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Round 9 WAFL PreviewFriday, June 9, 2023 - 10:56 AM - by Chris Pike
ON the back of a tantalising WA Day Round in the WAFL, the action resumes this weekend with two games on Saturday and then the other three to be played on Sunday afternoon.
It was a fascinating WA Day Round for the 2023 WAFL season which ended up with Claremont shooting to top spot as a result of a big win while Subiaco improved to third and then East Perth snapped its derby drought, and South Fremantle continued theirs in the traditional Monday battles.
Now the action resumes this weekend and there's plenty to watch out for across the five matches over the two days.
Round 9 in the WAFL begins on Saturday with the early starting game getting underway at 11.40am at Lathlain's Mineral Resources Park with the winless West Coast Eagles playing host to the third placed Subiaco.
The other match on Saturday gets underway at 2.10pm and it sees the top two teams locking horns with Claremont facing Peel Thunder at Revo Fitness Stadium.
The other three matches take place on Sunday afternoon with each of them beginning at 2.10pm.
That sees East Perth play East Fremantle at Leederville Oval with the Royals trying to make it three straight on the back of a derby win while the Sharks are attempting to bounce back from a 15th consecutive loss to South Fremantle.
Swan Districts had a morale boosting 81-point win against West Coast last Sunday and will look to keep that momentum going now when hosting Perth at Steel Blue Oval.
Last up is West Perth taking on South Fremantle at Joondalup's Pentanet Stadium with the Falcons trying to avoid a third consecutive defeat and the Bulldogs looking to string consecutive victories together.
WAFL TEAM OF THE WEEK – ROUND 8
Meanwhile, Round 9 in the Reserves begins on Saturday with Claremont playing Peel Thunder at Revo Fitness Stadium.
The other three matches take place on Sunday with East Perth at home to East Fremantle while Swan Districts hosts Perth, and West Perth takes on South Fremantle at Joondalup.
The same four matches all take place in the Colts for Round 9 with each of them beginning at 9.10am at their respective venues.
WEST COAST EAGLES v SUBIACO – SATURDAY 11.40AM
Subiaco has the chance to head into the WAFL's top two with the Lions taking on the winless West Coast Eagles at Lathlain's Mineral Resources Park on Saturday.
The game opens Round 9 in the WAFL with an 11.40am bounce down time as the Eagles attempt to be competitive after losing all eight matches so far this season by an average of 96.5 points, and 16 straight overall dating back to last year.
There's plenty at stake for Subiaco, though, with the Lions having now won their past two matches including over Peel Thunder last week.
A win on Saturday and Subiaco will finish the round in second position to be ahead of whoever loses the contest between Claremont and Peel.
Saturday's clash will be the first time the two teams have played since Round 16 last year and on that occasion it was Subiaco prevailing after a bit of a scare to win by 23 points at East Fremantle Oval.
Subiaco has won five of the six meetings overall against West Coast dating back to 2019 with the lone win for the Eagles against the Lions coming in 2021 by five points at Leederville Oval even though Subiaco went on to win the premiership that season.
The Lions have won the three games since then by an average of 24 points and each of them have been played at different venues – Leederville Oval, Optus Stadium and East Fremantle Oval.
Saturday's match up will be the first time they've ever played at Lathlain's Mineral Resources Park.
With an average losing margin of 96.5 points a game across the season, it's no surprise that West Coast are ranked last across a lot of categories including scoring with just 47.6 points a game and defensively where they give up 144.6 per game.
In contrast, Subiaco is seventh for scoring at 69.6 points per match and fifth defensively for giving up 64.9 a game.
West Coast also collect the least possessions a game with just 281.4 while Subiaco are the next worst in that area with 307.6. That means the Lions average 15.8 touches fewer than their opponents a game and the Eagles a monstrous 124.5 less than theirs.
There's not a quarter where the Eagles aren’t ranked last in either having been outscored in first quarters by 168 points, second by 228, third by 126 and fourth by 250.
Subiaco is placed third in both the third and fourth quarters across the season while the Lions are seventh in the first terms and fourth in the second.
There's a ton of changes once again for West Coast coming off last week's loss to Swan Districts as they chase that first win of the season, or just some more competitiveness.
Kalani Brooks, Dylan Chatley, Jack Downsborough, Josh Edwards, Daniel Frost, Jed Kemp, John Levien, Rhett Lloyd and Jack Stevens are the players coming into the West Coast team.
Going out from that Eagles team that lost to Swans last Sunday are Harry Barnett, Campbell Chesser, Harry Creasey, Jarrod Garlett, Ethan Hansen, Ryan Maric, Ethan Sambo, Zane Trew and Jack Williams.
Subiaco is looking for a third straight win to potentially move into a top two position and the Lions welcome back two experienced players. Captain Leigh Kitchin returns from a hamstring injury with Aaron Heal back after a stint in the reserves to play his 150th WAFL game.
Going out of the Subiaco team from the side that beat Peel Thunder last Sunday are Angus Dewar and Taj Schofield.
FOLLOW AND WATCH THE GAME LIVE HERE THANKS TO AFL.COM.AU
CLAREMONT v PEEL THUNDER – SATURDAY 2.10PM
Top spot in the WAFL goes on the line on Saturday at Revo Fitness Stadium with Claremont playing host to Peel Thunder.
Claremont replaced Peel at the top of the WAFL last weekend with the Tigers beating the West Coast Eagles by 84 points while the Thunder lost a tight one at home to Subiaco by six points.
That leaves both teams sitting on 6-2 records and Claremont only ahead of Peel on the ladder by 0.51 per cent so there's remarkably little that separates both sides coming into Saturday's battle over first place.
Saturday's clash at Revo Fitness Stadium will be the first time that the two teams have met since the first semi-final last year which saw Claremont win at the same venue by 59 points.
That saw the Tigers end the season of the Thunder while they were on the way to making the grand final in the end themselves.
Claremont has now won the past two matches against Peel including a win in Round 18 last year as well as that first semi-final victory.
Prior to that and Peel did win in Round 6 last year in Mandurah, but before that it was the Tigers dominating proceedings in recent times with six consecutive victories once they snapped the five-game winning run of Peel between 2016-18.
So coming into Saturday's match up it's Claremont who has won eight of the last nine meetings between the two teams.
The Tigers' dominance has been even more significant at home where they have won the last six times they have hosted the Thunder. Peel's last win at Revo Fitness Stadium was Round 9, 2018.
As the top team in the WAFL, Claremont is the second best team offensively with 89.4 points a game while the Tigers are ranked fourth defensively with 61.4 points per game.
Peel remains the best team defensively this season conceding just 58.8 points per game while the Thunder are fourth in attack scoring 85.3 points.
Claremont is also ranked first in terms of averaging 37.8 more possessions a game than their opposition while Peel averages 26.6 more than their opponents.
Claremont's best quarter over the season so far has been the second where they are ranked second while the Tigers are placed fifth in first terms, third in the second and fifth in the fourth.
Peel has been slow starters and have been outscored by 81 points in opening terms to only be better than West Coast so far this season. But from there and the Thunder have been the best team in the competition across the second, third and fourth quarters.
Claremont is now sitting on top of the WAFL ladder on the back of last week's win against Perth and there are two changes from that team with Louis Passera and Felix Rogers coming into the line-up.
Going out for the Tigers from the side that beat the Demons by 84 points are Jack Maibaum and Tyron Smallwood.
Peel suffered just a second loss of the season last Sunday to Subiaco but lost top spot in the process. From that team, Ty Anderson, Guy Barnes, Blair Bell, Haydn Matthews and Riley Smith come into the side for Saturday's clash with Claremont.
Going out of the Thunder line-up from the side that played Subiaco last Sunday are Will Brodie, Tom Emmett, Liam Henry, Sam Sturt and Brody Wemm.
FOLLOW AND WATCH THE GAME LIVE HERE THANKS TO AFL.COM.AU
EAST PERTH v EAST FREMANTLE – SUNDAY 2.10PM
East Perth and East Fremantle had contrasting fortunes on WA Day and now do battle with one another on Sunday at Leederville Oval.
East Perth snapped its derby losing streak against West Perth with Monday's 36-point win at Leederville Oval which saw the Royals make it consecutive wins and improve to a 5-3 record and into fifth position.
East Fremantle is now also sitting on a 5-3 record and in fourth position after losing on Monday to South Fremantle by 14 points at the WACA Ground to make it 15 consecutive derby losses.
That means that the loser of Sunday's match up risks slipping out of the top five by the end of Round 9 while the winner will be closing in on a top two position.
East Fremantle has now won the previous four matches against East Perth including winning both meetings between the two teams in 2022 by a combined 31 points.
The last win for the Royals against the Sharks came in Round 3, 2020, but even before that and East Fremantle had won the previous couple.
So coming into Sunday's match up at Leederville Oval and East Fremantle has won four straight, but six of the last seven against East Perth.
The Sharks have also won on their past two visits to Leederville Oval and three of the last four, but overall on their new home ground it's the Royals leading the overall record 15 wins to nine against East Fremantle.
On the back of Monday's big derby win against West Perth, East Perth is the highest scoring team in the WAFL coming into Round 9 averaging 90.9 points a game. The Royals are ranked eighth in comparison defensively giving up 74.3 points per game.
East Fremantle, meanwhile, is ranked fifth in attack across the season so far scoring 80.8 points a game and third defensively conceding 61.1 points.
Across the season to date, East Fremantle has been averaging winning 32 more disposals a game than their opponents and East Perth 30 extra than the teams they play against.
East Perth is far and away the best starting team in the competition outscoring its opposition by 166 points over the opening eight rounds. From there, the Royals are ranked sixth in the second quarters, eighth in the third and seventh in the fourth.
East Fremantle's best quarter this season has been the second with the Sharks outscoring their opponents by 92 points. From there, the Sharks are ranked fourth in the opening quarters, seventh in the third and sixth at the fourth.
FOLLOW AND WATCH THE GAME LIVE HERE THANKS TO AFL.COM.AU
SWAN DISTRICTS v PERTH – SUNDAY 2.10PM
Swan Districts and Perth are both clinging to staying in touch of finals contention on two wins for the season so both will be desperate for the four points on Sunday afternoon at Steel Blue Oval.
Swans scored a confidence boosting 81-point win last Sunday against the West Coast Eagles but now need to keep that momentum going back at home to the second bottom placed Perth this Sunday.
The black-and-whites improved to a 2-6 record for the season with that win against the Eagles last Sunday but they do still sit three games behind the fifth placed East Perth on the WAFL ladder and need to start stringing some wins together.
For the first time this WAFL season, Swans will attempt to make it consecutive wins up against the Demons at Steel Blue Oval on Sunday.
Both Swan Districts and Perth come into the contest with identical 2-6 records so need a win to stay in touch with the top five, but the percentage for Swans is over 38 points higher than that of the Demons highlighting the difference in the competitiveness for the most part.
Swan Districts scored the emphatic win over West Coast last Sunday by 81 points on the back of yet another heartbreaking four-point loss to Subiaco with Swans having lost five matches already in 2023 by seven points or fewer.
Meanwhile, of Perth's six losses this season, they have all come by at least 26 points and included the 84-point defeat at the hands of Claremont last Saturday.
What Sunday's game presents for Swan Districts is a chance to potentially move back within two games of the top five and with a good percentage, finals would be well and truly back within reach.
Coming into Sunday's match up and Swans have won their past five games against the Demons by an average of 24.6 points. That included two wins last year by a combined 22 points.
The last win for Perth against Swan Districts was back in Round 8, 2019 at Lathlain. The Demons also won at Bassendean in the same year with the nine-point win in Round 3.
However, since then and Swans have won their past three home matches against the Demons with a victory each in the past three seasons.
Coming into Round 9 and Swan Districts is ranked sixth in attack across the WAFL with 73.8 points per game while placed seventh defensively giving up 71.4 points.
Perth, meanwhile, is ranked only ahead of West Coast scoring just 63.0 points a game and then giving up 90.4.
Perth remains the highest ball winning team in the competition gathering 357.8 disposals a game throughout 2023 while Swan Districts is averaging just 309.9 touches.
Despite the amount of ball Perth has been winning, they are also giving up a lot and are averaging just two more disposals a game than their opponents. Swans are averaging 8.4 fewer disposals than their opposition teams.
Starts have been the great strength of Swan Districts this season with them ranked second in first quarters having outscored their opponents by 100 points across the opening eight games.
From there, Swans are ranked ninth for second quarters having been outscored by 81 points, and then fourth in the third and eighth in the fourth.
Across the season so far, the Demons are ranked eighth in first quarters, eighth in the second, ninth in the third and ninth in the fourth.
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WEST PERTH v SOUTH FREMANTLE – SUNDAY 2.10PM
West Perth and South Fremantle never fail to produce tremendous contests and all signs point to another at Pentanet Stadium on Sunday in Round 9 of the WAFL.
Both teams are coming off playing in their traditional derbies on Monday with West Perth losing to East Perth at Leederville Oval while South Fremantle made it 15 in-a-row against East Fremantle with the win at the WACA Ground.
Now with both teams who have been regular finalists over the last decade both sitting outside the top five, Sunday's contest at Joondalup takes on even greater significance nearing the halfway point of the season.
The Bulldogs kicked the last four goals of the game in Monday's WA Day Derby against East Fremantle at the WACA Ground to make it 15 consecutive victories against their old rivals.
Now six days later and South Fremantle will be attempting to keep that momentum going when taking on West Perth at Joondalup's Pentanet Stadium.
While South Fremantle beat East Fremantle by 14 points on Monday to continue the longest winning streak in derby history, West Perth went down to East Perth at the same time losing by 36 points to end its own winning run in derbies against the Royals.
So that sets up a tantalising match up on Sunday at Joondalup with South Fremantle attempting to make it consecutive wins and West Perth trying to avoid suffering a third consecutive defeat.
South Fremantle comes into the Round 9 contest in seventh position on the WAFL ladder with just the eight premiership points to their name, but with an overall 4-4 record following Monday's derby win to bounce back from a surprise loss at home to Perth.
West Perth, meanwhile, slipped outside of the top five with a loss to East Perth on Monday on the back of also losing to Peel Thunder at home the previous week.
That means the Falcons have lost consecutive matches for the first time since 2021.
A loss on Sunday would be the first occasion they've lost three straight since 2019 with their premiership defence getting decidedly shaky.
Sunday's game will be the first time South Fremantle and West Perth have met since they played out a draw in Round 15 last year at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.
Prior to that and West Perth had won the last two matches against the Bulldogs, but before that and it was South Fremantle who had won five in-a-row over the Falcons since a shock loss in the 2018 preliminary final.
At Joondalup, while West Perth has won its last two home games against South Fremantle, the Bulldogs had won their previous five trips north and have won 20 of 31 matches overall since the Falcons made the move there in 1994.
Coming into Sunday's match up and West Perth is still the third best attacking team in the competition averaging 87.1 points a game while the Falcons are ranked sixth going at 67.1 points a game.
South Fremantle, meanwhile, is still the second best team defensively this season conceding just 59.0 points a game including only giving up two goals on Monday in the derby against East Fremantle.
Scoring hasn’t come too easily for South Fremantle again in 2023 with the Bulldogs ranked eighth with 65.0 points per game.
Neither team have been big ball winning sides so far this season with West Perth ranked sixth for possessions with 334.4 touches a game and South Fremantle seventh at 325.1.
West Perth have generally been starting and finishing games well so far this season with the Falcons ranked third in first quarters having outscored their opponents by 70 points across the season. They are also ranked second in fourth quarters.
However, in second quarters the Falcons are only ranked fifth this season so far and sixth in the third.
South Fremantle has been better in second halves so far this season where they are ranked fourth in final terms and fifth in third stanzas, but then just sixth in the first and seventh in the second.