WAFL Round 10 PreviewFriday, May 30, 2014 - 8:16 PM - by Chris Pike

THE WAFL returns this weekend after the break for the State game victory over the NEAFL with a standalone fixture on Saturday afternoon before three huge clashes on the WA Day public holiday on Monday.

The match on Saturday takes place at Lathlain Park with Perth hosting the league-leading Swan Districts.

Then on WA Day, South Fremantle takes on East Fremantle at Fremantle Oval, West Perth hosts East Perth at Arena Joondalup and Claremont battles Subiaco at the Claremont Showgrounds.

PERTH (3-5, 6th) v SWAN DISTRICTS (7-1, 1st) – LATHLAIN PARK, SATURDAY 2.05PM
Selected teams

Swan Districts put together a remarkable run of form prior to the break for the State game to win seven straight matches to now sit clear on top of the ladder, but Perth blew a golden chance to win the last time the two teams met and the Demons will want to make up for that on Saturday.

Swan Districts had the Round 1 bye and then lost narrowly to East Perth in Round 2, but the black-and-whites then beat Peel, South Fremantle, Perth, West Perth, Subiaco, East Fremantle and Claremont to now sit on top of the ladder with a 7-1 record.

However, in Round 5 Swans only managed to beat Perth by a solitary point and that was after the Demons appeared to have a match-winning lead midway through the final quarter. But Swan Districts then kicked the last three goals of the game to snatch the win.

Perth started the season impressively with wins against Claremont and South Fremantle, but since then the Demons have only managed to beat Peel and lost to West Perth, Subiaco, East Perth, Swan Districts and then finally East Fremantle narrowly in Round 9.

That means the Demons are struggling with just a 3-5 record and desperately needing to beat Swans on Saturday to breathe some life back into their flagging season.

Perth had just the one representative in the State game win last Saturday for the WAFL against the NEAFL and that was its captain Paul Bevan who finished with 14 possessions, five marks and five tackles.

Meanwhile, Swan Districts had its skipper Tallan Ames along with Tony Notte, Ryan Davis and Blaine Boekhorst who represented WA.

Ames played well at full-back before copping a nasty injury while Notte contributed well both as a forward target and back up ruckman while Davis made a good contribution with 15 touches and a goal and Boekhorst was outstanding with 18 disposals and two goals.

Justin Simpson, Matthew Rogers and Matthew Jukes also had every reason to expect they were in good enough form to play in the state game, or at least be seriously considered, and they might very well come out with a point to prove – not that it was the fault of anyone at Perth they weren’t picked.

Perth needs to win to try and stay in touch with the top-four and helping that cause are some handy inclusions from after the State game bye.

Midfield stars Chance Bateman and Brett Hodge are still missing for the Demons, but Mitchell Leyendekkers, Jarryd Morton and Callum Collard are big inclusions.

Leyendekkers was among the best ruckmen in the competition in the early part of the season before injuring a knee and now he returns for his first game since Round 3.

Collard was one of the best small forwards in the competition early in the season as well kicking nine goals in his first three games including a haul of five in Round 2 against South Fremantle. He has only played twice since Round 3, but now returns to take on Swans this Saturday.

Morton will also return to the line-up after missing the last two games to again join up with his brothers Cale and Mitch in the Perth team.

Jarrad Irons, Joel Kalajzic, Reese Richardson and Mark Deaves are other players pressing for selection at Perth.

Gerald Ugle, Ben Power and Brad Keast are the three players to make way for the returning players at this stage.

Adam Faulkner is a terrific inclusion for Swan Districts adding further depth to its midfield with the 22-year-old having a breakout season with the black-and-whites averaging 23.7 possessions a game.

He returns after missing the win over Claremont prior to the State game with Josh Kirkup, Rudy Riddoch, Nathan Broad and Levi Ridley all fighting for a spot to play with the ladder-leaders this Saturday.

Swan Districts loses its captain Tallan Ames after he suffered fractured ribs and a punctured lung during last Saturday's State game victory over the NEAFL in Sydney.

Kirkup looks to be his natural replacement in the key defensive post while another 2010 premiership player Travis Casserly also goes out of the Swan Districts line-up to face Perth.

WEST PERTH (4-4, 4th) v EAST PERTH (6-2, 3rd) – ARENA JOONDALUP, MONDAY 2.05PM
Selected teams

It might not quite have the history of the Fremantle derby, but there is no question that the Perth derby is the most intense and fiercest contest in the WAFL and this year's WA Day derby is sure to be no different at Arena Joondalup.

Both the Falcons and Royals look to be genuine premiership contenders in 2014 and each of them currently sit inside the top-four with East Perth in third position with a 6-2 record while West Perth is in fourth spot with a 4-4 record.

That puts extra meaning into Monday's clash with a win for West Perth really closing the gap between the two but a win for East Perth would open up a handy advantage that would be then difficult for the Falcons to close through the second half of the season.

West Perth certainly has the better of the recent memories from clashes with East Perth as well having beaten the Royals by 100 points in Round 4 this season at Medibank Stadium and of course by 49 points in last year's grand final.

The clash could very well be the first of at least one, but possibly two or even three between East Perth and West Perth through the rest of 2014. They are guaranteed to meet again in Round 18, but could very well playoff in a Foxtel Cup grand final and very well meet in the WAFL finals at some stage.

West Perth had seven players who represented the WAFL in the 85-point win over the NEAFL last Saturday in Sydney with Jay van Berlo, Shane Nelson, Jordan Jones, Kody Manning, Laine Rasmussen, Chris Keunen and Nick Rodda.

All seven of those Falcons players made a solid contribution while East Perth had just the one representative and he was also the WA captain Brendan Lee who was one of the best afield with 32 possessions and a game-high nine clearances.

From the team that beat Subiaco a fortnight ago prior to the State game break, West Perth has one out at this stage and that is Andrew Krakouer.

Leading forward Matt Fowler seems to be the natural replacement for Krakouer who has been playing as a permanent forward.

However, Aidan Lynch, Trent Manzone and Mitch McPhee are all in the mix as well for the Falcons and provide options as small to mid-sized players.

To try to combat East Perth's height over the ground and certainly in the ruck department, West Perth coach Bill Monaghan might consider bringing in a second ruckman Seva Martin to help out Chris Keunen.

So far this season, Martin's only senior game with the Falcons came in the Foxtel Cup victory over Box Hill when Keunen didn’t play. However, he has been in good form in the reserves averaging 37.6 hit outs a game.

From East Perth's team that beat Claremont three weeks ago, Craig Wulff, Will Schofield, Simon Tunbridge, Sam Butler, Josh Hill and Brant Colledge are out of the line-up.

Schofield, Tunbridge and Butler are still chances of playing in the WA Day Derby while co-captain Wulff will miss after suffering a finger injury during the Round 8 win over Claremont and having had surgery on that since.

Into the squad sees full-forward Josh Smith set to play his first WAFL game since Round 4 but he did play in the Foxtel Cup on Tuesday night.

Garry Moss and Dean Cadwallader are both a chance to play their first league games of 2014 as well on Monday with Scott Lycett also into the team to add some further height to the already present Paul Johnson, Callum Sinclair, Fraser McInnes and Jeremy McGovern.

Will Magginness, Julian Locantro, Malcolm Karpany, Callum Hart and Dylan Main are all in the selection mix for East Perth as well having played in the Foxtel Cup win over Norwood on Tuesday.

SOUTH FREMANTLE (3-5, 7th) v EAST FREMANTLE (4-4, 5th) – FREMANTLE OVAL, MONDAY 2.05PM
Selected teams

South Fremantle and East Fremantle play off in not only the traditional Foundation Derby on WA Day at Fremantle Oval to try to maintain touch with teams on the four, but also it looms as a day of celebration of one of the modern day WAFL champions.

The result of the contest is huge for both clubs, but the day will also be memorable for the fact that it will be final time that a champion of both teams Kris Miller runs out to play a game of WAFL football.

Miller made his WAFL debut in Round 1, 1999 for East Fremantle and went on to play for Western Australia, in a grand final and win a Lynn Medal in his time with the Sharks where he finished with 153 matches to earn life membership before finishing up at the end of 2006.

From there, Miller joined South Fremantle and he has gone on to win three fairest and best awards, play in the 2009 premiership and now on Monday he will play his 150th game for the Bulldogs.

In doing so, Miller will become the first player in WAFL history to reach 150 matches at two clubs having already this season become jus the sixth player ever to reach the 300-game milestone. Now on Monday, he will play the 303rd and final game of his decorated career.

Putting that aside and quite simply both South Fremantle and East Fremantle need to win the game for the benefit of their 2014 seasons.

East Fremantle is knocking on the door of the top-four with a 4-4 record while South Fremantle is one game back on 3-5 so the result will have a big impact on whether or not either side is able to still seriously contend for a finals berth in 2014.

There has already been one Fremantle derby in 2014 with South Fremantle comfortably beating East Fremantle on Anzac Day at East Fremantle Oval while last year the Bulldogs won the Foundation Derby, but the Sharks were able to win both other encounters quite emphatically.

Both teams contributed four players each to the State game last week as well with Ben Saunders, Ashton Hams, Haiden Schloithe and Ryan Cook representing South Fremantle, and Andrew Stephen, Tom Howlett, Steven Dodd and Jamie McNamara playing from East Fremantle.

The four Bulldogs players all starred for WA with Saunders booting five goals, Schloithe having 16 possessions and two goals and then Cook and Hams were clearly the two best players on the ground.

Hams was awarded the Simpson Medal for his performance across half-back where he finished with 34 possessions and 11 marks while Cook was terrific in the middle and across half-forward ending up with 24 touches, 10 inside 50s and two goals.

Meanwhile, East Fremantle's Stephen might very well have been the third best player on the ground for his efforts in defence where he had 21 possessions and seven marks. He even drifted forward to kick a rare goal.

Jamie McNamara also played well through the middle with 17 possessions and eight marks while Dodd was solid in defence and Howlett was solid enough in limited game time.

South Fremantle has not named any outs from its team at this stage from the one that took on and lost to Peel a fortnight ago, and will take on East Fremantle on WA Day.

James Sellar, Jason Maskos and Anthony Collica have been added to the squad, but all remain unlikely starters in the team.

AFL-experienced big man Sellar injured a knee in Round 2 against Perth and didn’t return until Round 7 against Claremont, but that proved premature. He has now had three more weeks to try and get his keen right to play in his first Foundation Derby, but he remains far from a certain starter.

Collica has put himself in the mix to add to his 23 league appearances, but a variety of injury concerns have limited him to just three reserves matches this season.

He has been unable to play back-to-back games at all this season after being restricted to just two league and two reserves appearances in 2013, but when fit he is a proven quality and class player.

Small defender Maskos is the other play to come into the mix to play on WA Day but for him to play one of Mitch Carter or Jarrod Parry would likely have to make way.

East Fremantle's forward-line has struggled all season long and this week it's time for Ryan Lester-Smith to lose his place in the team having kicked just 8.10 from his eight games this year.

He is the only out of the Sharks side so far from the team that narrowly beat Perth a fortnight ago.

His natural replacement in the forward-line appears to be the also underperforming Jack Perham while coach Steve Malaxos gives Brandon Ellis another opportunity in the forward-line.

Sean Henson, Tom Hooker, Aidan Tropiano and Michael Edwards are also fighting to come into the East Fremantle team to play on WA Day.

CLAREMONT (2-6, 8th) v SUBIACO (6-2, 2nd) – CLAREMONT SHOWGROUNDS, MONDAY 2.05PM
Selected teams 

Claremont and Subiaco is the least traditional of the three WA Day encounters and given the differing form of the two teams it does loom as the mismatch of the round, but the Tigers have enough quality and experience to be more than competitive.

Claremont and Subiaco could not have been more divergent so far this season and that's summed up perfect by the fact that Subiaco has a 6-2 record with a percentage of 130.5 while Claremont has struggled to a 2-6 record with a percentage of just 58.6.

The Tigers have dominated the WAFL the last four years with four consecutive minor premierships, two flags and another grand final appearance, but with a host of players departing things haven’t gone well so far in 2014 under new coach Michael Broadbridge.

Claremont has managed two wins causing a significant upset over West Perth and prevailing in tough conditions against Peel Thunder, but losses to East Fremantle, East Perth, Perth, South Fremantle and Subiaco were disastrous.

However, the Tigers were more competitive against Swan Districts prior to the bye only losing by 26 points and now they will be looking to build on that against a Subiaco team having an outstanding season.

The game will be just the second home game for Claremont of the season at the Showgrounds and the Tigers have no lost a game there since 1926. Having said that, they have only played there twice since – against West Perth in 2005 and then earlier this season against Peel.

Subiaco came out of the blocks flying in 2014 beating South Fremantle, Claremont, East Fremantle, East Perth and Peel Thunder before having one disappointing quarter against Swan Districts and losing for the first time.

However, the Lions bounced back beating Perth before another hiccup against West Perth but a 6-2 record heading into Monday's clash has Subiaco in a strong position looking towards the second half of the campaign.

Claremont and Subiaco only had one player each who played in last Saturday's State game in Sydney with Luke Blackwell starring for the WAFL representing the Tigers with 31 possessions and six clearances.

The Lions' George Hampson had 20 touches, eight marks and two goals, but he probably should have kicked five or six majors had he not missed easy shots on goal.

Claremont's hopes of keeping its unbeaten run at the Showgrounds since 1926 aren’t help with dual premiership 179-game veteran Trinity Handley out with a thumb injury while captain Jake Murphy is also out of the Tigers' line-up.

After the premiership players who have departed over the two seasons, Claremont needs all its experienced leaders it can get out on the field and Handley and Murphy are two veterans they just can't afford to be without right now.

Darcy Cameron could come back into the Claremont side to add some further depth to the big men department with Hugo Breakey and Ben Daniher a chance to come in and strengthen the on-ball department.

Premiership defender Aaron Holt also returns after missing the loss to Swan Districts prior to the State game break while Jack Richardson returns to add another goalkicker to the forward-line.

Claremont could also unveil another debutant with Mitchell McGovern a chance to come in and play after two games in the reserves so far this year.

The 19-year-old is the younger brother of former Claremont player and current West Coast-listed big man Jeremy, and the son of former Claremont premiership player and Sydney Swans and Fremantle Dockers veteran of 83 games Andrew.

Subiaco lost just its second match of the season against West Perth prior to the State game break and some reinforcements have arrived for the Lions to take on Claremont on Monday.

Four-time premiership full-back Darren Rumble returns having been sidelined since Round 5 with a calf strain, but he is now back for the 197th game of his WAFL career as he closes in on the 200-game milestone.

Another WAFL veteran, 135-game player Jarrod Kayler-Thomson is also back for the Lions with Rhys Waters also returning from a two-week suspension. Up until that point, Waters was in the form of his career having kicked 12 goals in the first six games of the season.

Dylan Clarke, Aaron Heal, Rhett Kerr and Joe Scafidi are also in the mix to play for Lions.

At this stage, Ray Daniels, Kyle Halligan and Simon Moore are out of the Subiaco team to take on Claremont from the one that lost to West Perth