Round 1 WAFLW PreviewFriday, March 10, 2023 - 4:16 PM - by Chris Pike

HISTORY will be made one way or another when the 2023 WAFLW season begins on Saturday afternoon with either East Perth or West Perth to record their first ever victory with a Round 1 to salivate over on all fronts.

You couldn't possibly ask for a better fixture for Round 1 of the 2023 WAFLW season with the competition's two newest teams opening proceedings chasing a first ever victory on Saturday afternoon.

Then you have two rematches of the last two Grand Finals in the WAFLW competition on Saturday night and then Sunday afternoon, and a match between two teams trying to put themselves in the finals hunt in 2023.

The 2023 WAFLW season begins at 2pm on Saturday afternoon with East Perth and West Perth locking horns at Leederville Oval. The Royals are the newest team to join the competition with the Falcons entering in 2022 and one of them will record a first ever WAFLW victory on Saturday afternoon.

Next up on Saturday evening will be Peel Thunder taking on Swan Districts at Mandurah's Lane Group Stadium in a rematch of the 2021 Grand Final and the first semi-final of last year.

The other two Round 1 match ups take place at 2pm on Sunday afternoon beginning with a rematch of last year's Grand Final between Claremont and East Fremantle at Joondalup's Pentanet Stadium.

The last game of Round 1 will be at Leederville Oval with Subiaco and South Fremantle doing battle.

It's also Round 1 of the Rogers Cup Youth Girls competition this weekend starting on Saturday at 12pm with East Perth taking on West Perth. Then at 3.30pm in Mandurah, Peel Thunder will be hosting Swan Districts.

Then at midday on Sunday, Claremont takes on East Fremantle at Pentanet Stadium and Subiaco faces South Fremantle at Leederville Oval.

EAST PERTH v WEST PERTH – SATURDAY 2.00PM

The WAFLW season couldn’t possibly begin in more fascinating fashion than East Perth playing West Perth on Saturday afternoon at Leederville Oval.

By the end of the game, one of East Perth or West Perth will have tasted victory in the WAFLW competition for the first time.

The Royals are the competition's newest team and Saturday will be their first WAFLW match and they get to do it on home turf and against their most traditional rival in WA football.

The Falcons are also chasing their first win in the WAFLW competition having lost all 14 matches in their inaugural season in 2022 so the stage is set for a terrific contest.

History suggests that the 2023 season could be a challenging one for East Perth when you take a look at how new teams South Fremantle and West Perth went when added to the WAFLW set up.

Both the Bulldogs and Falcons went winless in their inaugural seasons and struggled to be competitive, but East Perth will be looking to buck that trend and the chance presents to start with a win on Saturday afternoon.

However, Royals aren’t going into their debut season fearing the worst. East Perth will be hopeful of being as competitive as possible.

The big picture is that you can only turn yourself into a powerful WAFLW club by being part of the competition. This is the first step in the process and the Royals will only grow from here as a result.

It was a tough year for West Perth to enter the WAFLW competition in 2022, but it was nothing that wasn’t expected. 

South Fremantle went through something similar as the first new entrant into the league a couple of years earlier and East Perth might have some similar growing pains. 

But the reality is, the Falcons did learn a lot out of that season and found out a lot about what it will take to be competitive in the competition, and now those lessons will be put into practice into 2023. 

The first goal is to get that elusive first win on the board and then remain as competitive as possible the rest of the way.

After all, South Fremantle's first ever WAFLW win came in Round 1 last year at the expense of West Perth, so the Falcons could very well repeat that scenario on East Perth to open 2023.
 

PEEL THUNDER v SWAN DISTRICTS – SATURDAY 5.30PM

Peel Thunder and Swan Districts have built quite the rivalry over the opening four seasons of the WAFLW competition and that now resumes to open the 2023 campaign on Saturday evening in Mandurah.

Peel beat Swans in the 2021 Grand Final and then Swan Districts got a measure of revenge ending the Thunder's season in last year's first semi-final so it looms as another intriguing contest on Saturday night at Lane Group Stadium to begin the 2023 season.

Both the Thunder and Swans come into 2023 looking to once again be among the standout teams in the competition and a Round 1 win presents a chance to make an early statement.

Going back to last year and Swan Districts beat Peel by five points in the first semi-final and that was also in Mandurah so the first meeting since is a direct rematch.

Prior to that last season, Peel won the Round 16 match up by 17 points at Steel Blue Oval, the Thunder were also victorious by 45 points in Round at Lane Group Stadium, and Swan Districts prevailed by 17 points at home in Round 5.

Going back to the 2021 season, Peel beat Swan Districts in the Grand Final and prior to that the Thunder also won the second semi-final by holding the black-and-whites goalless.

Now the rivalry resumes on Saturday evening in Mandurah with the chance for the winner to make a significant early statement.

Peel's quest for a premiership hat-trick didn’t quite come to fruition in 2022 but they did again play finals and there's every reason to suggest they will be among the teams to beat again in 2023. 

The Thunder are another team to have undergone significant player turnover this off-season too with the departures of Ella Roberts, Kate Bartlett and Jaide Britton into the AFLW with Whitney Benson and Lauren Quaiffe also moving on. 

However, Abby Barnden has returned to Peel after a year off with Evie Cowcher among the players ready to step up from the Rogers Cup team.

On the back of being the standout team of 2021 before losing heartbreakingly in the Grand Final to Peel, Swan Districts were again around the mark in 2022 and reached the preliminary final before just falling short of Claremont. 

There have been significant changes on the personnel front at Steel Blue Oval coming into 2023 as they look to put themselves back in the premiership hunt. There are the arrivals at Swan Districts of Daisy Rigby, Indiana West, Brooke Edwards, Jasmine Ware, Lauren Quaiffe and Meg Clayton. 

Some quality and experienced players have also moved on including Lauren Osborne, Ashley Sharp, Emily McGuire, Amy Ralph and Melisha Hardy. With Adam Dancey remaining in charge as coach, he'll be looking to take Swans to that elusive first WAFLW premiership.
 

CLAREMONT v EAST FREMANTLE – SUNDAY 2.00PM

The best way to start any new season in any competition is with a Grand Final rematch from the previous year and that's exactly the case in the WAFLW even if the game has forced to be switched to neutral turf.

Claremont and East Fremantle open up the WAFLW season on Sunday afternoon with their Round 1 match up on the back of playing in last year's Grand Final, but it's going to be on neutral turf.

The game was all set to be a memorable occasion for Claremont to celebrate winning last year's premiership with the raising of the flag in front of their home fans, but a delay to the lighting construction at Revo Fitness Stadium has forced a switch.

Instead the Tigers and Sharks will be doing battle at Joondalup's Pentanet Stadium on Sunday afternoon but that won't take away from what still will be a fascinating contest.

You only have to go back to their meetings last year to get an idea that these teams are used to playing terrific contests against one another.

East Fremantle might have come into last year's Grand Final undefeated throughout 2022, but Claremont remained confident of changing that while also playing host to the game at Revo Fitness Stadium.

And in front of 3000 fans, Claremont secured the stunning win by eight points to celebrate their first WAFLW premiership and break the hearts of East Fremantle in the process.

While there's plenty of changes to both teams since then, it's going to be a fascinating way to open the new season on Sunday even if it's played at Joondalup well north of the homes of both teams.

It was a performance to win last year's premiership that capped off the Tigers' rise to being the trend setters in female football. That's why they are confident of remaining a force throughout 2023 despite the loss of plenty of that premiership talent. 

That includes Ella Smith, Sasha Goranova, Mikayla Western, Emily Elkington, Maddie Scanlon, Tessa Doumanis, Brooke Hongell, Katherine Bennett, Mhicca Carter and Tayla Thorogood. 

But the Tigers like the talent they still have, have plenty to call up from last year's reserves premiership team and their Rogers Cup and will be around the mark once more.

East Fremantle were the dominant team of the 2022 WAFLW season going through undefeated heading into the Grand Final where they were upset in stunning fashion by Claremont. 

While that certainly wasn’t the finish they were after, having such a standout season means plenty is being done well at the Sharks even if they have a fourth coach in as many seasons, and have had some significant player turnover. 

Steph Walding replaces Matt Templeton as coach while Alex Williams, Torrie Revel and Kate Inglis-Hodge are among the players to move on, the Sharks are still full of talent and motivation coming into 2023.
 

SUBIACO v SOUTH FREMANTLE – SUNDAY 2.00PM

Subiaco and South Fremantle have already put together of two years of tantalising battles in the WAFLW and now with both looking to make a finals push in 2023, they meet to open the new season on Sunday at Leederville Oval.

Both the Lions and Bulldogs had some intriguing battles with one another in 2022 as they tried to make a finals push. Ultimately both just missed out on reaching the top four and will be looking to get their 2023 campaigns off to a winning start on Sunday.

Going back to last year and Subiaco did beat South Fremantle in the last meeting by 47 points also at Leederville Oval but in Round 8 it was the Bulldogs who broke through to beat the Lions in emphatic fashion by 40 points at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.

Prior to that and Subiaco won by 29 points also down at the port so now on Sunday afternoon, there's plenty of interest to find out which of the two teams can make a statement to open 2023.

Subiaco narrowly missed out on finals in 2022 but were once again a competitive WAFLW outfit after a slow start to the season.

While the Lions are another team to have lost plenty of experience and quality this off-season, there is every reason to suggest they are going to be right in the finals mix once more. 

Joanne Cregg is one new arrival at Subiaco in 2023 with a Gaelic football background while Kia Buckley has returned after a year off and the Lions squad will still feature the likes of Tarnica Golisano, Tiah Toth, Madizen Wilkins, Liana Burchell and Tess Lyons.

South Fremantle broke through not only for a first ever WAFLW win last year after tough initiation into the competition, but the Bulldogs pulled together four wins, unearthed some exciting and really, weren’t too far away from being a legitimate finals contender. 

That's now the goal of the Bulldogs in 2023 and they aren’t shying away from that. While the Bulldogs have lost Lauren and Zoe Wakfer, and Poppy Stockwell, they have plenty of emerging talent, have added some new faces and will be looking to continue their rise this season.