Round 14 WAFLW PreviewFriday, June 9, 2023 - 10:24 AM - by Chris Pike

THERE might be only two matches in Round 14 of the WAFLW this weekend but the two games across Saturday and Sunday are especially important for Subiaco, Claremont and Swan Districts.

In what is the third last round of the 2023 WAFLW season, Subiaco must win to keep its finals hopes alive while Swan Districts needs a win to consolidate their top four position, and then Claremont has the chance to guarantee the minor premiership.

That sets up for a fascinating match on each of Saturday and Sunday afternoon in the WAFLW while South Fremantle, East Fremantle, West Perth and East Perth have the bye after their matches during the WA Day long weekend.

Round 14 in the WAFLW gets underway on Saturday afternoon with Subiaco playing host to Peel Thunder at Leederville Oval.

The Thunder have now lost their past eight matches so are just playing for pride but for the Lions, it's a must win match if they want to remain any hope of still playing finals in 2023.

The other match takes place on Sunday and is a contest between the first place Claremont against the fourth place Swan Districts at Claremont's Revo Fitness Stadium.

A win at home for the Tigers on Sunday and the reigning premiers will be guaranteed of finishing as the minor premiers in 2023.

It's a crucial game for Swans as well as they put their seven-game winning streak on the line and try to hand the Tigers their first loss. A win for Swan Districts will move them back to third position and keep their top two aspirations alive.

ROUND 13 WAFLW WRAP

Meanwhile Round 14 in the Rogers Cup Youth Girls competition will see a full set of fixtures take place with two matches on Saturday and two on Sunday.

That will begin at 12pm on Saturday with Subiaco playing host to Peel Thunder at Leederville Oval. Then at 3pm on Saturday afternoon, South Fremantle plays West Perth at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.

The two matches on Sunday begin at 12pm at Revo Fitness Stadium with Claremont at home to Swan Districts. Next up is East Perth facing Perth at Leederville Oval from 5.10pm.

East Fremantle has the bye.

SUBIACO v PEEL THUNDER – SATURDAY 2.00PM

If Subiaco wants to remain any chance of still playing finals football this WAFLW season then they have to beat Peel Thunder on Saturday afternoon at Leederville Oval.

Subiaco comes into the Round 14 contest currently sitting in fifth position on the WAFLW ladder with five wins, five losses and a draw for the season.

That has the Lions two games behind the fourth placed Swan Districts entering the third last round of the season so it's now or never for them to make a run if they want to be part of finals action.

Peel, meanwhile, is struggling in second last position having now lost eight consecutive matches after starting the season winning two of the opening three games.

Both teams had the bye last weekend and prior to that, Subiaco lost in Broome to Claremont by 15 points while Peel were hammered by South Fremantle by 68 points at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.

Last time the two teams met in the WAFLW was just back in Round 7 this season and that saw Subiaco defeat Peel handsomely with the 8.12 (60) to 2.1 (13) victory in Mandurah.

On that Saturday afternoon, Kelsey Patterson ended up kicking three goals for Subiaco with Jesse Ritchie and Fina Dethlefsen adding two apiece.

Captain Tarni Golisano had a dominant performance made up of 35 possessions and 10 tackles for the Lions with Tiah Toth gathering 20 touches, Meg Brown 18, Lauren Bilaloski 17, Fina Dethlefsen 16 and Ritchie 13 to go with 19 hit outs and her two goals.

Peel's goals were kicked by Aisha Wright and Tanisha Anderson while Gracie Fenton finished with 16 possessions, Ebony Bilcich 14, Greta McKinley 14, Chelsea Hutchinson 13, Ebony Dowson 12, Sophie Johnsen 12 and Anke Grove 12.

Going back prior to that and Peel beat Subiaco in two thrilling contests in 2022. 

The first was by just one point in Round 1 at Lane Group Stadium before the Thunder also won by five points at Leederville Oval in Round 17 with Peel going on to play finals once again, and Subiaco missing out.

Going back further and Subiaco beat Peel by 15 points in Round 13, 2021 despite the Thunder going on to win the premiership that year. 

The Thunder did beat the Lions by 20 and 44 points n the two other clashes of 2021.

If you go back to 2020 and the two teams played off in the WAFLW grand final with the Thunder winning their first of back-to-back premiership by beating the Lions by 15 points so it's fair to say the two teams have quite the history against one another already in the competition.

CLAREMONT V SWAN DISTRICTS – SUNDAY 2.00PM

The two hottest teams in the WAFLW do battle on Sunday at Revo Fitness Stadium in what shapes as a mouth-watering contest at Revo Fitness Stadium.

Claremont takes on Swan Districts in a battle of first against fourth in the WAFLW, but it's a Tigers team yet to lose this season and a Swans team now having won their past seven matches to set the stage for the fascinating contest.

Claremont has the chance to secure the minor premiership for the 2023 season with a win on Sunday by hosting Swan Districts at Revo Fitness Stadium with the game to begin at 2pm.

Meanwhile, for Swans it's a huge game too and if they can become the first team to hand Claremont a loss this season, then not only will the black-and-whites have won eight straight matches, but will be back into third spot and be a real chance of a top two finish.

Both teams had the bye in Round 13 of the WAFLW season before returning to action this Sunday with Claremont sitting in top position with 10 wins and a draw from the 11 matches so far.

Swan Districts, meanwhile, opened the season losing the first four matches in the WAFLW season but have now strung seven consecutive wins together and that's despite losing inspirational captain Jess Cox to a knee reconstruction along the way.

Before the bye last weekend, Swan Districts made it seven consecutive wins by defeating East Perth by 52 points at Steel Blue Oval.

In that win, Taylah Edwards kicked five goals and Cassie McWilliam two while Ruby Mahony racked up 20 possessions, Hope Ugle-Hayward 16, Lily Paterson 16 and Demi Liddle 15.

Claremont beat Subiaco in Broome by 15 points two weeks ago as well to remain undefeated this season with just that draw with East Fremantle thrown in there.

The first time the two teams met this season was back in Round 3 at Steel Blue Oval and that saw Claremont defeat Swan Districts by 26 points.

In that game, Ella Smith kicked two goals for Claremont while Claire Ortlepp gathered 25 possessions, Jayme Harken 20, Jasmin Stewart 19, Hayley Bullas 18 and Brooke Whyte 17.

For Swan Districts, the goals were kicked by Courtney Zappara and Riley Fisher with Carys D'Addario collecting 21 touches, Ruby Mahony 17, Kayley King 16, Jaime Henry 16 and Sarah Wielstra 15 to go with 13 hit outs in the ruck.