WAFL Round 12 PreviewThursday, June 6, 2013 - 4:00 PM - by Chris Pike

THERE might be just three games in WAFL Round 12 action on Saturday but all are crucial clashes as the top-two teams look to bounce back, two sides near the bottom look to consolidate wins last weekend and then two mid-table sides look to get back towards the top-four.

West Perth hosts Claremont at Arena Joondalup with the Falcons and Tigers trying to bounce back from losses last weekend to East Perth and Subiaco respectively despite still sitting in the top-two positions on the WAFL ladder.

Subiaco takes on South Fremantle at Leederville's Medibank Stadium with the Lions coming off a win over Claremont and the Bulldogs having thumped East Fremantle last weekend.

The other match of the weekend sees East Fremantle host Peel Thunder at East Fremantle Oval with Perth, East Perth and Swan Districts having the bye.

WEST PERTH (6-3, 2nd) v CLAREMONT (9-1, 1st) – ARENA JOONDALUP, SATURDAY 2.10PM

Selected teams

West Perth and Claremont have combined for just four losses this season, but two of them came last weekend adding some extra bite to this Saturday's clash at Arena Joondalup.

The Falcons and Tigers occupy the top-two spots on the ladder but Saturday's game looms as a crucial one for the winner, and indeed the loser.

Claremont could move four wins clear of West Perth on the ladder with a victory to make it incredibly hard for any side in the second half of the season to knock the Tigers off for a fourth straight minor premiership.

However, a West Perth win would move the Falcons to just two wins behind Claremont but more importantly only one defeat with a game in hand.

A Falcons loss, though, would see them vulnerable to the teams below with Perth and East Perth just the one win behind, and possibly East Fremantle as well if the Sharks beat Peel on Saturday.

Claremont won its first nine games of the season and looked set to record a 10th straight last Sunday at home to Subiaco, but the Tigers didn’t manage a final quarter goal with the Lions finishing the stronger to end up winning by 10 points.

West Perth was sitting pretty with a 6-2 record and led most of the game last Monday in the Foundation (WA) Day derby against East Perth at Leederville, but then also didn’t manage a goal in the last quarter as the Royals kicked six to win by 19 points.

Neither the Tiger nor Falcons kicked a last quarter goal in their losses last weekend so leading at three quarter-time come Saturday at Arena Joondalup could be crucial in the final result.

Claremont has won the last four encounters with West Perth including a hard fought 19-point win at Claremont Oval in Round 6 this season in what was a terrific contest.

West Perth has lost captain Jason Salecic following Monday's loss to East Perth and the Falcons are confident that prolific midfielder Shane Nelson will be right to take his place in the side despite injuring his ankle midway through the last quarter after already having racked up 27 possessions.

Matt Fowler, Brayden Antonio, Shaun Marusic and James Batterham are all making a strong push to come into the West Perth league side.

Fowler kicked five goals in the reserves last week against East Perth for the second straight game and could come in to add another forward option for the Falcons.

Antonio has been building some form nicely as well and had another 23 possessions in the reserves and he could be an option to come in, and he can play across half-forward and have the odd run in the midfield.

Batterham and Marusic have both been in solid form as well and could come in to add some further versatility to the West Perth line-up.

Claremont is still without Luke Blackwell, Trinity Handley, Jeremy McGovern, Byron Schammer and Ryan Neates, and also loses Fremantle's Alex Silvagni and West Coast's Patrick McGinnity from the side that lost to Subiaco last Sunday.

Nick Winmar returns after being a late withdrawal last week against the Lions while Ben Daniher might have earned his league debut after continued strong reserves form with another 18 possessions and a goal last week.

Jack Bradshaw could return to add another small forward option after a bad run with niggling injuries while Liam Smith could also return. Brendan Lim is a chance to make his league debut as well after 18 disposals in the reserves last week against the Lions.

EAST FREMANTLE (4-5, 5th) v PEEL THUNDER (3-6, 8th) – EAST FREMANTLE OVAL, SATURDAY 2.10PM

Selected teams

Peel Thunder has only ever one once in its history in 17 attempts at East Fremantle Oval but will come to Shark Park this Saturday confident of continuing its strong form before the bye and taking advantage of a Sharks side still rattled from a heavy Foundation Derby defeat.

Prior to last week's bye, Peel had built some good form not only with the Round 10 win over East Perth by 18 points at Mandurah's Bendigo Bank Stadium, but having won three of its last five games.

Peel lost its first four games of the season in a far from ideal start, but had its chances to win three of those games and finally got over the line at home to Swan Districts by 14 points in Round 6.

The Thunder then put in a terrific effort before narrowly going down to Claremont the next week before a nine-point win over Subiaco in Round 8. Peel fell short against South Fremantle then in Round 9, but bounced to beat East Perth and have plenty of confidence building.

They now had the chance to freshen up last week while East Fremantle went down in the Foundation Derby at home to South Fremantle by 67 points in a disappointing performance.

East Fremantle's form at home this season has been a concern and that continued last week following earlier losses to Swan Districts, East Perth and West Perth.

The Sharks' only win at home this season came against Subiaco in Round 4 by 69 points, but having lost four games at East Fremantle Oval in 2013 already should give Peel plenty of added confidence of recording the club's second ever victory at the venue.

Peel's only win at East Fremantle Oval came way back in Round 18, 2001 by 12 points.

East Fremantle will make at least three changes to the side that didn’t give a whimper in the Foundation Derby with West Coast's Brad Dick having injured a hamstring just before half-time in that game, and Jacob Brennan is also in the mix to play for the Eagles against St Kilda on Sunday.

James Depane is also out of the Sharks' line-up with plenty of players pushing for a call-up.

Former Fremantle and St Kilda AFL veteran Brett Peake played reserves last week for the Sharks and had just 14 possessions, but could come in to take on Peel with West Coast midfielder Bradd Dalziell also set to return.

Exciting small forward Godfrey Curley could come in to replace Dick while Tyler Chalwell, Tom Hooker and Jayden Schofield are also making a case to coach Steve Malaxos to come into the league side.

Peel Thunder is coming off a bye following an 18-point win at home over East Perth a fortnight ago and the boys from Mandurah have actually built some nice form now so will head to East Fremantle Oval full of confidence of recording their fourth win of the season, and fourth since Round 5.

Peel does lose Fremantle ruckman Craig Moller meaning Kyle Westwood will be left to carry the ruck load but East Fremantle is probably the team least equipped to handled that, and the Thunder have every reason to expect Westwood to be able to more than hold his own against Cameron Symonds and Fraser MacDougall.

Fremantle midfielder Viv Michie is also out of the Peel side but the Thunder do have some more than handy inclusions with former North Melbourne midfielder Cruize Garlett heading that list coming in after missing the clash with East Perth a fortnight ago.

Dockers defender Peter Faulks also returns to further strengthen Peel's defence with Mitch Green, Liam McKenna and Corey Morris pushing for selection.

SUBIACO (4-5, 7th) v SOUTH FREMANTLE (2-8, 9th) – MEDIBANK STADIUM, SATURDAY 2.10PM

Selected teams

http://www.wafl.com.au/games/view/9461

Subiaco and South Fremantle both had its best performances of the season last Sunday with both looking to keep that form going at Leederville's Medibank Stadium on Saturday.

Subiaco became the first team this season to beat Claremont by kicking the only four goals of the last quarter to come back from trailing all afternoon to win by 10 points at Claremont Oval.

The Lions have now won consecutive games for the first time this season having also beaten Swan Districts the previous week by 13 points at Bassendean's Steel Blue Oval.

Subiaco had been struggling up to that point, but now has improved to a 4-5 record to be knocking on the door of the top-four and with some other results going its way, could even find itself sneak up into fourth spot with a win on Saturday.

South Fremantle had recorded just one win this season heading into Sunday's Foundation Derby against East Fremantle, but the Bulldogs turned on a scintillating performance to win by 67 points and revive some life into their 2013 season once again.

Now a win on Saturday against Subiaco and South Fremantle will improve to a 3-8 record heading into a bye next week to give the Bulldogs plenty of confidence to then come out and take into the second half of the season.

The two teams met earlier this season in Round 6 at Fremantle Oval with Subiaco outgunning South Fremantle that afternoon winning by 41 points.

Subiaco's Tasmanian recruit Brad McDonald goes out of the team that beat Claremont last Sunday with an injury with several players pressing their case for a return.

Ryan Herring hasn’t been setting the world on fire in the reserves but might return just to add another tall target to Subiaco's forward-line while Matt Bogensperger was somewhat surprisingly dropped to the reserves last week and put in a solid effort with 18 possessions.

Kyle Halligan and Dylan Clarke both kicked three goals each in Subiaco's reserves last week so could come in to face the Bulldogs to add some more goal kicking options.

South Fremantle found its best form last Sunday in the thumping of East Fremantle but might pay for that after Ashton Hams' best on ground performance with 34 possessions and three goals.

With Mark LeCras going out for West Coast's clash with St Kilda on Sunday, Hams looks to be his most likely replacement meaning the Bulldogs lose a major weapon to take on Subiaco with.

Mitch Carter and Sam Lowrie are both out of South Fremantle's side as well with plenty of players pushing to return.

Premiership midfielder Reece Adams found some of his best form in the reserves last week with 27 possessions and a goal to press his claims for a recall as did Warrick Andreoli with 19 disposals while Kingsley Smith would be the most likely replacement in the forward-line for Hams.

Brendon Gulley could come back in and strengthen South Fremantle's defence further with Jarrod Parry to be the feel good story of the day if he gets picked. He had another 21 possessions and seven tackles in his third game back in the reserves last week following his second knee reconstruction.