Round 2 Preview - Peel Thunder v East FremantleFriday, March 24, 2017 - 12:18 PM - by Chris Pike

PEEL Thunder plays its first home game since winning last year's WAFL premiership taking on East Fremantle at Bendigo Bank Stadium on Saturday.

Peel will unfurl the club's first ever league premiership flag before the game on Saturday in what will be their first home match since beating Subiaco in last year's Grand Final.

It will be a memorable day for the Thunder and the Mandurah community but East Fremantle will be looking to spoil the celebrations and bounce back from a disappointing Round 1 performance.

Round 1 – East Perth v Peel Thunder Match Report 
Round 1 – East Fremantle v Claremont Match Report 

Peel opened its premiership defence last Saturday night with a hard fought 17-point win over East Perth at Leederville Oval. Goals were hard to come by, but the Thunder kicked five to nil in the third quarter to set up the eventual win.

East Fremantle, meanwhile, started strongly against Claremont with four goals to one in the first quarter. But from there the Sharks were outscored 18 goals to five to lose by 62 points at East Fremantle Oval.

Peel has also defeated East Fremantle on the past five occasions made up of all three games in 2016 and two in 2015. The Sharks' last win over the Thunder was back in Round 17, 2014 at East Fremantle Oval by 24 points.

From Peel's team that beat East Perth last Saturday night, Hayden Crozier, Tom Sheridan, Nick Suban and Matt Taberner have been included in Fremantle's squad to play Geelong at Domain Stadium on Sunday.

However, at least some of them will still play with Peel once the Dockers settle on their final 22.

Brad Walsh (27 possessions), Corey Morris (20), Calvin Thorne (19), Josh Mathers (13), Nick Merritt (13, two goals), Josh McMahon (11), Richard Wight (13), Callan Eddy (12) and Travis Naughton (six) all played in the reserves last week for Peel and come in contention for selection this Saturday.

Alex Bray and Taylin Duman are also out of Peel's team from last week.

There are plenty of changes at East Fremantle following the disappointing loss to Claremont at home last Saturday, and some big inclusions.

Reigning fairest and best winner Liam Anthony will return for the Sharks after being a late withdrawal last week and add some quality and experience to the on-ball brigade.

Former Peel player Nathan Fahey could also make his Sharks debut after having 21 possessions and five marks in the reserves last week against Claremont.

Ex-Perth player Joel Kalajzic could also play his first league appearance with East Fremantle after 28 possessions last week in the reserves while another recruit, South Fremantle's Jesse Mirco is in the mix after 19 touches, six marks and two goals.

Jake Schleicher racked up 34 possessions to put himself in contention for a call up along with James Harrold, Alex Moreno, Andrew Stephen and Brendan Tingey.

Dion Anthony, Peter Delaney, Miles Franklin, Sean Henson, Alex Howson and Jack Perham are the players all going out of the Sharks line-up following the big loss to the Tigers.

With the Thunder celebrating their premiership and looking to make it two from two on the season, and the Sharks desperate to bounce back it's shaping as a terrific contest at Bendigo Bank Stadium on Saturday.

PEEL THUNDER v EAST FREMANTLE – BENDIGO BANK STADIUM, SATURDAY 2.15PM
Selected teams, live stats 
Broadcast – HFM (107.3FM)