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NAIDOC Round WAFL PreviewFriday, July 7, 2023 - 1:18 PM - by Chris Pike
THE WAFL is back to a full round of fixtures this weekend to coincide with NAIDOC Week and all 10 competing clubs will be wearing specially designed Indigenous jumpers to mark the occasion.
NAIDOC Round in the WAFL has become one of the highlights of every season and not only with the contributions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island people be celebrated this weekend, but there's five fascinating match ups for Round 13 at the same time.
Across the five matches this Saturday afternoon, East Perth, Peel Thunder and Subiaco battle over a top two spot, Claremont tries to stay clear on top, Swan Districts and West Perth try to stay alive, and the bottom two teams also clash at Lathlain.
All five games are on Saturday afternoon with Subiaco playing Peel Thunder at Leederville Oval. The fourth placed Lions are attempting to bounce back from a loss to Claremont and Peel to score a third consecutive win with only percentage separating the two 8-3 teams.
Swan Districts is then at home to East Perth at Steel Blue Oval with the Swans needing to win to keep their finals hopes alive with the Royals attempting to consolidate second spot and score a sixth consecutive victory.
West Perth and East Fremantle will then lock horns at Joondalup's Pentanet Stadium in a battle of the teams who finished top two last year.
The Falcons' premiership defence is hanging by a thread in sixth position with the Sharks fifth but a huge percentage and two games clear following the 184-point hammering of the West Coast Eagles last Saturday.
Perth and the West Coast Eagles then clash in the battle of the Mineral Resources Park co-tenants.
The Demons are trying to score a third win for the season and snap a three-game losing run while the Eagles are still hunting their first win of 2023 having lost all 11 matches so far by an average of a monstrous 107 points.
Last up will be the traditional NAIDOC Round WAFL contest between South Fremantle and Claremont for the Jimmy Melbourne Cup at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.
South Fremantle is looking to snap a three-game losing slide and celebrate the 100th game of premiership defender Noah Strom while Claremont comes into the game clear on top of the ladder having won four straight.
WAFL TEAM OF THE WEEK – ROUND 12
It's the Colts action that starts the day on Saturday with the first match up between Swan Districts and East Perth at Steel Blue Oval from 8.40am.
Subiaco plays Peel Thunder at Leederville Oval at 9am, West Perth takes on East Fremantle at Pentanet Stadium at 9.10am with South Fremantle and Claremont also playing at 9.10am at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.
The corresponding Reserves matches then have Swans taking on the Royals at 11.10am, the Lions and Thunder beginning at 11.30am, and then at 11.40am, it's both the Falcons and sharks facing off, and the Bulldogs taking on the Tigers.
SUBIACO v PEEL THUNDER – SATURDAY 2.10PM
Precious little separates Subiaco and Peel Thunder coming into Saturday's match up at Leederville Oval as they attempt to break into the WAFL's top two or at least end the round in third position.
Both Subiaco and Peel come into Round 13 on 8-3 records this season with the Thunder only ahead of the Lions thanks just over five per cent so it shapes as a fascinating contest on Saturday at Leederville Oval.
Peel is coming into the game having won its last two matches including overrunning South Fremantle last week to win by 12 points while Subiaco is looking to hit back from a narrow defeat to Claremont.
The two teams have already met earlier this season back in Round 8 at Lane Group Stadium with Subiaco holding on in a thrilling finish to win by six points.
Ben Sokol kicked two goals in that narrow win for Subiaco with Liam Hickmott collecting 30 possessions, Stefan Giro 25, Rylie Morgan 22, Galen Savigni 19 and Zac Clarke 18 to go with 35 hit outs in the ruck.
Sam Sturt kicked two goals for the Thunder with Will Brodie amassing 30 touches, Neil Erasmus 25, Ben Hancock 24, Liam Henry 22 and Jacob Blight 20.
Before that and it's been a fascinating recent history between the two clubs since Peel beat Subiaco in both the 2016 and 2017 grand finals to win back-to-back premierships.
The Lions beat the Thunder seven straight times following the 2017 grand final before Peel then won both clashes in 2022 as they returned to finals and Subiaco missed out.
Considering both teams sit on 8-3 records and only 5.1 percentage points separates them on the ladder, not much is between them across most categories coming into the match up.
Peel is the best defensive team in the league giving up just 60.3 points a game but Subiaco isn't far behind in third place at 62.5 points. The Thunder are then fourth for scoring with 82.2 points and the Lions fifth at 82.1 points.
Peel is the fourth highest ball winning team with 337 disposals a game which is nine more than the teams they play against. Subiaco only has more of the ball than West Coast with 309 possessions which is four few than their opponents.
The Thunder are the best finishing team in the WAFL outscoring their opponents by an average of 14 points in last quarters across the season. Peel is then ranked second both in the second and third quarters, but they struggle to start ranking just eighth in opening stanzas.
Subiaco is the best third quarter team where they outscore their opposition by 80 points while the Lions come in third in second periods, fourth in the fourth and seventh in the first.
From the Subiaco team that narrowly lost to Claremont last Saturday, there are a host of players trying to force their way into the team to take on Peel this week.
Noah Ash, Henry Berenger, Lachlan Henderson, Corey Robinson, Lachlan Vanirsen and Jacob Wagenknecht are the players all added to the squad for Subiaco to take on Peel this Saturday.
The two players confirmed out for the Lions at this stage are Isaac Clinch and Josh Robbins.
There are plenty of changes again at Peel following last week's win against South Fremantle thanks to a strong finish.
Guy Barnes, Hugh Davies, Kyren Gavin, Haydn Matthews, James Sturrock, Corey Tregenza and Brody Wemm are the players all coming into the Peel's squad for the match up with Subiaco.
Going out of the Thunder team that beat the Bulldogs last week are Will Brodie, Josh Draper and Karl Worner.
FOLLOW AND WATCH THE GAME LIVE HERE THANKS TO AFL.COM.AU
SWAN DISTRICTS v EAST PERTH – SATURDAY 2.10PM
Swan Districts and East Perth are both fresh off the bye coming into Saturday's match up at Steel Blue Oval with Swans needing to keep their season alive and the Royals to consolidate second spot.
Both teams went into the bye in Round 12 on a high with Swans having scored their most impressive win of the season against West Perth at Joondalup while the Royals won a fifth straight match beating Perth by 110 points.
That leaves Swan Districts still needing to go on a winning run to stay in the finals race currently sitting on a 4-7 record while East Perth is sitting pretty in second position with those five consecutive victories at 8-3.
Swan Districts comes into the contest off the bye last weekend and prior to that scoring their best win of the season beating West Perth by 15 points at Joondalup.
That victory improved Swans to a 4-7 record on the season to remain a chance to still play finals in 2023 but they do need to keep winning and Saturday's game at Steel Blue Oval begins a run of five of the last seven matches on home turf.
East Perth comes into the game also off the bye last week on the back of a win by 110 points against Perth two weeks ago to improve to second position on the WAFL ladder with an 8-3 record having won five consecutive matches.
Last time the two teams played was in Round 1 this year and it was a thrilling one-point victory for East Perth over Swan Districts at Leederville Oval.
In that game, Lachlan Riley and Jesse Palmer kicked two goals each for Swan Districts while Aidan Clarke racked up 38 touches, Jesse Turner 36, Tobe Watson 25, Sam Fisher 25 and Jarvis Pina 21.
Tom Medhat kicked three goals for East Perth with Angus Scott, Mitch Schofield and Hamish Brayshaw adding two each with Brayshaw gathering 26 disposals, Angus Schumacher 21, Scott 21 and Alex Peare 20.
Prior to that result and Swans had beaten the Royals in three of the previous four meetings but before that and East Perth had won four in-a-row against Swan Districts.
At Steel Blue Oval, Swan Districts has won the last two clashes between the two teams by 23 points last year and then 41 back in 2021.
East Perth's last win at Bassendean came in Round 13, 2019 by eight points.
East Perth is the highest scoring team in the WAFL so far this season with 96.6 points a game. The Royals then come in sixth defensively with 69.0 points per game.
Swan Districts is placed seventh both for and against, scoring 72.2 points and then giving up 70.7.
The Royals are also the highest ball winning team across the competition collecting 359 possessions which is 49 more than the teams they play against. Swans pick up 313 disposals per game which is three more than the teams they face.
East Perth remains the best starting team as well outscoring their opponents by 190 points in the first quarters. The Royals then come in fifth in every other quarter across the season so far.
Swan Districts is also a strong starting team ranked third in first quarters outscoring their opposition by 98 points. Swans then are ranked ninth in second terms, sixth in the third and seventh in the last.
Swan Districts has made two changes to the team that beat West Perth so impressively two weeks ago at Joondalup.
Co-captain Chris Jones and lively midfielder Jackson McLachlan are the two players to come back into the Swan Districts after missing against the Falcons with a hamstring and concussion complaint respectively.
The two players to make way for them to return are Ryan Kemp and Max Chipper.
East Perth, meanwhile, has selected the same 22 that beat Perth by 110 points two weeks ago with Nick Bonomelli, Taylor North, Sandon Page and Riley Saunders the four emergencies who can't quite force their way into the side.
FOLLOW AND WATCH THE GAME LIVE HERE THANKS TO AFL.COM.AU
WEST PERTH v EAST FREMANTLE – SATURDAY 2.10PM
East Fremantle has the chance to all but end the premiership defence of West Perth on Saturday when the Sharks head to Pentanet Stadium for the first time since last year's second semi-final.
West Perth beat East Fremantle that day on the way to the premiership but now coming into Saturday's clash at Joondalup, it's the Sharks looking solid in the top five and the Falcons just trying to stay in touch.
West Perth had the bye last week and prior to that suffered losses to Swan Districts and Subiaco to slip to a 5-6 record as the reigning premiers in sixth position.
East Fremantle had a whopping 184-point win against West Coast last Saturday to make it consecutive wins with the Sharks consolidating fifth spot with a 7-4 record.
With the Sharks not only two games ahead of the Falcons on the ladder, but also 32.1 percentage points, and it's a virtual must-win game for West Perth at home to East Fremantle on Saturday.
Coming into Saturday's game and West Perth has won the past three meetings with East Fremantle including back in Round 5 this year at the WACA Ground by 16 points.
In that game, Mitch Dobson kicked four goals for West Perth and Luke Meadows two to go with 24 possessions. Shane Nelson also had 27 touches, Nathan Murray 27 and Ben Johnson 22.
Cody Leggett kicked three goals for East Fremantle and Luke English two with Cam Eardley finishing with 22 disposals, Jarrad Jansen 20 (17 hit outs), Jonathon Marsh 19 and Reuben McGuire 18 (21 hit outs).
Prior to that, West Perth also beat East Fremantle in last year's second semi-final at Joondalup on the way to the premiership in what was the first final the two teams had played in since the 2002 first semi-final.
And going back before that, the Falcons also beat the Sharks in Round 16 last year and have won 12 of the past 14 clashes between the two sides.
East Fremantle's lone wins in the past 14 meetings came in Round 21, 2021 and then Round 8, 2022.
On the back of last week's 184-point hammering of West Coast, East Fremantle is now the second highest scoring team in the WAFL with 92.9 points a game. The Sharks are fourth defensively conceding 63.2 points.
West Perth has now slipped to sixth in scoring this season at 81.6 points a game and then eighth defensively giving up 71.0 points.
Not much separates the two teams in terms of ball winning with East Fremantle picking up 336 possessions a game and West Perth 331. That has the Sharks winning 30 more touches than their opponents and the Falcons just two more than theirs.
East Fremantle is the best second quarter team across the WAFL where they outscore their opponents by 22 goals so far in 2023. The Sharks are also the second best team in first quarters, fourth in the third and sixth in the last.
West Perth's best quarter is the last where they outscore their opposition by 93 points but the Falcons are then played sixth in both first and second stanzas, and seventh in the third.
Despite a disappointing loss to Swan Districts also at home two weeks ago, West Perth has only made one change to its team after the bye last week.
Griffith Julian will come into the West Perth team to make his league debut against East Fremantle while Mitch Dobson goes out from the team that lost to Swan Districts.
East Fremantle had a monstrous 184-point win against West Coast last week at the WACA Ground, but the Sharks are making three changes coming into the clash with West Perth on Saturday.
Austin Ball, Hugh Dixon and Ben McGuire are the three players to all come back into the team for the Sharks to face the Falcons.
Going out of the side that beat the Eagles so emphatically are Luke English, Tom Joyce and Lennon Marlin.
FOLLOW AND WATCH THE GAME LIVE HERE THANKS TO AFL.COM.AU
PERTH v WEST COAST EAGLES – SATURDAY 2.10PM
Perth and the West Coast Eagles will be both desperate to win when they lock horns at Lathlain's Mineral Resources Park on Saturday.
The two teams occupy the bottom two positions on the ladder with Perth trying to win a third game for the season and West Coast a first in the WAFL since Round 10 last year.
The Demons are coming off the bye following a 110-point loss to East Perth as they look to improve on a 2-9 record while the Eagles are just trying to be competitive after losing to East Fremantle by 184 points last week to now have an average losing margin of 106.9 points this season.
The two teams have met now seven times previously with all seven of those clashes taking place at Mineral Resources Park just like this Saturday's match up will.
The first clash of this season was back in Round 5 and on that day, Perth scored its first win of the season to the tune of 97 points by kicking 18 goals to four.
In that game, Harry Quartermaine and Jaiden Hunter both kicked four goals each for the Demons with Simon Hayward and Regan Clarke adding two each.
Jack Avery was mighty impressive too with 33 possessions with Clarke gathering 33 touches, Jack Cooley 32, Charlie Thompson 29, Corey Byrne 28 and Matthew Taylor 28.
It was another tough afternoon for West Coast with the goals courtesy of Andries Mercer, Joey Deegan, Cooper Nitschke and Harry Barnett with Josh Browne collecting 36 touches, Ethan Hansen 26, Jackson Nelson 25, Alec Waterman 25 and Deegan 24.
That made it three straight wins for the Demons against the Eagles with Perth now having won five of the first seven meetings between the two teams. West Coast's last win against Perth was Round 17, 2021.
Given Perth and West Coast occupy the bottom two spots on the WAFL ladder, coming into Saturday's match up they are taking up the last two places across most categories across the season so far.
That includes on the scoring front with Perth ranked ninth with 60.7 points a game and the Eagles last at 45.9. It's the same with points conceded with the Demons giving up 92.9 and West Coast 152.8.
Perth has actually found plenty of the ball this season averaging 337 touches a game but that's still 14 fewer than the teams they play against. Meanwhile, West Coast is collecting just 276 possessions on average which comes up 127 less than their opponents.
Perth's best quarter across the season has been the second where they've only been outscored by 64 points but in every other term the Demons are only ranked ahead of the Eagles.
West Coast is coming up last in every quarter this season being outscored on average by 25 points in the first terms, 29 in the second, 20 in the third and 33 in the last.
Perth is chasing its third win of the season to move further clear of the bottom placed Eagles with the Demons having made five changes to the team that lost to East Perth by 110 points two weeks ago.
Coming back into the Demons line-up are dual fairest and best winner Corey Byrne along with 157-game veteran Trent Manzone and then also Jack Poole, Harry Quartermaine and Jye Clark.
There are some key players going out of the Perth side as well, though, with the loss of Regan Clarke, Connor Sing, Matthew Taylor, Conor McPartland and Ethan Bakic.
West Coast is hunting a first win since Round 10 last year with Harry Creasey, Jayden Johnstone, Tyler Mouritz and Riley Pobjoy coming back into the team to face the Demons on Saturday at Lathlain.
Going out of the Eagles team that lost to East Fremantle by 184 points are Tyrell Dewar and Jack O'Sullivan.
FOLLOW AND WATCH THE GAME LIVE HERE THANKS TO AFL.COM.AU
SOUTH FREMANTLE v CLAREMONT – SATURDAY 2.20PM
South Fremantle and Claremont renew their fascinating recent rivalry and continue their NAIDOC Week tradition on Saturday at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.
It's a rare occurrence for recent years that the two teams don't come into a contest without both teams sitting inside the top five, but that won't take away from the intrigue in the match up.
Claremont comes into the game sitting a game and percentage clear on top of the WAFL ladder on the back of beating Subiaco last week to make it four consecutive wins.
The season isn’t quite going as smoothly for South Fremantle who hold a 4-7 record but only two of those wins have counted officially as the Bulldogs try to snap a three-game losing slide in what is the 100th game of premiership defender Noah Strom on Saturday.
South Fremantle and Claremont began the NAIDOC Week concept in the WAFL back in 2007 by playing off for the Jimmy Melbourne Cup and with both teams wearing specially designed Indigenous themed jumpers to mark the occasions.
They have continued to do it every year since and will clash for the 17th time in NAIDOC Week this Saturday at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.
Claremont has won 10 of the previous 16 battles over the Jimmy Melbourne Cup since 2007 but South Fremantle has won the last three with two of those at home at Fremantle Community Bank Oval, and last year in a terribly wet day at Revo Fitness Stadium.
On top of the NAIDOC Round history between the two teams, there's a fascinating recent history with Claremont having now won two of the last three meetings including by 48 points earlier this year at Revo Fitness Stadium.
However, prior to that and the Bulldogs won three straight against the Tigers, eight of the previous 10 including the grand final of 2020, preliminary finals of 2019 and 2021, and qualifying finals of 2019 and 2021.
With Claremont coming into the game clear on top of the WAFL ladder, the Tigers are the second best defensive team in the competition conceding 61.3 points a game and third best in attack with 90.7 points.
South Fremantle comes in only ahead of Perth and West Coast for scoring with 63.6 points a game but fifth best defensively conceding 64.9 points.
Claremont is the second highest ball winning team with 349 possessions a game to have 44 more than their opponents. South Fremantle is seventh with 326 touches per game but that's still seven more than the teams they play.
Claremont gets better the longer games have been going throughout the season with the Tigers ranked second in fourth quarters where they outscore their opponents by an average of two goals. They are then ranked third in third terms, fourth in the second and fourth in the first.
It's the opposite case with South Fremantle with the Bulldogs ranked fifth for first quarters across the season and fifth in second stanzas, but then they are coming in just eighth in both the third and fourth terms to be just ahead of teams beneath them, Perth and West Coast.
South Fremantle is hunting a win to snap a three-game losing streak and will welcome back Brendon Ah Chee for Saturday's match up with Claremont for NAIDOC Round.
Jaxon Bellchambers, Seth Connor, Aaron Drage, Jermaine Pickett, Jacob Sax and George Wessels have all been added to the Bulldogs squad as well to take on the Tigers.
Going out of the South Fremantle team that lost to Peel last week are Jack Blechynden, captain Dylan Main and Matthew Parker.
There's little reason for change at Claremont on the back four consecutive wins to be a game and clear on top of the WAFL ladder coming into Round 13.
Ben Edwards, Steven Miller, Louis Passera and Felix Rogers have all been added to the Tigers squad for Saturday's match with South Fremantle but at this stage there are no outs from the side that beat Subiaco last Saturday.