Round 12 WAFL PreviewFriday, June 30, 2023 - 10:57 AM - by Chris Pike

CLAREMONT and Subiaco go to battle over top position in the WAFL on Saturday afternoon while also in Round 12 both South Fremantle and the West Coast Eagles will be trying to upset Peel Thunder and East Fremantle away from home.

There are just the three games again in Round 12 of the 2023 WAFL season and each match will be fascinating in their own way but without doubt the action is highlighted by top spot going on the line between the Tigers and Lions.

All three Round 12 matches take place on Saturday afternoon at 2.10pm with Claremont playing host to Subiaco at Revo Fitness Stadium.

The Tigers come into the clash in first place with an 8-2 record but they are only percentage ahead of the Lions so the winner of Saturday's match up will be a game clear in top position by the end of Round 12.

Peel Thunder and South Fremantle both return to action after a bye last weekend when they do battle at Mandurah's Lane Group Stadium.

Peel has a chance to move back to second position on the WAFL ladder with a victory while South Fremantle is attempting to snap a losing slide and to improve on a 4-6 record, but to add to their eight premiership points.

Then there is East Fremantle playing the West Coast Eagles at the WACA Ground. The Sharks have the chance to move two games clear inside the top five with a victory as they return from a bye while the Eagles are still attempting to end an 18-game losing streak.

East Perth, West Perth, Swan Districts and Perth all have the bye in Round 12 of the WAFL season.

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Meanwhile, Round 12 of the Colts sees Peel Thunder and South Fremantle do battle at Lane Group Stadium at 9.10am while at 5pm at Retravision Stadium in Albany, Claremont will be playing Subiaco.

The Round 12 Reserves matches both take place on Saturday at 11.40am with Claremont playing Subiaco at Revo Fitness Stadium, and Peel Thunder hosting South Fremantle in Mandurah.

 

CLAREMONT v SUBIACO – SATURDAY 2.10PM

Top spot in the WAFL goes on the line when Claremont plays host to Subiaco on Saturday at Revo Fitness Stadium.

Claremont returned to action last week after the bye and beat the West Coast Eagles by 91 points to replace Subiaco in top position on the ladder.

The Lions had the bye last weekend on the back of winning their past four matches against Swan Districts, Peel Thunder, West Coast and West Perth.

Depending on percentage and other results, the winner will finish the round in top spot on the WAFL ladder while the loser could be down as low as fourth so it's a significant clash for both teams.

Last time the two teams met was in Round 3 this year with Subiaco scoring the 24-point win against Claremont at Leederville Oval.

In that game, Ryan Borchet kicked five goals for Subiaco and Ben Sokol four with Liam Hickmott collecting 24 possessions, Drew Rohde 24, Taj Schofield 20 and Galen Savigni 19.

Tyron Smallwood and Bailey Rogers kicked two goals each for Claremont with Callan England gathering 25 disposals, Lachlan Martinis 23 and Ronin O'Connor 20 while Oliver Eastland got the better of Zac Clarke in the ruck with 23 touches and 33 hit outs.

Prior to that, Claremont did win both meetings last year with the Tigers on their way to the grand final with Subiaco missing out on finals altogether, but before that and the Lions had won 12 of the previous 13 clashes with Claremont dating back to 2015.

And at Revo Fitness Stadium, Claremont did beat Subiaco at home last year but prior to that and the Lions had won on their previous four visits to Tigerland dating back to before the redevelopment in 2013.

Given they occupy the top two spots on the ladder, it's no surprise that Claremont and Subiaco are high up there in most categories coming into Saturday's match up.

The Tigers are both the second best attacking and defending team in the WAFL, scoring 92.4 points a game and conceding 60.7. Subiaco is third in both areas scoring 83.6 points themselves and giving up 61.4.

Claremont is the second highest ball winning team with 355 touches a game to end up with 47 more per game than their opponents while Subiaco is only ranked better than West Coast with 313 disposals per match and three less than the teams they play against each week.

The Tigers are clearly the best finishing team in the league outscoring their opponents by an average of 15 points in final quarters so far in 2023. They are also the second best third quarter team and then coming in fourth across the first and second terms.

Subiaco, meanwhile, is the best third quarter team having outscored their opponents by 79 points across the season while the Lions are placed seventh in the first quarters, third in the second and fourth in the last.

From the Claremont team that beat West Coast by 91 points last Saturday, the Tigers have added four players to their squad to take on Subiaco this Saturday.

That includes Sandover Medallist Bailey Rogers along with Jason Carter, Steven Miller and Louis Passera with no players named out at this stage.

Subiaco is coming off the bye last week but prior to that had an emphatic win against West Perth.

From that team for the Lions, Noah Ash, Henry Berenger, Connor Faraone, Josh Robbins and Jacob Wagenknecht have all been added to the squad for the top-of-the-table clash with Claremont on Saturday.

The only out at this stage for Subiaco from the team that beat West Perth a fortnight ago is Jaimon Alone.

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PEEL THUNDER v SOUTH FREMANTLE – SATURDAY 2.10PM

Peel Thunder has the chance to return to the WAFL's top two against South Fremantle at Lane Group Stadium on Saturday with both teams returning to action.

Both Peel and South Fremantle had byes in Round 11 of the WAFL season with the Thunder winning last up against Perth by 19 points to snap a two-game losing slide while the Bulldogs suffered consecutive losses by going down to East Perth.

That means that coming into Saturday's clash in Mandurah and Peel will be looking to improve on its 7-3 record. A win could take the Thunder back into a top two position to go ahead of East Perth who has the bye and then the potentially the loser of the Claremont and Subiaco clash depending on percentage.

South Fremantle's 4-6 record doesn’t look too bad so far this season but if you take the eight premiership points off their tally and the Bulldogs are struggling to stay in finals contention as they look to bounce back from their last two losses to West Perth and East Perth before the bye.

It's been a fascinating recent history between the two clubs including back in Round 3 of this year when South Fremantle produced its best performance of the season so far to beat the Thunder by 44 points at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.

In that win for the Bulldogs, Jordan Gallucci kicked three goals, Brandon Donaldson two, Brendon Ah Chee two and Jacob Dragovich two while Chad Pearson picked up 28 touches, Dragovich 27, Ah Chee 27, Toby McQuilkin 26, Tom Blechynden 25, Donaldson 25 and Dylan Main 23 to go with 11 tackles.

Neil Erasmus collected 27 possessions for Peel, Clay Hall 27, Traye Bennell 26, Ben Hancock 25, Nathan Wilson 23 and Karl Worner 21.

Prior to that and the teams clashed in the elimination final last year also down at the port with Peel ending the season of South Fremantle with the nine-point win on the back of a dominant fourth quarter.

However, before that and South Fremantle had controlled things against Peel for the most part since the Thunder's win in the qualifying final of 2017 when they were on their way to securing back-to-back premierships.

After that, South Fremantle won seven of the next eight match ups before Peel scored the two wins to close 2022 in Round 17 and then in that elimination final.

South Fremantle has also won three of its last four visits to Mandurah to take on Peel as well along with six of the past eight dating back to 2016 even though the Thunder won the last time in Round 17 last year.

Coming into the round and Peel remains the best defensive team in the WAFL conceding just 60.1 points a game. 

The Thunder are also fourth in attack scoring 83.0 points a game while South Fremantle is doing well defensively conceding just 64.0 points. However, scoring has again been a concern for the Bulldogs with them ranked eighth with just 63.8 points a game so far in 2023.

Peel is the third highest ball winning team in the WAFL with 341 possessions a game and having 17 more touches each week than their opponents. South Fremantle is averaging 321 touches while their opponents are only having 0.8 fewer.

The Thunder generally get better the longer games go on in 2023. They are ranked just eighth in first quarters where they are outscored by 57 points so far this season.

But they are then ranked second in both second and fourth terms, and third in the third stanzas including outscoring their opponents by 137 points in last quarters.

South Fremantle is a bit the opposite with the Bulldogs ranked fifth in first quarters but seventh in second and they outscore their opposition by 17 points in first halves. However, they get outscored by 19 in second halves where they are ranked seventh across the WAFL.

Peel had a solid win two weeks ago to consolidate a top five position prior to the break and have some impressive inclusions now this week to take on South Fremantle at home.

Ty Anderson, Bailey Banfield, Will Brodie, Joel O'Driscoll, Michael Sellwood and Corey Tregenza are the players all added to the squad for the Thunder

The players out at this stage from the side that beat the Demons two weeks ago are forward pair Guy Barnes and Tom Emmett.

South Fremantle suffered a disappointing loss to East Perth two weeks ago prior to the bye but have some strong inclusions to take on Peel with in Mandurah on Saturday.

Premiership players Brock Higgins and Jimmy Miller are among the inclusions for the Bulldogs along with Jaxon Bellchambers, Chase Bourne, Toby Dodds, Aiden Hall and Jacob Sax.

Going out of the South Fremantle team that lost to East Perth two weeks ago are Jordan Boullineau, Solomon James and Jarrod Salmeri.

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EAST FREMANTLE v WEST COAST EAGLES – SATURDAY 2.10PM

East Fremantle has the chance to further consolidate their position inside the top five up against the winless West Coast Eagles on Saturday at the WACA Ground.

The Sharks are coming off the bye last weekend and prior to that had a strong bounce back win against Swan Districts also at the WACA.

West Coast had the bye two weeks ago and were back in action last Saturday with a 91-point loss to Claremont to remain winless in 2023 and having lost 18 straight dating back to last year.

The two teams have already played once this season back in Round 3 and on that day at Lathlain, East Fremantle hammered West Coast by 108 points.

In that game, Cody Leggett kicked five goals for the Sharks, Alex Montauban four, Austin Ball three, Dillon O'Reilly three and Josh Schoenfeld three.

Kyle Baskerville racked up 34 possessions, Milan Murdock 33, Tom Joyce 30, Tom Bennett 27, Harry Marsh 23, Schoenfeld 21 and Leggett 21.

Shannon Lucassen kicked two goals apiece for West Coast with Josh Browne amassing 30 touches, Jackson Nelson 29, Jed Kemp 24 and Alec Waterman 20.

That meant that the Sharks have now won the past three matches against the Eagles by an average of 97.7 points. 

West Coast did get a win in Round 12, 2021 but before that East Fremantle won by 125 points earlier in 2021 so the average winning margin in the four victories they've had over the Eagles is 104.5 points.

The Sharks have now won three straight against West Coast and four of the past five after the Eagles won three of their first four ever meetings while Saturday will present the last time they've ever met at the WACA Ground.

East Fremantle is currently the sixth best scoring team in the WAFL with 80.7 points a game while placed fifth defensively conceding 66.4 points.

The Sharks are just the sixth biggest ball winning team with 326 possessions a game while having 15 more touches than their opponents.

The Sharks are the best performing team across the competition in second quarters where they outscore their opponents by 97 points. They are then placed third in first terms, fifth in the third and just eighth in the last to only be ahead of Perth and West Coast.

Considering West Coast is winless with an average losing margin of 99.2 points, it's no surprise the numbers aren’t pretty this season right across the board for the Eagles.

They are ranked last in both attack and defence, scoring just 47.4 points a game and giving up a massive 146.6. They also collect the least number of possessions a game with just 279 to be the only team not to average 300 or more while their opponents have 400 against them.

West Coast is even the least accurate team in the competition kicking 67.61 goals so far and their overall percentage is just 48 per cent when you include rushed behinds.

West Coast is also the worst performing team in every quarter across the season being outscored by an average of 21 points in the first terms, 28 in the second, 18 in the third and 32 in the last.

East Fremantle had the bye last week and prior to that had a strong win against Swan Districts to consolidate their spot inside the top five.

From that, Lachlan Blakiston, Jack Cleaver, Tom Joyce, Cody Leggett and Milan Murdock have all been added to the squad to face West Coast on Saturday at the WACA Ground.

The only out at this stage for the Sharks from that team that beat Swan Districts a fortnight ago is Enrique Aiken-Feathersone.

There are plenty of changes at the Eagles once more as they chase a more competitive effort even if they did avoid another triple figure loss last Saturday with the 91-point defeat at the hands of Claremont.

Jordyn Baker, Dylan Chatley, Tyler Collins, Jack Downsborough and Daniel Frost are the players to come into the West Coast team to face East Fremantle on Saturday at the WACA Ground.

The five players to go out from the Eagles who lost to the Tigers last Saturday are Harry Barnett, Tyrell Dewar, Tyler Mouritz, Jack Stevens and the injured Zane Trew who made the WAFL Team of the Week last round.

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