WAFL Preliminary Finals PreviewSaturday, September 17, 2016 - 12:10 PM - by Chris Pike

THE 2016 AHG WAFL Finals Series goes into overdrive at Fremantle Community Bank Oval on Sunday with South Fremantle and Peel Thunder doing battle for the right to take on Subiaco in the Grand Final.

Fremantle Community Bank Oval will play host to the WAFL preliminary final for 2016 with South Fremantle taking on Peel Thunder with bounce down set for 2.40pm and a spot in the Grand Final next Sunday against Subiaco at Domain Stadium on the line.

The league contest won't be the only one at Fremantle Community Bank Oval on Sunday though.

The day begins at 9am with the colts preliminary final between Perth and East Perth with the winner to take on Claremont in next week's Grand Final.

Then in the reserves preliminary final, Claremont takes on East Fremantle for the right to face East Perth in the Grand Final.

LEAGUE PRELIMINARY FINAL
SOUTH FREMANTLE v PEEL THUNDER - FREMANTLE COMMUNITY BANK OVAL, SUNDAY 2.40PM
Selected teams 
Broadcast – Channel 7, 720 ABC Perth, 91.3 SportFM, KIX Digital

South Fremantle will either qualify for its first WAFL Grand Final since 2009 or Peel Thunder its first in history by winning Sunday's preliminary final at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.

Subiaco awaits in the 2016 Grand Final next Sunday at Domain Stadium with the Lions shooting for a second premiership hat-trick of the past decade, but winning into a decider will be a new experience for the majority of whichever team wins Sunday's preliminary final.

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South Fremantle played in seven finals series in eight years between 2004-11 including Grand Finals in 2006, 2007 and 2009 where the Bulldogs won premierships in 2005 and 2009, but it has dried up since then.

South Fremantle had four straight years of not playing finals coming into 2016 but the Bulldogs had a strong season with a 15-5 record to finish in second position on the ladder before beating West Perth by 52 points in the qualifying final.

That was the Bulldogs' first finals victory since the 2009 Grand Final before a loss in last Sunday's second semi-final against Subiaco at Medibank Stadium by 40 points.

South Fremantle has just three players in its team that will line-up against Peel on Sunday with previous WAFL Grand Final experience and only one of those was with the Bulldogs.

Ashton Hams is a dual premiership player at South Fremantle while Blayne Wilson played in the losing Grand Finals at East Perth in 2013 and 2014, and Josh Pullman was part of Swan Districts' losing Grand Final team of 2008.

Peel, meanwhile, has now won the first two finals in the club's history the past two weeks defeating East Perth by 49 points in the elimination final at Bendigo Bank Stadium and then downing West Perth in the first semi-final at HBF Arena.

That's on the back of making the finals for the first time last year and losing to the Falcons in a qualifying final and the Royals in a first semi-final.

Peel's team does feature some more WAFL Grand Final experience than South Fremantle though. 

Clancee Pearce is a premiership player with Swan Districts in 2010 while Nick Suban won a flag with Claremont in 2012, Josh Deluca with Subiaco in 2014 and Shane Yarran with the Lions both the past two years.

Rory O'Brien and Jonathon Griffin both played in East Fremantle's Grand Final loss in 2012.

Either way, whoever wins Sunday's preliminary final will then go on to the Grand Final with a majority of their line-up taking on the hardened Subiaco on the big stage for the first time.

Neither team will look to make too many changes from last Sunday but South Fremantle will be glad to welcome back Ashton Hams from a one-week suspension to had some class, experience and ball-winning ability to the Bulldogs' line-up.

Adam Guglielmana remains a 125-game WAFL veteran but is yet to play a final at league level having played the past two weeks in the reserves on return from a hamstring injury.

He is a chance to come in and play on Sunday against Peel with former Thunder defender Chris Luff another one in the selection mix with the Bulldogs.

The biggest decision to be made at Peel appears to surround what to do with their big men.

Jack Hannath played as back up ruckman and a key forward target in the elimination final win over East Perth but Griffin replaced him in that role against West Perth in the first semi-final.

Zac Clarke is a lock to continue leading the way but the Thunder have to firstly decide on whether they want both Hannath or Griffin in the team together, or if one of them then the tough choice surrounds which one.

South Fremantle and Peel have met twice this season with the Bulldogs winning on both occasions by 41 points at Fremantle Community Bank Oval in Round 9 and then at Bendigo Bank Stadium by 32 points in Round 13.

However, the Bulldogs have actually been better on the road than at home this season winning six of 10 games at Fremantle Community Bank Oval but then 10 of 12 away from the port.

The ground will also hold no fears for the majority of the Thunder line-up with their Fremantle-listed players used to it as their training base while O'Brien won his last six derbies at the ground while at East Fremantle and Bootsma is a former South Fremantle product.

RESERVES PRELIMINARY FINAL
CLAREMONT v EAST FREMANTLE – FREMANTLE COMMUNITY BANK OVAL, SUNDAY 11.45AM
Selected teams 

Claremont and East Fremantle lock horns in the reserves preliminary final on Sunday at Fremantle Community Bank Oval looking to win through to the Grand Final.

East Perth is already awaiting in next Sunday's WAFL Grand Final in the reserves at Domain Stadium having beaten Claremont last Sunday in the second semi-final.

Now the winner of Sunday's preliminary final between the Tigers and Sharks will do battle with the Royals. The reserves clash at Fremantle Oval begins at 11.45am.

Claremont finished the reserves season in second positon on the ladder with a 15-5 record before beating South Fremantle in the qualifying final by nine points and then losing to East Perth last Sunday in the second semi-final at HBF Arena by 41 points.

East Fremantle, meanwhile, finished in fourth spot with an 11-9 record before beating Subiaco in the elimination final by two points at Bendigo Bank Stadium and then downing South Fremantle in the first semi-final by 52 points last Sunday at Medibank Stadium.

Claremont can take confidence having already won a final at Fremantle Oval this finals series beating South Fremantle two weeks ago. On that day Jack Richardson kicked three goals, and Ben Higgs and Alexander Manuel booted two each.

Justin Speed also had 23 possessions, Gerrick Weedon 23 and Zac Langdon 19 in a strong all-round performance.

Then last Sunday in the second semi-final loss to East Perth, Higgs kicked another two goals for the Tigers while Tom Shanahan gathered 22 possessions, John Williams 21 and Weedon 19.

East Fremantle held on in the elimination final to win a thriller over Subiaco in Mandurah two weeks ago with Jacob Green kicking three goals, and Jesse Adamini racking up 36 possessions, Matthew Bannister 22, Miles Franklin 21, Jake Schleicher 21, Fraser Perry 21, Tyler Chalwell 20 and Tom Hooker 20.

Then last week in the win over South Fremantle, Andrew Stokes and Green booted three goals each, Lewis Krakouer two and Mikes Franklin had 27 disposals, Mitch Boyle 25, Hooker 25, Schleicher 24, Bannister 24, Chalwell 23, Aaron Holmes 21 and Krakouer 21.

Claremont and East Fremantle met three times during the season in the reserves with the Sharks winning by nine points in Round 5 at ATOM Stadium and then by 59 also at Shark Park in Round 22. The Tigers got a victory at the Showground by 34 points in Round 10.

REDiMED COLTS PRELIMINARY FINAL
PERTH v EAST PERTH - FREMANTLE COMMUNITY BANK OVAL, SUNDAY 9.00AM
Selected teams 

The colts preliminary final kicks off the day at Fremantle Community Bank Oval with Perth and East Perth doing battle for the right to advance to next Sunday's Grand Final.

Claremont has already qualified for the Colts Grand Final of 2016 to be played next Sunday morning at Domain Stadium and now the winner of this Sunday's preliminary final at the port will do battle with them.

The Demons and Royals' clash bounces down at 9am at Fremantle Community Bank Oval on Sunday morning.

Perth finished the home and away season as minor premiers in the colts with a 16-4 record to take that top spot off Claremont thanks to a thumping final round victory over South Fremantle.

The Demons then took on Claremont in the qualifying final after having the first week of the finals off thanks to finishing on top of the ladder. 

But Claremont proved too strong beating Perth by 64 points last Sunday at Joondalup's HBF Arena leaving the Demons with another chance to qualify for the grand final.

East Perth only managed to qualify for the finals thanks to beating East Fremantle in the final round and now the Royals have continued that momentum during the first two weeks of the finals.

The Royals won their elimination final against a Swan Districts team coming off making the past two grand finals, prevailing by 12 points at Mandurah's Bendigo Bank Stadium.

Then in last Sunday's first semi-final at Medibank Stadium, East Perth beat South Fremantle by 33 points on the back of a dominant last quarter after the Bulldogs had staged a fight back.

Both teams feature talented line-ups with the Demons side featuring the likes of Arnold Punch, Cody Ninyette, John Levien, Blake Johnson, Joseph Ugle, Cody Kickett, Chris Leonard and Gordon Narrier.

East Perth last week was boosted by the return of Sam Powell-Pepper who played out the season including the elimination final in the league side for the Royals.

The Royals' side also got tremendous service last week out of Stan Wright, Tarir Bayok, Matthew Young, Harley Stack, Nelson Waite, Alex Di Placido and Nathan Arbon.

Perth and East Perth met twice during the season with the Demons winning on both occasions by 46 points at Lathlain Park in Round 6 and then again by just three points in Round 13 at Medibank Stadium.