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Round 11 WAFL PreviewThursday, June 22, 2023 - 10:34 PM - by Chris Pike
CLAREMONT has the chance to reclaim top spot in Saturday's lone Round 11 WAFL match up while East Perth looks to keep its winning streak going on Sunday and the reigning premiers have plenty of motivation to bounce back hosting Swan Districts.
There might be just three games in Round 11 of the WAFL this weekend but each of the matches are intriguing in their own way while Subiaco, Peel Thunder, East Fremantle and South Fremantle sit out with the bye.
The round gets underway with the two teams who had the bye last weekend locking horns at Revo Fitness Stadium with Claremont taking on the West Coast Eagles. A win for the Tigers and they will replace Subiaco on top of the ladder while the Eagles are looking to end a 17-game losing streak.
The other two Round 11 matches take place on Sunday afternoon with East Perth at home to Perth at Leederville Oval. The Royals come into the clash in fourth place on a four-game winning streak while the Demons are looking to end a three-match losing slide.
Then the other Sunday match up takes place at Joondalup's Pentanet Stadium with West Perth not only trying to get a win to return to the top five, but also celebrate the 250th game of premiership winning captain and Sandover Medallist Aaron Black.
West Perth will be hosting Swan Districts and a win for the Falcons should see them move back into the top five while it's important for Swans too to claim the win to stay in touch with the top five.
WAFL TEAM OF THE WEEK – ROUND 10
Meanwhile, Round 11 in the Reserves will feature just the two matches and they both take place on Sunday beginning at 11.40am.
East Perth will face Perth at Leederville Oval and West Perth takes on Swan Districts at Pentanet Stadium.
There's also just the two Colts matches with both on Sunday at 9.10am as the Royals host the Demons, and the Falcons are at home to the Swans.
CLAREMONT v WEST COAST EAGLES – SATURDAY 1.10PM
It appears a significant mismatch on paper on Saturday at Revo Fitness Stadium with Claremont attempting to reclaim top spot in the WAFL up against the winless West Coast Eagles.
Both teams are coming off the bye in Round 10 of the WAFL season and resume their campaigns on Saturday afternoon at Tigerland.
Claremont already has the best percentage in the competition coming into the game and will move back into top position with a win on Saturday having won seven of nine matches so far this season.
It's been rough going for the Eagles just to be competitive so far in 2023 having lost all nine matches by an average of 100.1 points to have now lost their past 17 matches in the WAFL dating back to last year.
The two teams have already played one another earlier this season with Claremont hammering West Coast by 111 points back in Round 4 also at Revo Fitness Stadium.
In that win for the Tigers, Bailey Rogers kicked four goals, Zac Mainwaring three, Max Minear three, Joel Western two, Talon Delacey two, Ben Edwards two and Anthony Treacy two.
Jye Bolton also amassed 40 possessions for Claremont, Lachlan Martinis 35, Rogers 33, Edwards 26, Declan Mountford 24, Ronin O'Connor 22, Ben Elliott 21, Western 21 and Teia Miles 20.
Josh Burke kicked two goals for West Coast with Josh Browne collecting 30 touches, Kane Mitchell 28, Ethan Hansen 26 and Jackson Nelson 19.
That win meant that Claremont has now won the last seven meetings against West Coast since the Eagles won the first ever clash against the Tigers by two points in Round 4, 2019.
Across most categories so far this season and there's quite a stark difference between Claremont and West Coast, which is no surprise given their respective positions and records.
Claremont is both the second best scoring team and the second best team defensively, scoring 86.3 points a game and giving up just 61.2. West Coast is last on both fronts scoring just 46.4 points themselves and giving up 146.6 to have an average losing margin of over 100 points.
Claremont is the second highest ball winning team averaging 349 possessions and having 38 more than their opponents each week. West Coast is the only team averaging less than 300 touches with just 279 to their credit and a monstrous 119 less than the teams they play.
The Tigers have also been getting better the longer games have gone so far in 2023. They are the second best finishing team having outscored their opponents by 130 points in the fourth quarters. They are then ranked third for third stanzas, fourth in the second and sixth in the first.
West Coast is ranked last in every quarter averaging being outscored by 20 points in first quarters, 29 in the second, 17 in the third and 34 in the last.
Claremont has made three changes to the team that pulled off a stunning comeback win against Peel two weeks ago.
From that side, Jack Maibaum, Max Mumme and Tyron Smallwood come back into the line-up for the Tigers to take on the Eagles on Saturday afternoon.
Going out for Claremont from the team that beat Peel are Declan Hardisty, Louis Passera and Felix Rogers.
West Coast is still chasing a more competitive performance before even worrying about snapping its losing run with Jarrod Garlett, Ethan Hansen, Jack O'Sullivan, Riley Pobjoy and Ethan Sambo coming back into the team to face Claremont on Saturday.
Going out from the Eagles team that lost to Subiaco by 129 points two weeks ago are Kalani Brooks, Dylan Chatley, Tyler Collins, Jack Downsborough and Jed Kemp.
FOLLOW AND WATCH THE GAME LIVE HERE THANKS TO AFL.COM.AU
EAST PERTH v PERTH – SUNDAY 2.10PM
East Perth will be looking to continue its momentum and Perth to get back on the winner's list when the two teams meet at Leederville Oval on Sunday afternoon.
The Royals are in a terrific vein of form having now won four matches in-a-row including a commanding performance last week against South Fremantle to be sitting in fourth position with a 7-3 record.
A win now on Sunday and East Perth could hold a top two position and could even move into top spot in the unlikely event that Claremont is upset by the West Coast Eagles on Saturday.
The Demons, meanwhile, are looking to snap a three-game losing slide and to attempt to win their third game of the 2023 season.
East Perth made it five straight wins against Perth with a 68-point win back in Round 3 of this season at Mineral Resources Park.
In that win, Jayden Peak, Mitch Schofield, Hamish Brayshaw, Tom Medhat and Mitch Crowden all kicked two goals apiece for East Perth.
Angus Scott racked up 36 touches, Angus Schumacher 32, Crowden 28, Christian Ameduri 27, Tom North 26, Brayshaw 26, Stan Wright 25, Kye Willcocks 23 and San van Diemen 20 to go with 10 tackles.
Oscar Bird kicked two goals for Perth while Charlie Thompson amassed 29 possessions, Corey Byrne 29, Trent Manzone 26, Michael Sinclair 26, Jack Cooley 25, Regan Clarke 25, Jacob Coniglio 23 and Conor McPartland 23.
That means the Royals have now won their past five matches with the Demons by an average of 44.2 points dating back to 2021.
Perth's last win against East Perth was the year when the Demons broke their finals drought back in 2020 with a 21-point win at Lathlain in Round 2 of that season.
Meanwhile, at Leederville Oval has seen East Perth also win the last two games against Perth and eight of the past nine dating back to 2013. The lone win for the Demons in that period was back in Round 12, 2019.
Following the opening 10 matches of the season, East Perth remains the highest scoring team in the WAFL averaging 91.7 points a game. However, the Royals are only ranked eighth defensively conceding 72.2 points a game.
Perth is ranked only ahead of the West Coast Eagles both for scoring and defending, putting up 63.2 points a game and giving up 87.6.
East Perth is also the biggest ball winning team in the competition averaging 357 disposals a game along with 41 more touches than their opponents. Perth, meanwhile, is the third biggest ball winning side with 345 touches but that has had them collecting two fewer disposals than their opposition.
East Perth is also still far and away the best starting team in the WAFL, having outscored their opponents by an average of 18 points a game so far this season. From there, the Royals are ranked seventh in second quarters, fifth in the third and fifth in the fourth.
Perth's best quarter has been the second so far this season despite still being outscored by 35 points by their opponents. The Demons are then only ranked better than the Eagles across the other three quarters this season so far.
FOLLOW AND WATCH THE GAME LIVE HERE THANKS TO AFL.COM.AU
WEST PERTH v SWAN DISTRICTS – SUNDAY 2.10PM
West Perth is trying to bounce back after a disappointing loss while also celebrating the 250th game of premiership captain Aaron Black but Swan Districts will attempt to spoil the party.
West Perth will be hosting Swan Districts at Pentanet Stadium on Sunday and while the Falcons have plenty of motivation trying to break back into the top five and celebrate Black's 250-game milestone, Swans arrive with plenty to play for as well.
Both teams come into the clash at Joondalup looking for a bounce back victory with both sitting outside the top five at present.
Swan Districts suffered its second heaviest loss of the season last week going down to East Fremantle by 24 points at the WACA Ground to now slip to a 3-7 record.
West Perth, meanwhile, lost to Subiaco by 55 points with the Falcons having now lost three of their past four matches to be sitting on a 5-5 record in their premiership defence.
That means there's no shortage of motivation for both teams coming into Sunday's clash.
Last time the two teams played was back in Round 3 of this season at Steel Blue Oval when West Perth handed Swan Districts yet another narrow defeat as the Falcons came away from Bassendean with the seven-point victory.
On that day, Tyler Keitel kicked five goals for West Perth and Nathan Murray three to go with 30 possessions.
Chris Jones and Jesse Palmer both kicked three goals apiece for Swan Districts with Jesse Turner racking up 36 touches, Jackson McLachlan 22, Jarvis Pina 21, Brandon Erceg 20, Ryan Kemp 17, Will Collins 17 and Nathan Blakely 17 to go with 17 hit outs.
West Perth has had the better overall of recent meetings with Swan Districts, but perhaps the best win Swans had in 2022 was in Round 19 at Steel Blue Oval by 12 points even though they went on to miss finals narrowly and the Falcons would ultimately win the premiership.
Prior to that and West Perth had won six straight against Swan Districts by an average of 24.2 points with the previous win by Swans coming back in Round 4, 2019.
Even going back beyond that and the Falcons had also won six of the past seven games with Swans.
So even though the majority of the games in the period have been tight and hotly contested affairs, West Perth has won 13 of the last 16 matches against Swan Districts dating back to 2015.
At Joondalup, West Perth has won its last three games hosting Swan Districts and 10 of the past 11 dating back to 2014. The last win for Swans at Joondalup came by 44 points back in 2019.
After playing the opening 10 games of the season, West Perth is still the third best attacking team in the WAFL despite sitting in sixth spot on the ladder. The Falcons have been averaging 84.1 points a game while they are ranked seventh giving up 70.9 points.
Swan Districts is then ranked seventh for both points for and against across the competition, scoring 72.2 points a game and giving up 72.1.
West Perth is the fifth highest ball winning team in the competition averaging 333 possessions a game while with 311, Swan Districts only has more touches a game than West Coast. The Falcons are averaging five more disposals a game than their opponents and Swans one more than theirs.
Over the course of the season, West Perth is the third best finishing team in the WAFL having outscored their opponents by 98 points in fourth quarters. The Falcons are then ranked fourth in first quarters, fifth in the second and eighth in the third.
Swan Districts, meanwhile, remains the second best starting team having outscored their opponents by 77 points in first quarters. However, Swans are then ranked nineth in second terms, sixth in the third and sixth in the last.