Round 19 WAFL PreviewFriday, August 26, 2022 - 11:09 AM - by Chris Pike

THE penultimate round of the 2022 WAFL season is full of intrigue with Swan Districts and Peel Thunder continuing to fight over the last remaining finals spot while the jostling between the top four goes on, and then it's a day of celebration for Subiaco.

There are five matches this weekend in Round 19 of the 2022 season with West Perth, Claremont, East Fremantle and South Fremantle still fighting over those top four positions while Peel Thunder and Swan Districts both have home matches as they battle over that fifth spot.

East Perth, Subiaco, Perth and West Coast might be just playing pride, but two of those clubs will have new coaches for the final two rounds of the season now and the Lions have plenty of reasons to lift on Saturday in honour of Leigh Kitchin and Lachlan Delahunty.

Four of the five Round 19 WAFL matches this weekend take place on Saturday afternoon including the second placed Claremont taking on the third placed East Fremantle at Revo Fitness Stadium.

The Tigers are sitting second on a five-game winning run but are just a game ahead of a Sharks team with a superior percentage so the winner of this game will be in prime position for a top two finish with a round to go in the 2022 season.

Subiaco will then be back at Leederville Oval for the last time this season to take on Perth with the Lions celebrating the 150th game of captain Leigh Kitchin while farewelling five-time premiership champion and Sandover Medallist Lachlan Delahunty.

However, it's the Demons who come into the game on winning form on the back of their drought breaking victory last Saturday night against the Eagles.

Peel Thunder will then be hosting the West Coast Eagles at Mandurah's Lane Group Stadium on Saturday afternoon. 

Peel is looking to bounce back from losing to Claremont last week to maintain their hold on fifth position while the Eagles are just looking for some pride now that they are guaranteed of the wooden spoon with just one win for the season.

There will then be another fascinating match up at Steel Blue Oval with Swan Districts playing host to West Perth in the last game of Saturday afternoon this round.

Swans slipped further percentage behind Peel last week with a big loss to East Fremantle to now mean they must win their last two matches to play finals again in 2022 which will be a big ask starting Saturday against the league-leading West Perth.

The Falcons also need to keep winning to maintain their hold on that top spot so there's plenty at stake between the two teams when they lock horns at the Bassendean venue.

The round will then wrap up on Sunday afternoon with South Fremantle at home to East Perth at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.

South Fremantle were emphatic beating Subiaco by 88 points last Saturday to guarantee themselves a seventh consecutive finals appearance and if the Bulldogs keep winning then a top two finish is still possible.

East Perth has had an eventful week with the departure of coach Jeremy Barnard so it will be fascinating how the Royals come out on the back of that as they attempt to snap a four-game losing slide.

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CLAREMONT v EAST FREMANTLE

Finals comes early to Revo Fitness Stadium on Saturday afternoon with Claremont hosting East Fremantle at Revo Fitness Stadium.

Claremont and East Fremantle have set up nicely a battle over second position on Saturday afternoon at Tigerland in the second last round of the 2022 WAFL season.

Claremont has now won five straight matches to improve to a 12-4 record on the season to come into the round in second position.

The Tigers will stay there on Saturday too with a win or they could even leapfrog West Perth to top spot if Swan Districts is able to upset the Falcons.

However, East Fremantle returned to some imposing form as well with a 78-point hammering of Swan Districts last Saturday at the WACA Ground to improve to an 11-5 record on the season to remain in third position.

With the Sharks having a significantly bigger percentage than Claremont as well, they will leapfrog the Tigers with a win on Saturday while also remaining a chance to claim the minor premiership depending on what happens with West Perth over the last two rounds.

The two teams might be battling over second spot on Saturday at Revo Fitness Stadium, but Claremont has dominated East Fremantle in recent times.

That's no great surprise given Claremont has made finals in each of the last four years including making a Grand Final in 2020 and preliminary finals in 2019 and 2021 while East Fremantle hasn’t played finals since 2014.

That means that the Tigers have won 11 straight matches against the Sharks including winning by 16 points earlier this season at the WACA Ground by 16 points.

Those 11 consecutive wins for Claremont have come at an average of 34.7 points with the last win for the Sharks against the Tigers coming way back in Round 10, 2016 by five points at the Claremont Showgrounds.

The last time East Fremantle won at Revo Fitness Stadium was back before the Claremont Oval redevelopment in 2011, ironically the same year that Claremont ended up winning the premiership while the Sharks didn’t reach the finals at all.

Going back beyond the last 11 wins for Claremont against East Fremantle, the Tigers have won 18 of the previous 22 meetings between the two teams dating back to 2012.

Claremont has won its past five matches coming into Saturday's clash on the back of beating Peel last Saturday and from that team, the Tigers have made a couple of changes.

Claremont welcomes back two important players with back up ruckman Kieran Gowdie returning along with defender Anthony Davis.

Talon Delacey and the on-fire running defender Lachlan Martinis are the two players going out of the Claremont line-up.

There's little reason for change at East Fremantle either following last week's 78-point hammering of Swan Districts at the WACA Ground.

As a result, the Sharks have made just the one change and it's a switch of small forwards with Tom Monaghan back into the line-up at the expense of Alex Montauban.

 

SUBIACO v PERTH

The two teams might be just playing for pride late in the season but there's no shortage of motivation for both Subiaco and Perth on Saturday at Leederville Oval.

Neither the Lions nor the Demons can make the finals in 2022 with two rounds of the season remaining, but there's still plenty of reasons to make Saturday's clash at Leederville Oval a fascinating one.

It's been a rough season for Subiaco on the back of another premiership triumph in 2021 and the Lions suffered another tough loss last week to South Fremantle by 88 points to highlight how far they have fallen.

However, Saturday will be their last home game of the season at Leederville Oval while also being the 150th game of captain Leigh Kitchin and last ever game of five-time premiership champion Lachlan Delahunty.

Kitchin arrived at Subiaco in 2015 from VFL club Frankston and has put together a remarkable career with the Lions ever since. 

Not only has he played in four premierships, but he is a two-time premiership captain and two-time fairest and best winner, and now by reaching 150 games on Saturday he will earn life membership at Subiaco.

It's only fitting that on the same day he celebrates his 150th game, his great mate and fellow Frankston recruit from the year before he arrived, Delahunty, will call time on his WAFL career.

Delahunty is a five-time premiership player with Subiaco to go with winning the Sandover Medal in 2019 and Saturday will be the 141st and last game of his remarkable career with the Lions where he's played in seven Grand Finals in his nine seasons.

While Subiaco won't be lacking in motivation, it's a real chance for Perth to string wins together for the first time this season on the back of breaking an 11-game losing streak last week by beating West Coast by 47 points.

That victory guaranteed the Demons can't finish last this season and now they have a chance to end their losing run against Subiaco on Saturday at Leederville Oval.

Given the complete contrast in the level of success between the two teams this century, it's no surprise just how much Subiaco has dominated proceedings between Perth over that time.

Since the turn of the century, Perth has made the finals once, played in one final and won zero finals while claiming six wooden spoons in that time.

In direct contrast, Subiaco has won nine premierships already this century and played in 14 of the 22 Grand Finals.

As a result of all that, Subiaco has won 11 straight matches against Perth including a 14-point win at Mineral Resources Park earlier this year in Round 8.

Those 11 consecutive wins have come at an average of 53.1 points with Perth's last win against Subiaco coming back in Round 16, 2016 when the Demons won by 15 points at Lathlain.

At Leederville Oval, the Lions have won their last eight matches against the Demons as well by an average of 66.1 points. The last win for Perth at the venue against Subiaco was in Round 12, 2012 when they won by 70 points.

If we go back to all of this century where Subiaco has won nine premierships and Perth claimed six wooden spoons, the Lions have won a remarkable 44 of the 54 clashes between the two teams including 16 of the 18 at Leederville Oval.

Despite all of that, there might be little between the two teams at this point of the season in 2022 with neither team set to play finals and with Perth having won three matches and Subiaco six.

Subiaco will be looking to lift for the occasion of their final home game of the season at Leederville Oval and to celebrate the milestone of their captain and the last appearance of their retiring legend.

The Lions have made three changes from the team that lost to South Fremantle by 88 points at Fremantle Community Bank Oval last Saturday with Noah Ash, Kody Eaton and Bailey Matera all back into the line-up to take on the Demons.

Going out for Subiaco are Aaron Breman, Jordan Faraone and Rylie Morgan.

Perth will be looking to win consecutive games for the first time this year and new Demons coach Steve Armstrong has made three changes to the team as he takes over from Garry Moss for the final two matches.

Zac Hill, Christian Martin and Denzel More are the players coming back into the Perth side to take on Subiaco on Saturday at Leederville Oval while Ajang Ajang, Mitch Browne and Sam Perkusich are the players to go out.

 

PEEL THUNDER v WEST COAST EAGLES

Peel Thunder has the chance to go a long way to just about locking away their return to finals action in 2022 when hosting the bottom placed West Coast Eagles at Lane Group Stadium on Saturday.

The Thunder are back at home in Mandurah for their final two games of the 2022 WAFL season as they attempt to lock away a finals spot starting on Saturday afternoon against the Eagles.

Making the game that little more intriguing is the fact that with Fremantle's AFL team having the week off ahead of the finals and West Coast's season over, plenty of players have come back for Saturday's game with different reasons to be motivated.

Peel comes into the game still sitting in fifth position to be a significant percentage ahead of the sixth placed Swan Districts.

With the Thunder to then host Swans in the last round next Sunday, a win on Saturday will just about mean they have secured a finals spot given just how far percentage wise they are ahead of the black-and-whites.

West Coast has now lost its past six matches to be guaranteed of a second straight wooden spoon finish now no matter what happens over the last two rounds.

This will be just the sixth ever time that the two teams have played one another dating back to 2019 with Peel having now won the last three meetings after West Coast won the first two.

The Eagles beat the Thunder twice back in 2019 with them on the way to the finals while Peel missed out but it's been all the boys from Mandurah over the last couple of years.

Peel scored its first ever win against West Coast in emphatic style to the tune of 79 points back in Round 5 last year before backing it up with a thrilling two-point win.

The clash earlier this season took place in Round 3 and that was at Lathlain's Mineral Resources Park with the Thunder proving too strong beating the Eagles by 55 points.

West Coast kicked the first two goals of the game, but Peel kicked 19 goals to eight the rest of the way with Wade Derksen showing just why the Thunder were so high on his recruitment over summer by delivering four goals to go with 22 possessions, seven marks and five hit outs.

Jye Amiss kicked another three goals as did Blair Bell on return to the Thunder slide and Sam Sturt kicked three goals also.

Connor Blakely was tremendous in the midfield for the Thunder with 31 possessions, 11 marks and seven inside-50 entries while James Ewing collected 21 touches, Haydn Matthews 20 and Mitch Curnow 18.

Jack Williams kicked three goals for the Eagles with Jack Petruccelle and Isiah Winder adding two apiece. Joey Deegan finished with 27 disposals for West Coast, Jamaine Jones 26, Josh Rotham 21, Josh Browne 19 and John Levien 18.

Peel can go a long way to locking in their finals appearance with a win on Saturday and to help that cause against West Coast, the Thunder bring into the team Bailey Banfield, Ethan Hughes, Lloyd Meek, Josh Treacy and Darcy Tucker.

Those are five potential match-winning inclusions that Peel gets from the Fremantle Dockers while from the team that lost to Claremont last Saturday, the Thunder loses Connor Blakely, Tyler Nesbitt, Luke Polson, Riley Smith and Karl Worner.

West Coast is now guaranteed of the wooden spoon following last week's loss to Perth and with their AFL side's season over now as well, there are wholesale changes at the Eagles for the clash with Peel on Saturday.

Greg Clark, Jai Culley, Hugh Dixon, Luke Foley, Zac Langdon, Jackson Nelson, Xavier O'Neill, Sam Petrevski-Seton, Josh Rotham, Bailey Williams and Isaih Winder all come back into the team for West Coast.

Going out are Josh Browne, Josh Edwards, Jed Kemp, John Levien, Andries Mercer, Cooper Nitschke, Chris Paunich, Riley Pobjoy, Ambrose Ryan, Nick Watson and Logan Young.

 

SWAN DISTRICTS v WEST PERTH

With Swan Districts playing for their lives in 2022 and West Perth needing to keep winning to maintain top spot, it's going to be quite the fascinating match up at Steel Blue Oval on Saturday.

Swan Districts now still finds itself in sixth position percentage behind Peel Thunder. 

However, they take on the Thunder in Mandurah next Sunday to close the season so the only way for the black-and-whites to still play finals for 2022 for the second straight season is to beat West Perth on Saturday and then knock off Peel next Sunday as well.

That's the challenge that awaits Swan Districts, but West Perth needs to keep winning to maintain top spot at the same time. 

A loss for the Falcons on Saturday will see them drop from top spot should Claremont beat East Fremantle or it will leave them vulnerable to still end up finishing as low as third should they also fail to beat Subiaco in the last round.

It looms as a fascinating contest at Steel Blue Oval on Saturday afternoon with plenty at stake for not only Swan Districts, but also West Perth.

Throw in the brilliant rivalry that has built up over a long time this century now too and there's plenty to look out for in Saturday's contest at Bassendean in their second meeting of this season.

Back in Round 9 at Arena Joondalup, it was West Perth winning a tight battle over Swan Districts by 18 points in what was their first clash since last year's remarkable elimination final also at Joondalup.

Swans were on top most of the afternoon as they attempted to keep their season alive upon their return to finals, but it wasn’t quite to be with the Falcons overrunning them to win by four points before then bowing out at the hands of Claremont the following week.

Now coming into Saturday's clash at Steel Blue Oval, West Perth is on a six-game winning streak against Swan Districts winning those six matches by an average of 24.2 points.

The last win for the Swans against the Falcons was back on Round 4, 2019. That was at Joondalup so the last win for the black-and-whites at home against West Perth was the elimination final of 2017 – also still the last final of any time that Swan Districts has won.

Swan Districts now comes into Saturday's clash with West Perth on the back of a tough second half last week against East Fremantle at the WACA Ground before ending up losing by 78 points.

That left Swans in sixth position on the WAFL ladder with two rounds of the season remaining with a 9-7 record. 

They are still just percentage behind Peel Thunder so two wins in the last two rounds will mean that Swan Districts plays finals for a second straight season given the two teams play one another next Sunday in Mandurah.

Getting a win for Swan Districts on Saturday isn't going to be easy, though, given West Perth comes into the clash on top of the ladder and fresh off a 70-point hammering of East Perth in a Perth Derby at East Fremantle Oval last Saturday.

The Falcons remain clear on top of the ladder with 12 wins, three losses and a draw so far this season but they are only half a game ahead of the second placed Claremont so in order to still claim the minor premiership, they do need to keep on winning.

That all sets the stage for a tantalising Saturday match up at Steel Blue Oval with Swans needing the win to stay in the finals battle while the Falcons also need to get the victory to maintain top spot on the WAFL ladder.

It's a must-win affair for Swan Districts on Saturday at home to West Perth and the black-and-whites have made four changes from the team that lost to East Fremantle 78 points last Saturday at the WACA Ground.

Jackson Beck, Seb Bright, Nathan Ireland and Greg Ottaviano are all handy inclusions for Swan Districts who should be able to make a difference in their quest to knock off West Perth.

Cian Ehlers, Darcy Jones, Tony Notte and Jehb O'Donohue are the players to go out for Swan Districts from last week's team.

There are just the two changes at West Perth from the side that beat East Perth by 70 points last Saturday in the derby at Shark Park.

It's some handy inclusions for the Falcons too as they welcome back AFL and WAFL premiership player Mark Hutchings along with former West Coast-listed defender Ben Johnson.

Going out of the West Perth team are Joe Hinder and Sasha Kernutt.

 

SOUTH FREMANTLE v EAST PERTH

South Fremantle needs to be wary of the old team playing under a new coach for the first time curse on Sunday when the Bulldogs host East Perth at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.

A glance at the circumstances the two teams find themselves in with two rounds of the season remaining suggests the Bulldogs should be comfortable favourites coming into the game, but that's why it's played on the field and not on paper.

South Fremantle guaranteed themselves a seventh consecutive finals appearance in 2022 by beating Subiaco by 88 points last Saturday and now the Bulldogs will look to put in a strong showing in their last home game of the season against the Royals.

South Fremantle comes into the game in fourth position on the WAFL ladder with 10 wins, five losses and a draw for the season but two wins to close proceedings against East Perth and Perth and the Bulldogs could still finish in the top two depending on other results.

However, the Bulldogs will need to be cautious of an East Perth team looking to fire after their coach Jeremy Barnard was let go following last week's 70-point derby loss to West Perth.

Ross McQueen will now take over for the last two games of the season and there'd be no better way for him to put his case forward to take over full-time in 2022 than by orchestrating an upset win on the road to a finals bound South Fremantle on Sunday.

South Fremantle has enjoyed life against East Perth for the most part in recent times including an 11-point win earlier this season in Round 8 at Leederville Oval.

While East Perth did score a comeback win to cause an upset last year in Round 10 also at Leederville Oval to win by five points, prior to that the Bulldogs had won seven straight against the Royals.

So coming into Sunday's clash it's South Fremantle who has won eight of the last nine against East Perth.

That’s no great surprise given the Bulldogs have now played in the past six preliminary finals and three Grand Finals while the Royals have only played two finals in that period, and lost both elimination finals in 2016 and 2018.

Meanwhile at Fremantle Community Bank Oval, South Fremantle has also won its last four home matches against East Perth with the last meeting coming in Round 6 of last year.

The last time the Royals won down at the port was in a one-point thriller when they had a West Coast Eagles loaded squad in Round 10, 2017 and Drew Petrie was among the heroes that helped them secure the come from behind win.