WAFL Round 12 PreviewFriday, June 13, 2014 - 4:31 PM - by Chris Pike

ROUND 12 of the 2014 WAFL seasons pits the league's top three teams up against teams currently occupying bottom four positions while West Perth and East Fremantle do battle over fourth position.

All four matches this round will again be played on Saturday afternoon and without doubt the one with the most riding on it takes place at Arena Joondalup when West Perth hosts East Fremantle.

The other three matches sees East Perth take on South Fremantle at Leederville's Medibank Stadium, Peel Thunder host Swan Districts at Mandurah's Bendigo Bank Stadium and Subiaco play Perth in Kalgoorlie.

The eighth-placed Claremont has the bye.

WEST PERTH (5-5, 5th) v EAST FREMANTLE (6-4, 4th) – ARENA JOONDALUP, SATURDAY 2.05PM
Selected teams

West Perth and East Fremantle meet at Arena Joondalup on Saturday with the winner to occupy fourth position on the WAFL ladder come Saturday night.

The Sharks currently hold fourth position with a 6-4 record so if they win over the Falcons they will improve to 7-4 and be two games clear of the fifth-placed Falcons.

West Perth enters the game with a 5-5 record and given its percentage will leapfrog East Fremantle into fourth spot with a victory, but a loss for the Falcons will leave them with plenty of work to do in order to try to make the finals still in 2014 and defend their 2013 premiership.

West Perth comes into the game having beaten Claremont by nine points last Saturday following a 16-point loss to East Perth and before that two straight wins against Subiaco and Peel Thunder.

East Fremantle has now put together an improved run of form with wins over Perth, South Fremantle and Peel Thunder to make up for losses prior to that against Swan Districts, East Perth and South Fremantle.

The Sharks also built up a match-winning lead over the Falcons at East Fremantle Oval in Round 1 and withstood a spirited West Perth comeback in the final quarter to win by three points.

East Fremantle also thrashed an undermanned West Perth line-up by 73 points in Round 22 last year despite the Falcons going on to win the premiership and the Sharks missing the finals altogether.

West Perth's team will be well short of full strength with premiership veterans Chris Keunen and Matt Guadagnin again missing through a bruised retina and badly corked thigh respectively for the second straight week.

Andrew Krakouer also remains sidelined while emerging power forward Marcus Adams is also out of the team to take on the Sharks. Adams has had an outstanding first season to date with the Falcons mostly as a key forward but also as a back up ruckman.

However, the absence of Keunen, Guadagnin, Krakouer and Adams does offer opportunities to others with Seva Martin to carry the load in the ruck, Jack Thrum to keep getting chances in the midfield, Kris Shannon to get more time as a small forward and potentially Matt Johnson to come in and offer another forward option without Adams.

Johnson has not played a league game this year since Round 2, but has been in good form in the reserves including a season-high 23 possessions last week and five goals the week before.

Premiership veteran Ray Bartholomew will also make his return after missing the last three games against Subiaco, East Perth and Claremont following surgery on his fractured cheekbone and eye socket suffered early in the Round 8 win over Peel Thunder.

Ben King and Jordan Mills are both a chance to make their league debuts for West Peth as well with Mills especially likely to play if Jordan Jones doesn’t overcome a knee complaint suffered in last week's win over Claremont.

West Perth might be missing some key players, but East Fremantle is again without star defender Steven Dodd who has now still not played a game since the WAFL's State game victory over the NEAFL in Sydney back on Saturday May 24.

Young key forward Brandon Ellis is also out of the East Fremantle line-up having played the first four of his league games with the Sharks over the past four matches.

However, the Sharks have some key players to return and none more so than the hard-running AFL-experienced Bradd Dalziell who is back after missing last week's victory over Peel Thunder.

Tyler Chalwell, Michael Edwards and Boston Williamson have also continued to work hard in the reserves and show some good form to ensure that they remain in contention to also come back into the East Fremantle line-up to take on the Falcons this Saturday.

PEEL THUNDER (1-8, 9th) v SWAN DISTRICTS (8-2, 2nd) – BENDIGO BANK STADIUM, SATURDAY 2.05PM
Selected teams

Peel's clash with Swan Districts might pit the side two games clear on the bottom of the ladder against one fighting over top spot, but it should be a fascinating contest nonetheless.

Peel has won just the one game so far in 2014 to be two games behind the eighth-placed Claremont, but the Thunder have been a chance to win each and every game they have played in 2014.

Narrow losses and competitive efforts aren’t what Peel is aiming for, though, and it will be looking to hand Swan Districts consecutive losses for the first time this season on Saturday.

Swan Districts lost to East Perth in its opening game of the season before going on an eight-game winning run which only came to an end last Saturday at home to Subiaco.

Swans had stormed back into the game to close to within five points of Subiaco midway through the last quarter, but the Lions then kicked the last seven goals to end up winning by 48 points.

Not only did that bring Swans' winning run to an end, but also saw them concede top spot on the ladder to East Perth.

Swan Districts' eight-game winning streak actually began Peel back in Round 3 at Steel Blue Oval in a game where the Thunder led by 34 points early in the third quarter, but then copped a number of game-ending injuries with Swans ending up winning by 35.

Peel's last win over Swan Districts came in Round 6 last year and the Thunder also scored wins over the black-and-whites in one of their meetings in each of the 2011 and 2012 seasons.

Peel has named Clancee Pearce, Matt Taberner and Colin Sylvia as outs at this stage from the side that lost to East Fremantle last Saturday, but only Sylvia has been named by Fremantle to face Richmond at the MCG meaning that Pearce and Taberner should still take the field for the Thunder.

Fremantle's Brady Grey will also return for the Thunder while Michael Wood could also come back in after some solid form in the reserves.

Laine Wilkins is a chance at earning a recall into the Peel side as well with Sam Barndon, Rhys Anzellino and Daniel Griffin all in the mix to make their league debuts.

Barndon has been solid in the reserves all season to give himself a chance as has Anzellino while Griffin could also be a surprise debutant having arrived at Peel this season from Pinjarra and having played five reserves matches so far.

On paper again Peel has a strong looking line-up particularly in terms of its tall brigade led by ruckmen Jonathon Griffin and Jack Hannath while Scott Gumbleton, Michael Apeness and Matt Taberner will provide tall targets, and Kepler Bradley and Alex Pearce hold down key defensive roles.

The presence of all those talls particularly in the forward half mean that it is the perfect time for Swan Districts captain Tallan Ames returns to anchor his team's defence after suffering fractured ribs and a partially collapsed lung in the WAFL's State game win over the NEAFL in Sydney.

He has missed the games against Perth and Subiaco since, and was particularly missed last week against the Lions who managed to score 22 goals against Swans and end up winning by 48 points.

Nathan Broad is also a chance to return from the reserves for Swan Districts with young gun Aidan Anderson also back from time in the WA State 18s program.

SUBIACO (7-3, 3rd) v PERTH (3-7, 7th) – KALGOORLIE, SATURDAY 2.05PM
Selected teams

Perth has done well against Subiaco in recent seasons but it is going to take quite the turnaround for the Demons to beat the Lions in Kalgoorlie on Saturday.

Coming into the 2014 season, Perth had beaten Subiaco twice in 2013, twice in 2012 and two of the three times the teams met in 2011 but the Lions broke that four-game losing run against the Demons with a 34-point victory in Round 8 at Lathlain Park.

Perth started the 2014 season impressively with wins over Claremont and South Fremantle, but since have managed just the one win to be struggling with a 3-7 record capped off by an 80-point thumping at the hands of East Perth at home last Saturday.

Subiaco, meanwhile, started the season on fire winning five straight matches before losing to Swan Districts and then bouncing back with a win over Perth before consecutive losses to West Perth and Claremont.

However, the Lions bounced back in impressive fashion last Saturday kicking the last seven goals of the game to beat Swan Districts by 48 points and to keep them right in the hunt for a top-two finish.

Subiaco loses centre half-forward and back up ruckman Lachlan Delahunty from last week's win over Swan Districts while No. 1 ruckman Frank Stockley must remain in doubt after coming off before half-time last week and sitting out the rest of the match.

Justin Joyce is out of the Subiaco team as well after a quiet game against Swan Districts last week.

With Delahunty out and Stockley in doubt, Busselton recruit and former East Perth colts player Sean Bradley could get the chance to make his debut with Subiaco in Kalgoorlie on Saturday after some solid reserves form all season.

Reece Blechynden, Will Fetherstonhaugh, Rhett Kerr and Simon Moore are four more Subiaco players fighting to earn their spot back in the Subiaco line-up.

Perth's cause of returning to the winner's list in Kalgoorlie isn’t helped with Mitch Morton and Matthew Hunt joining Brett Hodge, Chance Bateman, Jared Risol, Haydn Busher, Jarrad Irons and Michael Sinclair as key players currently on the sidelines.

However, there is some good news for Perth on the selection front finally with ruckman Mitch Leyendekkers set to play his first since Round 3 after he began the year averaging 32 hit outs and almost 12 possessions a game.

He will be a welcome returnee for Perth and could help to give the Demons the edge over Subiaco in the big men department.

Rowan Brookes, Brad Fry and Ben Power are all a chance to return for the Demons as well to try and help make up for the firepower lost up forward in the absence of Mitch Morton and Busher in particular.

Gidgegannup recruit Ryan Gray could also be in line to make his league debut for Perth after solid form in the reserves right throughout the 2014 season to date.

EAST PERTH (8-2, 1st) v SOUTH FREMANTLE (3-6, 6th) – MEDIBANK STADIUM, SATURDAY 2.05PM
Selected teams
 
East Perth's clash with South Fremantle earlier this season proved a great mismatch and now the Bulldogs will need to find something special to get close to the Royals this time around.

East Perth now sits on top of the WAFL ladder having won five straight matches since losing to Subiaco on Good Friday.

That has seen the Royals improve to an 8-2 record to be on top of the ladder and looking to stay there with a win over the Bulldogs on Saturday.

South Fremantle currently sits in sixth position with a 3-6 record following an up and down 2014 campaign to date.

The Bulldogs began with four consecutive losses to Subiaco, Perth, East Perth and Swan Districts before bouncing back with wins over East Fremantle, West Perth and Claremont to revive life into their finals hopes.

However, not being able to play consecutive games from week to week since the wins over the Sharks and Tigers on April 25 and May 3 has proven costly.

Since thrashing Claremont by 64 points at Fremantle Oval in Round 7, South Fremantle had the Round 8 bye before losing to Peel Thunder in Mandurah by 24 points.

It was then another break for the State game with South Fremantle then backing up from another week off to play in the Foundation Derby on WA Day where East Fremantle prevailed by 15 points.

South Fremantle then once again was unable to build any momentum by having yet another bye last week leading into this Saturday's clash with the on-fire East Perth.

When the two teams met earlier this season under lights at Fremantle Oval in Round 3, the Royals dominated the Bulldogs to win by 75 points.

East Perth does lose Jarrad Oakley-Nicholls from the team that thrashed Perth last Saturday and while Scott Lycett, Patrick McGinnity and Callum Sinclair have been named as outs at this stage, only Lycett is expected to play for West Coast and Gold Coast so the other two should still play for the Royals.

Then the East Perth team has some big inclusions and none more so than returning co-captain Craig Wulff who was in terrific form again in 2014 before suffering a nasty finger injury in the Round 8 victory over Peel Thunder.

Garry Moss played his best game in the reserves last week against Perth as well with 25 possessions so the classy left-footer continues to put his hand up to play his first league match since undergoing a knee reconstruction last year.

Mitch Howlett also can't do much more in the reserves including 35 disposals last Saturday.

And then there are several West Coast players who will come into the East Perth line-up as well including Brant Colledge, Simon Tunbridge and Sam Butler.

South Fremantle has again had a break since its last game which was the Foundation Derby on WA Day against East Fremantle and from that team that ended up losing by 15 points, the Bulldogs lose the retired Kris Miller and the out-of-form Marlon Pickett.

AFL-experienced big man James Sellar is a chance to return from the knee injury he has been battling since it occurred during the Round 2 match against Perth at Fremantle Oval.

Sellar did return to play Claremont in Round 7, but spent most of that day in a forward pocket and was clearly hampered by his knee still. However, that game was now way back on May 3 so he has had another six weeks to get right since that before hopefully taking to the field on Saturday.

Jarrod Parry looks likely to return to the South Fremantle line-up to strengthen the midfield with Jason Maskos also a chance to come in for his first game in the league team since Round 4.

Traye Bennell has stepped up from the colts to play good football in the reserves so far in 2014 including averaging over 23 possessions a game in his past three matches which has put him in the mix to make his league debut on Saturday with Mitch Banks also a chance to make his first appearance in the league side for South Fremantle.