Round 17 WAFL PreviewFriday, August 12, 2022 - 1:35 PM - by Chris Pike

TOP five teams Peel Thunder and South Fremantle lock horns in Round 17 of the WAFL on Saturday with the race for the finals heating up while Claremont and Swan Districts can't afford a slip up against the bottom two sides.

It remains a fascinating race in six teams for the top five positions with four weeks of the 2022 WAFL season remaining, and with top two teams West Perth and East Fremantle having a bye in Round 17 on Saturday, the other four matches have plenty riding on the results.

With just four weeks of the season remaining and the Falcons, Sharks, Claremont, South Fremantle, Peel Thunder and Swan Districts are locked in battles over finals positions and the fascinating final month begins this Saturday.

All four Round 17 matches take place on Saturday afternoon at 2.10pm and is highlighted by the fifth placed Peel Thunder hosting South Fremantle at Mandurah's Lane Group Stadium.

Peel comes into the game having won three straight prior to the bye while South Fremantle has won three and had a draw in its last four matches.

Swan Districts lost its spot in the top five after a loss to Claremont two weeks ago but they attempt to return to fifth spot on Saturday when the black-and-whites host the West Coast Eagles at Bassendean's Steel Blue Oval.

Claremont is then looking to make it four straight wins and to move into second spot on the ladder as a result when they head to Lathlain's Mineral Resources Park to take on Perth.

Both teams are coming off the bye with the Demons attempting to avoid an 11th straight defeat while the Tigers are out for a fourth straight win and to leapfrog East Fremantle into second spot on the WAFL ladder.

The last game of Round 17 on Saturday afternoon will see Leederville Oval open back up to WAFL action with the co-tenants doing battle with East Perth playing Subiaco.

Fresh off the announcement that it would be Leederville Oval playing host to the WAFL Grand Final on 2022, the Royals and Lions return to their home turf on Saturday with East Perth looking for a seventh win of the season, and Subiaco a sixth. 

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SUBIACO v EAST PERTH

Leederville Oval is back in action on Saturday afternoon to host a co-tenant battle between Subiaco and East Perth with both teams looking to try and end the season with some momentum.

Leederville Oval hasn’t been able to be used the past two weeks with the ground's surface struggling with the wet weather, but it has improved significantly this week to be ready host the battle of co-tenants.

It has been a big week for the ground following the announcement that Leederville Oval will play host to the 2022 WAFL Grand Final so there will be plenty of interest on Saturday's game to see how the venue holds up.

In terms of what's happening on the field, Subiaco is looking for its sixth win of the season and to build on what they did last week beating the West Coast Eagles by 23 points at East Fremantle Oval.

East Perth is coming off a bye last weekend and prior to that lost to Peel Thunder by 53 points in a result that sees them now two games and significant percentage outside of fourth position with just four games in the home and away season remaining.

Both teams make their return to Leederville Oval on Saturday for the battle of the co-tenants with Subiaco looking to continue its dominance in recent times against East Perth.

The last 17 clashes between the two teams have all been at Leederville since the 2014 Grand Final at Subiaco Oval and the Lions have beaten the Royals in all but two of those 17.

The Lions have beaten the Royals the last three times and 15 of the previous 16, but there's every reason to suggest that Saturday's game will be a significantly tighter affair.

It will be their second meeting of the season after they played back in Round 4 with Subiaco taking out a one-point thriller on that occasion, winning 12.12 (84) to 12.11 (83) thanks to a late behind from a quick thinking Max Walters to break the deadlock.

Five second half goals for Subiaco to Ben Sokol and then the match-winning point in the dying stages from Walters saw Subiaco grab its first win of the season.

Sokol kicked all five of his goals for the day in the second half for Subiaco in a terrific performance also including 21 possessions and 14 marks. Brandon Matera also kicked four goals for the Lions.

Stefan Giro was impressive again in the midfield for Subiaco racking up 32 possessions while captain Leigh Kitchin had another 21 disposals and Lachlan Delahunty 21 touches, seven marks and 17 hit outs.

Sebit Kuek returned for East Perth to kick four goals while Nick Robertson also kicked three.

Hamish Brayshaw worked tirelessly again in the midfield for the Royals with 31 possessions, seven inside-50 entries and six tackles. Stan Wright also picked up 25 touches for East Perth, Christian Ameduri 22 and Angus Scott 22.

Subiaco has made just the one change from the team that beat West Coast last week at East Fremantle Oval, and it's a big inclusion.

Retiring five-time premiership winning hero and Sandover Medallist Lachlan Delahunty is back for the final stretch of his career at the expense of fellow ruckman Lewis Putt.

East Perth is looking to bounce back from a rough 53-point loss to Peel Thunder two weeks ago heading into the bye.

Jack Cooley, Sam Van Diemen and debutant Sandon Page come into the East Perth team while it's Jackson Ramsay, Harley Sparks and Corey Watts going out.

 

PERTH v CLAREMONT

The job is ahead of Perth to try and snap its losing run up against an in-form and determined Claremont at Lathlain's Mineral Resources Park on Saturday.

Both Perth and Claremont are coming off byes in Round 16 but the two teams were in decidedly contrasting runs of form prior to the break.

The Demons went down to East Fremantle on a rough afternoon by 96 points at the WACA Ground which means they have now lost 10 straight matches to be struggling in second last position on the ladder with a 2-12 record.

It's the opposite case for Claremont who made it three wins in-a-row two weeks ago by winning a hard fought battle with Swan Districts to improve to a 10-4 record on the season and to sit in third position.

Claremont will move into second position with a win on Saturday to leapfrog East Fremantle and be just half a game behind the league-leading West Perth.

Perth can't get out of second position but a win would just about confirm them to avoid the wooden spoon for 2022.

Coming into Saturday's game, Claremont has won the last three match ups with Perth including back in Round 7 of this season by 34 points at Revo Fitness Stadium.

In that game, Max Spyvee and Timm House kicked three goals each for Claremont while Jye Bolton amassed 38 possessions, Ben Edwards 27 and Bailey Rogers 27 to go with two goals.

Kristian Cary kicked three goals for Perth while Brayden Ainsworth collected 20 touches.

Perth's last win against Claremont came at Tigerland in Round 6, 2020 while its last win at home against the Tigers was Round 5, 2019. However, the two teams have only met at Lathlain once since which was Round 19 last year when the Tigers won by eight points.

Perth is chasing a win to avoid notching an 11-game losing streak and will be hoping the bye did them a world of good coming off a horror 96-point loss to East Fremantle at the WACA Ground.

There are three changes for the Demons coming into Saturday's game with lively forward Kristian Cary returning along with Nyika John and Damian Sinclair.

Going out for Perth from the side that lost to East Fremantle are Simon Hayward, Jacob Peletier and Daniel Hill.

There's little reason for Claremont to look to make changes as they went into last week's bye on a three-game winning streak.

The Tigers have made just the two changes from the team that beat Swan Districts a fortnight ago with Talon Delacey and Zac Mainwaring back into the line-up at the expense of Lawrence Evans and Patrick Kitchener.

 

PEEL THUNDER v SOUTH FREMANTLE

The game of the day for Round 17 will be at Mandurah's Lane Group Stadium on Saturday with Peel Thunder hosting South Fremantle.

Both teams are fresh off byes in Round 16 of the 2022 and the Thunder enter Saturday's game in fifth position with an 8-6 record while South Fremantle is fourth with nine wins, four losses and a draw.

Peel has now strung together three straight victories to move inside the top five and they will maintain their hold on fifth position with a victory on home turf on Saturday.

South Fremantle, meanwhile, is sitting in fourth spot having won three games and had a draw in their last four matches. A win for the Bulldogs on Saturday would move them two and-a-half games clear of the Thunder on the ladder with just three rounds of the season remaining. 

Two of Peel's biggest wins in the history of the club came against South Fremantle back in the preliminary final of 2016 and qualifying final of 2017 on the way to back-to-back premierships.

However, the Bulldogs have dominated proceedings since then winning seven of the eight clashes between the two teams since that 2017 qualifying final.

That includes South Fremantle having six in-a-row now against Peel with the Thunder's last win against the Bulldogs coming in Round 16, 2018 in Mandurah.

That included a clash earlier this season at Fremantle Community Bank Oval in Round 4 where South Fremantle won a hard fought battle against Peel by 26 points.

The Bulldogs were without senior coach Todd Curley with Steve Wasley in charge and despite also being minus captain Dylan Main they were on top virtually the whole afternoon to end up beating Peel 13.11 (89) to 9.9 (63).

Mason Shaw stood tall to kick three goals for South Fremantle from nine kicks and seven marks while his forward partner Jimmy Miller also kicked two goals.

Jake Florenca produced a stunning performance for South Fremantle in the midfield and drifting forward to finish with 41 possessions, eight inside 50s, six marks, four tackles and two goals.

Brendon Ah Chee produced his second straight superb showing too with 24 disposals and two goals while Haiden Schloithe added 26 touches, 10 tackles and a goal.

Sam Sturt kicked three goals for Peel while Darcy Tucker returned to the Peel line-up and delivered 28 possessions in the midfield with Connor Blakely gathering 26 touches and Mitch Crowden 25.

Plenty is on the line when the Thunder host the Bulldogs on Saturday, and there are five changes to the Peel line-up from the side that beat East Perth two weeks ago by 53 points.

Jed Adams will come into the Peel side to make his debut with Dockers key forward Jye Amiss making his return for the first time since Round 5.

Travis Colyer will also come in for his first WAFL game of the season with James Ewing and Karl Worner the others into the Peel outfit.

Going out from the team that beat East Perth two weeks ago are Nathan Wilson, Darcy Tucker, Joel Hamling, Nathan O'Driscoll and Ben Middleton.

There are just the two changes in the South Fremantle team from the side that drew with West Perth at home two weeks ago.

After a slight knee niggle and then a stint in the reserves, premiership winning vice-captain and Bernie Naylor Medallist Mason Shaw is back to add to his 128-game WAFL career.

Defender Jordan Boullineau is also back for the Bulldogs to take on his former side who he played 27 matches with previously.

Going out for the Bulldogs are unlucky duo Josh Cuneo and Jaxon Bellchambers.

 

SWAN DISTRICTS v WEST COAST EAGLES

The West Coast Eagles have the chance to play spoilers on Saturday at Steel Blue Oval but Swan Districts just can't afford a slip up in the race to the finals.

Swans lost two weeks ago to Claremont to lose their hold on a top five position going into last weekend's bye ahead of them hosting the Eagles on Saturday at Steel Blue Oval.

Swan Districts has never lost to West Coast in five previous attempts and Saturday wouldn't be the ideal time to do so. A win for Swans could see them return to fifth position should Peel Thunder also lose to South Fremantle.

West Coast lost last Saturday by 23 points to Subiaco at East Fremantle Oval to remain in last place on the WAFL ladder with just the one win so far for the season.

Saturday will be the sixth time that Swan Districts has played West Coast in the WAFL with all those continuing to be held at the Bassendean venue.

Swans have won all five matches against the Eagles so far as well by an average of only 15.8 points with all of the contests relatively tight affairs.

That included in Round 7 this year when Swans had to come from behind to end up winning 11.11 (77) to 8.9 (57).

The black-and-whites were able to turn things around impressively after the main break to kick seven goals to two in the second half to end up beating West Coast by 20 points.

Jesse Palmer played his best game of the season for Swan Districts kicking four goals from 11 kicks and nine marks. Tom Edwards and Chris Jones also kicked two goals apiece.

Jesse Turner continued his superb form for Swans this season racking up another 33 possessions and nine marks while the emerging Aidan Clarke added 26 disposals and seven tackles.

Sandover Medallist Sam Fisher also finished with 23 possessions, Josh Cipro 22, Tobe Watson 21, Jarvis Pina 20 and Mitch Bain 19 to go with six marks, six tackles and a goal.

Josh Burke kicked two goals for the Eagles from three kicks to be their only multiple goal scorer on the afternoon.

West Coast AFL premiership player Dom Sheed collected 27 possessions for the Eagles as he eyes a call up with Josh Browne gathering 23 touches, Ambrose Ryan 23, Harry Creasey 20, Jayden Johnstone 19 and Joey Deegan 19.

Most recently prior to the bye last week, Swan Districts lost to Claremont by nine points but they were without Brandon Erceg, Will Collins, Greg Ottaviano, Nathan Ireland, Jesse Palmer and Matthew Germs, with at least the majority to return to face West Coast on Saturday.

West Coast had their bye back in Round 15 and last Saturday lost to Subiaco by 23 points at East Fremantle Oval to remain in last spot on the WAFL ladder with one win for the season.

Coming off the bye last week and following the last up loss to Claremont, there are five changes at Swan Districts coming into Saturday's clash at home to the Eagles.

There are some key inclusions as well for Swans including co-captain Brandon Erceg, spearhead Jesse Palmer and Elijah Hewett, Brayden Spackman and Brodie Morris.

Going out for the black-and-whites are Jackson Beck, Seb Bright, Tarir Bayok, Brenton Hilton and Max Chipper.

West Coast once again have plenty of changes to their side that lost to Subiaco at East Fremantle Oval last Saturday.

Coming into the Eagles line-up to face Swan Districts are Joey Deegan, Josh Edwards, Jed Kemp, Cooper Nitschke, Riley Pobjoy, Ambrose Ryan and Nick Watson.

Going out of the West Coast team that lost to Subiaco last Saturday is Greg Clark, Hugh Dixon, Jayden Johnstone, Patrick Naish, Jackson Nelson, Josh Rotham and Isaih Winder.