Round 4 Optus WAFLW PreviewFriday, August 7, 2020 - 3:50 PM - by Chris Pike

ROUND 4 in the Optus WAFL Women's Premiership Season sees the unbeaten Subiaco host the winless South Fremantle on Saturday before the other four teams all lock horns on Sunday afternoon.

There are only seven rounds in the 2020 Optus WAFLW season meaning that by Sunday evening we will already be past the halfway mark as the race for the top four positions heats up.

With each team playing seven matches before the final spots are decided with the top four going through, Subiaco is already in a box seat with three wins on the board while Claremont and Peel Thunder have two wins each heightening the importance of their game with one another.

Then with Swan Districts and East Fremantle with one win apiece the difference between a win and loss for the Swans and Sharks will be significant.

Round 4 in the WAFLW action gets underway on Saturday morning at Leederville with Subiaco hosting South Fremantle. The game gets underway from 10.30am.

It's a daunting challenge for South Fremantle up against a strong and determined Subiaco outfit who has already opened the season defeating Claremont, East Fremantle and Swan Districts.

They aren't short on motivation having missed the Grand Final in 2019 after finishing the home and away season as minor premiers.

So a win for Subiaco on Saturday will go a significant way to securing the Lions a finals spot already to get underway in a months' time.

South Fremantle went scoreless in its opening two matches in the WAFLW competition against East Fremantle and Peel Thunder. 

The Bulldogs did manage to score last Sunday against Claremont and made history with their first ever goal courtesy of Chloe Taylor despite going on to lose by 57 points.

This will be the first ever away game for South Fremantle in their new life in the WAFLW competition and will also be the first time that Subiaco and the Bulldogs have faced off with one another at this level.

From the Subiaco team that beat Swan Districts last week, Taylisha Brown, Lara Filocamo and Aimee Schmidt come into the team. Beatrice Devlyn, Tylor McIntosh and Caitlin Walker are the players to go out for the Lions.

Hannah Felton, Ella Higgins and Mim Strom are the three players to come in for South Fremantle while Casey Byrne, Jaymi Karapetkov and Kara Turley go out.

Then on Sunday, it's a real chance for Claremont and Peel Thunder to breakaway from the pack with a third win from their opening four matches to continue their early season momentum when they meet at Claremont's Revo Fitness Stadium.

Claremont's lone loss was by just two points to Subiaco before wins against Swan Districts and South Fremantle. Peel has also defeated the Bulldogs along with East Fremantle while their loss came against Swans back in Round 1.

From the Claremont team that had a 57-point win against South Fremantle on Sunday, Bella Lewis, Laura Pugh and Matilda Sargeant come into the Tigers line-up with Dana de Bondt, Paige Hamilton-Smith and Julia Uhe going out.

Meanwhile at Peel Thunder, Ella Roberts comes into the side and Demi Okely goes out.

It's then a Grand Final rematch between East Fremantle and Swan Districts on Sunday afternoon from 2.45pm at Bassendean's Steel Blue Oval.

Both teams have come into the new season having won just one of their opening three games so the difference between a win or loss on Sunday will be stark.

The winner will be right back on track to play finals this season while the loser at 1-3 will find the going tough to remain in the mix.

There are some big names back for both sides as they chase an important win in the Grand Final rematch from last year.

Ashley Sharp and Nicole Bombardieri come into the Swan Districts team with Eilish Grundon and Courtney Lindgren going out.

Gabby O'Sullivan, Samara Pluschke and Ruby Schleicher are significant inclusions for reigning premiers East Fremantle while Lea Caccamo, Katelyn Catalano and Philippa Seth are out for the Sharks.

OPTUS WAFLW PREMIERSHIP SEASON - ROUND 4

SUBIACO (3-0, 1st) v SOUTH FREMANTLE (0-3, 6th) – LEEDERVILLE OVAL, SATURDAY 10.30AM
Live scores, stats  

CLAREMONT (2-1, 2nd) v PEEL THUNDER (2-1, 3rd) – REVO FITNESS STADIUM, SUNDAY 2.00PM
Live scores, stats

SWAN DISTRICTS (1-2, 5th) v EAST FREMANTLE (1-2, 4th) – STEEL BLUE OVAL, SUNDAY 2.45PM
Live scores, stats
Livestream available at WAFL website, Facebook and YouTube