Round 12 WAFLW PreviewThursday, May 25, 2023 - 10:50 PM - by Chris Pike

THE top three teams in the WAFLW competition face sides outside the top four in Round 12 of the 2023 season while West Perth has the chance to keep its finals hopes alive by taking on the fourth placed East Fremantle.

All four sides inside the top four coming into Round 12 of the WAFLW season play teams in the bottom four, but in the case of West Perth and Subiaco, it presents a chance to keep their finals hopes alive by beating a team above them to head into the last month of the campaign.

There is just the one match in Round 12 on Saturday and that takes place in Broome with the league-leading Claremont taking on the fifth placed Subiaco. It's a further chance for the Tigers to lock away the minor premiership while the Lions could potentially return to the top four with a victory.

The other three Round 12 WAFLW matches take place on Sunday afternoon beginning at midday with South Fremantle at home to Peel Thunder. The Bulldogs are trying to bounce back to stay locked into second after last week's loss to Claremont while Peel is hunting a third win for 2023.

Next up at 1pm is West Perth playing host to East Fremantle at Joondalup's Pentanet Stadium with the Falcons trying to stay alive in the finals race and the Sharks attempting to win consecutive matches to consolidate a top four position.

Last up for Round 12 is a battle at Steel Blue Oval in Bassendean between Swan Districts and East Perth. Swans come into the match up on a six-game winning streak in third position while the Royals have lost their 10 matches in their first season by an average of 64.7 points.

WAFLW TEAM OF THE WEEK – ROUND 11

ROUND 11 WAFLW WRAP

There's one game in Round 12 of the Rogers Cup taking place on Saturday and it's between Claremont and Subiaco at Revo Fitness Stadium beginning at 9.40am.

The rest of the Round 12 Rogers Cup action takes place on Sunday beginning at 10am with South Fremantle playing host to Perth at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.

West Perth will play East Fremantle at Pentanet Stadium from 11am before Swan Districts take on East Perth from midday.

 

CLAREMONT v SUBIACO – SATURDAY 12.00PM

Broome will play host to a fascinating WAFLW match up on Saturday afternoon with the league-leading Claremont taking on the fifth placed Subiaco.

Claremont is fresh off winning the WAFLW premiership last year and is having an even better 2023 season with nine wins and a draw from the 10 matches so far.

That included a win against the second placed South Fremantle last week which moved Claremont further clear in top spot but Saturday's match up with Subiaco looms as a tantalising one.

The Lions lost by a point to Swan Districts last week to slip outside the top four but they could return with an upset win against Claremont on Saturday in Broome.

Saturday's meeting in Broome will be the second time that the two teams have met this season after they did battle in Round 4 at Leederville Oval.

On that occasion, Claremont proved far too strong for Subiaco winning 10.8 (68) to 1.2 (8).

In that 60-point victory, Claremont held Subiaco goalless until the final quarter with Adele Arnup and Eva O'Donnell kicking three goals each while Jasmin Stewart racked up 28 disposals, Jayme Harken 23 and Matilda Dyke 21 to go with 18 hit outs and eight marks in the ruck.

Subiaco's lone goal was kicked by Lauren Bilaloski while Tarni Golisano collected 19 possessions, Madison Dodd 16 and Olivia Crane 14 along with laying eight tackles.

Despite Claremont winning the premiership last year, Subiaco did actually beat the Tigers in Round 16 of 2022 by 14 points despite the Lions missing out on playing finals.

Claremont will be looking to further consolidate its hold on top spot against Subiaco in Broome on Saturday with the Tigers making plenty of changes from the team that beat South Fremantle in last week's top-of-the-table clash.

Charlotte Adams, Tess Blackburn, Sarah Garstone, Paige Hamilton-Smith and Rebecca Tuckey are the players coming into the Claremont line-up to face Subiaco.

From the Tigers team that beat South Fremantle last week, Taylah Angel, Tazma Hutson, Amalie Moe, Jayde Musika and Eva O'Donnell go out of the line-up.

Subiaco is looking to bounce back from last week's one-point defeat at the hands of Swan Districts with the Lions having made one change from that team for the match up with Claremont in Broome.

Liana Burchell comes into the Subiaco team to face Claremont while Kelsey Patterson is the one player going out from last week's line-up.

 

SOUTH FREMANTLE v PEEL THUNDER – SUNDAY 12.00PM

South Fremantle has the challenge to bounce back from just its second loss of the season on Sunday with the Bulldogs playing host to Peel Thunder at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.

South Fremantle's emergence this season in the WAFLW has been exciting to see with the only two losses the Bulldogs have suffered have come at the hands of the undefeated Claremont, including last week also on their home ground.

However, South Fremantle remains clear in second position coming into this Sunday's clash with Peel with the Thunder struggling in second last place with just two wins from their 10 matches so far in 2023.

This will be the second meeting between the two teams this season in under a month after they last played at Lane Group Stadium in Mandurah back in Round 8.

On that occasion, South Fremantle dominated Peel to score the 12.10 (82) to 1.2 (8) victory to further consolidate themselves in second position and keep the Thunder in second last spot.

In that big win for the Bulldogs, Makaela Tuhakaraina and Bethany Bond kicked three goals each with Hunter Cronin adding two and Ariana Hetherington dominating in the ruck with 19 possessions, 26 hit outs and a goal.

Peel's lone goal was kicked by Tanisha Anderson with captain Ebony Dowson racking up 24 possessions and Chelsea Hutchinson 20.

That was the first ever victory in the WAFLW for South Fremantle against Peel after the Thunder won the first five battles between the two teams in the competition by an average of 35.8 points.

South Fremantle is looking to hit back from last week's loss to Claremont to further consolidate second position with Abbey Barber, Hunter Cronin, Heidi Hughes, Renee Morgan, Abby Reich and Ella Ward all coming into the Bulldogs side to face Peel at home on Sunday.

Going out of the South Fremantle team that lost to Claremont last week are Jasmine Bazeley and Dakoda Hallam.

Peel is still hunting a third win of the season and from the side that lost to West Perth last week the Thunder have made the one change to take on South Fremantle with on Sunday.

Ebonee Hardie is the player coming into the team for the Thunder while Krystal Carter is going out.

 

WEST PERTH v EAST FREMANTLE – SUNDAY 1.00PM

It's another tantalising Round 12 WAFLW match up on Sunday at Joondalup's Pentanet Stadium with West Perth at home to East Fremantle.

Coming into Round 12 of the WAFLW and West Perth is sitting in sixth position with a 4-6 record while East Fremantle is fourth at 5-4 with a draw so not much separates the two teams.

The Falcons kept their finals hopes alive with a win against Peel Thunder last week but they do need to keep winning while the Sharks returned to the winning list last week after three losses and a draw over the previous month.

Sunday's match up will be the second time the two teams have played one another and the first since Round 2 which was way back on Sunday March 19.

In that match up, East Fremantle proved too strong beating West Perth by 28 points also at Pentanet Stadium.

In that victory, Gabby O'Sullivan racked up 24 possessions for the Sharks, Ashleigh Gomes 23, Jae Flynn 21, Ashlee Atkins 20, Beth Beckett 19, Sharon Wong 18 and Anjelique Raison 18 to go with 13 hit outs and a goal.

West Perth's lone goal was kicked by Liliana Grassenis with Grace Betti finishing with 20 possessions, Jess Roper 16 and Brooke Hongell 15.

East Fremantle has won all four previous matches against West Perth but all signs point to the most competitive hit out between the two sides in the WAFLW this Sunday.

West Perth has the chance to string wins together to stay in the final shut and to take on East Fremantle on Sunday, the Falcons have added Karry Plummer and Natasha Spurr into their line-up.

Going out from the West Perth team that beat Peel Thunder last week is Megan Norbury and Jeevna Heer who is fresh off earning selection in the WAFLW Team of the Week for the first time.

East Fremantle will be looking to make it consecutive wins and to consolidate their hold on fourth position with the Sharks once again making plenty of changes.

Coming into the East Fremantle team to take on West Perth on Sunday is Ashlee Atkins, Kim Boulton, India Ferrier, Jasmine Johansen, Tessa Lynch, Ridma Ratnakele and Tiani Teakle.

From the Sharks team that beat East Perth emphatically last week is Georgie Cleaver, Natasha Entwistle and Tayah Palmer.

 

SWAN DISTRICTS v EAST PERTH – SUNDAY 2.00PM

Swan Districts is in red hot form in the WAFLW having now won six straight matches heading into a clash with the winless East Perth on Sunday at Steel Blue Oval.

After losing the opening four matches of the 2023 WAFLW season, Swans have now struck some outstanding form winning six straight games with the one-point win over Subiaco last Saturday shooting them into third position on the ladder.

That's where Swans now sit heading into the Round 12 match up with a winless East Perth team presenting the chance for the black-and-whites to not only consolidate third position, but continue to put pressure on the second placed South Fremantle.

Round 12 of the WAFLW will also be the celebration of Indigenous Round and that will include Swan Districts wearing a special jumper design on Sunday to mark the occasion.

The jumper design is inspired by the mural that is present outside the entrance to Steel Blue Oval which was painted by Whadjuk-Yuet-Ballardong man, Kevin Bynder.

With East Perth new to the WAFLW competition this season, Sunday's match up will just be the second ever meeting between the two teams.

The first clash took place just over a month ago on a Friday night at Leederville Oval which saw Swan Districts score the commanding 15.11 (101) to 2.0 (12) victory.

In that match up, Courtney Zappara was outstanding in the win for Swan Districts kicking three goals from 17 possessions while Taylah Edwards and Abbygail Bushby also kicked two goals apiece.

Sarah Wielstra dominated in the ruck that day for Swans with 18 possessions, 22 hit outs and a goal with Tyla Fitzgerald also gathering 18 touches, Kayley King 17, captain Jess Cox 17 and Ruby Mahony 15 to go with seven tackles.

East Perth's goals were kicked by Shannon De Bari and Taylah Suda while Emily Boothman finished with 13 possessions, Sarah Madden 13, Lillian Ninyett 12 and Jessica Bolton 11.

Swan Districts is fresh off making it six straight wins by beating Subiaco in a thriller by a point last week.

In that victory, the performances from Cassie McWilliam and Ruby Mahony saw them all named to the WAFLW Team of the Week.

McWilliam kicked the winning behind in the game for Swans to go with 15 possessions, four marks, four inside 50s and a goal.

Fitzgerald also gathered 15 touches for the black-and-whites, Naomi Baker 15, Mahony 14, Indiana West 13, Teyharna Curry 12 and Jasmin Ware 11 to go with seven tackles and four marks.

East Perth suffered an 11th consecutive loss to start life in the WAFLW by losing to East Fremantle by 61 points as well last Saturday at Leederville Oval.

From that loss for the Royals, Julia Uhe was named to the Team of the Week for a fourth time this season on the back of 21 possessions and four marks.

East Perth's goal was kicked by Bramley Haran while Chloe Sauzier also had 12 disposals, Ninyett 10 and Matilda Bennett nine to go with 15 hit outs.

From that Swan Districts team that beat Subiaco by a point last week, Kaitlyn Beaton, Tamzyn Beros, Brooke Edwards, Renee Holwill, Sienna Pollard and Daisy Rigby all come into the squad for the clash with East Perth on Sunday.

Going out of that Swans team that defeated Subiaco are Jaime Henry and Courtney Zappara.

East Perth is still chasing that elusive first win in its first season in the WAFLW with Jessica Davidson, Tahlia Dawson-Gibbs and Melisha Hardy added to the team to play Swan Districts on Sunday.

Going out of the Royals side that lost to East Fremantle last week are Bramley Haran, Taylah Horsham and Astyn Tia Penny.