Round 7 WAFLW PreviewFriday, April 1, 2022 - 10:44 AM - by Chris Pike

ROUND 7 in the WAFLW competition for 2022 gets underway at the port under lights on Saturday night before two more games on Sunday as the fight over spots in the top four begins to heat up.

While Claremont and East Fremantle have broken from the pack a little at the top of the WAFLW ladder, the battle right now over third and fourth spot is a tight one and that means every game featuring those teams is becoming all the more important.

With the league-leading Claremont having the Round 7 bye following a 5-1 start to the season which has included some emphatic wins to see them rack up a massive percentage, their absence could see them slip from that top spot if East Fremantle continues their undefeated streak.

The round gets underway on Saturday evening at Fremantle Community Bank Oval from 6pm with South Fremantle playing host to a Swan Districts team building some momentum with a three-game winning streak.

The other two WAFLW Round 7 match ups take place on Sunday afternoon beginning with two-time reigning premiers Peel Thunder taking on West Perth. 

The Thunder have now lost three straight to slip outside the top four while the Falcons are yet to taste victory in the WAFLW competition so it's set to be a fascinating contest at Mandurah's Lane Group Stadium.

The round then wraps up later on Sunday afternoon with the fourth placed Subiaco taking on the second placed East Fremantle at Leederville Oval. 

The Sharks will be looking to claim top spot and maintain their undefeated streak while the Lions are out to win consecutive matches for the first time in 2022.

WAFLW TEAM OF THE WEEK – ROUND 6

ROUND 6 WAFL WRAP

Meanwhile in the WAFLW Reserves competition, both matches for Round 7 will take place on Sunday at 10am with East Fremantle playing Claremont at New Choice Homes Park, and Subiaco taking on Swan Districts at Leederville Oval.

And in the Youth Girls Rogers Cup, the Round 7 action begins on Saturday afternoon at Fremantle Community Bank Oval with South Fremantle playing host to Swan Districts. Also on Saturday, East Perth takes on Claremont at Leederville Oval.

Then on Sunday, Peel Thunder faces West Perth at Lane Group Stadium before Subiaco faces East Fremantle at Leederville Oval.

SOUTH FREMANTLE v SWAN DISTRICTS

Swan Districts head to Fremantle Community Bank Oval looking to keep their momentum going but South Fremantle will be wanting to show their improvement in 2022 at the same time.

After a slow start to the 2022 season on the back of last year's minor premiership and Grand Final appearance, Swan Districts has now strung three wins together this WAFLW campaign entering Saturday night's game at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.

After first up losses to Claremont and East Fremantle, Swans have now defeated West Perth, Subiaco and Peel Thunder to be up into third position on the WAFLW ladder.

Another win on Saturday evening at the port and they will consolidate that third spot and also keep in touch with the top two teams, Claremont and East Fremantle.

South Fremantle has still won just the once in three seasons of the WAFLW competition, but they are significantly more competitive in 2022 and will be looking to display that on home turf against Swans on Saturday evening.

This is the first time the two teams have met since Round 15 of last season when Swan Districts defeated South Fremantle 11.9 (75) to 2.0 (12) also at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.

Swans are still yet to lose to the Bulldogs in the WAFLW competition having won their previous meetings by 42, 53, 37 and 63 points over the past two seasons.

South Fremantle is on the hunt for their second ever win in the WAFLW competition and a first against Swan Districts.

From the team that lost to East Fremantle last week, Darcy Clements, Tahlia Dawson-Gibbs, Shanay Del Borrello, Rebecca Torpy and captain Lauren Vecchio have all been named to return to the South Fremantle line-up.

Going out for the Bulldogs to face Swans include Leila Fotu, Tahlia Holtze, Tayla Hughes, Sheridan Kowald and Lauren Wakfer.

Swan Districts is coming off the bye but prior to that they beat Peel Thunder in a Grand Final rematch. From that Swans team, Shannan Rene, Lani Pigram, Natalie House, Naomi Baker, Kaitlyn Beaton and Tannah Lee all come in to face South Fremantle.

There are some big outs for Swans, though, with Tyla Fitzgerald, Emma Nanut, Jaime Henry, Abbygail Bushby, Bethany Bond and Charli Wicksteed all out of the team to play the Bulldogs.
 

PEEL THUNDER v WEST PERTH

Peel Thunder and West Perth enter Sunday's clash in Mandurah both desperate for a WAFLW victory.

The Thunder play host to the Falcons at Lane Group Stadium from 1pm on Sunday afternoon and both come into the contest on losing streaks.

Peel might have won the last two WAFLW premierships but after starting the 2022 season with wins against Subiaco and South Fremantle, the Thunder have suffered losses at the hands of East Fremantle, Claremont and Swan Districts.

That has them outside the top four coming into Round 7 and needing to snap that three-game losing streak to avoid falling further behind the teams in the top four.

West Perth, meanwhile, is still chasing that first ever WAFLW victory after starting their first season with losses to South Fremantle, Swan Districts, Claremont, East Fremantle and Subiaco.

However, last week against the Lions the Falcons did kick multiple goals in a game for the first time despite the 68-point loss to Subiaco and they will look to build on that further on Sunday in Mandurah against the Thunder.

Peel is attempting to snap a three-game losing streak when they play West Perth for the first ever time. To help that cause, Savannah Ahearn, Jade Briggs, Jorja Haines and Arianne Norris have been added to the Thunder line-up to take on the Falcons.

From the Peel team that lost to Claremont last Sunday, Megan Bain, Bella Mann, Kira Phillips and Ella Roberts go out of the team.

West Perth is still chasing their first ever win in the WAFLW competition and it would be quite the statement to do it against the two-time reigning premiers.

There are a whole host of changes for the Falcons from last week's loss to Subiaco as well.

Isobel Boyce, Keely Byrne, Molly Conroy, Cameron Dawson, Paige Dodunski, Jaymee Duke, Kaisey Henderson, Jordyn Lilford, Holly Morris, Megan Norbury, Kaitlyn Roper, Jessica Roper, Tyra Smith, Chloe Smoker, Maddison Taylor and Chelsea Wainwright all added to the side to play the Thunder.

Going out for West Perth from the side that played the Lions last week are Tayla Anthony, Grace Betti, Nicole Bombardieri, Abbey Brimson, Lea Caccamo, Olivia Colotti, Jekylah Garlett, Jeevna Heer, Ebony Jackson, Mischa Jezierrski, Tarzara Kelly, Amber Rundle, Chloe Shearing, Karla Stagg and Elli Van Den Broeke.
 

SUBIACO v EAST FREMANTLE

Subiaco will be looking to win consecutive games for the first time in 2022 but East Fremantle at the same time will be attempting to take top position and remain undefeated.

It looms as a fascinating contest at Leederville Oval on Sunday afternoon between the Lions and Sharks to close Round 7 of the WAFLW competition.

Subiaco returned to the top four last week by beating West Perth by 68 points at Joondalup and now the Lions will be looking to build some momentum with consecutive wins for the first time in 2022.

It won't be an easy task, though, with East Fremantle coming into the game as the only undefeated team in the competition having started the season with wins against Swan Districts, Claremont, Peel Thunder, West Perth and South Fremantle.

That means that a sixth consecutive win to start the season on Sunday will see East Fremantle replace Claremont on top of the WAFLW ladder after seven rounds.

This is the first meeting between the two teams since Round 15 last year when Subiaco defeated East Fremantle by 12 points at Leederville Oval as well.

Subiaco returned to the winner's list last week and from that team that defeated West Perth, the Lions have made just the two changes this week to take on East Fremantle.

Claudia Langley and Jessica Ritchie come into the Subiaco line-up while Madison Dodd and Caitlin Walker go out.

East Fremantle puts its undefeated record on the line with the chance to claim top spot on Sunday against Subiaco with Marni Alston, Elle Sanders and Tiani Teakle coming into the Sharks' team.

Going out from the East Fremantle side that beat South Fremantle last week are Georgie Cleaver, Natasha Entwistle and Madeline Ross.