WAFL Round 13 PreviewFriday, June 20, 2014 - 4:21 PM - by Chris Pike

ALL eyes will be on Medibank Stadium this Saturday as the third-placed Subiaco hosts the fourth-placed East Fremantle in a tantalising WAFL fixture that includes two huge milestones for the home team.

Subiaco's Darren Rumble plays his 200th match and captain Kyal Horsley his 100th as the Lions host East Fremantle at Leederville's Medibank Stadium.

The other three WAFL matches on Saturday afternoon pits South Fremantle against Swan Districts at Fremantle Oval, Claremont against East Perth at the Claremont Showground and Peel Thunder against Perth at Mandurah's Bendigo Bank Stadium.

Reigning premier West Perth has the bye ahead of a Foxtel Cup semi-final against the Western Storm from Tasmania on Tuesday night at Patersons Stadium.

SUBIACO (8-3, 3rd) v EAST FREMANTLE (7-4, 4th) – MEDIBANK STADIUM, SATURDAY 2.05PM
Selected teams

Subiaco can go a long way to securing a top three finish while East Fremantle can just about lock away a finals appearance meaning that Saturday's clash at Medibank Stadium is a massive one for both the Lions and Sharks.

Subiaco enters the contest in third position on the ladder a game clear of the fourth-placed East Fremantle and one game behind the top two teams East Perth and Swan Districts.

So a win for the Lions will see them remain a definite chance to end up finishing in the top two come finals time where as a loss could see them lose that chance and also risk falling behind East Fremantle, and to just be within striking distance of the fifth-placed West Perth.

Subiaco also has some added motivation with four-time premiership player, four-time State player and life member Darren Rumble playing his 200th match with the Lions. Captain and 2008 premiership Kyal Horsley also notches his 100th game with the club.

East Fremantle, on the other hand, is now in its best stretch of form since its stirring run to the 2012 grand final.

Following disappointing losses to South Fremantle, East Perth and Swan Districts, East Fremantle's finals hopes looked to be fading but since the Sharks have beaten Perth, South Fremantle, Peel and West Perth to now storm into the top four.

Saturday's game is massive for the Sharks with a win to put them three games clear in fourth spot of the chasing West Perth.

The two teams met earlier this season in Round 2 with Subiaco recording a thumping 56-point victory in Geraldton.

Subiaco potentially could have three high calibre inclusions for the contest as well.

With big men Frank Stockley and Lachlan Delahunty still sidelined with injury and despite Clancy Wheeler and Sean Bradley battling manfully last Saturday in the win over Perth in Kalgoorlie, Andrew McDougall is a chance to return for the Lions to make his first league appearance of the season.

The 97-game WAFL veteran and former West Coast and Western Bulldogs AFL player has managed just four reserves matches this season due to injury, but was back last week and now could be rushed into the league side as early as this Saturday to take on the Sharks.

Another veteran Wayde Twomey looks set to return from a calf injury to add some more class and experience to the Subiaco line-up with hard-running midfielder Brett Mahoney also on the verge of a comeback having missed the wins the past two weeks over Swan Districts and Perth.

Reece Blechynden and James Garcia are two other Subiaco players looking to break into the league side while Joe Scafidi and Brad Stevenson are the two outs at this stage from the team that comfortably beat Perth last Saturday in Kalgoorlie.

East Fremantle will again be without star veteran defender Steven Dodd but will back in Tom Howlett, Andrew Stephen, Matthew Jupp, Sam Read and Tom Hooker to do the job on Subiaco's forwards with Brock O'Brien providing the run and drive out of the back half.

State midfielder Jamie McNamara is set to return for East Fremantle as well after he missed last week's win over West Perth with Mitch Boyle and Tyler Chalwell two more players fighting for a spot in the side.

CLAREMONT (3-7, 8th) v EAST PERTH (9-2, 1st) – CLAREMONT SHOWGROUND, SATURDAY 2.05PM
Selected teams

Up until the last two meetings between the two teams Claremont has had the wood over East Perth in recent times but it's going to take something special for the Tigers to take it up to the Royals this Saturday at the Showground.

East Perth thumped Claremont by 80 points back in Round 8 this season and also recorded an emphatic 63-point preliminary final victory last year, but before that the Tigers had dominated the Royals in recent times.

Claremont had won nine of its last 11 meetings with East Perth by a dominant average winning margin of 46 points.

However, things are now much different between the two sides.

Coming off last year's grand final appearance, East Perth sits atop the WAFL ladder coming into Round 13 with a 9-2 record and a six-match winning streak since losing to Subiaco on Good Friday.

Meanwhile, Claremont's dominance over the last four years with two premierships and four straight minor premierships has come to an end with the Tigers having now won just three of 10 games in 2014 to date to currently sit in second last position.

When the Royals beat the Tigers by 80 points at Medibank Stadium back in Round 8, that was a dominant performance that easily could have reached triple-figures. However, since then Claremont has been much more competitive in losses to Swan Districts and West Perth, and a win over Subiaco.

Claremont obviously is facing the biggest task in the WAFL at the moment by taking on East Perth on Saturday but at least regains an important player with dual premiership veteran Trinity Handley coming back into the Tigers' line-up.

The 179-game versatile veteran has had a horror year so far with injury having played in the Round 1 loss to Perth but injuring a hamstring, and then returning in Round 8 against East Perth before then injuring his hand the next week against Swan Districts.

However, the 30-year-old is now back to again face the Royals and give coach Michael Broadbridge the option to use him in a variety of positions but against East Perth that will most likely be defence up against one of Josh Smith, Paul Johnson, Fraser McInnes or Callum Sinclair.

John Williams is also a chance to come in for his first league game with Claremont since Round 4 and having played the one game back in the reserves prior to the bye where he had 16 possessions and five marks against West Perth.

Midfielder Ben Daniher is also in the mix to return to the Claremont team while Halls Creek-native Shane McAdam is a chance to make his debut with the 19-year-old having shown some good form this season so far in the reserves.

East Perth has named Josh Hill and Jacob Brennan as outs at this stage with both added to West Coast's extended squad to face St Kilda on Sunday, but neither is guaranteed a spot with the Eagles and could still end up playing for the Royals on Saturday.

East Perth has some handy players looking to return, though, with Dean Cadwallader still looking for his first league appearance of 2014 and he had another 27 possessions, 12 marks and two goals in the reserves last week against South Fremantle.

Mitch Howlett continues to be a prolific ball-winner in the reserves to push for a league berth as well with Jarrad Oakley-Nicholls ready to return from injury. Callum Hart and Steven Wityk are also in the mix at the selection table.

SOUTH FREMANTLE (3-7, 7th) v SWAN DISTRICTS (9-2, 2nd) – FREMANTLE OVAL, SATURDAY 2.05PM
Selected teams

South Fremantle had high hopes of being a vastly-improved team in 2014 but it hasn’t eventuated and now the Bulldogs could see their finals hopes evaporate once and for all when hosting the second-placed Swan Districts at Fremantle Oval on Saturday.

South Fremantle lost its first four games of the season to instantly be on the back foot, but the Bulldogs then found some winning form beating East Fremantle, West Perth and Claremont to be right back in the top four mix.

However, since then South Fremantle hasn’t been able to play consecutive matches and in between byes have lost to Peel Thunder, East Fremantle and East Perth to now slip to a 3-7 record and to be all but out of finals contention.

And things don’t get any easier for the Bulldogs up against a Swan Districts team that not only sits in second position on the ladder, but who has dominated South Fremantle in recent times.

Swans can further secure that second position on the ladder with a win on Saturday and remain a chance to finish on top.

Swan Districts has won its last eight matches against South Fremantle with the last loss coming at Steel Blue Oval in Round 5, 2011. The average winning margin in those eight wins has been over 25 points.

South Fremantle faces a big ask to try and get back on the winner's list in terms of both this season and against Swan Districts.

Mitch Carter is the only out of the Bulldogs team at this stage with midfielder Jarrod Parry, wingman/half-forward Ben Sokol, Jason Maskos and Alistair Gillespie pressing their claims for selection.

Parry has found himself back in the reserves the last two games and been terrific amassing 58 possessions, 13 marks and 11 tackles.

Sokol hasn’t managed a league game since Round 4 with the Bulldogs but has continued to work hard in the reserves averaging over 25 possessions a game in his last six matches.

Maskos also hasn’t played in the league team since Round 4 but has been in solid form in the reserves and could come back into the Bulldogs' side as a small defender to potentially free up Ashton Hams to play in the midfield again.

After playing all 20 matches last year, Gillespie has made just the one league appearance for South Fremantle so far in 2014 and that was back in Round 3, but he is again in the mix after some solid reserves form.

Swan Districts hasn’t named any outs at this stage from the team that beat Peel Thunder last Saturday but star premiership forward Tim Geappen remains in doubt with a hamstring injury suffered in the third quarter of that victory.

If he doesn’t get up to play then Rudy Riddoch appears the likely replacement in the forward-line for Swans with young star Connor Blakely to return from WA State 18s duties with young defender Josh Kirkup also in the mix to return for the black-and-whites.

PEEL THUNDER (1-9, 9th) v PERTH (3-8, 6th) – BENDIGO BANK STADIUM, SATURDAY 2.05PM
Selected teams
 
Peel Thunder and Perth have rarely met with little else riding on the result other than the winner trying to avoid the wooden spoon and unfortunately there is again more chance of both finishing last than in the finals in 2014.

Peel currently sits on the bottom of the WAFL ladder with just one win from 10 games but the Thunder have actually been much more competitive than that record suggests.

As a result, Peel will go in confident of being able to record its second win of the season to maintain hope of avoiding another wooden spoon. Another loss for the Thunder, and it's going to be hard for them to finish anywhere but last in 2014 with just nine games to go.

Perth, meanwhile, narrowly missed finals in 2013 and had every reason to expect it could go one step further in 2014 and make it to September action for the first time since 1997.

The Demons then started the season well with wins over Claremont and South Fremantle, but in the nine matches since they have won only once to be struggling with a 3-8 record heading into Saturday's clash in Mandurah.

Perth will head into the match with confidence, though, having won its last seven matches against Peel by an average of 31 points.

Peel has named Fremantle pair Brady Grey and Matt Taberner as outs at this stage but both are only emergencies for the Dockers for Saturday night's clash with the Brisbane Lions at Patersons Stadium and both should still play for the Thunder against the Demons.

Toby Gianatti, Laine Wilkins, Brennan Gillam, Ben Hancock and Stephen Kane are five players from Peel trying to find a spot in the league side as well.

Gianatti missed last week's game against Swan Districts and didn’t play reserves so he is looking to come straight back into the league side.

Wilkins had a good game in the reserves last week with 21 possessions and two goals while Gillam has been in strong form all season in the reserves despite playing just two league matches. He has averaged over 24 possessions a game including 24 disposals and eight marks last week.

Hancock has already played four league matches this season and now returns to the Peel line-up after playing well with Western Australia's State 18s team.

Kane has played four reserves matches this season and appears on the verge of a league debut also.

Perth has some big outs again to make its job of returning to the winner's list all the tougher with ruckman, and ex-Peel big man, Mitch Leyendekkers again going out of the team after managing just the one league game back last week against Subiaco in Kalgoorlie.

Young midfielder Kieran Hug and the classy Cale Morton are also out of the Perth line-up that is still missing Brett Hodge, Chance Bateman, Haydn Busher, Jarrad Irons, Michael Sinclair and Mitch Morton.

Jared Risol returns to help strengthen the back-line which will be without Chris Billings after he copped a one-week suspension out of last week's loss to Subiaco.

WA State 18s player Clem Smith is a handy inclusion for the Demons, though, with Brent Edmonds in line for his second league match and first since Round 1 while Ryan Gray is a chance to make his debut.