McDonald's WAFL Round 18 PreviewFriday, July 22, 2016 - 2:59 PM - by Chris Pike

ROUND 18 of the 2016 McDonald's WAFL Premiership Season concludes on Saturday with three matches with East Perth, Peel Thunder, East Fremantle and even Perth continuing to fight over the remaining two up for grabs finals positions.

Round 18 got underway on Thursday night with a battle of the top two teams that saw Subiaco defeat South Fremantle 10.9 (69) to 9.4 (58) at Medibank Stadium.

That leads into Saturday afternoon's action with Claremont taking on East Perth at the Claremont Showground, Perth facing Peel Thunder in Cunderdin and Swan Districts playing East Fremantle at Steel Blue Oval.

Wins for Peel and East Perth and they will move a step towards guaranteeing another finals appearance in 2016 while East Fremantle and Perth will keep their hopes alive with victories as well.

CLAREMONT (4-10, 8th) v EAST PERTH (8-7, 5th) – CLAREMONT SHOWGROUND, SATURDAY 2.15PM
Selected teams 
Broadcast – KIX Digital

East Perth has moved into the top five over the last two weeks but the Royals do need to keep winning to stay there and Claremont won't be any pushover at the Showground on Saturday.

Claremont might have won just four games for the season to be out of the running for the finals, but the Tigers are coming off a win over South Fremantle prior to the bye and now will be out for consecutive wins and both against finals bound opponents.

East Perth, however, is now in its best form of the season having won four straight matches to improve to an 8-7 record and to be a game clear inside the top five coming into the clash with Claremont.

The Royals were only just clinging to finals contention coming into the state game break at 4-7 following a WA Day derby loss to West Perth. However, East Perth has since defeated Perth, South Fremantle, Swan Districts and West Perth.

All East Perth needs to keep doing is winning to ensure they remain in the top five but that will be easier said than done against the Tigers on Saturday.

Of Claremont's 10 losses in 2016 they have only been by an average of 14 points with six of them being by fewer than 10 points so the Tigers could easily be still in the finals mix if a couple of those close losses had gone their way.

Claremont and East Perth did play one another back in the opening round of the season and on that occasions the Tigers were dominant and impressive hammering the Royals by 76 points. But Round 1 was quite a long time ago.

The two teams also met in the elimination final of 2015 when East Perth beat Claremont by 32 points.

Claremont looks set to regain state midfielder Ryan Neates for his first game Round 11 against Swan Districts. He then played in WA's state game victory over Tasmania but got hurt late in the piece and hasn’t played since.

But the bye looks to have given him enough time to get right to play what will be his 93rd WAFL game with Claremont.

Reigning fairest and best winner Matthew Davies is also a chance at returning to the league side for Claremont following 18 possessions and two goals in the reserves two weeks ago against South Fremantle.

Ben Higgs, Zac Langdon and Jack Richardson are three more players in the mix for the Tigers following solid reserves form against the Bulldogs.

Higgs had 10 possessions in that game two weeks ago while Langdon finished with 22 touches, 12 tackles and a goal, and Richardson 15 disposals, five marks and a goal.

Gerrick Weedon did kick the first two goals of the game in Claremont's last up win over South Fremantle but he hasn’t been able to hold his spot to take on East Perth. Former West Coast and East Perth player of last year Rowen Powell is also out for the Tigers.

East Perth will again have plenty of changes from the team that beat West Perth last week to the one that will take on Claremont this Saturday, but the Royals appear set to be even stronger this week on paper.

While Eric Mackenzie has earned a call up to return to the West Coast team after strong form in defence for the Royals, that means that Mitch Brown comes back as a straight swap at East Perth.

Jonathan Giles played his best game of the season at East Perth last week and the result is him earning a call up into the West Coast side while Jackson Nelson and Liam Duggan have also been called up by the Eagles.

While Giles, Nelson and Duggan will be missed by East Perth, the Royals will gladly welcome back Tom Cole, Xavier Ellis, Brant Colledge, Lewis Jetta and Mark Hutchings who are all capable of having a significant impact in the game on Saturday.

Will Maginness, Asher Samelko and Tom Hodgson are all in the mix for a call up from the reserves for East Perth as well. Last week in the reserves against West Perth, Maginness had 32 possessions and two goals, Hodgson 16 disposals and seven marks, and Samelko seven touches, 13 hit outs and a goal.

PERTH (6-8, 7th) v PEEL THUNDER (8-7, 4th) – CUNDERDIN, SATURDAY 2.15PM
Selected teams 

Perhaps at no other time in history have Perth and Peel Thunder met this late in a WAFL season with both teams still in finals contention, but that is indeed the case as they head to Cunderdin for the second country game of 2016.

The Demons and Thunder both head to Cunderdin in winning form as the Wheatbelt town hosts a WAFL fixture for the second time.

It's part of Perth's zone and last time the Demons took a game there it was a memorable occasion upsetting Subiaco by 38 points despite the Lions going on to win the premiership later in 2004.

Another win for Perth on Saturday will put the Demons within touching distance of a top five position depending on other results while a victory for Peel would further entrench the Thunder in fourth position.

Having lost seven of its opening nine games, Perth looked more likely to contend for a third straight wooden spoon than a finals position, but the Demons have turned things around impressively since a loss to East Perth back in Round 13.

Perth has since gone on to beat East Fremantle, Claremont and Subiaco to have three straight wins for the first time since the opening three games of 2014. That has seen the Demons improve to a 6-8 record to be two games out of the top five but with a game in hand.

Peel, meanwhile, scored an important win last Saturday in dominant fashion in wet conditions over East Fremantle at ATOM Stadium that saw the Thunder improve to an 8-7 record on the season to be in fourth position and in a good spot for a second straight finals appearance.

Perth and Peel have played just the once so far in 2016 with the Thunder scoring a commanding 77-point win over the Demons at Bendigo Bank Stadium back in Round 7.

Peel has also won its last six matches over Perth with the Demons last win over the Thunder coming back in Round 7, 2014.

Perth was in its best form ever in recent memory prior to the bye and the Demons get to welcome some important players back now following the week off with none more so than ruckman Angus Graham.

While Todd Stevenson and Sam Garstone had done an admirable job in the ruck in absence, Graham's return is a big boost for the Demons not only with his presence in the middle up against Jack Hannath, but also in allowing Stevenson and Garstone to be used in other roles.

Perth captain Dene White also returns after a horror season so far through injury with young gun Zac Fisher on track to come back into the league side as well.

Kodie Fleay is another player in contention to play for the Demons following 22 possessions in the reserves two weeks ago against Subiaco.

Perth, however, does lose experienced wingman Brett Wolfenden after he copped a one-week suspension from the WAFL tribunal following the Demons' win over Subiaco a fortnight ago.

Peel's cause of stringing wins together hasn’t been helped at selection by Fremantle with Zac Clarke being called up by the Dockers leaving Jack Hannath to carry the majority of the ruck duties up against Perth's Graham, Stevenson and Garstone.

Peel also loses Shane Yarran from its forward-line as he prepares to make his AFL debut for Fremantle while Josh Deluca's career-best form with the Thunder earned him a trip to the Gold Coast as the Dockers' travelling emergency.

The Thunder will be glad to welcome back injury-plagued big man Michael Apeness and he will be able to both provide a marking target in attack, and back up Hannath in the ruck.

Former South Fremantle small forward Traye Bennell is also a chance to make his debut for Peel having now played two games in the reserves, including 22 possessions and a goal last week against East Fremantle.

Karl Collard, Ashley Eades, Noah Hura and Corey Morris are other players in the selection mix at the Thunder following some solid reserves form.

Last week against East Fremantle, Collard kicked two goals, Eades had 17 possessions and a goal, Hura 13 disposals and five tackles, and Moros 33 touches, six tackles and five marks.

SWAN DISTRICTS (2-12, 9th) v EAST FREMANTLE (7-8, 6th) – STEEL BLUE OVAL, SATURDAY 2.15PM
Selected teams 
Broadcast – 107.3HFM

Swan Districts and East Fremantle have little in the way of form to fall back on coming into Saturday's clash at Steel Blue Oval, but it's simply a game the Sharks can't afford to lose if they hold out hope of playing finals in 2016.

Swan Districts is coming into the contest off the bye and after losses to Subiaco and East Perth on the back of their second win of the season against an under-strength Peel Thunder in Round 14.

But the black-and-whites are anchored to the bottom of the WAFL ladder with just two wins of the season with coach Greg Harding looking at which players will be part of what he hopes will be a vastly improved 2017.

East Fremantle, though, appeared on target to make finals for most of 2016 and in particular heading into the state game break at 7-4 on the back of a WA Day Foundation Derby win over South Fremantle.

But since then the Sharks have lost to Subiaco, Perth, West Perth and Peel. Not only have they lost but it's been by an average margin of over 50 points.

The fact remains that at 7-8 the Sharks are still in the finals mix but a loss to the struggling Swans could prove fatal.

The two teams met to open the season at ATOM Stadium with East Fremantle winning on that occasion by 49 points.

Swan Districts struggled in the wet two weeks ago prior to the bye kicking its equal lowest ever score in a loss to East Perth.

Their cause wasn’t helped that day with injuries to Justin Simpson and Matthew Jukes, and as a result neither will be playing again this Saturday against East Fremantle.

Coach Greg Harding has also made a statement dropping full-forward Ricky Cary who had just 10 possessions and went scoreless in the loss to East Perth opposed to Eric Mackenzie.

Cary's demotion could open the door for Jake Nuich to make his return after suffering a cancer scare earlier in the year. He had just five possessions and 14 hit outs in the reserves two weeks ago, but Harding knows he will work hard to give him a contest if he gives him an opportunity.

Kirk Ugle should also return for the black-and-whites after spending a week back in the reserves before the bye against East Perth.

Jacob Burnham, Laurence Grescos and Ben Holman are three more players in contention to play for the black-and-whites.

Burnham has had a solid season in the league side for 2016 but he was back in the reserves last game and had 17 possessions while Grescos had a good game down back with 21 disposals and 10 marks.

Ben Holman first played reserves football in 2012 while still in the colts team and after 31 games the previous three years, he has put together a consistent 2016 to now put himself on the verge of selection for his debut.

The 22-year-old from Ellenbrook had another 28 possessions, five marks and five tackles in the reserves two weeks ago against East Perth to be on the verge of his league debut this Saturday at home to East Fremantle.

East Fremantle has lost its four games with coach Rob Wiley desperately searching for the right mix to get back on the winner's list to keep the Sharks' finals hopes alive.

While Andrew Stephen, Dylan Winton, Jake Solomon and Lewis Krakouer are set to spend at least another week in the reserves despite having played some good league football in 2016, Mitch Boyle, Sean Henson, Jake Schleicher and Andrew Stokes are all in the mix to take on Swans.

Henson spent just the one week back in the reserves having 18 possessions last week against Peel after averaging less than 13 disposals in his previous four league appearances.

Boyle was back to the reserves last week against the Thunder following a season as a small forward where he averaged just 13.9 disposals and kicked only three goals. Last week in the reserves who had 17 possessions but was scoreless.

Schleicher hasn’t played a league game with the Sharks since Round 21 last year but he continues to play well in the reserves and last week against Peel he had another 27 possessions and seven tackles.

Stokes could be another to return for the Sharks following 16 disposals, 20 hit outs and two goals in the reserves last week against the Thunder.

James Harrold is the only player out of the East Fremantle team that lost to Peel in disappointing fashion in the wet at home last week