Round 19 Optus WAFL PreviewFriday, August 16, 2019 - 2:07 PM - by Chris Pike

THE penultimate round of the 2019 WAFL season begins on Friday night with the West Coast Eagles a chance to close in on a finals position before four more matches on Saturday highlighted by the battle for second between South Fremantle and Claremont.

While top position is secure for 2019 with Subiaco guaranteed of a fifth successive WAFL minor premiership, the other four positions in the top five are all still to be determined while there remains seven teams who can all play finals this season with two rounds remaining.

With all five matches in Round 19 of the 2019 Optus WAFL Premiership Season having some finals implications, it's sure going to be a fascinating weekend of action.

It all gets underway on Friday night at Leederville Oval with East Perth taking on the West Coast Eagles in a battle between the two sides who had been operating in partnership in recent years.

Under lights at Leederville Oval with the potential for the cold weather to be partnered with rain sure should make it an even more fascinating contest, but for the Eagles it's a must-win affair.

East Perth comes in the game out of finals contention in ninth position with a 5-11 record but the Royals have been playing better football at times in 2019 than that record suggests including a narrow loss to East Fremantle last Saturday.

The Royals would certainly like to win on home soil on Friday night to get some reward for effort while it's a crucial game for the Eagles. West Coast comes into the game in sixth position with a 7-9 record but they are just one game behind the fifth placed Perth with a superior percentage.

The Eagles will improve to fifth position on the ladder with a win on Friday night and could stay there unless the Demons beat East Fremantle on Saturday. 

To reach the finals, the Eagles need to win one more game than the Demons over the final two rounds with West Coast to play East Fremantle in the final round and Perth taking on Peel Thunder.

Saturday afternoon's action then begins with what should be a tremendous match up between Subiaco and West Perth also at Leederville Oval.

Subiaco is already guaranteed of claiming a fifth consecutive minor premiership on the back of playing in the past five Grand Finals for premierships in 2014, 2015 and 2018.

The Lions have lost just the one game throughout this season and they will want to ensure they maintain their momentum heading towards finals while there's the added motivation for players that it's going to be a difficult 22 to select for the coaching staff come finals time.

West Perth does come into the game in tremendous form though. The Falcons started the season losing their opening four matches under new coach Geoff Valentine but they have been building nicely ever since.

West Perth is coming off a convincing win against Claremont last Saturday at Claremont Oval and that saw the Falcons secure a finals appearance for 2019 while currently sitting in fourth position with a 9-7 record.

The Falcons are still an outside chance of a top three finish as well should they win their last two games starting on Saturday against Subiaco and then in the final round against South Fremantle.

Subiaco has beaten West Perth in the past nine meetings between the two teams by an average of 40.1 points, including last year's Grand Final at Optus Stadium which the Lions won by 81 points.

Also on Saturday afternoon, Swan Districts hosts Peel Thunder at Bassendean's Steel Blue Oval in the last home game of the season for the black-and-whites.

Swans might appear anchored to the bottom of the ladder or 2019 but with two wins to close the season starting on Saturday against Peel and then in the final round against Claremont, they could still avoid the wooden spoon.

Saturday's game will also be the last for 2019 at Steel Blue Oval for Swans and while they will want to send their home fans off for the year on a winning note, it hasn’t been their happiest hunting ground in recent times.

Even though Swans did beat the West Coast Eagles back in Round 17 in their previous home match, they had lost three in-a-row prior to that and in the bigger picture had only won once in the last 13 games at Steel Blue Oval.

However against Peel, Swan Districts has won the last two games they've played at home against the Thunder while winning 21 of the 27 games at the Bassendean venue over the last 22 years.

It's a must-win game on Saturday for Peel, though, if the Thunder hope to stay any chance of playing finals still in 2019.

Peel is coming off losses to South Fremantle and Claremont the past two weeks, but if the Thunder win their last two matches starting against Swans and then Perth, then there is still a hope of them returning to finals action for 2019 after a year out of it in 2018 following the 2016 and 2017 premierships.

Perth's hopes of ending its finals drought dating back to 1997 then goes on the line with the Demons hosting East Fremantle at Lathlain's Mineral Resources Park on Saturday.

The Demons have been inside the top five all season long on the back of winning their opening five games of the season, but it has been a bit of a grind since with them losing eight of the last 11 matches.

Perth have struggled in recent weeks too including losing to the West Coast Eagles last Saturday night following a thrashing by Subiaco and narrow loss to Claremont.

So the Demons bring a three-game losing streak into their clash with Perth as they head into Round 19 sitting in fifth position still with an 8-8 record, but a percentage lower than all the teams around them.

Perth can guarantee of its finals appearance by winning its last two games starting Saturday against East Fremantle and then in the last round on the road to Peel. However, a loss in either game and they will need to hope the Eagles don't win both their remaining matches.

By the time the game starts on Saturday afternoon, Perth might even be outside the top five should West Coast beat East Perth on Friday night so it's a virtual must-win contest for the Demons if they want to play finals for the first time in 22 years.

East Fremantle might be out of finals contention but the Sharks are actually playing better football than their 5-11 record should suggest. They are coming off a win against East Perth last Saturday and now the Sharks would like to continue to try and finish 2019 with some momentum.

The final game on Saturday afternoon should be the game of the round with South Fremantle hosting Claremont at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.

The Bulldogs and Tigers are locked in a battle over second position on the WAFL ladder and that could very well end up being decided come Saturday afternoon with the reward for finishing second getting to play host to the qualifying final in two weeks' time.

South Fremantle comes into the game on Saturday afternoon at 2.35pm at Fremantle Community Bank Oval having won its past three matches and having taken over second spot from Claremont, but that is only with a gap of less than one per cent.

The Bulldogs and Tigers both hold 11-5 records coming into the game and look all but certain of finishing second and third no matter what happens over the last two rounds, it just now depends on which order.

While South Fremantle has won its past three games against Swan Districts, East Perth and Peel, Claremont lost last week to West Perth on the back of a narrow win against the Thunder and another tight victory against Perth.

With South Fremantle and Claremont likely to meet in the qualifying final in two weeks' time, Saturday's clash should provide a fascinating into what is to come and has the chance to provide the winner with some momentum to take into that contest.

The teams met at Claremont Oval back in Round 13 and on that occasion the overran the Bulldogs to win by 16 points.

But prior that loss, South Fremantle had beaten Claremont in five of the previous six meetings with that only interrupted with a shock six-point loss at home in Round 8 last year.
 

OPTUS WAFL ROUND 19

EAST PERTH (5-11, 9th) v WEST COAST EAGLES (7-9, 6th) – LEEDERVILLE OVAL, FRIDAY 7.10PM
Live scores, stats
Broadcast – Livestream

SUBIACO (15-1, 1st) v WEST PERTH (9-7, 4th) – LEEDERVILLE OVAL, SATURDAY 2.15PM
Live scores, stats
Broadcast – KIX Digital

SWAN DISTRICTS (3-13, 10th) v PEEL THUNDER (6-10, 7th) – STEEL BLUE OVAL, SATURDAY 2.15PM
Live scores, stats

PERTH (8-8, 5th) v EAST FREMANTLE (5-11, 8th) – MINERAL RESOURCES PARK, SATURDAY 2.15PM
Live scores, stats
Broadcast – 91.3 SportFM

SOUTH FREMANTLE (11-5, 2nd) v CLAREMONT (11-5, 3rd) – FREMANTLE COMMUNITY BANK OVAL, SATURDAY 2.35PM
Live scores, stats
Broadcast – Channel 7