Semi Finals WAFLW PreviewFriday, June 17, 2022 - 10:58 AM - by Chris Pike

EAST Fremantle and Claremont battle over a WAFLW Grand Final spot while Peel Thunder and Swan Districts fight to stay alive as the finals action for 2022 gets underway on Sunday afternoon.

Following 17 rounds of the 2022 WAFLW home and away season, it was East Fremantle, Claremont, Peel Thunder and Swan Districts who qualified for the finals as the top four teams with the premiership to now be decided over the next three weeks.

The finals action begins this Sunday afternoon and it's a Grand Final rematch from last year in the first semi-final with Peel Thunder hosting Swan Districts at Mandurah's Lane Group Stadium.

The two teams have built up quite the rivalry and now their seasons go on the line in Mandurah on Sunday with the winner to advance to the preliminary final with a shot at the Grand Final while the season will be over for the loser.

That game bounces down at 1.30pm before at 2pm at East Fremantle's New Choice Homes Park, the first team into the 2022 Grand Final will be decided with East Fremantle hosting Claremont.

The Sharks went through the season undefeated winning all 14 matches but the Tigers were hot on their hammer most of the way and the stage is set for a terrific second semi-final match up.

The winner will move straight into the Grand Final which will be held at Revo Fitness Stadium while the loser will receive a second chance by hosting next week's preliminary final.

WAFLW TEAM OF THE WEEK – ROUND 17

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Meanwhile the WAFLW Reserves finals series also gets underway on Sunday with a first semi-final match up between Swan Districts and Subiaco from 11.30am at Lane Group Stadium.

The second semi-final will begin at 12pm at New Choice Homes Park with East Fremantle at home to Claremont as the precursor to the league match up between the Sharks and Tigers at the same venue.

And in the Rogers Cup Youth Girls competition, the finals begin with a first semi-final on Sunday morning from 9.30am at Lane Group Stadium with South Fremantle taking on Claremont looking to stay alive.

The first spot in the Rogers Cup Grand Final will then be determined in the second semi-final at New Choice Homes Park with East Fremantle playing Peel Thunder from 10am.

FIRST SEMI-FINAL
PEEL THUNDER v SWAN DISTRICTS

It's quite the rivalry that Peel Thunder and Swan Districts have developed in the WAFLW competition and another chapter will be written in Sunday's first semi-final.

The cut-throat contest will take place at Mandurah's Lane Group Stadium with the Thunder and Swans locking horns once more, and this time there will be no second chance for the losers.

The winner of Sunday's clash will advance to the preliminary final next week to play the loser of the second semi-final between East Fremantle and Claremont with a spot up for grabs in the Grand Final the following week.

Meanwhile, the season will be over for the loser which will be a premature exit given both teams played in the Grand Final of 2021.

The two teams were the standout outfits of the 2021 season with Swans ending up as minor premiers and the Thunder in second spot.

Peel was the only team to beat Swan Districts all season and repeated that in both the second semi and Grand Final on the way to a second straight premiership.

That rivalry has continued this season and now goes up a gear on Sunday with Peel trying to keep its hopes alive of a premiership three-peat while Swan Districts is still chasing that elusive first WAFLW premiership having played in two losing Grand Finals.

On the back of the two teams doing battle both in the second semi-final and Grand Finals of last year which were both won by Peel, the first clash between them of 2022 took place in Round 5 at Steel Blue Oval.

On that occasion it was a 7.8 (50) to 5.3 (33) victory for Swans. Ashley Sharp kicked three goals for the black-and-whites with Abbygail Bushby racking up 27 possessions.

Kate Bartlett and Kira Phillips kicked two goals each for Peel while Ebony Dowson amassed 24 touches.

The second match up took place in Round 14 at Lane Group Stadium and on that occasion it was Peel who delivered a 7.12 (54) to 1.3 (9) thumping to Swan Districts in Mandurah.

Bartlett kicked another three goals for the Thunder in that win with Krystal Carter booting two with Sabreena Duffy making her return with 18 possessions and Ebony Dowson also had 18 disposals.

Bushby had another 21 touches for Swans and Isabella Edgley 18.

They also locked horns most recently in Round 16 and that was the game that determined who finished in third position and earned the rights to host the first semi-final this Sunday.

Peel beat Swans against 7.7 (49) to 4.8 (32) this time at Steel Blue Oval with Jordain Thompson and Jade Briggs kicking two goals each for the Thunder.

Dowson also gathered another 23 touches and Ella Roberts 21 with Ruby Mahony gathering 17 disposals for Swan Districts and Bushby another 17.

Peel capped off the home and away season with a hard earned win against Subiaco last week and from that team, Krystal Carter, Sabreena Duffy, Gracie Fenton and Lara Thomas come in for the Thunder to play Swans in Sunday's first semi-final.

Going out from last week's team for Peel to start the finals are Makinley Minchin, Jordain Thompson, Ebonee Hardie and Anke Grove.

Swan Districts last played in that Round 16 clash with Peel before the final round bye.

From that team the black-and-whites have made three changes coming into Sunday's first semi-final with Tyla Fitzgerald, Naomi Baker and Jaime Henry coming into the team.

Going out for Swan Districts are Sarah Wielstra, Demi Liddle and Shannan Rene.
 

SECOND SEMI-FINAL
EAST FREMANTLE v CLAREMONT

East Fremantle and Claremont have been the two standout teams so far this WAFLW season and one of them will advance to the Grand Final by winning Sunday's clash.

The Sharks and Tigers will meet in the second semi-final on Sunday afternoon at New Choice Homes Park, and while East Fremantle goes in undefeated, they can't afford to take anything for granted.

East Fremantle took it personally when they had a down season in 2021 missing the WAFLW finals for the first time having won the first ever premiership back in 2019.

On the back of missing the finals last year, the Sharks have hit back and dominated this 2022 WAFLW season going through undefeated having won all 14 matches to earn the minor premiership and lock away hosting rights for the second semi-final.

Claremont has been knocking on the door in all four WAFLW seasons now losing the first semi-final of 2019, missing the finals in 2020 and losing a first semi-final again last year.

The Tigers have hit back also in 2022 to clearly be the second best team all season long with two of their three losses coming against the Sharks, and the other to a Subiaco who were in some hot form late in the piece.

Now the winner of Sunday's second semi-final will go straight into the 2022 Grand Final at Revo Fitness Stadium in two weeks' time while the loser will host the preliminary final next week.

The first meeting between the two teams in 2022 came back in Round 3 when it was a nail-biting 4.4 (28) to 4.2 (26) victory for East Fremantle at Revo Fitness Stadium.

Mylee Leitch kicked two goals for the Sharks in the win while Sharon Wong had 16 possessions and 12 tackles, and Kellie Gibson 15 disposals, six marks and six tackles.

Ella Smith kicked two goals for Claremont and Claire Ortlepp gathered 21 touches and Adele Arnup had 13 disposals and 20 hit outs in the ruck.

The second clash came in Round 11 in Northampton and it was a more emphatic victory for East Fremantle as they defeated Claremont 7.6 (48) to 3.4 (22).

Georgie Cleaver kicked two goals in that win for the Sharks with Ashlee Atkins racking up 20 touches. Jasmin Stewart led the way for Claremont with 17 possessions and seven marks.

At the selection table, East Fremantle has made a couple of changes from the team that beat South Fremantle lats week to complete their perfect season.

Laura Catherine and Samara Pluschke come back into the team for the Sharks for Sunday's second semi-final while Alli Nokes and Emmelie Fiedler are the two players to go out of the side.

Claremont geared up for the finals with a win against West Perth last week and from that team, Mikayla Western and Brooke Hongell are the players to come into the team to take on East Fremantle with a Grand Final spot on the line.

Going out from that side for the Tigers are Tess Blackburn and Jorja Elisseou.