WAFL Round 11 PreviewFriday, June 6, 2014 - 2:26 PM - by Chris Pike

THE WAFL looks to continue its momentum after an outstanding WA Day weekend on and off the field as Round 11 sees all four matches take place on Saturday afternoon with plenty riding on the result of each of them.

Over 17,000 fans turned out for the four WAFL matches played over the WA Day weekend culminating with the three clashes on the holiday Monday.

Now this Saturday, the league-leading Swan Districts hosts the third-placed Subiaco at Bassendean's Steel Blue Oval while Claremont takes on West Perth at the Claremont Showground.

The other two Round 11 WAFL matches sees East Fremantle play Peel Thunder at East Fremantle Oval and Perth hosts East Perth at Lathlain Park.

South Fremantle has the bye again having now lost two straight matches after a start to the season that saw the Bulldogs lose their first four matches, and then win their next three.

SWAN DISTRICTS (8-1, 1st) v SUBIACO (6-3, 3rd) – STEEL BLUE OVAL, SATURDAY 2.05PM
Selected teams

When Subiaco and Swan Districts last met in Round 7 top spot was up for grabs and Swans handed the Lions their first loss of the season but now just over a month later and the visitors to Steel Blue Oval are desperate to win.

Swan Districts overrun Subiaco in that Round 7 meeting at Medibank Stadium to end up winning by 43 points and since then the black-and-whites have kept on winning also beating East Fremantle, Claremont and Perth.

That sees Swans now sit clear on top of the ladder with an 8-1 record and having won eight straight matches.

However, that loss to Swans signalled a downturn in form for Subiaco that it will be desperate to turnaround this Saturday.

The Lions won their opening five matches of the season before that loss to Swan Districts and now since beating Perth in Round 8, they have lost their last two matches to West Perth and Claremont.

Subiaco has dropped to third position on the ladder and to a 6-3 record and another loss on Saturday would leave the Lions even vulnerable in third position at 6-4 so a win is crucial as they look towards consolidating a finals position after such a strong start to the season.

Despite Aaron Elari leaving last week's win over Perth early with an injury, he has still been named to play Subiaco this Saturday with no player out of the team at this stage.

Inspirational captain Tallan Ames has been named in Swans' extended squad to take on the Lions but remains an unlikely starter following the internal injuries he suffered in the WAFL's State game win over the NEAFL.

However, if anyone could miss just the one match with his injuries and then the trek of returning home without being able to fly, then it would be the 202-game, fairest and best winning premiership player.

Nathan Broad and Jason Daniels are two more Swan Districts players pressing for selection but there is little reason for change in the black-and-whites team from coach Greg Harding.

Subiaco will make at least three changes from the team that lost to Claremont at the Showground on Monday.

Dual premiership wingman Shaun Hildebrandt will return for Subiaco after missing the last couple of weeks and just in time to make his return to Steel Blue Oval for the first time as an opposition player since returning to the Lions this after spending the past two seasons with Swans.

Rhett Kerr, Charles Le Fanu, Simon Moore, Brad Stevenson and Ryan Wade are the other players for Subiaco pressing for selection in the league side.

Brett Mahoney, Nathan Stewart and Will Fetherstonhaugh are the outs for the Lions at this stage.

CLAREMONT (3-6, 8th) v WEST PERTH (4-5, 5th) – CLAREMONT SHOWGROUND, SATURDAY 2.05PM
Selected teams

Claremont can suddenly move right back into the finals mix with another win at the Showground on Saturday but reigning premiers West Perth will be smarting both from its loss on Monday and having lost earlier in the season to the Tigers.

Prior to Monday's win over Subiaco by nine points at the Showground in front of an impressive crowd of 3312 people, the Tigers looked to be little to no chance of playing finals but in such an even competition that suddenly all changed.

Claremont pulled off the upset win to improve to a 3-6 record and while its percentage is like another loss as well, if the Tigers can win again this Saturday then sitting at 4-6 would have them on the same record as the Falcons and potentially just one game behind fourth-placed East Fremantle.

Claremont also managed to beat West Perth at Arena Joondalup by 12 points in Round 2 this year so the Tigers will have fond memories of that performance, and also from the strong win over Subiaco on Monday.

West Perth, on the other hand, could move back into fourth position with a win over Claremont if East Fremantle also comes up short against Peel.

The Falcons had won two straight matches over Peel Thunder and Subiaco prior to the State game break, but then came up just 16 points short of East Perth in the WA Day Derby on Monday.

A loss to Claremont would very much put West Perth's premiership defence in jeopardy, though, at 4-6 so it's a crucial game for the Falcons in terms of their overall 2014 season.

As for playing at the Showground, Claremont will be looking to remain unbeaten at the venue since 1926.

Claremont played eight home matches at the Showground in 1926 and lost each and every one of them, but since the Tigers did not play a game there until 2005 when they beat West Perth in Round 1 by a solitary point in front of almost 8000 fans.

Now so far this season, Claremont has beaten Peel Thunder and Subiaco at the Showground so is unbeaten there since 1926 even if that has only included three matches.

West Perth, meanwhile, has previously played 12 matches at the Showground finishing with a 5-3 record in 1907, beating South Fremantle in 1922 and winning two from two in 1926 before then losing that game in 2005.

Claremont won its third game of the season on Monday, but it was arguably its most impressive performance and as a result the Tigers could very well enter Saturday's clash with West Perth with an unchanged line-up.

Mitch Andrews, Ben Daniher and Tom Willett have been added to Claremont's squad but it wouldn’t surprise to see the Tigers go in unchanged.

Dual premiership ruckman Andrews could play to give Claremont three big men adding to Mark Seaby and Darcy Cameron.

With the trio also capable of playing forward when not on the ball, it would really test a West Perth team missing its No. 1 ruckman Chris Keunen because of his eye injury and having lost premiership defender Matthew Spencer to retirement.

Both would have been more than handy against Claremont if the Tigers decide to go in extra tall.

On-baller Daniher has been in good form in the reserves this year and had another 26 possessions on Monday against Subiaco but the Tigers' midfield was in good touch led by Luke Blackwell, Andrew Foster, Hugo Breakey, Sam Fong, Ryan Neates, Corey Yeo and at times Steven Edwards.

Willett is a versatile player capable of playing a number of roles in the team so he could come in for the 30th league appearance of his career if coach Michael Broadbridge sees a job there for him.

West Perth loses two premiership stars Keunen and Guadagnin from the team that lost to East Perth on Monday.

Keunen copped a poke in the eye from opposition ruckman Scott Lycett and went to hospital where he was diagnosed with a bruised retina and as a result he has been ruled out at least for this week's game, and possibly next week against East Fremantle as well.

That leaves a big job for Seva Martin up against potentially three Claremont ruckmen – AFL and WAFL premiership player Seaby, dual WAFL premiership ruckman Andrews and young gun Cameron.

Martin had played four games with Subiaco prior to joining West Perth for the 2014 season and after good form in the reserves, he played in the Falcons' Foxtel Cup win over the Box Hill Hawks and also played in Monday's clash with East Perth.

The 23-year-old will now be handed the role of the No. 1 ruckman in the absence of Keunen and has a big job to do.

Guadagnin also copped a nasty cork to his thigh on Monday early in the contest and decided to play on, and contributed well in the finish but because he didn’t get ice on to it quickly, the cork has bled heavily and now he is no chance of playing this week and could be in doubt for next week as well.

It continues a frustrating season for the 167-game premiership star who now has managed to play just five of West Perth's nine WAFL matches in 2014 to date.

There are plenty of West Perth reserves players vying for selection in the team though.

Brayden Antonio, Matt Johnson, Trent Manzone, Mitch McPhee and Luke Meadows have all put themselves in the selection mix.

Matt Johnson had 21 possessions and kicked five goals in the reserves on Monday against East Perth while Antonio finished with 20 possessions, Manzone had 33 and kicked a goal, McPhee finished with 13 touches and two goals and Meadows had 13 disposals.

PERTH (3-6, 6th) v EAST PERTH (7-2, 2nd) – LATHLAIN PARK, SATURDAY 2.05PM
Selected teams

East Perth is in terrific winning form and Perth is struggling to find ways to win meaning that the Demons face a huge task of downing the Royals at home on Saturday to try to stay alive in the finals hunt in 2014.

The Royals have now improved to a 7-2 record on the season to sit in second position on the ladder having won four straight matches against West Perth, Claremont, East Fremantle and Perth since a loss to its Medibank Stadium co-tenants Subiaco on Good Friday.

The Demons, on the other hand, started the season impressively with wins over Claremont and South Fremantle but have won just one of their seven matches since to now be struggling with a 3-6 record.

Perth again tried hard and was competitive last Saturday against Swan Districts, but in the end having just one fit player on the bench for the majority of the second half proved costly and the Demons ended up losing by 37 points having earlier led the match by 37 against the league-leaders.

If Perth still holds out any hope of playing finals football in 2014, then it has to beat East Perth on Saturday to avoid slipping to a 3-7 record.

Perth also needs to turn around East Perth's run of good form against them in recent years.

Since 2008, East Perth has won 11 of the 15 meetings it has had with Perth with those wins coming at an average of over 54 points. Those wins have also included the Royals winning twice by more than 100 points and another three times by more than 10 goals.

Perth has the chance to at least be a little fresher having not played since last Saturday while East Perth is coming off a win against West Perth on Monday.

If Perth wants to keep its flagging finals hopes alive, then it needs to find a way to beat East Perth at home on Saturday and there are plenty of changes to the Demons' line-up from the one that lost to Swan Districts.

Injuries to Haydn Busher, Jarrad Irons and Michael Sinclair proved costly in that loss to Swans with the Demons left to just one fit player for much of the season half and now those three players to go out of the team to take on East Perth.

Key defender Jared Risol is also out of the Perth team with a host of players pushing to come back into the team.

Cale Morton missed the loss to Swans and he should be right to play and join his brother Mitch and Jarryd in the team to take on East Perth. Cale played with the Royals last year while listed at West Coast and was a member of the grand final side that lost to West Perth.

Another former East Perth player Nick Kane also looks set to return to replace Risol. Kane played 36 games with East Perth before joining Perth in 2011 and the 28-year-old has been working hard in the reserves to earn his way back into the team.

Joel Houghton should also return for Perth to help give a forward target in the absence of Busher with Brad Keast also back into contention after missing the game with Swan Districts.

Gerald Ugle was dropped back to the reserves last week and had 27 possessions against Swan Districts and now the former GWS Giants-listed player should come straight back into the league line-up.

Reese Richardson and Matt Welburn are two more players in contention to play for Perth as well.

East Perth does lose last year's grand final Simpson Medal winner Mark Hutchings from Monday's win over West Perth after he was outstanding with 28 possessions and a goal.

Even though Sam Butler, Patrick McGinnity and Josh Hill are currently emergencies for West Coast's game against Hawthorn in Launceston, at least two of them will still take the field for the Royals against the Demons.

East Perth should also regain quality defender Blayne Wilson for his first game since Round 6 with Garry Moss and Dean Cadwallader both on the verge of their first league appearances for 2014.

Mitch Howlett, Julian Locantro and Tom Shanahan are three more players vying for a spot in the East Perth team looking to maintain its hold on second position on the ladder.

EAST FREMANTLE (5-4, 4th) v PEEL THUNDER (1-7, 9th) – EAST FREMANTLE OVAL, SATURDAY 2.05PM
Selected teams
 
Based on ladder positions and win-loss record and Saturday's clash between East Fremantle and Peel Thunder looks a mismatch, but that should be far from the case.

East Fremantle moved back into the top-four with a Foundation Derby win on WA Day against South Fremantle at Fremantle Oval with the Sharks improving to a 5-4 record but they are still far from playing the type of football that coach Steve Malaxos would be hoping for or expecting.

Peel enters the game with just the one victory from eight matches this season to be on the bottom of the ladder, but the Thunder have been a far more competitive team than the 1-7 record suggests.

Prior to beating South Fremantle at Bendigo Bank Stadium by a comprehensive 24 points, the Thunder had been a chance to win virtually all of their seven losses.

Peel was 34 points in front of Swan Districts in Round 2 before ending up losing by 35 as injuries in the second half took their toll. They were again competitive in losses to Subiaco, East Fremantle, Claremont and Perth, but it was the loss to West Perth in Round 8 at Arena Joondalup that really stung.

Peel had the game won for much of the afternoon leading by as much as 42 points before ending up losing on virtually the last kick of the game. However, the Thunder hit back the following week beating South Fremantle and now will be hoping to claim another scalp.

Coach Cam Shepherd will be hoping that the subsequent break for the State game and then the bye last weekend hasn’t halted all of Peel's momentum though.

On the positive side, Peel will be tremendously fresh having not played for three weeks while East Fremantle is coming off a short break following Monday's win over South Fremantle.

East Fremantle returned to the winner's list on Monday by beating South Fremantle and while the Sharks still might not have played overly well, the signs were vastly improved.

The forward-line functioned well with Brandon Ellis, Ryan Lester-Smith and Jack Perham combining for eight goals while the back-line stood up in the absence of Steven Dodd and Mark McGough, Jamie McNamara, Cameron Eardley and Rory O'Brien did well through the middle.

As a result, and with Dodd still unavailable, there are little reasons for changes to the East Fremantle line-up to take on Peel at home.

Mitch Boyle comes back into calculations to return to the side from injury while Tyler Chalwell and Sean Henson were in good form in the reserves on Monday to put themselves in the mix for selection.

On Monday, Chalwell finished with an impressive 25 possessions against South Fremantle while Henson gathered 26 disposals to regain some of the form that saw him have a breakout year in 2012 when East Fremantle made it all the way to the grand final.

Peel has had three weeks now since beating South Fremantle for its first win of the season but it's not as though the Thunder had been poor before that.

They might not have won a game, but had been competitive all season long and it was only a matter of time before they broke through for a win.

From the side that beat South Fremantle three weeks ago, Peel does lose Josh Simpson after he was granted a leave of absence by Fremantle but Brady Grey and Matt Taberner are still expected to play despite being added to the Dockers' extended squad to face Adelaide on Sunday.

Peel fielded a strong line-up in that win over South Fremantle and now on paper at least has an even stronger side in to take on East Fremantle this Saturday.

Scott Gumbleton is set to play his first game of the season after a serious hamstring injury suffered on the eve of the 2014 campaign commencing.

The first-year Docker played 35 AFL matches with Essendon after being drafted from Peel and now will play his first game with the Thunder since 2006. The big man is likely to play at full-forward with Peel not needing him to help in the ruck with Jonathon Griffin and Jack Hannath in the team.

Gumbleton will combine with Michael Apeness and Taberner as the tall forward options creating a potent attack end with Kristin Thornton, Matt Brown and Colin Sylvia there as well.

Clancee Pearce is also set to take his place in the Peel team despite injuring his shoulder early in the win over South Fremantle three weeks ago.

While Peel does welcome back Gumbleton, the Thunder could also recall some important WAFL players led by James Hawksley who hasn’t played due to injury since Round 5.

Kelvin Lawrence, Brennan Gillam, Toby Gianatti and Daniel Griffin are also in the mix to break into the Thunder line-up.