Round 6 Preview – East Fremantle v East PerthFriday, May 4, 2018 - 8:45 PM - by Chris Pike

EAST Fremantle and East Perth couldn’t possibly be in more contrasting form heading into Sunday's contest at East Fremantle Oval.

The Sharks and Royals do battle in the standalone WAFL contest on Sunday to close Round 6 of the 2018 season heading into the State game break.

It's a big game for both teams too with East Fremantle needing to respond to two horror losses the last two weeks by a combined 184 points against South Fremantle and Swan Districts while East Perth is looking to make it four straight and keep their momentum going.

East Fremantle's first three games of the season weren’t too bad with tight losses to Peel and Claremont either side of a seven-point victory against Perth, but the last two weeks have been disastrous.

It started with a 94-point loss in the Anzac Derby against South Fremantle at East Fremantle Oval. Coach Rob Wiley got no signs of a response last Saturday at Steel Blue Oval against Swan Districts either. 

Swans had the first 12 scoring shots of the game and kicked the opening seven goals of the contest before going on to hammer the hapless Sharks by 90 points.

Across those two games, East Fremantle has only had a total of 49 inside-50 entries and have just not even come close to giving themselves a chance of being competitive.

It has been the opposite with East Perth who started the season losing to Subiaco by 118 points on Good Friday. But what the Lions have since done to South Fremantle, Swan Districts and Claremont suggests that's not quite as bad as it appeared at the time.

East Perth's response has seen them beat West Perth by 58 points, Perth by 37 and Peel Thunder by 66 and the Royals could very well be in their best patch of form since their back-to-back Grand Final years of 2013 and 2014.

East Perth has won the last three games against East Fremantle as well by an average of 65.3 points. Going back further, the Royals have won eight of the last 10 matches as well with the Sharks last win coming in Round 7, 2016.

Since that first up loss to Subiaco, East Perth have been impressive this season with average winning margins of 53.7 points while scoring 127.3 points a game themselves and conceding just 73.7.

East Fremantle's last two weeks have been disastrous with the Sharks only kicking a combined 14 goals in the losses to South Fremantle and Swan Districts. They have conceded 40 goals in the process. They have also had 148 less disposals over those two matches.

There are household changes at East Fremantle following those two big losses and coach Rob Wiley desperately searches for some answers.

Aside from 110-game wingman Sean Henson, the inclusions are remarkably young for the Sharks too including Daniel Borgogno, Fraser Daly, Ben Harding, Corey Holmes, Cameron Loersch, Leon Pearton and Chris Scott.

The Sharks outs won't make returning to the winner's list any easier with captain Jonathon Griffin and vice-captain going out of the team along with key forwards Jack Perham and Alex Howson. Russell Wynne is also out.

East Perth will lose Mark Hutchings after he had 33 possessions last Sunday against Peel Thunder to earn a call up into the West Coast team to take on Port Adelaide on Saturday at Optus Stadium. Nathan Vardy is also out with a groin injury.

But the Royals will be further strengthened with the return of West Coast midfielder Luke Partington while 2016 fairest and best winner Mitch Fraser remains a chance to play his first league game since undergoing a knee reconstruction after Round 1 last year.

EAST FREMANTLE (1-4, 9th) v EAST PERTH (3-1, 4th) – EAST FREMANTLE OVAL, SUNDAY 2.15PM
Selected teams, live stats 
Broadcast – Footy Radio