WAFL Round 14 PreviewThursday, June 20, 2013 - 4:00 PM - by Chris Pike

THERE are four crucial Round 14 matches this Saturday afternoon with top-of-the-table Claremont having the bye meaning the rest of the competition continues to battle over the remaining three spots in the top-four.

All four games are on Saturday afternoon at the new start time of 2.05pm with second-placed West Perth hosting seventh-placed Subiaco at Arena Joondalup and last year's finalists East Perth and East Fremantle do battle at Leederville's Medibank Stadium.

Peel Thunder hosts Perth at Mandurah's Bendigo Bank Stadium with the Demons desperate to cling to their spot in the four while Swan Districts heads to Fremantle Oval to take on South Fremantle looking to win to break into the four.

WEST PERTH (7-4, 2nd) v SUBIACO (5-6, 7th) – ARENA JOONDALUP, SATURDAY 2.05PM

Selected teams

West Perth and Subiaco meet in a crucial match at Arena Joondalup on Saturday with the Falcons looking to consolidate second spot and the Lions to get closer to a top-four spot.

West Perth hit back following disappointing losses to East Perth and Claremont with a tremendous performance last Sunday at East Fremantle Oval to control the contest from the start and end up beating the Sharks by 14 points.

That improved the Falcons to a 7-4 record to remain in second position on the ladder to be a game and percentage clear of East Perth in third, and two games and percentage ahead of the chasing pack made up of Perth, Swan Districts, East Fremantle and Subiaco.

The Lions stormed back into contention winning three straight games against Swan Districts, Claremont and South Fremantle leading into last Saturday's loss at home to Swans by 47 points.

However, Subiaco is still sitting on a 5-6 record and with a win on Saturday and if other results go the Lions' way, they could either sneak into the four or be right on the verge of a spot inside there.

The teams met earlier this season under lights at Medibank Stadium in Round 2 with West Perth winning a hard fought battle by 24 points.

West Perth loses exciting young forward Matt Johnson to a slight hamstring injury he went down with during last Sunday's impressive win over East Fremantle.

The Falcons are still without veterans Jason Salecic, Ray Bartholomew and Anthony Tsalikis, but could still have their team further strengthened with the return of Kody Manning from a knee injury.

Prior to getting injured, he was doing an outstanding job as a pressure forward and now after one game back in the reserves last week where he had 13 possessions, he could come straight back into the league line-up.

Rohan Kerr was also back from injury last week and will be better for the run this Saturday.

Mitch McPhee has been building strong form in the reserves all season long and had another four goals last week with defender Joe Morrow and small forward Steve Potente also pressing for a return with the Falcons.

Subiaco might have dropped a game to Swan Districts after impressive form prior to that with three straight wins, but the Lions' list of inclusions for this Saturday's trip to Joondalup will have them confident of returning to the winner's list.

Experienced SANFL recruit Tristan Gum had 28 possessions in the reserves last week after battling injury through the first half of the season to show he is ready for the WAFL debut.

Retired Fremantle 202-game defender Antoni Grover has now played two games back in the reserves after a knee injury for Subiaco as well to get himself ready for his first game of the season. He has been playing forward as well and could be set for a new role in the twilight of his career.

Then there is West Coast big man Callum Sinclair also set to return from a knee injury while fellow versatile big man Andrew McDougall is also back after missing last week's loss to Swans.

Abe Davey and Brad Stevenson are also pressing for a recall with the Lions and Charles Le Fanu in the mix to make his debut.

EAST PERTH (6-5, 3rd) v EAST FREMANTLE (5-6, 6th) – MEDIBANK STADIUM, SATURDAY 2.05PM

Selected teams

East Perth and East Fremantle have played off in two of the last three finals series and now the Royals and Sharks do battle as they continue to fight for a finals spot in 2013.

East Perth currently sits in third position and is in its best form of the season while East Fremantle has dropped off in recent weeks to now sit sixth and desperately needing to bounce back with a win.

The Royals started the season slowly under new coach Brian Dawson winning just one of its first four games, but now they have built some impressive form winning four of their last five games.

That includes the last two in strong performances against fellow top-four teams West Perth and Perth to now see East Perth improve to a 6-5 record and to be in third position on the ladder a game ahead of the chasing pack of Perth, Swan Districts, East Fremantle and Subiaco.

Coming off playing in last year's grand final, East Fremantle did go on a run of three straight games early this season but the Sharks have now lost four of their last five matches to be struggling with a 5-6 record and be sitting down in sixth position on the ladder.

It's not just the fact that the Sharks have been losing either but of greater concern is the manner they have lost. It started with a 23-point loss to West Perth in a shoot out but then the following week the Sharks barely fired a shot against Claremont losing by 42 points.

They then certain did not fire a shot with a 67-point Foundation Derby loss to South Fremantle before bouncing back with a 35-point victory over Peel. However, it was back to the losing list last Saturday going down again at home to West Perth by 14 points.

Little has separated East Perth and East Fremantle in recent years, though, with the two teams playing off in the 2010 and 2012 first semi-finals both at East Fremantle Oval. They have split the results with the Royals winning in 2010 and the Sharks last year.

The two met earlier this season at East Fremantle Oval with East Perth coming away with a hard fought 10-point victory.

Matt Gordon goes out of the East Perth after the 21-year-old has played every game so far this season but the Royals have some key players pushing to return.

Experienced defender Danny Chartres has been struggling for form but could make a return after going back to the reserves with West Coast's Cale Morton set to return after a minor hamstring complaint.

Big man Brock Higgins could back in to provide another option in attack for the Royals with potential debutant Mitch Howlett continuing to put his hand up after another 28 possessions in the reserves against Perth last Sunday.

East Fremantle has suffered a big blow at the hands of West Coast with midfielder Bradd Dalziell called up to face Hawthorn on Friday night after he had 32 possessions and three goals last Sunday against West Perth.

Vice-captain Richard Hadley is also out for the Sharks but there are some important inclusions for East Fremantle with West Coast pair Brad Sheppard and Jacob Brennan both set to return to help offset the loss of Dalziell.

Experienced defender Steven Dodd is also back to strengthen East Fremantle's back-line with Tyler Chalwell, James Depane, Alex Howson and Jack Perham all pressing for a call up following Sunday's disappointing performance at home against West Perth.

SOUTH FREMANTLE (2-9, 9th) v SWAN DISTRICTS (5-5, 5th) – FREMANTLE OVAL, SATURDAY 2.05PM

Selected teams

Swan Districts will be looking to maintain its momentum and potentially enter the top-four heading to Fremantle Oval on Saturday, but South Fremantle will be equally hungry to come out firing after the bye.

Swans were struggling just three weeks ago following back-to-back losses at home against East Perth and Subiaco, but then they came through in a thriller against Perth and last week came out of the blocks on fire against Subiaco.

The black-and-whites led by 72 points at three quarter-time and still won by 47 to now have won two games on the trot and improve to a 5-5 record to be knocking on the door of the top-four.

A win on Saturday over the bottom-placed South Fremantle could see Swans enter the four if either East Perth or Perth loses their games on Saturday against East Fremantle and Peel Thunder.

South Fremantle might be sitting on the bottom of the WAFL ladder with just two wins from nine games, but the Bulldogs have shown good signs this season.

They beat East Fremantle by 67 points just two weeks ago and two weeks before that beat Peel, and have also been a chance to win games this year against East Perth, Perth, Swans and West Perth so their record could quite conceivable be much better.

South Fremantle has perhaps the biggest inclusion in the WAFL with West Coast's Ashton Hams back.

He had 34 possessions, seven clearances and kicked three goals in his last game for the Bulldogs in the Foundation Derby win over East Fremantle and instantly gives South Fremantle a massive boost with his presence.

His return will set up a likely match-up that would be worth the price of admission alone up against his twin brother Kyle.

Fremantle's Haiden Schloithe was close to returning but it's believed he failed a late fitness test from a calf injury from Dockers, but could still be a surprise inclusion.

Mitch Carter and Brendan Verrier are also in the mix to play for the Bulldogs with Reece Adams and John Sgherza going out of the team.

Swan Districts is still without ruckman Wes Lammie and that presents a huge challenge for both Rory Lobb and Tony Notte up against South Fremantle's Sean Tighe, but the pair did well last week with Lobb having 18 touches and 19 hit outs on debut, and Notte 21 possessions, 10 marks, 16 hit outs and two goals.

Fremantle's Lachie Neale has been named out for Swan Districts following 23 possessions and a goal in last Saturday's win over Subiaco with Matthew Rogers, Ricky Cary, Nathan Blakely and Jarrad Blight the players pushing for a return to the black-and-whites line-up.

PEEL THUNDER (3-8, 8th) v PERTH (5-5, 4th) – BENDIGO BANK STADIUM, SATURDAY 2.05PM

Selected teams

Peel Thunder has been tough to beat in Mandurah this season meaning that Perth face a big ask to return to some winning form and hold onto its spot in the top-four.

The Thunder have done well so far this season at Bendigo Bank Stadium beating Swan Districts, Subiaco and East Perth, and only losing narrowly to East Fremantle and Claremont.

So Peel has won three from five games at home and not played a bad match in Mandurah this season. Combine that with the fact that the Thunder have won 10 of 20 games at home against Perth over their history it gives them their best record against any club.

Perth does need to win to maintain its spot in the top-four though.

The Demons started the season so well winning their first three games, and five of their first seven with their first two losses being a little unlucky and being by a combined 11 points.

Quite conceivably, Perth at one point could have been 6-0 and 7-1, but has now lost three straight matches against West Perth, Swan Districts and East Perth to have fallen to a 5-5 record and just be holding onto fourth position on the ladder.

Peel will take confidence heading into the clash at home to Perth, but has some important outs headlined by spearhead Brad Holmes, Fremantle pair Matt Taberner and Tom Sheridan, Kristin Thornton and Matt Brown.

The encouraging news is that Taberner and Sheridan are still likely to play unless picked in Fremantle's final 22 to face North Melbourne on Sunday.

Another Docker, Peter Faulks, is back to strengthen the defence and he could very well be rewarded with the big job on either Perth captain Paul Bevan or the in-form Brennan Stack.

Liam McKenna could also come in for Peel after banging the door down in the reserves with another 37 possessions and three goals last week against Claremont.

Ben Smith could come in to help Kyle Westwood in the ruck after having 45 hit outs last week in the reserves as well with Reise Wilkey, Jordan Wythes, Aiden Field, Jesse Hockings and Corey Morris all in the mix at the selection table for the Thunder as well.

Perth loses Kyle Reimers to a hamstring injury after he kicked three goals last Sunday against East Perth.

Defender David Johnston as well as Matthew Boyle and Brant Colledge are all out for the Demons as well to take on the Thunder, but they have some more than handy inclusions.

Hawthorn premiership midfielder Chance Bateman is back from suspension that saw him miss last week's loss to East Perth with ruckman Mitchell Lleyendekkers in line to return to help out Christian Eyres in the ruck.

Key position player Mark Deaves has been working hard in the reserves and could come in with Callum Collard, Matthew Hunt, Michael Mather and Michael Edwards all having put themselves in the mix as well for the Demons after solid reserves form.