, SATURDAY 2.15PM
Selected teams 
Broadcast – 91.3 SportFM

East Perth and Subiaco have been perennial premiership contenders in recent years and still could be in 2016, but both are looking to bounce back with the Royals out to return to the top five and the Lions trying to hold on to a top two position.

East Perth has played in two grand finals and a preliminary final the past three years and Subiaco has won the last two WAFL premierships so the two sides know what it takes to get the big dance but both enter Saturday's clash at Medibank Stadium needing a victory.

The Royals lost last Saturday to Peel Thunder in horrible conditions at Bendigo Bank Stadium that saw them slip outside of the top five at the expense of West Perth with a 4-5 record. 

A loss on Saturday could potentially see East Perth fall two games out of a finals position depending on other results highlighting how important the four points are for the Royals to get.

Subiaco, meanwhile, could also give up second position on the WAFL ladder with a loss on Saturday. The Lions have now lost two of their last three matches following an 11-game winning run that included last year's grand final.

That has seen Subiaco slip to a 7-2 record on the season and with a percentage inferior to that of the third placed East Fremantle, the Lions will drop if the Sharks beat the Thunder.

The first meeting of the Leederville co-tenants this year saw Subiaco prevail on Good Friday over East Perth by 31 points back in Round 2.

Over the course of the season, Subiaco has been a strong finishing team outscoring its opponents by 85 points in second halves with East Perth also strong finishers winning theirs by 91. But the Royals haven't started well losing first halves by 64 points over the year with the Lions winning theirs by 56.

East Perth has suffered another horror injury blow with co-captain and star defender Kyle Anderson breaking his leg last week in the loss to Peel. He now joins fellow skipper Craig Wulff and another veteran Garry Moss on the sidelines with long-term injuries.

Their absence puts further pressure on Paul Johnson, Steven Payne, Nathan Blee and Mitch Fraser to provide the leadership for a Royals team quickly running out of the players who were instrumental in them getting through to the 2013 and 2014 grand finals.

The Royals will also lose West Coast's Jackson Nelson to injury while one of Xavier Ellis, Patrick McGinnity, Tom Barrass and Lewis Jetta can expect a call up for the Eagles against the Gold Coast Suns at Domain Stadium on Sunday. But the others should still play for the Royals on Saturday.

Eagles defender Mitch Brown will make his return from injury and he will likely get the job trying to stop Subiaco spearhead, and former Royal, Hamish Shepheard.

Fellow West Coast players Simon Tunbridge, Matthew Allen and Malcolm Karpany played in the reserves for the Royals last Saturday against the Thunder and look set to come into the league side this Saturday against the Lions.

Jarrad Oakley-Nicholls should also return with the 117-game veteran having 21 possessions in the reserves last week. Mitch Lague, Tom Omodei and Tom Gorter are others in the selection mix for East Perth.

Subiaco has lost two of its last three games and continues to be without important premiership players Jordan Lockyer, Kyle Halligan and Rhys Waters.

On top of that, two more pieces of their premiership back-line Wayde Twomey and Hayden Kennedy go out from the team that lost to West Perth by 26 points last Saturday. Small forward Shaquille McKenzie is also out of the side following a lean run of form.

Brad Stevenson could return for Subiaco for his first league game since a knee reconstruction last year. He has been building some good form in the reserves and the versatile key position player had 21 possessions and eight marks last week against West Perth.

Hayden Yarran could also make his debut for Subiaco following good goal kicking form including three goals in difficult conditions last week. Another small forward Dylan Clarke could also return with Braden Fimmano, Will Fetherstonhaugh and Nick Hay in the selection mix for the Lions as well.

PERTH (2-6, 8th) v WEST PERTH (5-4, 5th) – LATHLAIN PARK, SATURDAY 2.15PM
Selected teams 
Broadcast – 107.3 HFM

Perth is fresh off the bye looking for a second win in three games as the Demons host an in-form West Perth at Lathlain Park with the Falcons having won four in a row and not having lost at Lathlain Park since 2004.

Perth is coming off the bye following a loss to East Fremantle but prior to that the Demons got their second win of the season over Swan Districts and now will be looking to continue their improvement on Saturday.

West Perth heads to Lathlain Park in fifth position on the WAFL ladder following four strong wins over Swan Districts, Claremont, Peel Thunder and Subiaco. The Falcons have dramatically improved from a tough position at 1-4 to now be 5-4 and have plenty of momentum.

On top of that, West Perth has dominated Perth over the past decade. Perth's last win at Lathlain Park over West Perth came back in Round 9, 2004. Since then the Falcons have won 10 of the 11 matches only intersected by a draw in 2008.

Those 10 wins for West Perth at Lathlain Park have come at an average of 37 points.

Overall, the Falcons have now won their last seven games against the Demons as well by an average of 46 points. Perth's last win against West Perth was Round 11, 2011 at HBF Arena.

But if Perth wants a sign of how far it has improved in 2016, breaking that run against West Perth and scoring a win on Saturday would be a great way of doing that.

However, West Perth can make it five straight wins and further entrench themselves in the top five heading into the WA Day Derby next week against East Perth at HBF Arena.

Neither side has started well in games over the course of the season with Perth ranked last for first quarters being outscored by an average of 17 points in 2016. The Falcons aren’t much better ranked seventh conceding 73 more points over the season.

West Perth has been better over the last three quarters, though, only being outscored by a total of two points over the season while Perth is still minus 157 after quarter-time through all eight games to date.

The midfield battle will be fascinating between the two teams. Without doubt that is Perth's great strength led by ruckman Angus Graham and prime movers Clint Jones, Aidan Tropiano, Julian Jacobs and Liam McKenna.

West Perth coach Bill Monaghan has tried Tyler Keitel and Drew Rohde in the ruck against different opponents with some success in 2016 in the absence of Chris Keunen, but he's likely to again back in Seva Mozhaev to go up against Graham on Saturday.

Shane Nelson has been in remarkable ball-winning form since returning to West Perth's side the past four weeks. The Falcons have not lost since his return and that has also coincided with the tagging roles performed by Dean Munns who will have another big job against Perth's midfield.

Nelson and Munns get plenty of support from Aidan Lynch, Jay van Berlo, Aaron Black, Trent Manzone and Rohan Kerr through the middle for West Perth.

Perth will welcome back captain Dene White to add another cog to the midfield with the skipper playing a second game back in the reserves prior to the bye. He had a solid 23 possessions and two goals that day against East Fremantle.

The Demons desperately need a way to find a way to score though having averaged just 62 points a game this season. In attempting to do that, Rowan Brookes, Stephen Mills and Matt Thompson could all come in to take on West Perth and attempt to provide goals.

However, Perth is also the worst defensive team in the league conceding 98 points a game so strengthening the back-line could also be a focus for coach Earl Spalding.

West Perth is still without Chris Keunen, Joel Leeson, Brayden Antonio and Matt Guadagnin but the team is looking a lot more solid and consistency has been the key over the last four wins to get the season right back on track.

As a result, there's little reason for changes from the team that beat Subiaco last week but Seva Mozhaev could come in to carry the ruck with Kris Shannon and Luke Tedesco in the selection mix.

CLAREMONT (2-7, 7th) v SWAN DISTRICTS (1-8, 9th) – CLAREMONT SHOWGROUND, SUNDAY 12.10PM
Selected teams 
Broadcast – Channel 7

Claremont and Swan Districts enter Sunday's standalone WAFL clash desperate for a win following the just three victories in 18 attempts between them so far in 2016.

Claremont is playing its fourth game in a row at the Claremont Showground having not played at the venue until Round 6 against Peel Thunder, but the Tigers are still looking for their first home win of 2016.

Claremont is currently on a five-match losing streak which began with that opening home game against Peel. The Tigers were overrun that day before losing by 21 points and then also lost a lead to go down to West Perth in Kulin.

And since then at the Showground, Claremont gave up a big lead to lose to South Fremantle before suffering defeats at the hands of Subiaco and East Fremantle the past two weeks to see them enter the clash with Swan Districts struggling with a 2-7 record on the season.

However bad the season has been so far for Claremont, it has been worse for Swan Districts with the black-and-whites having just one win from nine attempts. Swans are the lowest scoring team in the league averaging just 54 points a game while also being the second worst side defensively conceding 97 points.

Giving Swan Districts confidence for Sunday is the fact that it's lone win of the season did come at the hands of Claremont back in Round 4 at Steel Blue Oval. That day, Swans finished full of running to overrun the Tigers and win by six points.

However, Swans has since lost to Subiaco by 39 points, West Perth by 23, Perth by 41, East Perth by 91 and South Fremantle by 47.

Despite losing to the league-leading Bulldogs last Saturday at home by 47 points, Swans actually kicked their second highest score of the season and put in a more competitive effort than the final margin suggests.

Claremont remains the best starting team in the league averaging 11 points more a game in opening quarter. Swans are the second worst starting team conceding 12 more points on average in first terms.

However, Swan Districts has struggled to be competitive in second halves being outscored by a total of 239 points after half-time for the season. Claremont's last quarters have let them down being outscored by 46 points over 2016.

Following last Saturday's loss at home East Fremantle in horrible stormy conditions, John Williams and Matthew Palfrey both go out of Claremont's team.

Haydn Busher, Zac Langdon, Harrison McCracken, Justin Speed, Francis Watson and Gerrick Weedon are all in the selection mix at the Tigers to take on Swans.

Busher has been in and out of Claremont's team all season but had another impressive performance in the reserves last week with 32 possessions. Langdon also had 29 disposals to put himself back in the hunt for a fifth league appearance.

McCracken spent a week back in the reserves and had 13 disposals while Watson and Weedon are both pushing for their first games of 2016. Speed could also debut following another 13 possessions and a goal last week against the Sharks in the reserves.

Swan Districts loses Griffen Logue to State 18s duties following last week's loss to South Fremantle with Sean Fletcher, Troy Yukich, Warrick Wilson, Laurence Grescos and Tyson Hodge in the mix to come into the team.

Yukich could return to play in the ruck for Swans against both Darcy Cameron and Mitch Andrews from Claremont. He had a run back in the reserves last Saturday where he had 12 touches and 28 hit outs.

Hodge is a chance to make his debut to provide some height and versatility with Wilson and Fletcher to play their first games since Round 2 and 1 respectively. Grescos could also earn another opportunity in the back-line for his first league game since Round 6.