Round 22 Optus WAFL PreviewFriday, September 3, 2021 - 11:43 AM - by Chris Pike

THE stage is set for a fascinating final round of the 2021 home and away season on Saturday with all positions inside the top five still to be decided while those out of finals contention will be throwing everything at ending their campaigns on a high note.

While the seasons of East Fremantle and East Perth ended last weekend, the other eight teams compete in the four matches this Saturday afternoon and while the finals teams are locked away, what spots they make up in the top five is anything but guaranteed.

That's what will make the last round of the 2021 Optus WAFL Premiership Season so fascinating because top spot is still to be confirmed, the second placed team and hosting rights of the qualifying final is up for grabs and so is a top three finish along with the hosting rights of the elimination final.

Even if you look at the bottom of the table, there's the most outside of chances that the Eagles could still avoid the wooden spoon at the expense of the Demons while the Thunder won't be short on finding motivation as they try to end their season with a third consecutive win.

The battle up the top of the ladder needs to be sorted out and Subiaco has the chance to make it simple by winning and guaranteeing themselves the minor premiership. 

It won't be easy, though, with the Lions taking on Peel Thunder at David Grays Arena with them looking to farewell outgoing coach Cam Shepherd and captain Ben Howlett in style.

A Subiaco loss would leave the door open for both South Fremantle and Claremont to potentially grab top spot, should they win their matches.

South Fremantle plays host to the West Coast Eagles at Fremantle Community Bank Oval while Claremont is at home to Swan Districts at Revo Fitness Stadium.

There's a good chance for the Bulldogs and Tigers to both finish ahead of the Lions should they lose to the Thunder. The minor premiership would then come down to who wins by the biggest margin out of South Fremantle and Claremont.

However, assuming Subiaco wins and locks in top spot, South Fremantle and Claremont are in a fascinating battle over second position to determine who hosts next week's qualifying final.

Assuming they both win, it will come down to percentage and right now only 0.39 is between them in favour of the Bulldogs. Basically Claremont would just need to win by about a goal more than South Fremantle to overtake them. 

However, if one of the Bulldogs or Tigers lose, they won't finish second and they could slip to fourth should West Perth win by enough over Perth at Mineral Resources Park to make up the percentage gap.

Swan Districts could still finish fourth and host the elimination final against West Perth with a big win over the Tigers and should the Falcons lose to the Demons.

Put simply, there's plenty of reasons to tune into the last round of the Optus WAFL Premiership Season on Saturday afternoon.

Starting at Mandurah's David Grays Arena, Peel Thunder plays its last game of the season at home against the league-leading Subiaco.

It's the end of an era for Peel as well with it the last game of dual premiership winning coach Cam Shepherd and inspirational captain Ben Howlett, who is a Thunder fairest and best winner both before and after his 124-game AFL career at Essendon.

Peel has also won its last two matches coming into the game so they will have some momentum coming into the clash to try and upset the Lions and farewell their coach and captain in style.

Subiaco comes into the game still in top spot and all the Lions need to do is win the game to guarantee the minor premiership and a week off to start the finals series.

Ever since Peel beat Subiaco in the 2017 Grand Final to make it back-to-back premierships, the Lions have beaten the Thunder six consecutive times by an average of 54.7 points – including by 44 points back in Round 8 of this year at Leederville Oval.

From the Peel team that beat Perth last week, Lachlan Cullen, Josh Edwards, James Ewing, Roy George, Brady Hough and Ben Howlett come into the side while Bailey Banfield and Michael Randall go out.

Subiaco welcomes back superstar Greg Clark and terrific defender Angus Dewar with James Faraone, Harry Marsh and Jack Mayo added to the squad. Josh Robbins is the only out at this stage.

How things can change in 12 months. Just under a year ago and West Perth and Perth were preparing to meet in a first semi-final with the Demons on an incredible high having ended their finals drought that stretched all the way back to 1997.

West Perth burst the bubble that day to win a 19th straight game over Perth and now it's been a 2021 season from hell for the Demons with them having won just four games and to come into Saturday's clash at Mineral Resources Park on a 10-game losing streak.

Ironically, Perth's last win was against West Perth when they snapped that 19-game losing run against the Falcons with a 10-point triumph up at Joondalup. But they've now lost 10 straight since.

Meanwhile, West Perth has turned things around since and comes into the last round in fourth position. 

A win for the Falcons and they at least lock in fourth position and a home elimination final against Swan Districts, but there's an outside chance of them going second or third should South Fremantle or Claremont, or both, slip up.

Perth has made plenty of changes once more with Jack Avery, Mitch Browne, Brant Colledge, Christian Eyres and Jack Steel into the team. Oscar Bird, Conor McPartland, Kasey Nicholas, Jayden Quill and Jordon Reid go out.

West Perth has made two changes with two key players Mitch Antonio and Trent Manzone returning at the expense of Nathan Murray and Koopah Todd.

South Fremantle finishes the home and away season up against the bottom placed West Coast Eagles at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.

South Fremantle comes into the last round in second position on the WAFL ladder with a 12-5 record which has them a game but only a small percentage behind Subiaco and only 0.39 per cent ahead of the third placed Claremont.

If the Bulldogs are able to take care of business and beat the Eagles, it's still possible for South Fremantle to snatch top spot should Subiaco also lose to Peel Thunder. For South Fremantle to leapfrog Subiaco, they'd likely need make up a four-goal gap.

However, should Subiaco beat Peel, then South Fremantle is locked in a battle over second position with Claremont. With only 0.39 percent separating the two teams, that only counts for about a one goal difference.

So assuming that the Bulldogs beat the Eagles and the Tigers beat the Swans on Saturday, the team that earns second position will likely be whoever wins their game by the biggest margin.

And the reward of that will be getting to be the home team in next weekend's qualifying final which at this stage looks likely to be between South Fremantle and Claremont.

South Fremantle and West Coast have only met three times in history with the Bulldogs winning two of the three match ups including a 66-point win back in Round 8 of this season.

South Fremantle was able to consolidate second position with a five-point win over Swan Districts last Saturday with the Bulldogs on top most of the day, but it did take Mason Shaw marking and goaling in the dying minutes to secure the important win.

That result kept the Bulldogs in second spot coming into this final round match with the Eagles.

West Coast comes into the game in last position having now lost their past three matches including a 96-point loss to Claremont last Saturday.

It looks decidedly unlikely that the Eagles would be able to avoid the wooden spoon. For that to happen they would need to beat the Bulldogs and hope the Demons lose to the Falcons with the turnaround to be around the 150-point mark.

Not only are both Swan Districts and Claremont guaranteed of playing finals for 2021, but a win on Saturday at Revo Fitness Stadium could also see them finish higher than the current positions they occupy setting the stage for a fascinating contest.

Swan Districts currently sits in fifth position on the WAFL ladder with a 10-7 record and comes into Saturday's game on the back of a last gasp defeat against South Fremantle by five points last Saturday at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.

A win last week would have had Swan Districts only percentage behind the fourth placed West Perth, but the black-and-whites can still snatch that position off the Falcons with a win against the Tigers.

They will also need West Perth to lose to Perth, and then for the margins in both games to see Swans make up a 10-goal gap on the Falcons in order to overtake them on percentage.

However, not helping Swan Districts' cause is the fact that Claremont has plenty to play for too.

The Tigers come into the last round in third position with the same 12-5 record as the second placed South Fremantle. It's only 0.39 of a percent that separates the two teams which equates to a 17-point different right now.

So if South Fremantle beats West Coast at the same time, Claremont will need to beat Swan Districts by somewhere around three more goals than what the Bulldogs win by.

However, a loss for the Bulldogs and all the Tigers need to do is win and there's even an outside chance Claremont could nab top spot and the minor premiership is Subiaco loses to Peel Thunder as well.

Claremont has enjoyed life against Swan Districts in recent times as well having won the last eight meetings between the two teams, but the last clash was in Round 1 of this year with the Tigers winning by 24 points in a game featuring 38 goals at Steel Blue Oval.

From the Claremont team that won big over the West Coast Eagles last week, Cameron Anderson, Oliver Eastland, Kane Mitchell, Rylie Morgan and Ben Rushforth have been added to the extended squad while Jake Patmore goes out injured.

From the Swan Districts team that went so close to knocking off South Fremantle last week, Tarir Bayok, Jake Dugan, Tom Edwards, Callum Garcia, Brenton Hilton, Jehb O'Donohue, Dylan Ralph, Matt Riggio, Jacob Sideris and Nelson Waite have all come into the extended squad.

Meanwhile, Frank Anderson, Sam Fisher, Alex Howard, Nathan Ireland, Lewis Jetta and Jiah Reidy go out for the black-and-whites.
 

OPTUS WAFL PREMIERSHIP SEASON – ROUND 22

CLAREMONT (12-5, 3rd) v SWAN DISTRICTS (10-7, 5th) – REVO FITNESS STADIUM, SATURDAY 2.10PM
Live scores, stats
Livestream: The West Australian
Radio: 91.3 SportFM

PEEL THUNDER (6-11, 7th) v SUBIACO (13-4, 1st) – DAVID GRAYS ARENA, SATURDAY 2.10PM
Live scores, stats

PERTH (4-13, 9th) v WEST PERTH (11-6, 4th) – MINERAL RESOURCES PARK, SATURDAY 2.10PM
Live scores, stats 
Livestream: Front Row Screens
Radio: SEN

SOUTH FREMANTLE (12-5, 2nd) v WEST COAST EAGLES (4-13, 10th) – FREMANTLE COMMUNITY BANK OVAL, SATURDAY 2.10PM
Live scores, stats 
Livestream: West Coast Eagles