Round 10 WAFL PreviewThursday, June 23, 2022 - 8:36 PM - by Chris Pike

CHALLENGES present opportunity in Round 10 of the 2022 WAFL season and while the bottom three teams are taking on the top three sides, what that gives is the chance to spring an upset while those sitting between fourth and seventh all do battle as well.

Just based on the ladder positions of the five matches in Round 10 on Saturday, it shapes as a fascinating string of matches with first taking on ninth, second playing eighth, third battling last, fourth locking horns with fifth, and the sixth placed team taking on the team sitting seventh.

It is also the first round of the season where teams will be playing one another for a second time in 2022.

Four of the five matches on Saturday all take place at 2.10pm including East Fremantle playing host to Peel Thunder at the WACA Ground with both teams attempting to consolidate their hold on a spot in the top five.

Swan Districts and Subiaco then lock horns at Bassendean's Steel Blue Oval with both the Swans and Lions attempting to break into the top five.

East Perth will be hosting Claremont at Leederville Oval with the Royals attempting to snap a three-match losing streak while the Tigers are only percentage off top spot and have the potential of even sneaking to first place by the end of Round 10.

The last game bouncing down at 2.10pm begins a double-header at Lathlain's Mineral Resources Park with Perth at home to West Perth. The Demons will be trying to end a five-game losing streak with the Falcons out to retain top spot on the WAFL ladder.

The final match up of the day bounces down at 5pm in the second half of the Lathlain double-header with the West Coast Eagles playing South Fremantle. The Eagles are still hunting for their first win of 2022 while South Fremantle has won three straight having played in the past three Grand Finals.

WAFL TEAM OF THE WEEK – ROUND 9

ROUND 9 WAFL WRAP

 

EAST FREMANTLE v PEEL THUNDER

Plenty is at stake once again at the WACA Ground on Saturday afternoon with East Fremantle taking on Peel Thunder.

For the third straight week East Fremantle is taking part in a massive clash at the WACA Ground. 

Going back two weeks ago they beat West Perth to return to top position on the WAFL ladder, but last Saturday the Sharks lost to Claremont to slip down to fourth spot and now they could fall to fifth, or if things go really bad, sixth unless they defeat Peel at the famous venue on Saturday.

East Fremantle comes into the game in fourth spot with a 6-3 record having now lost two of their past three matches.

Peel, meanwhile, hammered East Perth by 65 points last Saturday to improve to a 5-4 record to return to the top five and they will likely leapfrog East Fremantle into fourth place with a win on Saturday at the WACA Ground.

While East Fremantle captain Matthew Jupp did play his 150th game for East Fremantle last Saturday against Claremont, it will be this week he celebrates earning life membership at the Sharks in the clash with the Thunder.

Saturday's game will be the 61st ever meeting between East Fremantle and Peel, and the first held at the WACA Ground.

It will be the second time the teams have met this season with Peel opening the season at home back in Round 1 overrunning the Sharks for the eventual 32-point victory.

That made it consecutive wins for the Thunder against the Sharks after East Fremantle had won the previous two clashes, and then Peel won the two prior to that so coming into Saturday's game it is the boys from Mandurah who have won four of the past six meetings.

East Fremantle is looking to bounce back from last week's loss to Claremont but Cody Leggett is a significant loss with the 93-game veteran having kicked 11 goals over the past four matches.

Cody Smith is also out for the Sharks while Enrique Aiken-Featherstone and Corey Holmes are the players to come back into the line-up.

There are plenty of changes at Peel once more coming off the big win against East Perth last week that saw them return to the top five.

Connor Blakely, captain Ben Hancock, Sebit Kuek, Ben Middleton, Riley Smith, Darcy Tucker and Karl Worner are the players to all come into the Thunder line-up to take on the Sharks.

Going out from the team that beat East Perth last week are Mitch Crowden, Liam Henry, Ethan Hughes, Bodie Kitchingman, Sam Sturt, Matt Taberner and Josh Treacy.
 

SWAN DISTRICTS v SUBIACO

Swan Districts and Subiaco are both attempting to break into the top five when they do battle at Steel Blue Oval on Saturday.

The Lions are beginning to build some momentum this season after a slow start having now won four of its last six games including two in-a-row.

The three-game winning streak of Swan Districts came to an end last week at the expense of West Perth at Joondalup which also saw the black-and-whites slip to sixth position on the WAFL ladder now coming into Round 10 of the 2022 season.

Swans are back to Steel Blue Oval on Saturday for their Round 10 match up with Subiaco with both teams looking for an important win as they attempt to break into the top five.

Swan Districts comes into the game in sixth position with a 5-4 record while Subiaco is seventh at 4-5 with both trying to chase down Peel Thunder who is in the fifth position at 5-4 just percentage in front of the Swans.

Prior to last week's narrow loss to West Perth, Swans had won their past three matches since losing to Subiaco back in Round 5 in Kalgoorlie.

Swans lost that game to the Lions by 14 points despite three goals from Chris Jones and Sam Fisher racking up 35 possessions, Jesse Turner 33, Aidan Clarke 24, Mitch Bain 20 and Tobe Watson 20.

On the back of that last meeting, Swan Districts beat South Fremantle, West Coast and Peel Thunder before last Saturday's 18-point defeat at the hands of West Perth at Joondalup.

Coming into Saturday's game at Steel Blue Oval, Subiaco has won 13 of the last 14 clashes with Swan Districts including that 14-point win in Kalgoorlie back in Round 5.

Swans did beat the Lions in Round 12 last year but prior to that it was Subiaco winning 12 in-a-row against Swan Districts by an average of 49.8 points.

That last win for Swans over Subiaco was at Leederville Oval last year as well so the last time they beat the Lions at the Bassendean venue was by a solitary point back in Round 20, 2015.

Subiaco has enjoyed their trips to Steel Blue Oval in recent times including winning on their last six visits with the last being in Round 7 last year with a narrow eight-point victory.

Scoring hasn’t been a strong suit for either team so far this season with Swans ranked seventh in attack with 72.2 points a game and Subiaco eighth at 71.2. However, the Swans back-line has been significantly better conceding just 72.0 points while the Lions have been giving up 76.4.

Breaking it down further and both teams have been strong starting sides this season. Subiaco is ranked third in first quarters over the first nine rounds and Swan Districts fourth.

Second quarters have been more of a struggle with Subiaco having been outscored by 73 points to be ranked eighth while Swans have been outscored by 102 points to be ranked second last.

Things get significantly better for the black-and-whites in third quarters where they have outscored their opponents by 81 points to be ranked second while Subiaco has struggled being outscored by 37 points to be ranked seventh.

Not much separates the two teams in last quarters with Subiaco coming in ranked fifth so far this season and Swan Districts seventh.

Swan Districts has made just the one change from the team that lost to West Perth last week and it's a forced one. Small defender Cian Ehlers returns for the injured Jehb O'Donohue.

There are three changes at Subiaco as they attempt to make it three wins in-a-row and the inclusions include premiership winning small forward brothers Brandon and Bailey Matera.

Riley Morgan also comes in to make his Subiaco debut after previously making 12 league appearances with Claremont.

Going out for the Lions from the team that beat West Coast last week at Optus Stadium are Noah Ash, Aaron Breman and Jordan Faraone.
 

EAST PERTH v CLAREMONT

East Perth and Claremont are in greatly contrasting form and positions coming into Saturday's game but the Royals won't be shy of trying to upset the Tigers at Leederville Oval.

East Perth hosts Claremont on Saturday with the Royals having lost their past three matches to be struggling with a 3-6 record on the season while the Tigers are sitting in second position at 7-2.

A win for Claremont could move them to top spot on the WAFL ladder too depending on what happens with West Perth on Saturday with the Tigers coming into the round on a three-game winning streak.

While East Perth did have a rare recent win against Claremont in Round 17 last year, it's the Tigers who have enjoyed things against the Royals of late including their first meeting of 2022.

The two teams played one another at Revo Fitness Stadium in Round 5 and it was Claremont proving too strong winning by 47 points on that occasion.

That meant that the Tigers have won eight of the past nine matches against the Royals coming into Saturday's clash at Leederville Oval.

East Perth is trying to snap a three-game losing run back on home turf and have made two changes with Tom Graham coming in to make his league debut while experienced hard man Nick Robertson returns for his first game since Round 7.

Going out of the Royals team from the line-up that lost to Peel last Saturday are Kade Dittmar and Taylor North.

Claremont has made just the one change from the side that beat East Fremantle last week at the WACA Ground with Alex Manuel returning to replace Coen Jackman. Manuel has kicked 13 goals in his five appearances so far of 2022.
 

PERTH v WEST PERTH

It appears a big job for Perth even on their home ground on Saturday up against the league-leading West Perth who have had their measure now for a long time.

The Demons are back home at Lathlain's Mineral Resources Park on Saturday but they do so on a five-game losing streak as they host the league-leading Falcons.

Perth lost a fifth straight match going down to South Fremantle on the road by 39 points last Saturday while West Perth returned to top spot with a hard earned 18-point home victory against Swan Districts.

Perth comes into the game now stuck in second last position on the WAFL ladder with a 2-7 record and having lost five in-a-row while West Perth has won seven of the last eight to hold a 7-2 record to be clinging to top position percentage ahead of Claremont.

It has been a remarkable dominance from West Perth against Perth for more than a decade now even though the Demons did snap a long losing streak with a breakthrough win back in Round 8 last year.

However, West Perth won the next clash in Round 22 last year and then also beat the Demons by six points with a goal after the siren to Mitch Dobson in Round 6 this season at Joondalup's Pentanet Stadium.

Prior to that breakthrough win for Perth last year against West Perth, the Falcons had won a remarkable 19 in-a-row against the Demons, and even 23 of the last 24 going back a little further.

So coming into Saturday's game not only is West Perth in top spot and Perth second last, and the Falcons having won seven of the last eight and the Demons lost five in-a-row, but West Perth have 25 of the past 27 against Perth overall.

Perth has made just the one change from the team that lost to South Fremantle last Saturday but it's a big one with the return of co-captain and centre half-forward Fraser McInnes. Ruckman Dakota Baldwin-Wright goes out for the Demons.

West Perth is sitting top of the ladder coming into Round 10 and have the luxury of welcoming AFL and WAFL premiership midfielder, and Simpson Medallist Mark Hutchings into the side for his first game of the 2022 season.

Tyson Moulton also makes his return to the Falcons line-up with Lochlan Paton into the side to make his debut.

Going out for West Perth from the team that beat Swan Districts last week are Michael Mallard, Mitch Peirce and Sam Rotham.
 

WEST COAST v SOUTH FREMANTLE

The West Coast Eagles will be hoping the comforts of home can help turn the tide for them up against South Fremantle on Saturday evening.

The last game of Round 10 on Saturday will take place in the evening at Mineral Resources Park in the second half of the double-header at Lathlain with the West Coast Eagles hosting South Fremantle on the heels of Perth taking on West Perth during the afternoon.

South Fremantle comes into the game on a three-game winning streak to be sitting in third position on the WAFL ladder with a 6-3 record. 

A fourth straight win on Saturday night could potentially see the Bulldogs move up a spot or two as well if either or both of West Perth and Claremont lose during the afternoon.

The Bulldogs' opponents, West Coast, are still chasing their first victory of the 2022 season having lost all nine matches so far by an average of 56 points while on a 13-game losing streak that is dating back to last year.

This will be the second time the two teams have played one another this season too with South Fremantle winning by 76 points back in Round 2 at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.

On that afternoon Caleb Datson kicked three goals for South Fremantle as did Brandon Donaldson and Zac Strom while Haiden Schloithe had 25 disposals, Jake Florenca 24, Toby McQuilkin 23 and Chad Pearson 21.

Meanwhile for the Eagles, Greg Clark finished with 25 touches, Josh Rotham 20, Joey Deegan 20, Josh Browne 19 and Sam Petrevski-Seton 18.

That result meant that South Fremantle has won four of the five games the two teams have played with one another, but all five previous meetings have been held at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.

West Coast's lone win was back on Round 12, 2019 with South Fremantle winning on Round 5, 2019 along with both match ups in 2021, and then that 76-point win in Round 2 of this season.

There are once again wholesale changes for West Coast as they chase that first victory of 2022 with Nic Naitanui making his return along with Jed Kemp, Jackson Nelson, Xavier O'Neill, Sam Petrevski-Seton and Luke Strnadica.

Going out for the Eagles are Harry Edwards, Lachlan Feeney, Luke Foley, Josh Rotham, Ambrose Ryan and Alex Witherden.

There are two changes at South Fremantle with Aiden Hall and four-time premiership player Nick Suban coming back into the line-up.

The Bulldogs have lost two important defenders from the side that beat Perth last Saturday in the form Jordan Boullineau and Chad Pearson.