Finals spots on the line in blockbuster finish to WAFLW home-and-away seasonWednesday, July 30, 2025 - 2:35 PM - by Denholm Melrose - Perth is OK!

It’s only fitting that one of the tightest seasons of WAFLW football would come down to the final round to decide the minor premiership, the top four, and the wooden spoon.

As if scripted, the top-two sides, Claremont and Subiaco will play off.

The two teams have been deadlocked almost all season, each losing just two games and playing out a scintillating draw in their only other matchup of the year.

Claremont won the minor premiership in 2023, while Subiaco were the winners of the title in 2019 and 2020 before a resurgence this season.

Subiaco currently hold top spot based on their enormous percentage of 234.6 per cent, slightly edging Claremont’s 204.9 per cent.

The Lions dropped a game to West Perth two weeks ago by two points, whilst the Tigers went down to East Fremantle the week before.

Remarkably, both sides lost to South Fremantle in back-to-back weeks as the Bulldogs turned their season around to remain in the hunt for finals contention.

Claremont will have the home-ground advantage in this blockbuster Sunday afternoon matchup that looms as a very likely Grand Final preview.

Expect the Lions star ex-AFLW midfield trio of Krstel Petrevski, Lisa Steane and Paige Sheppard to be tested against ball-winning Tigers Juliet Kelly, Sarah Viney and Jayme Harken, while other young guns Olivia Wolmarans, Olivia Crane, Layla Quinn-Schofield and Emma Henderson will strut their stuff for potentially the last time in home-and-away WAFLW football, as they each press their case to be drafted at season’s end.

Capping off the round on Sunday evening, Swan Districts and East Fremantle will do battle in a third-versus-fourth matchup.

Swan Districts have cemented their spot in finals and cannot move up or down on the ladder in the final round.

However, the Sharks have everything to play for and hold just one-game advantage over both West Perth and South Fremantle, one of which will likely walk away with four points this week as they play off against each other as well.

The Sharks can secure a finals spot with a win over the Black Ducks at Steel Blue Oval, where they were victorious last year led by Ashleigh Gomes, Alicia Blizard, Sarah Wielstra and Nathasha Entwistle, as well as now-Sydney Swan Zippy Fish and now-Peel Thunder gun Chloe Wrigley.

Carys D’Addario, Emily McGuire and Isabella Edgley, who are all in good form, led Swans on that occasion, and will look to extend their team’s winning streak to five heading into finals.

If the Sharks are unsuccessful on Sunday, then Friday night’s epic clash between the Falcons and the Bulldogs will be all-important, shaping the top five ahead of a much-anticipated finals series.

Both sides sit one game outside of the four and need an East Fremantle loss to make it.

South Fremantle face an uphill battle, requiring quite a large percentage boost to make up the 14 per cent difference between themselves and their Freo rivals, but with wins this season of 60 and 43 points, as well as triumphs over the competition’s two leading sides, the Bulldogs are capable of anything.

West Perth on the other hand need make up just 5.3 per cent on the Sharks.

Should East Freo lose to Swan Districts that number will come down even further, meaning any margin of victory will give them at least a chance at climbing into fourth spot.

The Falcons have won games this year by 71 and 59 points and last season they defeated South Fremantle away from home.

South got the chocolates earlier this season though in a low-scoring Round 10 affair, proving any result is possible in this duel that will prove excellent viewing in the standalone Friday night fixture.

Madison Dodd, Taylor Ferguson and Chloe Metcalf are those in form for West Perth, while State 18s trio Mia Russo, Lexi Strachan and Cara Dziegielewski all suited up for the Falcons last weekend.

For the Bulldogs it has been Tahleah Mulder winning plenty of the football, alongside Hannah Burt and Hunter Cronin.

State representatives Eva Flynn, Alira Fotu, Renee Morgan and Marie Polimeno are all a chance to feature as well.

Finally, the race for the wooden spoon is well and truly on and the Demons, in their inaugural season would consider avoiding last place a huge success in their first year of WAFLW football.

East Perth on the other hand will want to do all that they can to finish above Perth, amounting to an all-important encounter on Saturday afternoon.

East Perth’s only win of the season came against the Demons in Round 4, while Perth have since gone on to defeat South Fremantle and Peel Thunder, whose season wrapped up last weekend with the bye in Round 18.

East Perth finished on the bottom of the WAFLW ladder in 2023, their own inaugural season, but won zero games that year, a feat Perth have already bettered.

The Royals needing to make up 26.3 per cent on the Demons, even with a victory.

While the Royals face a huge challenge to avoid the wooden spoon, stranger things have happened and in a round that will feature so much uncertainty, this game will be worth tuning in for.

WAFLW FIXTURES - ROUND 18

West Perth (5th) v South Fremantle (6th): Friday August 1, 7:35pm at Arena Joondalup

East Perth (9th) v Perth (8th): Saturday August 2, 12:10pm at Sullivan Logistics Stadium

Claremont (2nd) v Subiaco (1st): Sunday August 3, 12:40pm at Revo Fitness Stadium

Swan Districts (3rd) v East Fremantle (4th): Sunday August 3, 2:10pm at Steel Blue Oval