Round 15 WAFL PreviewFriday, July 21, 2023 - 10:33 AM - by Chris Pike

WITH a grand final rematch between Claremont and West Perth along with two other top four teams doing battle with Peel Thunder hosting East Perth, and two more intriguing contests and it's going to be a fascinating Round 15 in the WAFL.

All four WAFL matches for Round 15 take place on Saturday afternoon with East Perth and Claremont continuing to fight over top spot, Peel Thunder attempting to break back into the top three, Subiaco trying to stop a losing slide, and West Perth and Swan Districts just trying to stay alive.

The action gets underway on Saturday at 12.10pm at Mandurah's Lane Group Stadium with Peel Thunder playing host to the league-leading East Perth.

The Thunder are looking to bounce back from a loss in Geraldton to East Fremantle and even have a chance to end up as high as second by Saturday night with a win. East Perth, meanwhile, will maintain top spot with an eighth consecutive victory.

All other three WAFL matches take place at 2.10pm on Saturday afternoon with Subiaco taking on Perth at Leederville Oval. The Lions need to snap a three-game losing slide to maintain their hold on fifth position with the Demons looking to win a first game since Round 7.

Next up is a grand final rematch between Claremont and West Perth at Revo Fitness Stadium. The two teams did battle back in Round 1 following last year's grand final and the Tigers will be looking to repeat the dose from that victory.

Claremont comes into the game in second position on the WAFL ladder and attempting to hit back from last week's loss to East Perth with a chance to return to top spot in the process. West Perth, meanwhile, just needs to win to remain any chance of still playing finals in 2023.

Last up in Round 15 of the WAFL takes place at Steel Blue Oval with Swan Districts playing host to the West Coast Eagles. 

Swans scored an important and heart stopping win against Subiaco last week to maintain any hopes of reaching the finals while the winless Eagles were vastly more competitive also against West Perth last Saturday night. 

South Fremantle and East Fremantle both have the bye in Round 15 with each of them coming off wins last weekend against Perth and Peel Thunder respectively.

WAFL TEAM OF THE WEEK – ROUND 14

ROUND 14 WAFL WRAP

The day begins on Saturday with two Colts matches beginning at 9.10am with Subiaco playing Perth at Leederville Oval and Claremont taking on West Perth at Revo Fitness Stadium.

The other Colts match for Round 14 takes place on Saturday at 3pm at Lane Group Stadium between Peel Thunder and East Perth.

All three Reserves matches begin on Saturday morning firstly with Peel and East Perth doing battle in Mandurah from 9.40am. The other two matches start at 11.40am with Subiaco playing Perth, and Claremont taking on West Perth.

 

PEEL THUNDER v EAST PERTH - SATURDAY 12.10PM

East Perth will be looking to remain the hottest team in the WAFL on Saturday when heading south to Lane Group Stadium to take on Peel Thunder.

East Perth made it seven straight wins last Sunday with the win against Claremont which improved the Royals to a 10-3 record this season to now sit in top spot on the ladder.

However, to maintain that spot the Royals do need to keep winning while Peel is attempting to bounce back from a loss in Geraldton to East Fremantle last Sunday.

Peel comes into this Saturday's game in Mandurah sitting in fourth position with a 9-4 record but with a win they will sit at least third by the end of Round 15 and potentially even as high as second depending on other results.

The two teams last met earlier this season in Round 4 at Leederville Oval with Peel proving too strong on that occasion for East Perth winning by 33 points.

In that win, Tom Emmett kicked three goals for Peel with Sebit Kuek and Ben Middleton adding two each. Karl Worner gathered 33 disposals, Nathan Wilson 26, Ben Hancock 22, Jacob Blight 19, Brady Grey 19 and Blair Bell 19.

Nick Bonomelli kicked two goals for East Perth with Hamish Brayshaw racking up 30 disposals, Angus Scott 27, Mitch Crowden 25, Tom North 24, Angus Schumacher 23 and Kye Willcocks 20.

That was a third straight win for Peel against East Perth as well with the Thunder winning both meetings in 2022 by a combined 118 points.

The last win for East Perth against Peel was back in Round 12, 2021 but even prior to that and the Thunder had won the first clash in 2021.

That means coming into Saturday's contest in Mandurah that Peel has four of the past five matches against East Perth.

Peel will be looking to bounce back from last week's loss to East Fremantle in Geraldton and have made six changes coming into Saturday's clash with East Perth at Lane Group Stadium.

Ty Anderson, Guy Barnes, Heath Chapman, Jacob Hewitt, Jonathon Ietto and debutant Corey Tregenza are the Peel players coming into the side.

Going out of the team that lost in Geraldton to East Fremantle last week are Josh Corbett, Josh Draper, Ben Hancock, Sebit Kuek, Riley Smith and Ethan Stanley.

East Perth will be attempting to make it an eighth straight win in Mandurah on Saturday with the Royals making two changes to take on Peel Thunder.

Nick Bonomelli will come back into the East Perth team to add some extra size with Ethan Regan coming into to play a role down back.

Going out of the Royals team that beat Claremont last week to shoot to the top of the WAFL ladder are defensive duo Jacob Msando and Corey Watts.

WATCH LIVE ON CHANNEL 7 FROM 12.00PM AND FOLLOW HERE
 

 

SUBIACO v PERTH - SATURDAY 2.10PM

Subiaco will be desperate for a win to stop a three-game losing slide and to make it 14 in-a-row against Perth but the Demons won't be short on motivation as coach Peter German returns to the home ground of the club he created such a legacy at.

While German did already coach against Subiaco for the first time to start his tenure at Perth back in Round 1, Saturday will present the first time he's back at Leederville Oval as a visiting coach against the Lions having coached them between 2003-06 and winning two premierships along the way.

Saturday's game is a crucial won for Subiaco though. The Lions remain in fifth position on the WAFL ladder but they have lost their past three matches to now be just two games clear in that spot and not quite secure of playing finals.

A win on Saturday will be a significant step towards the Lions returning to the finals this season but the Demons will be equally as hungry to score their third win of the season and first since Round 7, and first against Subiaco since 2016.

The two teams met to start the season in Round 1 at Mineral Resources Park and it was a fascinating game where Perth started strongly at home but eventually Subiaco whittled them down to score the 11.15 (81) to 8.7 (55) victory.

In that eventual win for Subiaco, Ben Sokol kicked five goals with Michael Braut and Max Walters adding two each with Stefan Giro gathering 31 disposals, Max Walters 25, Liam Hickmott 23, Drew Rohde 23, Jaxon McGowan 20 and Zac Clarke 19 to go with 44 hit outs.

Jacques Barwick and Conor McPartland kicked two goals each for Perth with Corey Byrne picking up 33 touches, Matt Taylor 26, Trent Manzone 25, Charlie Thompson 23, Michael Sinclair 21 and McPartland 21.

That made it 13 consecutive wins for Subiaco against Perth which have come by an average of 51.8 points across that winning streak.

The last win for the Demons against the Lions was back in Round 16, 2016 and even before that and Subiaco had seven in-a-row against them so coming into Saturday's game and the Lions have won 20 of the past 21 games against the Demons.

Subiaco is attempting to snap a three-game losing streak and will call up Angus Dewar, Connor Faraone and Luker Kentfield for Saturday's clash at home with Perth.

The three players going out of the Subiaco team from the one that lost narrowly to Swan Districts last Sunday at Bassendean are Lachlan Henderson, Jaxon McGowan and Max Walters.

Perth has made two changes to its team coming into Saturday's match up with Subiaco at Leederville Oval with ruckman Dakota Baldwin-Wright and captain Michael Sinclair making their returns.

Going out for the Demons from the line-up that lost at home to South Fremantle last Sunday are Christian Martin and Harry Quartermaine.

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

 

CLAREMONT v WEST PERTH - SATURDAY 2.10PM

It's a grand final rematch at Revo Fitness Stadium on Saturday with plenty on the line for both teams with Claremont attempting to reclaim top spot and West Perth to stay in the finals race.

The two teams have had differing fortunes so far this season on the back of playing off in last year's grand final which West Perth was able to win at Leederville Oval to set off some remarkable scenes.

Since then, Claremont has kept its strong form going to currently sit in second position on the WAFL ladder coming into Round 15 only conceding top spot with a loss to East Perth last Sunday.

West Perth, meanwhile, did keep its finals hopes alive last Saturday night beating West Coast by 28 points but the Falcons were outscored after kicking the first eight goals so it wasn’t quite the confidence boosting win they were hoping.

Claremont now has the chance to move back into top spot with a win on Saturday should East Perth lose to Peel while West Perth needs the win to stay a chance of sneaking into the top five currently sitting two games behind the fifth placed Subiaco.

The two teams started this season with a grand final rematch at Joondalup's Pentanet Stadium and this time Claremont was able to get a measure of revenge with the 14-point victory against West Perth.

In that game, Claremont didn't have a multiple goal scorer despite the win with Jye Bolton finishing with 28 possessions, Lachlan Martinis 26, Teia Miles 23, Ben Edwards 22 and Callan England 21.

Mitch Dobson was West Perth's only multiple goal scorer kicking two while Luke Meadows had 26 possessions, Ben Johnson 24, Shane Nelson 22, Conal Lynch 22, Tristan Hobley 20 and Mitch Peirce 20.

It was West Perth who won that grand final last year at Leederville Oval to claim the premiership but prior to that, it was Claremont who won the previous three meetings between the two teams including the first two clashes of 2022.

Going back further and the Tigers beat the Falcons in five of the past six so coming into this Saturday's clash, Claremont has won six of the previous eight against West Perth. It just happens to be the biggest meeting of them all was won by West Perth in last year's grand final.

Coming into Saturday's grand final rematch with West Perth at Revo Fitness Stadium, Claremont has recalled Sam Alvarez, Steven Miller and Max Mumme while Finn Moloney and Menno Inverarity will both come in to make their WAFL debuts.

Going out of the Tigers team that lost to East Perth last Sunday are Ben Elliott, George Graham, Max Minear, Ronin O'Connor and Joel Western.

West Perth has made four changes for the grand final rematch on Saturday afternoon with Tristan Hobley, Sasha Kernutt, Aidan Lynch and Rohan Scurria all coming back into the team.

Going out of the line-up that beat the West Coast Eagles last Saturday night for West Perth are Kane Bevan, Zarne Robis, Sam Rotham and Blake Wilhelm. 

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

 

SWAN DISTRICTS v WEST COAST EAGLES - SATURDAY 2.10PM

Whatever slim hopes there are of Swan Districts staying in the WAFL finals race for 2023, they have to beat the West Coast Eagles on Saturday afternoon at Steel Blue Oval.

Swans maintained their outside chance of sneaking into the finals this season by beating Subiaco in a thriller by two points last Sunday with the Lions occupying that fifth position they are attempting to chase down.

Now Swan Districts will look to continue its run of never having lost to West Coast in the WAFL on Saturday at Steel Blue Oval with the black-and-whites improving to a 5-8 record as a result.

That leaves Swans three games behind the fifth placed Subiaco but should they keep winning and the Lions continue losing, anything is possible.

West Coast, meanwhile, is coming off its most competitive performance of the season last Saturday night where the Eagles outscored West Perth after conceding the first eight goals of the game to lose by just 28 points. 

Swan Districts made it seven straight wins against West Coast by winning their first meeting of the season back in Round 8 at Steel Blue Oval with the black-and-whites winning by 81 points.

In that win, Tom Edwards kicked a career-best six goals for Swan Districts with Jiah Reidy and Lachlan Riley also adding two apiece.

Jesse Turner racked up 37 possessions for Swans, Aidan Clarke 36, Jackson McLachlan 32, Riley 27, Jarvis Pina 24, Nathan Blakely 23 (21 hit outs), Jehb O'Donohue 19 and Ryan Kemp 19.

Harry Barnett kicked two of the five goals in the game for West Coast with Josh Browne gathering 30 touches, Jackson Nelson 23, Darby McCarthy 20, Ethan Hansen 20, Campbell Chesser 19 and Harry Creasey 19.

All seven previous games the two teams have played with one another have all taken place at Steel Blue Oval with Swans winning all of them dating back to 2019 by an average of 35 points.

Swan Districts has made no changes to the team that beat Subiaco by two points also at Steel Blue Oval last Sunday. Mitch Bain, Riley Hardeman, Ben Hewett and Ethyn Kane are the four emergencies for the game.

That's the good news, but it still means that Swans are without Greg Ottaviano, Brandon Erceg, Jarrod Cameron, Sam Fisher, Will Collins and Seb Bright.

West Coast has made another five changes coming into Saturday's match up with Swan Districts at Bassendean with Jarrod Garlett, Jed Kemp, Andries Mercer, Josh Rotham and Zane Sumich coming into the team.

Going out from the Eagles team that put in their most competitive performance of the season last Saturday night against West Perth are Rhett Bazzo, Jack Eastough, Luke Edwards, Luke Foley and Xavier O'Neill.

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