Round 14 WAFL PreviewFriday, July 14, 2023 - 1:07 PM - by Chris Pike

ROUND 14 of the WAFL largely takes place on Sunday afternoon and is highlighted by the top of the table clash between Claremont and East Perth with the winner to end the weekend in first place no matter the result.

It's all set for another fascinating round in the WAFL this weekend and while that Royals and Tigers clash might be the main event, all other four matches are going to be intriguing in their own right at the same time.

There's only game on Saturday in Round 14 and it takes place in the evening at Lathlain's Mineral Resources Park following the WAFLW Grand Final between Claremont and East Fremantle.

It will feature the West Coast Eagles playing West Perth from 5.30pm, and while it's last year's wooden spooners against the reigning premiers, it'll be a lot more interesting than that suggests.

All other four matches take place on Sunday this weekend beginning with Perth playing host to South Fremantle at Mineral Resources Park. The two teams played out a thriller earlier in the year and there's every reason to suggest something similar on Sunday at 11.40am.

The other three games all begin at 2.10pm including East Fremantle and Peel Thunder doing battle over a top three position when they head to Country Builders Stadium in Geraldton.

The winner will be guaranteed of ending the round in a top three position with Peel even a chance to go into the top two ahead of the loser of the top of the table clash.

Speaking of that top of the table clash, it's East Perth against Claremont at Leederville Oval. The Tigers currently sit in first position at 10-2 while the Royals are 9-3 having won six in-a-row with the winner to close Round 14 in first place.

Then there is Swan Districts back home at Steel Blue Oval playing host to Subiaco. Swans might be sitting four games out of a top five position with six games to play but Subiaco is the team sitting in that fifth place and looking to bounce back from the last two losses to Claremont and Peel.

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Meanwhile, all four Round 14 Reserves matches take place on Sunday starting with Perth playing South Fremantle at 9.10am at Mineral Resources Park.

The other three matches all will begin at 11.40am with East Fremantle playing Peel Thunder in Mandurah, Swan Districts taking on Subiaco at Bassendean, and East Perth facing Claremont at Leederville.

The four Colts games are also all being played on Sunday with the first three beginning at 9.10am with East Fremantle facing Peel Thunder, Swan Districts playing Subiaco, and East Perth taking on Claremont.

The last game of the round begins at 2.30pm with the Demons and Bulldogs facing off at Lathlain.

 

WEST COAST EAGLES v WEST PERTH – SATURDAY 5.30PM

Last time West Coast and West Perth it was the reigning premier Falcons demolishing the Eagles by 169 points but there's every reason to expect a much tighter affair this Saturday night at Mineral Resources Park.

The two teams will do battle at the Lathlain venue following the WAFLW Grand Final and while it's the wooden spooners and premiers of last year taking one another on, there's lots of intrigue about the contest.

West Coast is still yet to win a game this year but went ever so close last week before having to settle for the draw with Perth scraping a point with a kick after the siren.

West Perth's premiership defence has never gained momentum, though, and now the Falcons coming into Round 14 in sixth position and three games behind the fifth placed Subiaco having lost their past three matches.

Saturday night's encounter will be the ninth meeting between the two teams in the WAFL with West Perth having won the past five, and six of the eight previously.

That included a 169-point massacre in Round 2 of this season with the Falcons beating the Eagles 34.13 (217) to 7.6 (48) at Joondalup.

In that win, Tyler Keitel had a day out kicking 10 goals as did Mitch Dobson with eight while Sasha Kernutt kicked five, Joe Hinder two, Zac Langdon two, Keegan Knott two and Aaron Black two.

Shane Nelson amassed 38 touches, Luke Meadows 29, Mitch Peirce 25, Black 25, Ben Johnson 24, Aidan Lynch 24 and Tristan Hobley 23.

It was slim pickings for West Coast with Shannon Lucassen kicking two goals with Jackson Nelson ending up with 29 disposals, Joey Deegan 23, Josh Browne 22, Zane Trew 20 and Coby Burgiel 20.

The two wins West Coast have had against West Perth came back in 2019 both in Round 14 and then in the elimination. 

Saturday night's game will be the third time they've played at Mineral Resources Park with West Coast winning back in 2019 at the venue while West Perth prevailed by 57 points in Round 14 last year.

West Coast will take great confidence out of going so close to that drought breaking victory last Saturday coming into this Saturday night's clash with West Perth back at Mineral Resources Park.

The Eagles have some impressive inclusions in that quest to knock off the reigning premiers as well with Harry Barnett, Greg Clark, Joey Deegan, Luke Foley, Callum Jamieson, Xavier O'Neill, Zane Trew and Isaiah Winder all coming into the team.

That without question gives West Coast its strongest line-up since beating South Fremantle for their last WAFL victory in Round 10 last year.

Going out for the Eagles from the team that drew with the Demons last Saturday are Tyler Collins, Jack Downsborough, Josh Edwards, Jayden Johnstone, Jed Kemp, Tyler Mouritz, Ethan Sambo and Zane Sumich.

Some of those were among their better performers last week with Kemp having made the WAFL Team of the Week, Sumich going forward to kick three goals and sambo had a significant impact when moved into the midfield. But that's the positive of having pressure on for spots finally.

West Perth's premiership defence is now clinging to life support following losing the past three matches to be three games behind the fifth placed Subiaco.

The Falcons have made three changes to take on West Coast on Saturday evening as well with Riley Sprigg, Koopah Todd and Blake Wilhelm coming back into the line-up.

Going out from the West Perth team that lost at home to East Fremantle last week are Tristan Hobley, Keegan Knott and Michael Mallard.

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PERTH v SOUTH FREMANTLE – SUNDAY 11.40AM

Perth and South Fremantle have played some thrilling contests in recent years and there's every reason to suggest more of the same this Sunday at Mineral Resources Park.

Not only have both teams played plenty of tight contests with one another in recent seasons including the first meeting of this year, but they are both coming off playing in nail-biters last week.

Perth only just managed to escape with a draw against the winless West Coast Eagles thanks to a kick after the siren from Kristian Cary last week.

South Fremantle once again did so much right for three quarters to be in control of the contest for a lot of the day against the league-leading Claremont at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.

However, Bailey Rogers kicked the last goal of the game to break the hearts of South Fremantle once more with the Bulldogs now slipping behind the Demons to second last spot on the ladder as a result with a 4-8 record yet only two of those wins have officially counted.

Perth is now in seventh position on the WAFL table with two wins, nine losses and a draw so far under new coach Peter German.

The two teams did battle earlier this season at Fremantle Community Bank Oval in Round 7 and the Demons were able to beat the Bulldogs in a thriller by four points.

On that day, Jaiden Hunter starred for Perth kicking five goals just before being picked up by Essendon while Charlie Thompson kicked two goals to go with 30 possessions and 12 tackles.

Jack Cooley also had 30 touches for the Demons, Jack Avery 25 and Corey Byrne 21.

Zac Strom kicked four goals in the narrow loss for South Fremantle with Caleb Datson, Brandon Donaldson and Jordan Gallucci adding two apiece.

Jake Florenca racked up 28 possessions for the Bulldogs, Tom Blechynden 24, Glenn Byron 22, Matthew Parker 22 and Chad Pearson 21.

Prior to that and South Fremantle had won the last three meetings with Perth including both clashes in 2022 but surprisingly despite how strong the Bulldogs have been in recent years, the Demons had beaten them in four straight matches.

Perth will have been left feeling it missed a golden opportunity last week for a third win of the season last week with the draw against West Coast, but the Demons have the chance for that victory now this Sunday against a team they've already beaten in 2023.

The Demons have made two changes for Sunday's match up with South Fremantle with Deklyn Grocott coming into the team to make his debut with Christian Martin also receiving a call up.

Going out of the side from the one that draw with West Coast last week are captain Michael Sinclair and Jack Evans.

South Fremantle has now suffered four straight losses to have slipped beneath Perth on the WAFL ladder with the Bulldogs getting back captain Dylan Main importantly for Sunday's clash with Perth at Lathlain.

Jack Blechynden, Jaren Carr, Solomon James, Mackenzie Nield, Roan O'Hehir and Jarrod Salmeri are the other players to receive the call up for South Fremantle to face Perth.

Going out from the Bulldogs team that lost another heartbreaker to Claremont last week are Brendon Ah Chee, Brock Higgins and Jaxon Bellchambers.

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EAST FREMANTLE v PEEL THUNDER – SUNDAY 2.10PM

Two teams rock solid in the top five head to Geraldton on Sunday to do battle in what shapes as another tantalising Round 14 WAFL match up.

The Sharks and Thunder are two teams trying to finish as high up in the top five as possible making Sunday's clash in Geraldton all the more important.

Both teams have now won their past three matches as well with Peel coming into the game third position with a 9-3 record with East Fremantle only just behind at 8-4 but with a superior percentage.

Peel has won three of the past four meetings with East Fremantle including the first clash of this season back in Round 1 in Mandurah. The Sharks were in control all day on Good Friday before Peel kicked the only four goals of the last quarter to snatch the four-point victory.

Sam Sturt, Brody Wemm, Josh Corbett and Neil Erasmus all kicked two goals each for the Thunder in the win with Will Brodie amassing 37 touches, Karl Worner 27, Michael Sellwood 21, Traye Bennell 20, Corey Wagner 20, Ben Hancock 19 and Josh Treacy 18 to go with 13 hit outs.

Luke English kicked three goals for East Fremantle, Brayden Lawler two against the team he played in two premierships with, Eddie Simpson two and Tom Bennett two. Milan Murdock also had it 29 times, Kyle Baskerville 25, Cam Eardley 24, Reuben McGuire 21, Josh Schoenfeld 21 and Harry Marsh 21.

Prior to that and East Fremantle did win in Round 10 last year at the WACA Ground but Peel had won the previous two meetings, and going back even further 13 of the past 16 dating all the way back to the start of 2015.

East Fremantle will be looking to keep its winning run going by heading to Geraldton to play Peel on Sunday with Lachlan Blakiston coming into the Sharks team to carry the ruck.

Ryan Lester-Smith will also make his return for his first game of the season after building his form and health back in the reserves with Lennon Marlin, Kale Paton and Josh Schoenfeld the other Sharks players added to the squad.

The only out at this stage for East Fremantle from the team that beat West Perth at Joondalup last week is Cody Leggett.

There are plenty of changes at the Thunder and a lot of them forced due to the significant changes at AFL level from the Fremantle Dockers.

Guy Barnes, Josh Draper, Tom Emmett, Clay Hall, Jacob Hewitt, Max Knobel, James Sturrock, Reece Torrent, Corey Tregenza, Brody Wemm and Conrad Williams are the players all added to the Thunder squad to face the Sharks in Geraldton.

Going out of the Peel team that beat Subiaco last Saturday are Bailey Banfield, Joel Hamling, Nathan O'Driscoll, Michael Sellwood, Ethan Stanley, Sam Sturt and Corey Wagner.

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SWAN DISTRICTS v SUBIACO – SUNDAY 2.10PM

Swan Districts remains home at Steel Blue Oval looking for a bounce back victory and to hand the fifth placed Subiaco a third successive defeat in the process.

Swan Districts is coming off a tough loss also at home last week against East Perth with the eventual 48-point defeat leaving the black-and-whites on a 4-8 record for the season to be four games behind the fifth placed Subiaco coming into Sunday's game.

Going back to last week and the goals for Swans came from Jesse Palmer, Chris Jones, Jackson McLachlan and Jiah Reidy.

Jesse Turner racked up 44 possessions, Aidan Clarke 31, McLachlan 27, Jarvis Pina 24, Tobe Watson 18, Josh Cipro 17 and Nathan Blakely 17 to go with 25 hit outs in the ruck.

Subiaco is also coming off a loss to Peel Thunder at Leederville Oval last Saturday by 14 points after conceding the last two goals to now be sitting in fifth position on the WAFL ladder with an 8-4 record.

Ben Golding was Subiaco's lone multiple goalkicker last week with two while captain Leigh Kitchin collected 26 possessions, Taj Schofield 25, Stefan Giro 20, Liam Hickmott 19 and Drew Rohde 19.

Last time the two teams met was in Round 7 of this season and it was yet another heartbreaking loss for Swan Districts.

This time it was by just four points with Subiaco holding on to win the thriller at Leederville Oval.

On that day, Ben Sokol kicked two goals for Subiaco in a fascinating battle all afternoon with Tobe Watson while Liam Hickmott collected 34 possessions for the Lions, Max Walters 20, Jaxon McGowan 19, Wil Hickmott 17, Drew Rohde 17 and Rylie Morgan 17.

It was ultimately ruckman Zac Clarke who was the major difference between the two teams with him finishing with 26 disposals, 48 hit outs, nine marks and three tackles.

Aidan Clarke was playing his first game back from a hamstring injury and was tremendous for Swan Districts with 31 possessions, seven inside 50s, five marks and two goals.

Jarvis Pina also finished with 23 touches for Swans, Jackson McLachlan 22, Josh Cipro 19 and Tobe Watson 18.

Going back beyond that game between the two teams and they have split the past four matches with two wins apiece, but prior to that the Lions beat the Swans on 12 consecutive occasions.

That winning run for Subiaco against Swan Districts started back in Round 5, 2016 with the 12th straight victory coming in Round 7, 2021 before Swans broke through against the Lions with a one-point win in Round 12, 2021.

The last time the teams played at Steel Blue Oval was in Round 10 last year when Swan Districts scored a 51-point win against Subiaco. However, the Lions had won on their previous six visits to the Bassendean venue prior to that.

Swan Districts is chasing a bounce back victory at home on Sunday to Subiaco with Jesse Glass-McCasker, Riley Hardeman, Lawson Humphries and Ryan Kemp all added to the squad along with potential debutant Tom Smith.

The only out for the black-and-whites at this stage from the team that lost to East Perth last week also at Steel Blue Oval is the injured Greg Ottaviano.

Subiaco has made three changes for Sunday's match up with Swan Districts at Steel Blue Oval with Noah Ash, Lachlan Henderson and Koltyn Tholstrup all into the team.

Going out for the Lions from the team that lost to the Thunder last Saturday are Angus Dewar, Michael Braut and Corey Robinson.

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EAST PERTH v CLAREMONT – SUNDAY 2.10PM

Top spot in the WAFL goes on the line on Sunday afternoon at Leederville Oval with East Perth playing host to Claremont.

Both teams come into the clash in impressive form with East Perth on a six-game winning and Claremont having won five in-a-row and now the winner of the contest will end the round in first position.

Claremont snatched another win late last Saturday against South Fremantle to improve to a 10-2 record on the season to remain a game clear of East Perth in top spot, but it's only with a percentage game of 0.43.

So a win for the Royals on Sunday will see them leapfrog the Tigers into first position if they can win seven straight game for the first time since 2014.

Claremont has dominated recent proceedings between the two teams and that's no surprise with the Tigers having played in finals in each of the last five years including making two of the past three grand finals.

East Perth, on the other hand, the Royals haven't played in the finals since 2018 and haven’t won one since the 2015 first semi-final so it makes sense that the Tigers have had the best of things lately.

While the two teams have split their past four meetings, prior to that Claremont beat East Perth in seven straight matches so coming into Sunday's the Tigers have beaten the Royals nine of the last 11 times.

The earlier meeting this season was in Round 5 at Revo Fitness Stadium and that was a fascinating contest with East Perth kicking the first six goals of the game before Claremont eventually overran them to score the 13.13 (91) to 12.12 (84) victory.

On that day, Bailey Rogers kicked three goals for Claremont, Zac Mainwaring two and Talon Delacey two. Jye Bolton racked up 32 touches, Callan England 25, Ben Elliott 24, Lachlan Martinis 22 and Teia Miles 21.

Nick Bonomelli, Angus Scott, Mitch Schofield and Angus Schumacher all kicked two goals apiece for East Perth with Tom North picking up 35 disposals, Nick Robertson 27, Hamish Brayshaw 23, Schumacher 22 and Mitch Crowden 21.

East Perth has added versatile big man Nick Bonomelli to the squad to face Claremont on Sunday at Leederville Oval along with Adam Boules, Taylor North, Sandon Page and Riley Saunders.

The only player going out at this stage for the Royals from the team that won impressively against Swen Districts last week at Steel Blue Oval is Zach Raykos.

Claremont has added Jason Carter, Declan Hardisty, Steven Miller and Max Mumme to its squad that snatched the late win against South Fremantle last Saturday with no players out at this stage to take on East Perth on Sunday at Leederville Oval.

FOLLOW AND WATCH THE GAME LIVE HERE THANKS TO AFL.COM.AU