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Round 1 WAFL PreviewThursday, April 6, 2023 - 11:05 AM - by Chris Pike
THE highly anticipated 2023 WAFL season begins over Easter with three huge match ups on Good Friday and another two on Saturday topped off with Peter German leading his new-look Perth Demons into battle against the team he helped build into a powerhouse, Subiaco.
There's tremendous excitement over the new WAFL season with all 10 teams legitimately coming into it expecting to be strongly competitive whether that's West Perth trying to win back-to-back premierships, Claremont and East Fremantle trying to breakthrough, or Perth, East Perth and West Coast Eagles looking for dramatic improvement.
That sets the stage for a tantalising opening round of the 2023 WAFL season beginning with three matches on Good Friday ranging from Joondalup to Mandurah, and in between.
It's only fitting that the very first game of the season is also a Grand Final rematch between West Perth and Claremont to be held at Joondalup's Pentanet Stadium from 1.40pm.
Next up on Good Friday is a battle of two teams with a new coach and both attempting to break back into finals action in 2023 with East Perth playing host to Swan Districts at Leederville Oval.
The last game on Good Friday takes place at 4.10pm at Mandurah's Lane Group Stadium. It's now become an annual fixture with Peel Thunder playing host to East Fremantle in a battle of two teams who played finals in 2022.
The other two matches in the opening round of the 2023 season take place on Saturday beginning at Fremantle Community Bank Oval with South Fremantle playing host to the West Coast Eagles from 2.10pm.
The final game of the round could very well be the most fascinating on a number of fronts.
Peter German had a remarkable four years coaching Subiaco between 2003-06 and now makes his return to the WAFL in charge of Perth in 2023 and he leads the Demons up against the Lions on Saturday evening from 5.10pm at Lathlain's Mineral Resources Park.
READ FULL WAFL SEASON PREVIEW 2023 HERE
WEST PERTH v CLAREMONT – FRIDAY 1.40PM
There couldn’t possibly be a better way to start the new WAFL season than a Grand Final rematch between West Perth and Claremont at Joondalup's Pentanet Stadium on Good Friday.
The rivalry between the Falcons and Tigers has been a growing one over the course of several seasons and reached fever pitch in what was a memorable Grand Final last year at Leederville Oval.
West Perth ended up prevailing with coach Darren Harris at the helm just two years after leading Claremont into a Grand Final before then being replaced by the returning Ash Prescott.
What resulted was a memorable Grand Final won by West Perth by 12 points in front of a huge crowd at Leederville Oval.
Now it's a fitting opening to the new season on Good Friday with West Perth attempting to begin its premiership defence in winning fashion on the same afternoon they will raise their premiership flag.
Meanwhile, that Grand Final loss will have stuck with everyone at Claremont all summer and now after having to see that flag raised on Friday, the Tigers won't need any added motivation to try and get an early measure of revenge to open 2023.
WAFL SEASON PREVIEW – WEST PERTH
WAFL SEASON PREVIEW – CLAREMONT
West Perth has selected its team already for Round 1 and from the premiership team from last year, there are only three changes with Zac Langdon, Michael Mallard and Blake Wilhelm the inclusions.
Anton Hamp, Troy Yukich and Sasha Kernutt are the three premiership players who won't be there on Friday while Mark Hutchings and new recruit Bailey Thompson aren’t available.
Aaron Black, Luke Meadows, Ben Johnson, Tyson Moulton, Nathan Alexandre, Keegan Knott, Zac Guadagnin, Dean Munns, Shane Nelson, Aidan Lynch, Mitch Dobson, Sam Rotham, Tristan Hobley, Conal Lynch, Mitch Peirce, Tyler Keitel, Noah Pegoraro, Corey Rundle and Joe Hinder are the West Perth premiership players back in the team for Round 1.
There are more changes at Claremont from last year's Grand Final team with Anthony Treacy, Zac Mainwaring, Joel Western, Jack Maibaum, Teia Miles, Bailey Bennett, Ben Clarke, Talon Delacey, George Graham and Louis Passera all being included into the Round 1 squad.
Going out from last year's Grand Final team are captain Declan Mountford along with Ryan Lim, Jared Hardisty, Timm House, Ben Elliott, Max Spyvee and Alex Manuel.
Watch LIVE on Channel 7 in WA from 1:30pm
EAST PERTH v SWAN DISTRICTS – FRIDAY 2.10PM
East Perth and Swan Districts both enter the 2023 WAFL season with ambitions of dramatic improvement and the work they've put in over the pre-season will be put to test on Good Friday at Leederville Oval.
Both the Royals and Swans showed encouraging signs at times in 2022, but ultimately neither played finals and now with each of them having new coaches at the helm, they will be hotly motivated to make a winning start.
At one point of the 2022 season, East Perth was sitting at 6-6 and was right in the finals mix. However, the Royals went on to lose the last six matches to end at 6-12 to miss finals for a fourth straight season and ultimately part company with coach Jeremy Barnard.
Since then, East Perth has appointed Ross McQueen as its new coach and the Royals will attempt to begin their climb back up the ladder with a strong showing at home to Swan Districts on Good Friday.
Meanwhile, Swan Districts played finals in 2021 and then for most of 2022 appeared well on track to make it back-to-back finals appearances.
Swans still finished with a solid 10-8 record by the end of the season, but it wasn’t quite enough to make it to finals and in the end, Adam Pickering was relieved of his role as coach and has since been replaced by long-time assistant Andrew Pruyn.
There are now great expectations at Steel Blue Oval for what Swan Districts will be capable of achieving in 2023, but getting off to a good start against East Perth at Leederville Oval on Good Friday will be crucial.
WAFL SEASON PREVIEW – EAST PERTH
WAFL SEASON PREVIEW – SWAN DISTRICTS
Among the new faces in the Round 1 East Perth squad are key recruits Tom North, Mitch Crowden, Alex Pearce and Liam Tedesco while former Carlton midfielder Harrison McCreadie isn’t quite available to open the season with the Royals.
There's mixed news on the selection front to start the new season with Swan Districts with the black-and-whites welcoming back former Carlton big man Jesse Glass-McCasker to lead the ruck in Round 1 while Jarrod Cameron will also make his return as a small forward.
Exciting youngster Riley Hardeman will make his league debut for the black-and-whites but returning experienced pair Nathan Blakely and Frank Anderson won't be out there to mark their returns in Round 1, and nor will former Geelong VFL co-captain Jackson McLachlan.
Defensive pair Will Collins and Tony Notte are also among the Swans players who won't be out there to take on the Royals but there's still great expectations over the black-and-whites to open the new season.
Watch the game LIVE here thanks to AFL.com.au
PEEL THUNDER v EAST FREMANTLE – FRIDAY 4.10PM
Peel Thunder and East Fremantle have now made it an annual event to play one another on Good Friday in Mandurah and the 2023 edition should be fascinating between two teams coming off playing finals in 2022.
There's every reason to expect both teams to be strong contenders once again in the 2023 WAFL season as well so that sets the stage for what should be a tremendous contest on Good Friday at 4.10pm at Mandurah's Lane Group Stadium.
Peel finished the 2022 season full of momentum to end up making finals for the first time since their back-to-back premierships of 2016 and 2017. The Thunder went on to beat South Fremantle in an elimination final but then bowed out a week later at the hands of Claremont.
East Fremantle, meanwhile, overcame plenty on the personnel and injury front in 2022 while also not having a home ground, but still ended the season in second position only half a game from top spot to make their finals return for the first time since 2014.
This clash on Good Friday will be the sixth time over the past decade that the two teams have met in Mandurah for the occasion including last year when Peel kicked seven goals to one in the last quarter to come from behind and beat East Fremantle by 32 points.
WAFL SEASON PREVIEW – PEEL THUNDER
WAFL SEASON PREVIEW – EAST FREMANTLE
The Peel squad so far named for Round 1 includes Fremantle-listed players Joel Hamling, Corey Wagner, Karl Worner, Neil Erasmus, Josh Corbett, Sam Sturt, Josh Treacy, Tom Emmett, Will Brodie, Hugh Davies, Sebit Kuek and Liam Reidy.
Thunder recruits Matt Payne, Brady Grey and Jacob Blight all will be there for Round 1 against East Fremantle as well while colts premiership star Michael Sellwood will make his league debut as well.
From the East Fremantle team that played in last year's preliminary final, Dillon O'Reilly, Chris Walker, Hugh Dixon, Brayden Lawler, Harry Marsh, Reuben McGuire, Milan Murdock, Sam Collins, Josh Cripps, Tom Joyce, Fraser Turner and Matt Williamson have come into that squad for the Round 1 clash with Peel.
It's a fitting debut with East Fremantle for Lawler too against his former team on Good Friday. Lawler played 121 games with the Thunder up until the end of 2021 including being part of the premierships of 2016 and 2017, but now makes his WAFL return in 2023 with the Sharks.
Going out from that preliminary final team are Jamie Meade, Jonathon Marsh, Jeremy Goddard, Cody Smith, Ryan Lester-Smith, Jed Hagan, Jack Cleaver and Tom Monaghan.
Watch the game LIVE here thanks to AFL.com.au
SOUTH FREMANTLE v WEST COAST EAGLES – SATURDAY 2.10PM
There are more questions than answers about both South Fremantle and West Coast coming into their Round 1 clash on Saturday afternoon at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.
It has been quite the tumultuous off-season at South Fremantle not only with the loss of a bevy of experienced premiership stars, but now also losing Matthew Parker and Blake Schlensog on the eve of the season, and starting the campaign having been struck eight premiership points.
However, the Bulldogs still have plenty of quality and experience, and a strong young brigade coming through so won't be giving up on an eighth consecutive finals campaign in 2023 under the coaching of Todd Curley.
Meanwhile, West Coast had high hopes of a bounce back season in 2023 having won just five games in the WAFL since playing finals back in 2019.
The Eagles could still be significantly more competitive in 2023, but it could be challenging in Round 1 at least given the injury problems the club is suffering at AFL level. They can take positivity out of the fact that their last WAFL win, and lone victory of 2022, came at the expense of South Fremantle though.
This will just be the seventh ever meeting between the two teams with South Fremantle having won four of the previous six. West Coast's lone win over the Bulldogs at Fremantle Community Bank Oval came back in 2019.
WAFL SEASON PREVIEW – SOUTH FREMANTLE
WAFL SEASON PREVIEW – WEST COAST EAGLES
There are plenty of new faces at South Fremantle with Kaden Harbour, Solomon James, Jordan Gallucci, Chase Bourne, Toby Dodds, Mackenzie Nield, Roan O'Hehir and Nathan Spooner all a chance to make their league debuts.
The ruck stocks are a little makeshift to start the new season for South Fremantle with Jackson Broadbent not quite ready to go to start his life at the Bulldogs and Brock Higgins suspended on the back of Hamish Free being drafted to North Melbourne.
If James makes his debut, he will spend significant time in the ruck on Saturday with Jimmy Miller and Zac Strom the other options for coach Todd Curley.
On the back of the potential of Matthew Parker and Blake Schlensog both now not being available for the entire season, gun midfielder Jake Florenca will miss Round 1 for South Fremantle.
However, on a more positive personnel front, Jacob Dragovich will return to play the 114th game of his career and first since the 2021 Grand Final loss to Subiaco. Jarrad Doney will also return after missing the back end of 2022 through injury after emerging as a breakout midfield star for the Bulldogs.
Meanwhile at West Coast, unfortunately with the injury woes at AFL level for the Eagles that has flowed down to have a significant impact on the WAFL team they have available to select from to start the new season.
If you go back only a week or two and there was a genuine chance West Coast's WAFL team might have up to 16 AFL-listed players in it for Round 1, but that number now looks to be down to six for Saturday's clash with South Fremantle.
Tyrell Dewar, Isiah Winder, Coby Burgiel, Rhett Bazzo, Harry Barnett and Zane Trew are the AFL-listed players named in the squad to play for the Eagles at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.
While the rest of the squad includes regulars from last year including fairest and best winner Harry Creasey along with Jack Eastough, Joey Deegan, Cooper Nitschke, Mitch Henderson, Josh Browne, John Levien, Andries Mercer and Ethan Hansen, there are plenty of new faces too.
They include Jack Stevens, Ethan Sambo, Jack O'Sullivan, Rhett Lloyd, Josh Edwards, Jack Downsborough and Shannon Lucassen.
Then there is new captain Jackson Nelson and fellow new signing out of the AFL Alec Waterman that West Coast will be expecting big things from both in terms of performance and leadership on Saturday.
Watch the game LIVE here thanks to AFL.com.au
PERTH v SUBIACO – SATURDAY 5.10PM
The script couldn’t be written better than to have Peter German make his WAFL coaching return leading his new team, Perth, up against his old one, Subiaco, on Saturday night to close Round 1 at Lathlain's Mineral Resources Park.
Perth and Subiaco both have hopes of significantly improved seasons in 2023 having combined to win just 10 matches between them in 2022, and they get the chance at a perfect start now on Saturday night.
It's the beginning of a new era at the Demons under the coaching of German who previously had a remarkable four-year stint at Subiaco between 2003-06.
In those four seasons, he compiled a 72-16 record with Subiaco finishing as minor premiers in each year and going on to win two premierships, play in three grand finals and make another preliminary final.
German's impact was so significant he set the stage for the dominance the Lions have continued to have ever since winning nine premierships and playing in 14 grand finals from the time he arrived in 2003.
It's the opposite now at the club he takes over in Perth. The Demons have played one final in that entire stretch where the Lions have been the dominant force in the WAFL, and with one finals appearance since 1997 and no premiership since 1977, it's quite the undertaking for German.
Nothing summarises the challenge for German at Perth more than the battles between the two teams in recent times either.
Subiaco has won its last 12 matches against Perth by an average of 54 points with the last win for the Demons coming back in Round 16, 2016 when they won by 15 points at Lathlain.
German did coach Subiaco 12 times previously against Perth with the Lions winning all but two.
Even going back to the moment German arrived at Subiaco back in 2003, in the 48 meetings between the two clubs, the Lions have won 39 and the Demons just the nine.
But German showed what he can do in creating a whole new successful and professional culture at Subiaco 20 years ago so you wouldn’t bet against him being able to do something similar with Perth and he gets the perfect chance to set the tone on Saturday night.
It has been an off-season of change at Perth not only with the arrival of German as coach, but on the personnel front too including the loss of experienced brigade Fraser McInnes, Andrew Fisher, Haydn Busher, Chris Mayne, Kasey Nicholas and Cody Giblett.
However, captain Michael Sinclair is like a new recruit after his 2022 season was ended prematurely with a career-threatening injury and he will be right to go to lead the Demons into battle against Subiaco on Saturday night.
Trent Manzone is one of the WAFL's unluckiest stories having played 153 games to be a life member at West Perth but narrowly missing selection in both the 2013 and 2022 premierships with the Falcons. But the prolific ball winning wingman is on deck with Perth in 2023 and ready to go for Round 1.
Fellow new recruits Jacques Barwick, Charlie Thompson, Cody Howard and Jy Lane will also be out there for Perth against Subiaco on Saturday evening.
Aside from that, it's a youthful approach German is going to have to take to try and bring Perth back into being a strongly competitive outfit with the likes of Kane Johnston, Tarkyn Brogan-Henry, Liam Dellamarta, Regan Clarke, Christian Martin, Harry Quartermaine, Oscar Bird, Austin Davis, Sam Stubbs, Connor Sing and Brodie Gray among those he'll continue to back in.
Subiaco isn’t used to being out of the finals mix and the Lions will be looking for a strong bounce back season in 2023 starting on Saturday night at Lathlain against Perth.
Injuries ravaged the Lions as well throughout 2022 but it's not so much returning players from injury that are key to their revival, but it's a decidedly new-look Subiaco team for Round 1.
There are still premiership stars Leigh Kitchin, Ben Sokol, Max Walters, Angus Dewar, Aaron Heal and Drew Rohde, but it's the emerging brigade that Subiaco is going to rely upon to lead them back into the finals.
That includes Liam Hickmott, Ben Golding, Michael Braut, Josh Robbins, Noah Ash, Connor Faraone, Galen Savigni, Abraham Clinch and Jake South while Subiaco does have handy inclusions for the season.
That includes the return of premiership ruckman Zac Clarke along with Taj Schofield but the Lions were rocked in the lead up to Round 1 with the loss for the season of gun recruit Kyron Hayden after he ruptured his ACL.