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Round 5 WAFL PreviewFriday, May 5, 2023 - 9:37 AM - by Chris Pike
THE most fascinating round of the 2023 WAFL season could be coming this weekend with one of West Coast and Perth guaranteed a win while the other eight teams all play one another as the tight battle over top five positions continues.
With the winless bottom two teams taking on one another and then two of the five teams on 3-1 records playing one another, and then the other three of that contingent playing sides trying to break into the top five, and all five matches in Round 5 are going to be can't miss affairs.
Round 5 in the WAFL begins with three matches in the traditional 2.10pm time slot with two teams with three wins from four matches so far locking horns, with Claremont hosting East Perth at Revo Fitness Stadium.
The top two teams from the end of last year's home and away season will then clash for the first time in 2023 in a rematch from the 2022 second semi-final with East Fremantle facing West Perth at the WACA Ground.
Two teams desperate for a win then meet at Lathlain's Mineral Resources Park and one of the West Coast Eagles or Perth will open their accounts and snap significant losing runs on Saturday afternoon.
The last game on Saturday takes place from 2.40pm at Leederville Oval in a rematch from the 2019 and 2021 grand finals with Subiaco at home to South Fremantle with the Lions out for a third successive win and the Bulldogs out to record their first points of 2023.
Round 5 will wrap up on Sunday afternoon at Mandurah's Lane Group Stadium with Peel Thunder a chance to take top spot depending on what happens on Saturday up against a Swan Districts team fresh off a first win of 2023.
WAFL TEAM OF THE WEEK – ROUND 4
Meanwhile, the Round 4 Reserves matches begin on Saturday morning with Claremont taking on East Perth at 11.40am while East Fremantle faces West Perth at the same time.
Subiaco will play South Fremantle at 12.10pm at Leederville Oval and then on Sunday, Peel Thunder plays Swan Districts from 11.40am.
In the Colts, Claremont plays East Perth at Revo Fitness Stadium on Saturday at 9.10am with East Fremantle playing West Perth at the same time at the WACA Ground.
The Lions take on the Bulldogs from 9.40am and then on Sunday, it's the Thunder against the Swans at 9.10am in Mandurah.
CLAREMONT v EAST PERTH – SATURDAY 2.10PM
With Claremont looking to make another statement and East Perth trying to bounce back from a first loss of the season, and it looms as an engrossing match on Saturday at Revo Fitness Stadium.
Both the Tigers and Royals come into the match up with 3-1 records on the season and there's every chance the winner of the clash will finish Round 5 on top of the ladder.
Claremont suffered its first loss of the season two weeks ago to Subiaco, but bounced back in the best possible way with a 111-point hammering of West Coast last Sunday to return to the top position.
East Perth opened up the season with strong wins against Swan Districts, Subiaco and Perth, but then suffered a first loss going down to Peel by 33 points at Leederville Oval last Saturday.
Claremont sits on top of the WAFL ladder with the best percentage of the five teams on 3-1 records with the Tigers' defence miserly so far in 2023. It's the best in the competition conceding just 51.8 points a game over the first month.
While East Perth is conceding the eighth most points, the Royals attack has been impressive ranked third in the competition putting up 90 points a game so far.
Claremont has been consistent across the four quarters over the first month of the season ranked third in first quarters, second in second terms, fourth in third quarters and then third in the fourth stanzas.
East Perth, meanwhile, is the best starting team in the competition having outscored their opponents by 95 points but they are ranked seventh and eighth over the last three quarters.
The two teams last met in Round 10 last year with East Perth scoring the upset 26-point win at Leederville Oval. However, from that point on the Royals only won two more games the rest of the season while the Tigers made it all the way to the grand final in 2022.
While East Perth has won two of the last three clashes with Claremont, the Tigers have had the better of things in recent times between the two teams.
Prior to the Royals winning in Round 17, 2021, Claremont had won seven straight against East Perth by an average of 35.1 points dating back to 2017.
Claremont has a string of potential debutants to come into the squad to take on East Perth on Saturday including Mitch Barron, Dylan Mulligan, Max Mumme and Felix Rogers.
Also added to the squad from the team that hammered the Eagles last Sunday for the Tigers is Sam Alvarez and young key position player Ben Clarke.
Going out from that that team that won big against West Coast last week are Jason Carter and Ben Edwards. It will be the second game already that Edwards has missed for the season on the back of his 26 possessions last week.
East Perth is attempting to bounce back from its first loss of the season last week to Peel and added to the squad to face the Tigers are Kade Dittmar, Harry McCreadie, Taylor North, Sandon Page and Ethan Regan.
The only out at this stage for the Royals from the team that lost to the Thunder is co-captain Christian Ameduri.
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EAST FREMANTLE v WEST PERTH – SATURDAY 2.10PM
East Fremantle and West Perth clash for the first time this season in what looms as another gripping affair at the WACA Ground with both teams attempting to make a statement.
The only other time the two teams have met at the WACA Ground since 1994 was a two-point thrilling win last year for East Fremantle but West Perth got one back in the second semi-final on the way back to winning the premiership.
Throw in the extra intrigue of two of West Perth's greatest ever coaches locking horns with Darren Harris in charge of the Falcons as a two-time premiership winner while Bill Monaghan is now in his fifth season at East Fremantle but is the longest-serving and winningest ever West Perth coach.
The Sharks come into the clash in second position on the ladder with a 3-1 record while the Falcons have been a mixed bag so far this season with a 2-2 record in their premiership defence adding to the fascination for Saturday's match up.
After the first four months of the season, East Fremantle is the highest scoring team in the WAFL putting up 99.5 points a game while defensively being ranked fourth conceding 65.5 points.
With West Perth having split their opening four matches, they are the second ranked attacking team averaging 96.3 points a game so far in 2023 and ranked third defensively at 61.0 points but those numbers are somewhat skewed with the 169-point hammering of West Coast.
Second quarters have been East Fremantle's strength so far this season where they are ranked second having outscored their opponents by 80 points while they are ranked fourth, seventh and sixth in the other three terms.
West Perth, meanwhile, has been the best third quarter team over the first four rounds and the second best last quarter team. The Falcons are only ranked fifth in first quarters and fourth in second quarters.
On the back of finishing the home and away season last year in the top two spots, the Sharks and Falcons played some fascinating match ups ahead of what is their first clash now of 2023.
The last meeting between the two was the second semi-final last year which saw West Perth overcome East Fremantle by 20 points at Pentanet Stadium.
Their earlier clash in Round 16 last year was also at Joondalup with the Falcons winning by 36 points. Prior to that and it was the first meeting between them at the WACA Ground since 1994 and it was a thriller where the Sharks prevailed by two points.
East Fremantle also won back in Round 21, 2021 but prior to that and West Perth was on a nine-game winning streak against the Sharks dating back to 2016.
East Fremantle is looking for a fourth consecutive win ahead of hosting West Perth with Sam Collins, Cody Leggett, Lennon Marlin, Jackson McDonald and Max Murphy all added to the squad.
Going out for the Sharks from the team that beat Perth last Saturday also at the WACA Ground is Austin Ball.
West Perth welcomes back premiership winning 105-game small forward Keegan Knott with Tom O'Donnell and Riley Sprigg also back into the line-up for the Falcons to take on the Sharks on Saturday.
Going out for the Falcons from the team that lost to Subiaco last Saturday at Joondalup are ruckman Michael Mallard along with Koopah Todd and Blake Wilhelm.
While goal sneak Keegan Knott will be playing the 106th game of his WAFL career, he will also be celebrating his 100th with West Perth.
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WEST COAST EAGLES v PERTH – SATURDAY 2.10PM
Two teams desperate for their first wins of the season clash at Mineral Resources Park with the West Coast Eagles up against Perth.
It's been rough going so far this season for both the Eagles and Demons with both yet to taste victory as they prepare for Saturday's match up at the Lathlain venue that they both share.
Perth has been significantly more competitive in the first four matches this season including an encouraging showing last week against East Fremantle despite losing by 28 points at the WACA Ground.
However, things have been dramatically worse for West Coast who started with a 43-point loss to South Fremantle but have suffered three successive triple-figure losses to West Perth (169), East Fremantle (108) and Claremont (111).
West Coast will be looking to avoid a piece of unwanted history on Saturday and not suffering a fourth straight 100-point defeat at the hands of the Demons.
The Eagles have lost 12 straight matches dating back to last season while the Demons have lost six in-a-row and just one of the last 18.
It's no surprise that given the tough starts to the season for Perth and West Coast that they are both ranked last and second last in most categories across the board.
The Demons are the lowest scoring team so far in the competition with just 47.8 points a game while conceding the second most with 94.5 points.
West Coast is then the second lowest scoring team at 50.8 points with the Eagles well and truly last defensively giving up an unfathomable 158.5 points a game with an average losing margin of 107.7 points.
The Eagles have also averaged 117.5 disposals less than their opponents over the first four games of the season while the Demons have been more competitive in that regard with just 3.3 less touches than their opposition.
West Coast is the worst performing team in all quarters aside from third terms as well including being outscored by 151 points in final quarters.
Perth is the worst third quarter team so far while ranked ninth in last quarters, and then eighth in both the first and second terms.
Saturday's clash will be the seventh time that the teams have clashed in the WAFL with all those meetings taking place at the Lathlain venue they now both call home.
It's Perth who leads the head-to-head battle four wins to two including in Round 18 last year where the Demons won by 47 points to guarantee the Eagles another wooden spoon finish.
That win was the last for Perth in the WAFL and still the lone victory for the Demons since Round 4 last year.
Prior to that and the Demons also won by two points in the first game of 2022 on the back of the two teams splitting their two clashes with one another both in the 2019 and 2021 seasons.
West Coast's last win against Perth was by 56 points back in Round 17, 2021.
The Eagles are just trying to find a way to be competitive in the WAFL and avoid a fourth successive triple-figure loss as they take on the Demons this Saturday on the venue they share.
Coming into the West Coast squad to play Perth are Kalani Brooks, Dylan Chatley, Tyler Collins, Joey Deegan, Jayden Johnstone, Darby McCarthy, Andries Mercer, Ethan Sambo and Jack Stevens.
Going out from the Eagles team that lost to Claremont last Sunday are Harry Barnett, Callum Jamieson, Kane Mitchell, Will Schofield and Zane Trew.
Perth is also attempting to win its first game of the season and to take on West Coast on Saturday, Simon Hayward and Jaiden Hunter have been added to the squad and both will provide some added goalkicking options.
Going out from the Demons team that lost to the Sharks last week at the WACA Ground are Zach Jackson and Jy Lane.
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SUBIACO v SOUTH FREMANTLE – SATURDAY 2.40PM
Subiaco and South Fremantle are no strangers to playing significant matches against one another and Saturday's clash at Leederville Oval has plenty on the line for both clubs.
The Lions come into Saturday's contest in some tremendous form on the back of wins against the grand final teams of last year. The Lions responded to a loss to East Perth in the best possible ways with the wins against Claremont and West Perth.
That leaves Subiaco sitting on a 3-1 record after the first month of the season and they will look to keep the momentum going on Saturday, and to beat South Fremantle for the first time since the 2021 grand final.
South Fremantle might have won two games this season, but still have no premiership points and the Bulldogs will need to start accruing some soon to avoid slipping further from top five contention.
South Fremantle suffered its first home loss of the season last week to Swan Districts and will be looking to score its first win on the road for 2023 up against Subiaco on Saturday.
Subiaco is the fifth highest scoring team in the competition at 82.5 points a game and sixth defensively with giving up 70.5 points while South Fremantle is ranked seventh offensively at 73.0 points for and fifth defensively at 67.8 points giving up.
The Lions have been the second best performing team of the season over the opening four games of 2023 while they are ranked third for second terms and fourth in last quarters.
However, Subiaco has struggled to start ranked ninth in first quarters having been outscored by 46 points by their opponents.
South Fremantle is ranked fifth across the season in third and fourth quarters, and sixth in first and second quarters in the first four games of the 2023 season.
The two teams have had a fascinating recent history including playing off with one another in the grand finals of 2019 and 2021 where the Lions won by 96 and 44 points respectively.
However, South Fremantle won both clashes against Subiaco last year firstly by eight points at Leederville Oval and then by 88 points in Round 18 at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.
That stopped the recent dominance the Lions held over the Bulldogs. As well as those two grand final wins, Subiaco had won 17 of the previous 21 clashes against South Fremantle dating back to 2015.
Subiaco has especially enjoyed things at Leederville Oval against South Fremantle winning 12 of the last 15 clashes between the two at the venue.
However, the Bulldogs did win on the last visit last year for the first time since the COVID shortened season of 2020 when they went on to win the premiership.
Subiaco is looking to continue its winning form on the back of the wins against Claremont and West Perth.
Coming into the Lions team to take on South Fremantle at home on Saturday are Isaac Clinch, Jordan Faraone, Jordan Snadden, Jake South and former fairest and best winner Kyle Stainsby.
The only out at this stage from the Subiaco team that beat West Perth last week at Joondalup is experienced 148-game premiership defender Aaron Heal.
South Fremantle is attempting to bounce back from last week's loss at home to Swan Districts and to get its first points on the board for the season up against Subiaco at Leederville Oval on Saturday.
Coming into the squad for the Bulldogs are Jordan Gallucci, Solomon James, Matthew Parker, George Wessels and potential debutant Caleb Stephens.
If Parker plays, it will be his first game with South Fremantle since the 2021 grand final after he made his return in the reserves last week with 27 possessions and six tackles against Swan Districts.
The only out at this stage from the South Fremantle team that lost last week to Swan Districts is Lachlan Taylor who struggled for an impact with just five possessions.
PEEL THUNDER v SWAN DISTRICTS – SUNDAY 2.10PM
Round 5 of the WAFL wraps up on Sunday afternoon with another compelling contest with Peel Thunder hosting Swan Districts at Lane Group Stadium.
Peel is back home to Mandurah on the back of a strong win against East Perth while Swan Districts also arrives after a first win of the season against South Fremantle.
The Thunder did start 2023 winning against East Fremantle and Perth before suffering a Round 3 slip up against South Fremantle, but they bounced back in emphatic fashion to hand the Royals their first loss of the season last week.
Swans started the season losing their opening three matches, but they were competitive performances losing to East Perth, East Fremantle and West Perth only losing by a combined 12 points.
However, they got on the board last week with a win against South Fremantle at Fremantle Community Bank Oval and will look to build on that in Mandurah on Sunday.
Peel might be just the eighth best scoring team so far in the WAFL over the first month having kicked 72.5 points a game. But defensively and the Thunder have been terrific ranked second with just 58.0 points a game against them so far.
Swan Districts, meanwhile, rank sixth for points for with 73.5 a game while seventh for points conceded with 72.0 given up per match over the opening month of the season.
Peel is the best finishing team in the competition having outscored their opponents by 67 points in last quarters through the first four games. The Thunder are then ranked seventh in opening terms, fifth in second quarters, and sixth in last stanzas.
Swan Districts have been the second best first and third quarter teams in the competition, having outscored their opponents by 37 points in opening terms and then by 31 points in third quarters.
However, Swans are ranked just ninth for second quarters and seventh in final terms.
The clash is the first between the two teams since Round 20 last year where a powered up Peel team hammered the below strength Swan Districts by 92 points in Mandurah.
As a result of that, Peel ended up making the finals and got to a first semi-final after defeating South Fremantle in an elimination final while Swans missed out on playing finals in an attempt to make it back there in consecutive seasons.
Prior to that big win for the Thunder and it was the Swans who had the better of the recent clashes between the two teams having beaten Peel on the past five occasions.
Overall in Mandurah and Swans have won 20 of the 29 clashes against the Thunder dating back to 1997, but in more recent times Peel has done well at home against Swan Districts winning four of the last five matches.
Swans' lone recent win at Lane Group Stadium came by eight points back in Round 9, 2021.