Round 8 WAFLW PreviewFriday, April 28, 2023 - 8:55 AM - by Chris Pike

ROUND 8 in the WAFLW season pits the unbeaten Claremont against the winless East Perth while South Fremantle and East Fremantle keep battling over second, and Subiaco, Swan Districts, West Perth and Peel Thunder over fourth.

The WAFLW season is now heating up just past the halfway mark and with seven teams still right in contention to play finals, every match is taking on greater significance and there's plenty riding on all four of them this weekend.

Each game in Round 8 in the WAFLW competition takes place on Sunday afternoon beginning with the first three at 2pm with Peel Thunder at home to South Fremantle at Mandurah's Lane Group Stadium.

Next up is Subiaco at home to West Perth at Leederville Oval with the Lions looking to consolidate their hold on fourth position but the Falcons looking to stay in touch of a finals place.

The last of the 2pm matches sees Swan Districts take on East Fremantle at Steel Blue Oval with Swans having now won their last two matches and looking to keep the momentum going with the Sharks out to bounce back from last week's first ever derby loss.

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Meanwhile in Round 8 of the Rogers Cup competition, the first game of the weekend takes place on Saturday at 12pm with Claremont playing East Perth at Revo Fitness Stadium.

The other three matches take place on Sunday starting with Perth hosting South Fremantle at Mineral Resources Park at 11am. Subiaco then hosts West Perth at 12pm at Leederville Oval and Swan Districts plays East Fremantle at Steel Blue Oval at the same time.

PEEL THUNDER v SOUTH FREMANTLE – SUNDAY 2.00PM

Roles are reversed for Sunday's WAFLW clash between Peel Thunder and South Fremantle with the Bulldogs the in-form team coming into the contest as they try to beat the Thunder for the first time.

Just a week after making history with a first ever derby win against East Fremantle last Saturday night, South Fremantle will be attempting to create another slice of history this Sunday at Mandurah's Lane Group Stadium.

Peel has won two premierships already in the WAFLW competition so it's no surprise they have enjoyed life so far against a South Fremantle team who coming into 2023 had only ever recorded one win against one of the league's foundation clubs.

The Thunder have won those past five matches with South Fremantle by an average of 35.8 points, but things are dramatically different in 2023 and it's likely the Bulldogs who come into Sunday's clash the favourites.

After beating East Fremantle last Saturday night, South Fremantle moved into second position on the WAFLW ladder having lost just once so far in 2023 to go with four wins and a draw.

Peel, meanwhile, sits in seventh position with just two wins from six games so this season and recently the Thunder have especially been struggling with a 47-point loss at home last Saturday to Subiaco on the back of a 35-point defeat also in Mandurah against East Fremantle.

This will be the first meeting of the season between the two teams and first since Round 13 last year when Peel won a competitive hit out over South Fremantle by 14 points at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.

Going back further and the Thunder have won all five previous meetings with the Bulldogs dating back to when South Fremantle entered the WAFLW competition in 2020.

Peel won that first meeting by keeping the Bulldogs scoreless in 2020 by 64 points before winning both games in 2021 by 47 points and then 24 points.

The first clash of 2022 between the two teams at Pingelly saw the Thunder also beat the Bulldogs by five goals.

So Peel has won all five matches previously against South Fremantle by an average of 35.8 points, but there's every reason to expect a significantly more competitive hit out on Sunday in Mandurah.

SUBIACO v WEST PERTH – SUNDAY 2.00PM

With Subiaco trying to stay locked into fourth position and West Perth attempting to stay in touch with it, Sunday's match up at Leederville Oval should be a beauty between the Lions and Falcons.

While Subiaco proved too strong for West Perth in the two clashes between the teams last season winning against the Falcons by a combined 103 points, the Falcons are a vastly more competitive outfit in their second year in the WAFLW competition.

The Lions are also out for a bounce back season in 2023 having missed the finals for the first time last year and they currently are on track to feature in finals action with three wins, two losses and a draw from the first six matches to sit in fourth position.

The Falcons have been much more competitive this season too and already have two wins to their name to be within striking distance for a top four position.

That sets the stage for a fascinating match up on Sunday at Leederville Oval between two teams attempting to make a statement.

Subiaco and West Perth played one another twice in the 2022 WAFLW season with the Lions winning by 68 points in Round 6 at Joondalup's Pentanet Stadium.

The second meeting took place at Leederville Oval in Round 14 and on that occasion it was again Subiaco prevailing by 35 points with both teams ending up missing out on finals action in 2022.

Coming off last week's impressive win against Peel, Subiaco will have several changes for this Sunday's clash with West Perth.

For the squad to take on the Falcons, Taylisha Brown, Liana Burchell, Dahna Lee, Jess Pillera, Hannah Plummer, Kate Pocsidio and Lani Silvio have all been added to the squad for the Lions.

From that team that beat the Thunder last week, the only out at this stage is Tiah Toth who was named to the Team of the Week on the back of her terrific performance.

West Perth went down to Claremont last Sunday and from that team, Nadia Parora and Bianca Webb have been added to the squad for this Sunday's clash with Subiaco.

Going out of the Falcons team from the one that went down to the Tigers last week Harriet Jones and Cameron Dawson.

SWAN DISTRICTS v EAST FREMANTLE – SUNDAY 2.00PM

Swan Districts and East Fremantle renew their WAFLW rivalry on Sunday at Steel Blue Oval and with Swans in winning form and the Sharks looking to hit back, it should be a terrific face off.

Swans and Sharks are playing each other for the first time in more than a year, but it won't take long for either side to remember the rivalry that exists once they get out onto Steel Blue Oval on Sunday afternoon.

It's a crucial match up in the context of the season for both teams too with Swan Districts looking to keep in the top four race while East Fremantle is out to stay in contention for a top two position.

Swan Districts might have lost its opening four matches of the WAFLW season to Peel Thunder, Subiaco, Claremont and South Fremantle but the past two games have been vastly improved from the Swans.

Swans got their first win of the season two weeks ago beating West Perth by 51 points in emphatic fashion at Steel Blue Oval before backing it up last Friday night at Leederville Oval beating East Perth by 89 points.

Those last two victories by a combined 140 points should give Swans plenty of confidence now going into Sunday's clash against an East Fremantle team in third position, but attempting to bounce back from their first ever loss at the hands of South Fremantle last Saturday night.

It's the first meeting between the two teams of the season with their last clash coming all the way back in Round 10 last year which was now 53 weeks ago.

On that day, East Fremantle was too strong for Swan Districts winning by 40 points at Steel Blue Oval. Their other clash in 2022 was in Round 2 at East Fremantle Oval.

The Sharks won that clash too but it was a much tighter affair with the margin just seven points even though Swans finished with 12 scoring shots to nine for the game.

The two teams have had a fascinating rivalry going back a long time in the old WAWFL competition and now since the formation of the WAFLW as well, including meeting in the inaugural grand final in 2019.

That day saw East Fremantle win the first ever WAFLW premiership by beating Swan Districts by 23 points in front of more than 3000 people at Lathlain on a day to be cherished.

CLAREMONT v EAST PERTH – SUNDAY 3.30PM

It's the reigning premiers against the WAFLW's newest team, and also the unbeaten league leaders against the winless bottom placed team when Claremont hosts East Perth on Sunday.

The Tigers and Royals will play one another for first time in the WAFLW competition on Sunday at Revo Fitness Stadium and it's quite the daunting mission in front of East Perth.

Coming off winning last year's WAFLW premiership, Claremont has been in ominous form starting the season winning the first six matches with an average margin of 26.7 points.

That has the Tigers clear on top of the WAFLW ladder as the only remaining undefeated team ahead of taking on the winless East Perth on Sunday who are in their first season in the competition.

The Royals have found the going tough with an averaging losing margin of 58.5 points in their six matches so far as they try to put in a competitive showing now against Claremont on Sunday.

The clash is the first time the teams have ever played one another in the WAFLW competition with Claremont becoming the last side for East Perth to come up against in their first season since joining in 2023.

Claremont will be out to keep its undefeated run this season going up against East Perth. 

The Tigers are fresh off beating West Perth last week and from that team, Sarah Garstone and Rebecca Tuckey come into the Claremont team.

Going out from that side that beat the Falcons last week are Taylah Orzel and Jasmin Stewart fresh off yet another standout performance that saw her named to the WAFLW Team of the Week.

There are plenty of changes once again against East Perth as they search for that more competitive line-up in their first WAFLW season.

Coming into the team for Sunday's clash with Claremont are Gabrielle Canicosa, Holly Gill, Bianca Glanville, Madeleine Goodman, Bramley Haran, Anna Shae Michael, Chloe Sauzier, Grace Smith and Ebony Thompson.

Going out from the East Perth team that lost to Swan Districts last Friday night are Jessica Davidson, Tahlia Dawson-Gibbs, Shannon De Bari, Ashleigh Greenwell, Bronwyn Hansen, Melisha Hardy, Marlee Hedley, Taylah Horsham and Makayla Rogers.