McDonald's WAFL Round 19 PreviewFriday, July 29, 2016 - 12:56 PM - by Chris Pike

ALL four Round 19 matches of the McDonald's WAFL Premiership Season take place on Saturday with a crucial Fremantle derby beginning proceedings before West Perth and Peel Thunder have chances to further consolidate their finals positions.

The round gets underway with the second placed South Fremantle playing the sixth placed East Fremantle in the final derby of 2016 at Fremantle Community Bank Oval. The game begins at 11.40am and will be live on 7mate.

Then later on Saturday afternoon, West Perth looks to close in further on a top two position taking on Perth at HBF Arena while Peel Thunder plays Claremont at Bendigo Bank Stadium and the top placed Subiaco faces the bottom placed Swan Districts at Medibank Stadium.

The fifth placed East Perth has the bye on the back of a five-match winning streak.

SOUTH FREMANTLE (10-5, 2nd) v EAST FREMANTLE (8-8, 6th) – FREMANTLE COMMUNITY BANK OVAL, SATURDAY 11.40AM
Selected teams 
Broadcast – 7mate

The third and final derby of 2016 takes place at Fremantle Community Bank Oval on Saturday with South Fremantle needing to win to hold on to second position, and East Fremantle having to win to avoid slipping further from the top five.

While the Sharks did win last week over Swan Districts, neither team enters Saturday's derby with the Uittenbroek-Ciccotosto Cup up for grabs in good form.

South Fremantle has lost consecutive matches for the first time in 2016 following defeats to East Perth, Claremont and Subiaco while East Fremantle has only won once since an impressive WA Day Foundation Derby victory over the Bulldogs also at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.

The Sharks did end a four-game losing run last Saturday over Swans at Steel Blue Oval and while it was good to see Liam Anthony and George Hampson back to their dominant form prior to their respective injuries, it still wasn’t the same sort of performance they delivered earlier in the year.

East Fremantle remains outside the top five a game behind both East Perth and Peel Thunder. A loss for the Sharks on Saturday will make it tough to make up that gap with three games only to come against Perth, Claremont and East Perth.

South Fremantle, meanwhile, remains in second position on the ladder with a 10-5 record but a loss on Saturday and a win for West Perth over Perth would see the Bulldogs drop to third position and be in danger of missing that top two finish come the end of the season.

The remarkable run of the away teams winning Fremantle derbies has again continued this year with South Fremantle winning a thriller by seven points at ATOM Stadium in the Anzac Day Derby and then East Fremantle prevailing by 39 points at Fremantle Community Bank Oval on WA Day.

That means that the last 13 derbies have been won by the visiting teams and East Fremantle has won its last six trips to Fremantle Community Bank Oval. South Fremantle's last win on home turf against the Sharks came in Round 24, 2011.

South Fremantle has now lost three straight matches having lost consecutive games for the first time in 2016 but coach Todd Curley will be glad to welcome back some key players this Saturday against East Fremantle.

Ashton Hams has now been out since injuring a calf in the opening minutes of the Round 13 win over Peel Thunder.

He did the running last Thursday night against Subiaco and came through that unscathed, and now another week of training has the 164-game reigning fairest and best winner ready to return.

His reward will likely be being tagged by Jesse Crichton, though, who limited him to just 11 disposals back in the WA Day Foundation Derby despite having only three touches himself.

Haiden Schloithe also hasn’t played for South Fremantle since WA Day due to a foot injury that required rest to avoid turning into a stress fracture.

He was back in the reserves last Saturday and delivered a dominant 33 possessions, 11 tackles, eight marks, seven inside-50 entries and a goal to show he is ready for a return in Saturday's derby.

Blaine Johnson will also be straight back in for the Bulldogs following a one-game suspension having just got back from a hamstring complaint. He will provide another dangerous option in attack for South Fremantle.

Dylan Main is in contention for another opportunity with the Bulldogs after continued reserves form including another 23 possessions last Saturday against Subiaco.

Tim Stewart is the one player so far out of the Bulldogs line-up unable to hold his place with the return of Hams and Schloithe – South Fremantle's last two fairest and best winners.

East Fremantle returned to the winner's list last Saturday beating Swan Districts but the Sharks will need further improvement if they hope to break back into the top five.

In hopes of doing that, coach Rob Wiley will look to recall Dion Anthony, James Harrold, Jack Perham and Dylan Winton from the reserves to take on South Fremantle.

Winton will be required down back to play on either Mason Shaw, Ben Saunders or Zac Strom in South Fremantle's forward-line and he is coming off 22 possessions in the reserves last week for the Sharks against the black-and-whites.

Anthony has been in good form for the most part this season in the midfield for East Fremantle but he found himself back in the reserves last week and had 35 possessions and two goals as the Sharks' beat Swans.

Harrold is another who has shown some good form in East Fremantle's league team this year and responded to his demotion last week with 28 disposals and nine marks while Perham was solid enough up forward with 14 touches, seven marks and a goal.

Tyler Chalwell is the only player at this stage to lose his place in East Fremantle's side from the one that ended its losing run last Saturday against Swan Districts.

WEST PERTH (10-6, 3rd) v PERTH (6-9, 7th) – HBF ARENA, SATURDAY 2.15PM
Selected teams 
Broadcast – 91.3 SportFM 

West Perth has a chance to enter the WAFL's top two with a win at HBF Arena over Perth on Saturday but the Demons have shown strong improvement the second half of the year and will be looking for a first win over the Falcons since 2011.

The Falcons might have lost to East Perth two weeks ago before the bye last week, but with South Fremantle having lost three straight now they remain only percentage out of second position.

If South Fremantle loses to East Fremantle on Saturday and West Perth beats Perth, the Falcons will be in second position by the end of the round setting up a clash of the top two teams with Subiaco next Saturday at Kingsway.

That would be a significant effort by West Perth after it fell to a 1-4 record earlier in the season. The Falcons have won nine of 11 games since heading into Saturday's clash with Perth.

The Demons might have lost in Cunderdin to Peel Thunder last Saturday, but prior to that they had won three straight matches over East Fremantle, Claremont and Subiaco in some of their best and strongest form in years.

However, beating West Perth is something that Perth has struggled to do for a long time. The Falcons have won the last 10 meetings with the Demons since 2011 by an average of 44.5 points.

Going back further, West Perth has won 24 of the last 29 games against Perth over the past decade.

Perth will also be celebrating the 100th WAFL game of star midfielder Clint Jones.

While 84 of those games were played at South Fremantle where Jones was a premiership player and dual fairest and best winner prior to his 149-game AFL career with St Kilda, he has been outstanding on return to the WAFL this year with Perth.

Jones is averaging 33.9 possessions a game, representing WA and being a favourite to give Perth back-to-back Sandover Medal winners.

West Perth regains some important players following the bye to take on Perth at HBF Arena on Saturday including midfielder Trent Manzone returning from a four-week suspension handed down following the Falcons' Round 13 win over Claremont.

Before being suspended, Manzone was an important part of West Perth's midfield averaging over 23 disposals a game prior to that afternoon when he also suffered a nasty hand injury.

Andrew Strijk also returns for West Perth after being a late withdrawal a fortnight ago against East Perth but Steve Potente and Nick Rodda are two players who remain sidelined.

Ruckman Seva Mozhaev is a chance to come back into the league side for the Falcons as well to either support or replace 178-game veteran Chris Keunen.

Another veteran Luke Tedesco has also been added to West Perth's extended squad and is a chance to come in for what would be the 152nd game of his career.

Kris Shannon is the only out of the West Perth team at this stage from the one that lost to East Perth two weeks ago. He is averaging under 13 possessions a game this season.

There will be plenty of interest on West Perth's reserves as well on Saturday with the return of premiership midfielder Matt Guadagnin from a knee reconstruction. It will be his first match since Round 16 last year.

Perth will regain wingman Brett Wolfenden from a week's suspension to play West Perth on Saturday at HBF Arena.

After missing the first two games of 2016, the 110-game veteran has been a strong contributor for the Demons in his second season at the club averaging over 16 possessions and kicking six goals.

Rowan Brookes, Callum Walley, Mitch Browne and Corey Byrne are four other players in contention at the selection table for the Demons.

Last week in the reserves against Peel at Lathlain Park while the league side played in Cunderdin, Brookes had 16 possessions and a goal for the Demons, Walley booted four goals, Browne had 26 disposals, 13 marks and a goal, and Byrne finished with 25 touches, seven marks and two goals.

Brennan Stack has lost his place again in Perth's forward-line after a goalless showing last week against the Thunder with Kristian Cary also out of the Demons side.

PEEL THUNDER (9-7, 4th) v CLAREMONT (4-11, 8th) – BENDIGO BANK STADIUM, SATURDAY 2.15PM
Selected teams 
Broadcast – HFM 107.3

Peel Thunder can further consolidate its position in the top five with a win against Claremont at Bendigo Bank Stadium on Saturday but the Tigers have proven all season long they are no pushovers.

Peel was looking in danger of slipping out of the finals race during a three-game losing stretch against South Fremantle, Swan Districts and West Perth following the state game with the Thunder suffering along with Fremantle's injury troubles.

However, Peel has responded to that to beat East Fremantle and Perth the past two weeks to return to fourth position and to be a game clear inside the top four and they could be two games ahead with a win on Saturday if East Fremantle is also unable to beat South Fremantle.

Claremont might be out of finals contention with just four wins from 15 attempts this season but the Tigers have lost seven games by less than 10 points including a 21-point loss to Peel in Round 6 despite earlier being in a strong position to win.

That was so far the only meeting this year between Claremont and Peel and it took place at the neutral venue of Medibank Stadium.

Claremont is actually a significantly higher-scoring team than Peel in 2016 with the Tigers averaging 81.5 points a game while the Thunder have kicked just 69.9. But Peel is much better defensively conceding just 67.4 points while Claremont is giving up 76.3.

Peel has now won its last two games to again be a game clear inside the top five and on paper at least the Thunder appears to come in Saturday's clash with Claremont with a stronger side than the one that defeated Perth in Cunderdin last Saturday.

Peel will regain ruckman Jonathon Griffin, utility Nick Suban and midfielder Connor Blakely from Fremantle with Griffin to carry the ruck duties while Suban returns to play his former team and Blakely adds another prolific ball winner to the on-ball brigade.

Josh Deluca also returns after missing last week's game against and Perth and prior to that being in the best form of his career as a midfielder averaging over 23 disposals in his previous three matches.

Peel will likely lose Jack Hannath to Fremantle if he plays on Sunday as a replacement for Griffin as the Dockers take on Sydney at Domain Stadium.

Matt de Boer, Ethan Hughes, Alex Silvagni and Darcy Tucker are in the mix to play for Fremantle as well but at least a couple of them would still be expected to line-up for Peel on Saturday.

The Thunder have another important inclusion with the return of small defender Ryan Nyhuis. He has been out since Round 11 with a knee injury but prior to that was in outstanding form and he will now get a job on one of Claremont's dangerous small forwards.

Karl Collard, Michael Humble and Kieran May are also in the mix to play for the Thunder after some solid form in a reserves side struggling to be competitive.

The Thunder do lose young forward Brett Milward though after he kicked four goals in the opening two games of his career before kicking just two behinds last week against the Demons.

Claremont fell short against East Perth last Saturday despite a strong final quarter fight back as outgoing coach Michael Broadbridge continues to search for the winning formula to end 2016 with.

Jack Bradshaw missed the win over South Fremantle back in Round 16 and then returned through the reserves last week for the Tigers kicking four goals from 23 possessions and that should see him earn a recall this Saturday against Peel.

A couple of young stars could get the chance to make their debut as well after getting a taste of playing in the reserves last week.

Against East Perth, Jake Waterman was impressive up forward with 19 disposals, nine marks and three goals while Matt Guelfi finished with 19 possessions and five tackles. It could be enough for both to make their league debuts this Saturday.

Morgan Davies, Zac Langdon and Jordan Speed are three more players in contention for a call up after playing well in last week's reserves victory over the Royals.

Last Saturday Davies had 18 possessions and seven marks, Langdon 19 disposals and 11 tackles, and Speed 21 touches, eight tackles and five marks.

Ben Higgs, Jack Richardson and Keifer Yu are three players who haven’t been able to hold their place in the Claremont league side this week. 

SUBIACO (12-4, 1st) v SWAN DISTRICTS (2-13, 9th) – MEDIBANK STADIUM, SATURDAY 2.15PM
Selected teams 
Broadcast – KIX Digital

It's top against bottom when Subiaco takes on Swan Districts at Medibank Stadium on Saturday with the Lions two games clear on top and Swans two games clear on the bottom.

Subiaco currently sits on top of the WAFL ladder with a 12-4 record and the best percentage in the competition to be two games clear of both South Fremantle and West Perth with just four games of the season remaining.

The Lions moved two games clear with an 11-point win last Thursday night over South Fremantle as they chase a second straight minor premiership, and a premiership hat-trick overall.

Swans went down to East Fremantle last Saturday by just 18 points at Steel Blue Oval with the black-and-whites having won just twice in 15 attempts so far in 2016.

That means they undoubtedly have their work cut out against Subiaco on Saturday but with nothing to lose, the black-and-whites can throw caution to the wind in a bid to cause what would be far and away the upset of the season.

The two teams have already met twice this season with Subiaco winning by 39 points at Steel Blue Oval in Round 5 and then again by 34 points in Round 15 at Medibank Stadium.

Subiaco remains two games clear on top of the ladder heading into the clash at home against the bottom placed Swans but the Lions remain well short of what they would consider their best 22.

While Kyle Halligan, Hayden Kennedy and Scott Hancock won't return this year, Lachlan Delahunty and Rhys Waters are among the premiership players who will still be missing on Saturday and so will Adam Cockie after accepting a one-week suspension following last Thursday's win over South Fremantle. 

Subiaco will welcome back captain Kyal Horsley to face Swans, though, with the skipper having missed the last two games against South Fremantle and Perth.

Shaquille McKenzie, Matt Bogensperger and Brad Stevenson are all in selection contention for the Lions as well after some solid performances in the reserves.

Last week against South Fremantle on Saturday also at Medibank Stadium, McKenzie had 21 possessions for Subiaco, Stevenson 14 disposals and seven marks, and Bogensperger 30 touches and a goal.

There are changes galore for Swan Districts as coach Greg Harding tries to find a way to take it up to the league-leading reigning premiers and avoid a fourth straight defeat.

Matthew Rogers is set to return to add some grunt to the half-forward line to play his 99th WAFL game with veteran defender Justin Simpson also an important player back from injury.

Young big man Griffin Logue will be another handy addition to the black-and-whites team with Jacob Coniglio, Logan Hughes, Jake Nuich, Steven Wityk and Dylan Smith putting themselves in the mix for selection with some solid performances in the reserves.

Last week against East Fremantle, Coniglio finished with 18 possessions, Hughes 19 disposals, Nuich 10 touches, seven marks, five tackles and a goal, Wityk 16 possessions and a goal, and Smith 14 disposals, nine marks and a goal.

If Hughes and Smith are selected, it will be the debut of both at league level for the black-and-whites with Ben Holman having impressed on debut in last week's loss at home to East Fremantle.

Jack Watson, Ricky Cary, Tallan Ames, Tom Smirk and Rudy Riddoch all go out of the Swan Districts team this week