Round 19 Preview - Claremont v East PerthSaturday, July 29, 2017 - 7:27 AM - by Chris Pike

CLAREMONT and East Perth both currently sit on the same records two games out of the top five clinging to finals hopes meaning that the winner on Saturday remains in the hunt and the loser falls all but out of contention.

That sets the scene for a cracking contest at Claremont Oval on Saturday with both team's seasons virtually on the line. Both of them have shown enough to suggest they can be dangerous on their day if they sneak into the finals but they just haven’t been able to produce that form consistently enough.

But Saturday shapes as a season-defining contest for both clubs and it will be broadcast live on Channel 7 from 3pm.

The game will be the first time the Tigers and Royals have played one another at Claremont Oval since the 2013 preliminary final.

Claremont had won its previous five games on home turf against East Perth prior to that and the Tigers came into the preliminary final having finished on top of the WAFL ladder for a fourth straight season.

But Claremont's dominant run in the WAFL was coming to an end and having lost the week previous to West Perth in the second semi-final also at Claremont Oval, East Perth overran them to win by 63 points in front of over 4000 fans to advance to the 2013 grand final.

Claremont has only returned to the beautifully redeveloped Claremont Oval in the second half of this season after a three-year absence. 

The Tigers won their opening three home games against East Fremantle, Swan Districts and West Perth but lost its last appearance to South Fremantle by 25 points back in Round 16.

They will finish the season with three of their last five games at Claremont Oval as they attempt to break into the finals in the first year in charge of coach Darren Harris.

Both Claremont and East Perth currently hold 6-9 records to sit two games behind the fifth placed West Perth. With both having just four games remaining after Saturday, the winner will still be in a decent position to make a run at the finals but the task could be too big for the loser.

The teams have already met once this season and that was a Friday night contest at Leederville Oval back in Round 4 with Claremont winning by 36 points. At that stage, the Tigers were on a three-game winning run to open the season while East Perth was on its way to losing its first five matches.

Claremont had the bye last weekend and prior to that had lost to Subiaco by 30 points in Esperance, to South Fremantle by 25 points at Claremont Oval and to Peel Thunder by two points at Bendigo Bank Stadium.

That was on the back of three straight wins at home but now the Tigers need to bounce back on Saturday to revive their finals chances.

Bailey Rogers is a chance to return for his first league game since injuring his knee against South Fremantle on Good Friday with Eddie Simpson and Nick Winmar also in the mix to add some more firepower to the Tigers' forward-line.

Following a five-game winning streak for East Perth, the Royals have now lost four of their past five matches including a 30-point defeat at the hands of South Fremantle in Busselton last Saturday.

From that team last Saturday, East Perth will welcome back West Coast big man Scott Lycett along with defender Tom Gorter.

Two of the Eagles emergencies Tom Cole, Fraser McInnes and Kurt Mutimer will play for the Royals. The other will be saved in case he's needed for West Coast against the Brisbane Lions on Sunday at Domain Stadium.

Jake Waterman will also make his league debut for East Perth and play his first senior appearance since being drafted by West Coast from Claremont last season. 

He did play four league games for Claremont in 2016 before leading the colts to the premiership and then being taken as a father-son selection in the draft.

Now as fate has it after spending the last two weeks in the reserves following injury, Waterman will play his first league game for East Perth up against his old Claremont team on Saturday at Claremont Oval.

Taylor North, Mitch Dobson, Nathan Eaton, Nelson Waite and Jacob Macshane are the other players all in the selection mix at East Perth.

Callum Hart, Luke Partington, Malcolm Karpany and Jack Hick go out of the team from the one that lost in Busselton to South Fremantle last Saturday.

CLAREMONT (6-9, 6th) v EAST PERTH (6-9, 7th) – CLAREMONT OVAL, SATURDAY 3.10PM
Selected teams, live stats 
Broadcast – Channel 7, 720 ABC Perth