Round 2 WAFL PreviewThursday, April 13, 2023 - 8:58 PM - by Chris Pike

ROUND 2 of the WAFL delivers two match ups between teams attempting to remain undefeated to start the 2023 season, two more between sides chasing their first victory and all five clashes are in the traditional Saturday afternoon timeslot.

Claremont, South Fremantle, Subiaco and East Perth are the Round 1 winners locking horns with fellow victors on Saturday afternoon while the opening round losers, Swan Districts, East Fremantle, West Perth and West Coast are also taking on one another.

The only match up in Round 2 featuring a winner and loser from the opening round is Peel Thunder facing Perth in Mandurah.

WAFL TEAM OF THE WEEK – ROUND 1

ROUND 1 WAFL WRAP

After the opening round matches were spread across Good Friday and then Easter Saturday afternoon and evening, Round 2 sees all five WAFL games played in the traditional 2.10pm time slot across the venues.

West Perth and the West Coast Eagles were the premiers and wooden spooners respectively last year, but both suffered Round 1 losses coming into Saturday's contest between them at Joondalup's Pentanet Stadium.

Then there is two teams who suffered heartbreaking losses in the opening round after being in winning positions during the last quarter with Swan Districts at home to East Fremantle at Steel Blue Oval.

It's the opposite case when the fiercest of recent rivals, Claremont and South Fremantle, do battle at Revo Fitness Stadium as they resume hostilities with both teams fresh off impressive opening round wins against last year's premiers and wooden spooners respectively.

Peel Thunder stormed home for a Good Friday win against East Fremantle but have lost some of those Fremantle-listed stars now ahead of hosting Perth at Mandurah's Lane Group Stadium.

Then there is the clash of the Leederville Oval co-tenants with Subiaco playing East Perth with both the Lions and Royals having started the season with wins as they attempt to get back in the finals mix in 2023.

 

WEST PERTH v WEST COAST EAGLES – SATURDAY 2.10PM

They might be the reigning premiers and the wooden spooners from last year, but West Perth and West Coast are on level-footing needing a win when they clash at Pentanet Stadium on Saturday.

West Perth claimed the minor premiership and backed it up to go on to win the premiership weeks later but the Falcons weren’t quite able to get off to the start they wanted last Saturday with a loss to Claremont at Joondalup on the day they raised that premiership flag.

West Coast, meanwhile, won just one game in 2022 and found the going tough again to start the 2023 season with a 43-point loss to South Fremantle with the Eagles looking to have their work cut out to turn things around against the Falcons.

It wasn’t the start to the season as reigning premiers West Perth was hoping for with an uninspired first up performance at home to Claremont in the grand final rematch.

The Falcons ended up losing by 14 points with Mitch Dobson kicking two goals and Simpson Medallist Luke Meadows racking up 26 possessions, Ben Johnson 24, Shane Nelson 22 and Conal Lynch 22.

West Coast might have lost first up by 43 points to South Fremantle last Saturday, but there were things to be encouraged about for the Eagles.

Despite not having a multiple goal scorer, Zane Trew finished with 26 possessions for West Coast, Isiah Winder 22, Jackson Nelson 22 (12 tackles), Josh Browne 22, Cooper Nitschke 21, Xavier O'Neill 20 and Coby Burgiel 20.

The two teams have played one another seven times previously with West Perth winning five of those including the last four in-a-row including winning both encounters by a combined 138 points in 2022 with the Falcons on the way to the premiership and the Eagles to the wooden spoon.

West Coast's last win against West Perth came in a thrilling elimination final also at Pentanet Stadium where the Eagles won by three points to end the 2019 season of the Falcons.

West Perth is looking to bounce back from a first up loss to Claremont last Friday with the Falcons back on home turf on Saturday to host the Eagles.

Premiership winning co-captain Dean Munns goes out of the West Perth team from last week while potential debutants Kane Bevan, Riley Sprigg and Rohan Scurria all come into the squad to be a chance to play against the Eagles on Saturday.

Sasha Kernutt and Nathan Murray are the other players also added to the extended squad at this stage for the Falcons.

Despite the eventual 43-point loss last week to South Fremantle and being significantly shorthanded, the Eagles put in a competitive showing and will look to back that up against West Perth on Saturday.

Coming into the West Coast squad to take on the Falcons are Jack Downsborough, Elijah Hewett, Rhett Lloyd, Andries Mercer, Jack O'Sullivan and Jack Stevens.

Going out from the Eagles team that played the Bulldogs last Saturday are Mitch Henderson, Xavier O'Neill, Jack Petruccelle and Zane Trew.

FOLLOW AND WATCH THE GAME LIVE HERE THANKS TO AFL.COM.AU

 

SWAN DISTRICTS v EAST FREMANTLE – SATURDAY 2.10PM

Swan Districts and East Fremantle suffered Round 1 losses by a combined five points so both will be desperate to open their accounts for 2023 when they clash at Steel Blue Oval.

Swan Districts were nine points up during the fourth quarter on the back of a dominant third quarter before losing to East Perth by a point on Good Friday.

Later that same day and East Fremantle was 27 points up against Peel Thunder in Mandurah late in the third quarter but went on to concede the game's last five goals to lose by four points.

Now neither team will be wanting to start the new season going 0-2 with the Swans trying to get back to finals in 2023 and the Sharks attempting to stay there setting the stage for what should be a terrific contest at Steel Blue Oval.

Swan Districts might have lost its opening game of the season but the one-point loss to East Perth will be one the black-and-whites feel they let slip after a dominant third quarter and holding a nine-point lead during the fourth term.

Jesse Palmer and Lachlan Riley kicked two goals each for Swan Districts while Aidan Clarke (38 possessions) and Jesse Turner (36) were dominant presences through the middle.

Tobe Watson also gathered 25 disposals for Swans, Sam Fisher 25, Jarvis Pina 21 and co-captain Brandon Erceg 17.

East Fremantle will feel it let one slip on Good Friday against Peel Thunder in Mandurah having led by as much 27 points before giving up the last five goals of the contest to lose by four points.

Despite the loss, there was plenty of good signs for the Sharks as they look to back up last year's preliminary final finish. Luke English kicked three goals with Tom Bennett, Eddie Simpson and Brayden Lawler adding two apiece.

Milan Murdock finished with 29 possessions for the Sharks, Kyle Baskerville 25, Cam Eardley 24, Harry Marsh 21, Reuben McGuire 21 (17 hit outs) and Josh Schoenfeld 21.

Saturday's contest will be the first time the two teams have played since East Fremantle thrashed Swan Districts by 78 points in Round 18 last year at the WACA Ground.

The last time they met at Steel Blue Oval was Round 2 last year with the Sharks also beating Swans by nine points.

East Fremantle has now won its last three games against Swan Districts with the last win for the black-and-whites against the Sharks coming in Round 8, 2021 by 44 points also at Steel Blue Oval.

Swan Districts will be attempting to bounce back from a tough loss last week to East Perth to open the season with the black-and-whites now making five changes from that team coming into the clash with East Fremantle at home on Saturday.

Lewis Tester will come in to make his debut for Swan Districts on Saturday while Will Collins will come back in to strengthen the defence while Seb Bright, Ben Hewett and Jiah Reidy are the other inclusions to take on the Sharks.

Going out from last week's team for Swan Districts are Tarir Bayok, Cian Ehlers, Riley Hardeman, Greg Ottaviano and Lachlan Riley.

East Fremantle also suffered a difficult loss to stomach to open the season after leading virtually the whole way against Peel in Mandurah, and the Sharks have some handy potential inclusions to now take on Swan Districts with on Saturday.

Matthew Burton, Sam Collins, Josh Cripps, Alex Montauban and Max Murphy have all been added to the East Fremantle squad while vice-captain Jarrad Jansen is the only out at this stage.

FOLLOW AND WATCH THE GAME LIVE HERE THANKS TO AFL.COM.AU

 

CLAREMONT v SOUTH FREMANTLE – SATURDAY 2.10PM

Claremont and South Fremantle both won in Round 1, have a mouth watering recent rivalry and the stage is set for a tantalising early season match up at Revo Fitness Stadium on Saturday.

Claremont and South Fremantle did battle in six finals matches against one another between 2019-21 where their rivalry continued to grow, and while they didn’t play each other in the finals last year, they were both part of the action.

Claremont reached another grand final before losing to West Perth while South Fremantle bowed out with an elimination final loss to Peel before both scored Round 1 wins to open 2023 and now will be desperate to start the new season off at 2-0 after Saturday's match up.

Claremont took on West Perth in a grand final rematch at Joondalup on Good Friday with the Tigers on top all afternoon on the way to the eventual 14-point victory.

It was all single goal scorers on the day for Claremont with Jye Bolton racking up 28 possessions, Lachlan Martinis 26, Teia Miles 23, Ben Edwards 22, Callan England 21 and Bailey Rogers 19.

There was lots to like from a South Fremantle perspective coming out of the Round 1 win by 43 points at home against the West Coast Eagles especially considering the Bulldogs came into the season with their backs considerably against the wall.

Despite missing some key players and starting the season eight points behind the competition, South Fremantle looked impressive with Jimmy Miller kicking four goals, Brandon Donaldson three, Chase Bourne two and Mackenzie Nield two.

Jacob Dragovich marked his returning by raking up 28 possessions for South Fremantle too with Tom Blechynden gathering 25 disposals, Toby McQuilkin 25, Dylan Main 22, Brendon Ah Chee 21 and Chad Pearson 21.

It's quite a fascinating recent rivalry that has developed between the two clubs in recent years and last season was actually the first time since 2018 where they didn’t do battle in at least one final.

They did play in the qualifying and preliminary finals of 2019, second semi-final and grand final of 2020, and then qualifying and preliminary finals of 2021.

South Fremantle won five of those six finals with Claremont's lone win coming in the second semi-final of 2020 while the Bulldogs beat the Tigers in the grand final of 2020, and then the qualifying finals of 2019 and 2021, and preliminary finals of those two years as well.

Going back to last year and Claremont did beat South Fremantle at Fremantle Community Bank Oval by 11 points in Round 3 before the Bulldogs hit back at Revo Fitness Stadium on a day where the rain bucketed down to win by 34 points.

Claremont made a strong start to the season last week beating West Perth and as a result there's little reason for coach Ash Prescott to look to change much for the Tigers' home opener on Saturday against South Fremantle.

On the back of that, there are no outs at this stage from that Claremont team from Good Friday with only Ben Clarke, Ben Elliott, George Graham and Louis Passera added to the extended squad.

Despite having had a rough off-season coming into the 2023 campaign and then even losing Blake Schlensog and Matthew Parker just on the eve of it beginning, South Fremantle made a strong start with the 43-point home win against West Coast last week.

The Bulldogs were still well off full strength and there's still Brock Higgins and Jake Florenca who are among those to come into the team at some point after Saturday's clash with the Tigers.

However, South Fremantle does have some handy inclusions to take on Claremont with, most notably the return of gun full-back Noah Strom who will likely have a fascinating match up with Tigers forward Jack Buller.

Young ruckman Jackson Broadbent is also a chance to make his league debut with South Fremantle on Saturday with Seth Connor, Roan O'Hehir and Jacob Sax the other players added into the Bulldogs squad for the clash with the Tigers.

The only out at this stage for South Fremantle is important midfielder Jarrad Doney who made his return last Saturday after a knee injury ended his 2022 season prematurely that was going so well.

WATCH LIVE ON CHANNEL 7 FROM 2:00PM

 

PEEL THUNDER v PERTH – SATURDAY 2.10PM

Peel Thunder has enjoyed life in recent times against Perth and will be looking to keep that trend going as they host the Demons at Lane Group Stadium on Saturday.

Peel has now won five of the past seven clashes with Perth with the Thunder fresh off a first up win against East Fremantle last week while Perth were overrun by Perth to lose to Subiaco by 26 points at Lathlain.

That was Perth's first game with Peter German as coach and after he coached his former team Subiaco last Saturday night, German will now be against his other former WAFL club on Saturday when the Demons take on the Thunder in Mandurah.

The Thunder delivered a huge finish with the last goal of the third quarter and then the only four goals of the final term to overrun East Fremantle back on Good Friday to claim the four-point win to open the new season.

Neil Erasmus, Josh Corbett, Brody Wemm and Sam Sturt all kicked two goals apiece for Peel in the win while Will Brodie racked up 37 possessions, Karl Worner 27, Michael Sellwood 21, Traye Bennell 20, Corey Wagner 20 and captain Ben Hancock 19.

Perth did start life under new coach Peter German encouragingly last Saturday night with five goals to two in the opening quarter against Subiaco, but the Demons were overwhelmed from there to lose a 13th straight match to the Lions by 26 points.

There was a lot for the Demons to be encouraged by first up, though, including Conor McPartland and Jacques Barwick kicking two goals each with Corey Byrne amassing 33 possessions, Matt Taylor 26, Trent Manzone 25, Charlie Thompson 23 and Michael Sinclair 21.

The Thunder have now won five of the past seven clashes with the Demons including winning by five goals in Round 14 last year at Lathlain. Prior to that, the Demons did beat the Thunder by a point in a thriller in Mandurah in Round 4.

Peel finished impressively back on Good Friday with the last five goals of the game to beat East Fremantle, but the only problem is the Fremantle-listed players who impressed are now in Adelaide with the Dockers this week.

As a result, the Thunder loses Will Brodie, Sam Sturt and Corey Wagner for Saturday's home clash against the Demons while dual premiership winning veteran Blair Bell and last week's exciting debutant Brody Wemm also go out of the Peel line-up.

Coming into the squad are Josh Draper, Cameron Gavin, Clay Hall, Aidan Hare, Max Knobel, Ben Middleton, Matthew Payne, James Sturrock and Nathan Wilson.

Meanwhile, new Perth coach Peter German has elected to stick with the same 22 that he took into battle with Subiaco last Saturday night who started so strongly but faded as the night went on.

That faith is encouraging but it also means that Chapman Jones, Kristian Cary, James Ewing, Ajang Ajang, Nyika John and Sydney Stack remain on the sidelines.

FOLLOW AND WATCH THE GAME LIVE HERE THANKS TO AFL.COM.AU

 

SUBIACO v EAST PERTH – SATURDAY 2.10PM

The Leederville Oval co-tenants clash in a fascinating early season match up on Saturday afternoon with both Subiaco and East Perth coming off Round 1 wins.

It's not too often in recent seasons where both the Lions and Royals would come into a match up with one another coming off wins, but that is the case on Saturday with both having won impressively in Round 1 and looking to get back in the finals hunt in 2023.

Subiaco worked its way on top of Perth last Saturday night to open the new season with a 26-point win which made it 13 consecutive wins for the Lions against the Demons.

Reigning Bernie Naylor Medallist Ben Sokol kicked five goals for Subiaco while Max Walters was brilliant with 25 disposals and two goals with Stefan Giro picking up 31 possessions, Liam Hickmott 23, Drew Rohde 23, Jaxon McGowan 20 and Zac Clarke 19 to go with 44 hit outs.

East Perth opened up the new season and era with Ross McQueen as coach with a thrilling one-point win over Swan Districts.

Even though it took a last gasp behind from Angus Scott to secure the win, East Perth had been on top most of the afternoon at Leederville despite a big third quarter from Swan Districts.

In that victory for the Royals, Tom Medhat kicked three goals with Hamish Brayshaw, Mitch Schofield and Scott kicking two goals apiece.

Brayshaw also collected 26 possessions for East Perth, Angus Schumacher 21, Scott 21, Alex Pearce 20, Sam Van Diemen 18 and ruckman Scott Jones 14 to go with 47 hit outs and seven marks.

Subiaco has dominated recent meetings with East Perth in the battle of the Leederville Oval co-tenants with the Lions having now won the last four match ups with the Royals' last win coming in Round 6, 2020.

Going back beyond that and Subiaco has won 16 of the last 17 clashes with East Perth going back to 2015 so the Royals will be hoping to beginning turning that trend around on Saturday afternoon.

Subiaco got better as the night went on last Saturday to end up beating Perth by 26 points to start the new season in solid fashion, and the Lions have made four changes now coming into this Saturday's co-tenant battle with East Perth.

Premiership midfielder Wil Hickmott returns to the Subiaco line-up after a strong reserves performance last week with Abraham Clinch and Rylie Morgan also included along with debutant Robert Hansen Jr.

Going out from the Subiaco team that defeated Perth last Saturday night are Connor Faraone, Corey Hitchcock, Jordan Snadden and Koltyn Tholstrup.

East Perth also got off to a winning start to the new season on Good Friday with the thrilling win against Swan Districts.

At this stage, the Royals haven’t named any outs from that team that beat the Swans but Adam Boules, Zach Raykos, Ethan Regan and Riley Saunders have all been added to the extended squad to potentially come in and take on the Lions.

FOLLOW AND WATCH THE GAME LIVE HERE THANKS TO AFL.COM.AU