WAFL Round 1 PreviewFriday, March 21, 2014 - 4:06 PM - by Chris Pike

FOUR big matches on Saturday afternoon will open the 2014 WAFL season with plenty of eyes on the Peel Thunder-East Perth clash, but also on which sides want to announce themselves as premiership fancies this year.

All four Round 1 matches will take place on Saturday with three of them at 2.05pm – East Fremantle playing West Perth at East Fremantle Oval, Peel Thunder hosting East Perth at Mandurah's Bendigo Bank Stadium and Perth taking on Claremont at Lathlain Park.

Then at 4.05pm, Subiaco will battle South Fremantle at Leederville's Medibank Stadium.

Swan Districts has the Round 1 bye.

EAST FREMANTLE v WEST PERTH – EAST FREMANTLE OVAL, SATURDAY 2.05PM
Selected teams

Reigning premiers West Perth are looking for a fast start to its premiership defence and East Fremantle wants to again get back into the finals mix setting up a tantalising Round 1 fixture at East Fremantle Oval.

East Fremantle played off in the 2012 grand final but things didn't quite come together for Steve Malaxos' side in 2013 missing the finals.

However, the Sharks have added some quality and experienced recruits to a team that already was strong on paper and they will be looking for a strong start against the Falcons on Saturday at home.

Coming off the 2013 premiership following the grand final win over East Perth, change has been minimal at West Perth coming into 2014.

From the premiership side, only Jason Salecic, Josh Mellington and Mark Hutchings are no longer at the club while Kody Manning is also unavailable for Round 1 through suspension.

That means that 18 premiership players are in line to take on the Sharks – Steven Browne, Nick Rodda, Laine Rasmussen, Andrew Strijk, Dan Hunt, Jordan Jones, Rohan Kerr, Matt Guadagnin, Ray Bartholomew, Matt Fowler, Marc Crisp, Chris Keunen, Aaron Black, Jay van Berlo, Shaun Marusic, Steve Potente, Shane Nelson and Luke Tedesco.

Then there is Anthony Tsalikis who was injured just before last year's finals, rising players Matt Johnson, Trent Manzone and James Batterham, and recruits Marcus Adams, Seva Martin who are trying to break into that premiership side.

Adams is a bustling key forward who made his WAFL debut with Swan Districts in 2011 and he looks set to become a cornerstone of the Falcons' forward-line alongside Tsalikis, Fowler, Johnson, Crisp and whichever other tall coach Bill Monaghan wants to put down there.

Martin also arrives as a ruckman from Subiaco to offer support to premiership big man Keunen.

East Fremantle, meanwhile, might have missed the finals last year coming off the 2012 grand final but does have a strong looking line-up.

The Sharks possess plenty of ex-AFL talent like Steven Dodd, Brock O'Brien, Brett Peake, Jamie McNamara and Bradd Dalziell as well as Sandover Medallist Rory O'Brien, Andrew Stephen, Tom Howlett, Ryan Lester-Smith, Rob Young and recruit Danny Chartres.

West Perth did have a good time at East Fremantle Oval in 2013, though, recording a 23-point win in a high-scoring shootout in Round 8 and then a 14-point victory again in Round 13.

East Fremantle, though, did win the last meeting between the two teams recording a thumping 73-point win against an undermanned West Perth in Round 22 at Arena Joondalup.

Either way, expect a much closer contest this Saturday.

PEEL THUNDER v EAST PERTH – BENDIGO BANK STADIUM, SATURDAY 2.05PM
Selected teams

Much of the talk in relation to the WAFL coming into the 2014 has been surrounding East Perth and Peel's respective partnerships with West Coast and Fremantle, and now everyone will get an early indication of how it's going to look when the Royals and Thunder meet on Saturday in Mandurah.

East Perth will be partnered with West Coast and Peel with Fremantle for at least the next five seasons.

The Royals were a force already in 2013 making the grand final before losing to West Perth in the grand final.

East Perth has lost some important players as well including Mat Seal, Aaron Sweet, Ryan Maldenis, Cale Morton, Brock Higgins, Jacob Derickx and Michael Swan coming into 2014 so only time will tell if the influx of Eagles players actually makes them stronger, or only helps to make up for the departures on top of Brendan Lee being out injured.

Meanwhile, Peel had a tough 2013 season finishing with the wooden spoon and just the three wins having lost the last 11 matches of the campaign.

Some players have also left the Thunder over summer including Marlon Motlop, Paul Bower, Matt Orzel, Brad Holmes and Devin McFarlane who have been regular and quality league players in recent seasons.

However, there is good news with captain Brendon Jones going back on his retirement decision to play on in 2014 to lead the Thunder.

The Peel team on Saturday looks set to consist of Tanner Smith, Sam Menegola, Garrick Ibbotson, Alex Silvagni, Anthony Morabito, Colin Sylvia, Clancee Pearce, Hayden Crozier, Michael Wood, Michael Apeness, Max Duffy, Zac Clarke, Brady Grey, Josh Simpson and Craig Moller from Fremantle.

That's 15 players from the Dockers including Clarke who played in last year's grand final loss to Hawthorn and Sylvia who has 157 games of AFL experience, Pearce who has 69 and Ibbotson 115.

Then when Peel's local players include captain Jones and former AFL-listed players Cruize Garlett, Kristin Thornton and James Hawksley, it is a tremendously strong Thunder line-up on paper.

The Royals team can't be sneezed at, though, with Paul Johnson, Josh Smith, Kyle Anderson, Nathan Blee, Freddie Clutterbuck, Steven Payne and Jarrad Oakley-Nicholls elite WAFL players.

East Perth will also have the services of Jacob Brennan, Jeremy McGovern, Will Schofield, Sam Butler, Simon Tunbridge, Brant Colledge, Fraser McInnes, Ashley Smith, Adam Carter and Will Maginness from the Eagles.

With up to 25 AFL-listed players in action, there will plenty to watch in Mandurah on Saturday whether you are an AFL or WAFL football fan.

PERTH v CLAREMONT – LATHLAIN PARK, SATURDAY 2.05PM
Selected teams

Perth and Claremont are coming into 2014 from opposite directions but both will be desperate to start the new season off on a winning note.

The Tigers have won the last four WAFL minor premierships while the Demons have not made a finals series since 1997 so the two sides haven’t had a more different recent history.

Despite Claremont's dominance of the WAFL with two premierships to show from those four finishes in-a-row on top of the ladder, the Tigers were bundled out of the 2013 finals series in disappointing fashion with losses at Claremont Oval to West Perth and East Perth.

On top of that, the Tigers have lost Ian Richardson, David Crawford, Chad Jones, Paul Medhurst, James Thomson, Jesse Laurie and Andrew Browne coming into the season under new coach Michael Broadbridge.

However, Claremont has welcomed back Tom Ledger, Matt Orzel, Henry Roberts and Brandon Franz to the club to help offset those losses.

The key to the Tigers will be offering up some opportunities to young players in 2014 and already for Round 1 against Perth, Steven Edwards, Jack Richardson, Darcy Cameron, Brenden Abbott, Maximilian Bentley and Jackson Starcevich have been included in their squad.

As long as Claremont finds a way to ensure its forward and back ends are strong, their midfield strength of Mark Seaby, new captain Jake Murphy, Luke Blackwell, Ledger and Andrew Foster will ensure they remain a strong force in 2014.

Perth, on the other hand, looked capable of breaking its finals drought last year sitting inside the top-four until losing four of its last five games ended those hopes.

Still the Demons ended on a respectable 10-10 record and now will be looking to at least go a step further to play finals football in 2014.

To try to help that cause, the Morton brothers – Jarryd, Mitch and Cale have all signed on to play together but Mitch will be unavailable for Round 1 against the Tigers.

Gerald Ugle also returns to Perth after time with the Greater Western Sydney Giants while AFL premiership players Paul Bevan and Chance Bateman showed their faith that the Demons are on the right path by agreeing to sign on for 2014.

Perth and Claremont do look even matched coming into the contest with the Demons' forward-line perhaps their strength with the likes of Bevan, Brennan Stack and Joel Houghton and the Tigers' strength undeniably in their ruck and midfield stocks.

SUBIACO v SOUTH FREMANTLE – MEDIBANK STADIUM, 4.05PM
Selected teams
 
Subiaco and South Fremantle have both had strong off-seasons as they attempt to return to WAFL finals action and they square off this Saturday at Medibank Stadium to see just how those improvements are looking.

Subiaco won premierships in 2004, 2006, 2007 and 2008 while making grand finals in 2003, 2009 and 2011 while South Fremantle also won flags in 2005 and 2009, and making the 2006 grand final but neither have played finals since 2011.

In that year, Subiaco beat South Fremantle in the first semi-final and then went on to make the grand final before losing to Claremont, but the pickings have been slim since.

Both teams won just six games apiece in 2013, but there is plenty to suggest that both will be big improvers in 2014.

Ashton Hams, Steven Verrier and Haiden Schloithe all return to the Bulldogs full-time in 2014 after being on AFL lists at West Coast, Richmond and Fremantle respectively.

All four have been named to play Subiaco in Round 1 at Medibank Stadium and add plenty of size, quality and experience to the Bulldogs' line-up.

Sellar brings with him 44 games of AFL experience at Adelaide and Melbourne, and the 196cm 24-year-old is capable of holding down the ruck following the departure of Sean Tighe, but also will be more than handy in key position roles at either end of the ground.

Higgins arrives at Fremantle Oval having previously played 30 league games over the last three years with East Perth. The versatile 195cm big man can also fill a variety of roles for the Bulldogs capable of holding down the ruck, but also a key post either forward or back.

Mills arrives from Queensland having played the last two years in the NEAFL including some appearances for the Gold Coast Suns reserves team, and over the pre-season he has impressed to the point where he looks set to be given a chance as a key defender in Round 1.

Pullman is also no stranger to the WAFL despite having played the last three seasons in Queensland.

The former Swan Districts colts premiership captain played 23 league games for Swans between 2008-2010 and kicked 31 goals including a bag of seven in 2010 against peel.

It isn't just the new arrivals who are giving the Bulldogs reason for optimism coming into 2014 though.

The back-line will again be strengthened by Dylan Ross, Nick Borovac, Craig White and Adam McIntosh.

Captain Ryan Cook will again lead the way through the middle along with Hams, Jacob Martinez, Tim Kelly, Schloithe, Brendan and Steven Verrier, and wingman Shaun Bewick who has been in outstanding pre-season form after injury ruined his 2013 campaign.

Then there are the young players looking to make the most of their league opportunities in 2014 including Zac Strom, James Laurino, Marlon Pickett, Ben Sokol and Jason Maskos.

Subiaco meanwhile might have lost its captain Aidan Parker to retirement, but still possesses some quality experienced players including new captain Kyal Horsley (unavailable for Round 1), Darren Rumble, Chris Phelan, Jarrod Kayler-Thomson, George Hampson, Brett Mahoney, Jason Bristow and Clancy Wheeler.

The Lions have also made some impressive signings coming into the new season with dual premiership wingman Shaun Hildebrandt returning to the club after two years at Swan Districts.

Wayde Twomey is also on board from Swans where he played 98 WAFL matches including the 2010 premiership and won the State game Simpson Medal last year in WA's win over Victoria.

Frank Stockley is also on board from West Perth and will hold down the No. 1 ruck position at least until Andrew McDougall is back from injury with Joel Latham another former Falcons player who will line-up in Round 1.

The Lions have also made some impressive interstate signings with Matt Boland and Lachlan Delahunty looking capable of being quality WAFL players.

Both teams appear on the rise in 2014 and will be desperate to bank the four points for Round 1.