WAFL Round 18 PreviewFriday, July 25, 2014 - 1:38 AM - by Chris Pike

ROUND 18 of the 2014 WAFL season pits all four teams inside the top four up against sides in the bottom half of the ladder but that doesn’t mean that there isn’t the chance of some upset results taking place.

All four matches are on at 2.05pm on Saturday afternoon with East Perth playing West Perth at Leederville's Medibank Stadium, Claremont taking on East Fremantle at the Showground, Swan Districts hosting Perth at Bassendean's Steel Blue Oval and South Fremantle facing Subiaco at Fremantle Oval.

The bottom-placed Peel Thunder has the bye.

EAST PERTH (12-2, 1st) v WEST PERTH (6-8, 5th) – MEDIBANK STADIUM, SATURDAY 2.05PM
Selected teams

East Perth sits on top of the ladder and has had two weeks off while the majority of West Perth's team played in Geelong on Tuesday night and the Falcons are only just clinging to any finals hopes, but strange things can happen in Perth derbies.

East Perth-West Perth clashes have become the most heated on and off the field in recent times in the WAFL and expect no different this Saturday afternoon at Medibank Stadium in the third derby of the season and likely the last grand final rematch from last year.

West Perth won last year's grand final after beating East Perth by 49 points and then the Falcons also thumped the Royals by 100 points back in Round 4 also at the Leederville venue.

East Perth bounced back recording a 16-point win on WA Day at Joondalup's HBF Arena and now the two teams get set to meet again.

The Royals have now won nine straight matches to sit a game clear on top of the WAFL ladder with a 12-2 record and needing to keep winning to hold off the chasing Subiaco.

East Perth is also fresh having had the bye last weekend following a solid 28-point win against East Fremantle.

Meanwhile, West Perth is coming off a disappointing showing on Tuesday night in Geelong in a Foxtel Cup grand final loss to Williamstown where the Falcons only managed to score one goal for the entire night and to end up losing by 63 points.

That means that the West Perth players backing up only arrived home in Perth on Wednesday night and have just had Thursday and Friday to prepare to take on East Perth on Saturday.

Before that, West Perth had lost its last two matches to Swan Districts and Subiaco, and four its last six to slip to a 6-8 record on the season to now be four games outside of the top four and desperately needing to find a way to beat East Perth to keep any slim finals hopes alive.

East Perth had the week off last week to refresh with the bye while West Perth was gearing up for its Foxtel Cup grand final on Tuesday night.

With West Coast having the week off in the AFL as well then every one of the 22 players that will line up for the Royals will be fresh and raring to go up against a battered and bruised Falcons line-up.

Nobody at East Perth will be taking West Perth lightly, though, that is for sure despite the fact that the Royals will be fielding a strong side.

Sharrod Wellingham, Jamie Bennell and Josh Hill have all been named as emergencies for West Coast to take on Richmond at Patersons Stadium on Friday night, but unless there is a late change with the Eagles the trio should play again for East Perth against West Perth on Saturday.

Then West Coast big man Callum Sinclair returns to the East Perth team as does defender Blayne Wilson, small backman Adam Carter and wingman Will Magginness.

Classy left-footer Garry Moss should also be back after hurting his knee back in East Perth's Foxtel Cup semi-final loss to Williamstown at Patersons Stadium.

Not only does West Perth have to deal with having flown to Melbourne on Monday, played in Geelong on Tuesday night, flown back to Perth on Wednesday afternoon and now getting prepared to play the Royals on Saturday, the Falcons have plenty of injuries to deal with as well.

Kody Manning was already missing from the Foxtel Cup grand final on Tuesday night with a shoulder injury as were Nick Rodda and Steve Potente with knee complaints.

The experienced Andrew Strijk then copped a corked thigh early in the Foxtel Cup match on Tuesday night. While he was able to play on during the night, once it cooled down it hasn’t pulled up well and won't be playing on Saturday against East Perth to add to his 148 matches with West Perth.

Prolific ball-winning midfielder Shane Nelson is also struggling coming out of Tuesday night's clash in Geelong, but will be given every chance to get up and play on Saturday.

Half-forward Matt Johnson and versatile big man Shaun Marusic also go out of the West Perth team that both lost to Subiaco in the WAFL two weeks ago and in the Foxtel Cup grand final to Williamstown on Tuesday night.

Max Alexander, Corey Chalmers, Ben King, Aidan Lynch, Trent Manzone, Drew Rohde, Kris Shannon and Mitch van Berlo are all added to the West Perth squad to face East Perth on Saturday.

Alexander has played all three of West Perth's Foxtel Cup matches this season but is yet to make his WAFL debut despite having now played 40 reserves matches the last four years, but his chance could come on Saturday.

Chalmers is a lively small forward who has played in the Foxtel Cup this season but could also make his WAFL debut on Saturday with him having kicked 49 goals in 31 reserves matches, and before that 32 goals in 30 colts appearances.

King has come to West Perth this season from Gingin and played in the Foxtel Cup semi-final win over the Western Storm, and now could also be set for his WAFL debut on Saturday.

Lynch is another to have now racked up 37 reserves matches and to have played in the Foxtel Cup this year but awaits a league debut that could come Saturday with Mitch van Berlo, the younger brother of Nathan and Jay, also in the same boat.

Jordan Jones will also be playing his 100th match in the WAFL since being drafted by West Coast from the Geelong Falcons in 2008.

In between his two matches with the Eagles in the AFL, he played 47 WAFL matches with Peel Thunder before joining West Perth once delisted and now having played 49 games with the Falcons in the WAFL and another three in the Foxtel Cup to take his tally to 99 which will become 100 on Saturday.

CLAREMONT (6-9, 6th) v EAST FREMANTLE (10-5, 4th) – CLAREMONT SHOWGROUND, SATURDAY 2.05PM
Selected teams

Claremont has been in strong form over the past two months and already put a dent in Swan Districts' top two hopes last week and now will be looking to stop East Fremantle from guaranteeing a finals place this Saturday.

The Tigers host the Sharks at the Claremont Showground on Saturday with the Tigers looking to continue a strong run of form since a horror start to the season losing six of their first eight matches by an average of 72.8 points.

Since then, Claremont was competitive in a loss to Swan Districts in Round 9, upset Subiaco on WA Day, lost narrowly to West Perth in Round 11, lost to East Perth by just 16 points in Round 13, beat Peel by 26 points in Round 14, defeated South Fremantle by 22 points in Round 15, lost a thriller to Peel by two points and then last week finished on fire to beat Swans by three points.

That means that Claremont has now won four of its last seven matches but the Tigers were also a real chance to win their three losses in that period as well including the most competitive effort that any side has given against East Perth likely since the Royals last lost a game way back on Good Friday.

However, no matter how good form Claremont is in it can't lead to finals in 2014 and that is something that is in East Fremantle's hands unless the Sharks somehow slip up in their remaining five matches of the season.

The Sharks started the season well winning three of their first four matches, including a 75-point hammering of Claremont in Round 4, but they then hit a hurdle with three straight losses to South Fremantle, East Perth and Swan Districts.

East Fremantle bounced back strongly from that, though, with six straight wins before losing to East Perth by 28 points back in Round 16. The Sharks then responded to that with a 24-point win last Saturday over Peel Thunder at home.

Claremont loses John Williams to injury from the team that stormed home to beat Swan Districts last week, and now coach Michael Broadbridge has some interesting selection decisions to make.

Young stars Jared Hardisty and Jackson Starcevich could both receive an opportunity to make their league debuts while Aaron Holt and Tom Willett are in the mix to return to the senior team as well.

Hardisty was outstanding last week in the reserves for the Tigers with 27 possessions in his second game of the year there having previously been with the colts and the WA State 18s team.

Starcevich has been building form in the reserves a key forward with six shots on goal last week for two goals, 19 possessions and 10 marks in what was the best game of the season for the 21-year-old from Morningside.

Holt hasn’t played in the league side since Round 11 but has been solid in the reserves the last three weeks on return from injury so the 2012 premiership player could return on Saturday for the Tigers with Willett a chance to play his eighth game of the season after 29 possessions in the reserves last week.

East Fremantle doesn’t have any outs at this stage from the team that finished strongly to beat Peel at home last Saturday but there are Michael Edwards, Tom Hooker and Boston Williamson trying to break into the side.

All three are running out of time to get a spot in the team ahead of the finals with Edwards looking to play just his fourth league game of the season after 21 possessions and five tackles last week in the reserves.

Hooker was outstanding in 27 disposals and two goals in the reserves also against Peel as he looks to add to his tally of six league matches with Williamson also coming off 21 touches and two goals last week in his first season with the Sharks after coming across from East Perth.

SWAN DISTRICTS (11-4, 3rd) v PERTH (3-12, 8th) – STEEL BLUE OVAL, SATURDAY 2.05PM
Selected teams

Swan Districts and Perth might appear a great mismatch on paper considering Swans are still vying for a top two berth and the only thing the Demons can achieve in 2014 is avoiding the wooden spoon, but recent history suggests it will be a tight contest.

Swan Districts and Perth have played out some tremendous contests in recent seasons so the black-and-whites will need to be mindful to be on their way against the Demons on Saturday at home with so much riding on the result.

Swans looked in control against Claremont last Saturday at the Showground but then coughed up six of the seven goals in the last quarter to lose by three points, and lose second position on the ladder in the process.

Swan Districts now sits significant percentage behind the second-placed Subiaco and needs to win on Saturday against Perth to keep its top two hopes alive.

Perth, meanwhile, has now lost nine straight matches to be only percentage off the bottom of the ladder but the Demons have been more competitive than that suggests.

Prior to last week's 73-point loss to Subiaco, Perth had chances late in games against both to East Fremantle and South Fremantle to win before losing in the dying minutes.

Even against the Lions, the Demons had got back to within 23 points at three quarter-time before conceding 10 final quarter goals.

Swan Districts and Perth have already met twice this season with Swans winning on both occasions, but they have been fascinating contests.

Perth had the game in hand in Round 5 at Lathlain Park before some late Ryan Davis heroics saw the black-and-whites home.

Then in Round 10 also at Lathlain, Perth started brightly with Mitch Morton booting five first half goals, but Swans then dominated the second half with Tim Geappen on fire kicking six goals to help his team to a 37-point victory.

Swan Districts has had the most stable team of any in the WAFL season having used just the 29 players across 15 matches, and despite last week's loss to Claremont there might be limited changes by the black-and-whites once again.

Swans decided to drop Brent Latch from its defence two weeks ago instead moving Tony Notte from centre half-back to help out in the back half.

However, if coach Greg Harding wants Notte to return to the forward-line then Latch could earn a recall to take on Perth on Saturday. Fellow defenders Laurence Grescos and Josh Kirkup are in the mix to come back into the Swan Districts team as well to face the Demons.

Perth's hopes of breaking its losing streak has not been helped by the tribunal and on the injury front.

Captain Paul Bevan received a three-week suspension for his high hit on Subiaco's Brett Mahoney last week so that robs the Demons of one potent threat in attack while another also goes out in the form of Sydney Swans AFL premiership player Mitch Morton with a knee injury.

Morton kicked five goals last time Perth played Swan Districts while Bevan was outstanding in a defensive role keeping Swan Districts match-winner Ryan Davis to just four possessions.

The bad news doesn’t end there, though, for Perth with another dangerous forward Brennan Stack also out of the side with key defender Nick Kane also on the list of outs to take on Swans from the team that lost to Subiaco.

The Demons do at least get to add one goal scoring threat with small forward Callum Collard back in the line-up having kicked 21 goals in 11 matches so far in 2014.

Kieran Hug, Ben Power, Ryan Gray, Blake Borrett, Rowan Brookes and Brent Edmonds are the other Perth players in the mix to come into the team to face Swan Districts.

If Borrett is selected, it will be his league debut having now played 36 reserves matches with East Perth prior to joining Perth this season where he has spent the season in the reserves again so far.

SOUTH FREMANTLE (4-10, 7th) v SUBIACO (11-4, 2nd) – FREMANTLE OVAL, SATURDAY 2.05PM
Selected teams
 
South Fremantle and Subiaco sit at opposite ends of the ladder but if the Bulldogs are able to limit the Lions' scoring power then they have enough firepower themselves to make it a real contest on Saturday at Fremantle Oval.

Subiaco now sits in second position on the WAFL ladder having won three straight matches, and five of its last six to now sit on an 11-4 record to be significant percentage ahead of the third-placed Swan Districts.

The Lions are still eyeing off the minor premiership as well with them sitting only the one game behind East Perth, with a similar percentage and a game still to go in the run home against the Royals.

However, first things first Subiaco has to try and take care of business against a South Fremantle team with enormous talent despite having just the four wins for the season to date.

With Haiden Schloithe, Ashton Hams, Brendan Verrier, Steven Verrier, Jacob Martinez, Shaun Bewick and Toby Bairstow all good ball winners, Ben Saunders dangerous up forward and Dylan Ross, Zac Strom and Nick Borovac solid down back, South Fremantle has the makings of a solid line-up.

Add in the experienced Craig White and Paul Mugambwa, and the youth of Tim Kelly, Matthew Gundry and Ben Sokol, and there is enough for Subiaco to need to be mindful of.

South Fremantle is coming off the bye but before that beat Perth by 12 points having kicked the game's last two goals after conceding what had appeared to be a match-winning lead at three quarter-time.

Subiaco has also had the better of recent battles with South Fremantle.

The Lions beat the Bulldogs back in Round 1 this year by 48 points and last year, won the first two meetings before South Fremantle won by eight points in Round 20.

The bye came at an inopportune time for South Fremantle once again following the drought breaking win over Perth leading into Saturday's clash with the second-placed Subiaco.

South Fremantle won that game against Perth despite the absence of Ashton Hams, Adam Guglielmana and Ryan Cook, all likely to finish in the top five of the Bulldogs' fairest and best count for 2014.

Hams now returns this Saturday to face Subiaco having missed just the one game after getting hurt in South Fremantle's loss to Claremont but Guglielmana and Cook remained sidelined for at least one more week with hamstring and calf injuries respectively.

Key forward Josh Pullman and the versatile Mitch Carter are two other players also looking to force their way back into the South Fremantle in the run home to the finish of a tough season for the Bulldogs, and to coach Paul Hasleby's three-year tenure at the helm.

Subiaco is in terrific and high-scoring form having kicked the highest score of the season last week against Perth and that spells danger for a South Fremantle with a proficiency in having big scores kicked against them in recent times.

Subiaco kicked the highest score by any team in the WAFL this season last week against Perth on the back of the biggest first and last quarters.

The Lions have averaged 105 points a game so far in 2014 to be the highest scoring team in the league while South Fremantle is the second worst defensively averaging 95 points a game against them.

Subiaco has also been the best finishing team over the course of the season in the WAFL outscoring its opposition in fourth quarters by a total of 172 points and that could spell trouble for South Fremantle with the Bulldogs having been outscored in second halves by a total of 199 points.

The Bulldogs have been strong starters to games, though, and are the third best opening quarter teams in the competition having outscored their opposition by 85 points over the course of the year to date. The problem there is that Subiaco is also the best starting team in the league.

Subiaco does lose ruckman Frank Stockley to a hamstring injury suffered in last Saturday's win over Perth with Joel Ashman, James Garcia and Aaron Heal in the mix to return to the Lions' line-up.

Jordan Bestry is also a chance to make his league debut for the Lions having played 11 reserves matches so far in 2014 on the back of 39 in the colts the past two years.

The 19-year-old 198cm developing ruckman could receive his chance to help out Andrew McDougall in the ruck in the absence of Stockley and with Lachlan Delahunty still sidelined with injury as well for the clash with the Bulldogs.