WAFL Round 20 PreviewFriday, August 8, 2014 - 10:35 AM - by Chris Pike

ROUND 20 of the 2014 WAFL season looks to be another tantalising one with fourth position still up for grabs, two of the top three teams looking to bounce back from disappointing losses and two strugglers for the year looking to back up big wins last weekend.

The four WAFL matches for Round 20 all take place on Saturday afternoon with West Perth playing East Fremantle at Joondalup's HBF Arena, Swan Districts taking on East Perth in Bunbury, South Fremantle hosting Peel Thunder at Fremantle Oval and Claremont facing Perth at the Showground.

The second-placed Subiaco has the bye while currently on a six-match winning streak.

WEST PERTH (7-9, 5th) v EAST FREMANTLE (10-7, 4th) – HBF ARENA, SATURDAY 2.05PM
Selected teams

Only two weeks ago East Fremantle looked certain of a finals appearance in 2014 and West Perth looked to have no chance, but things have quickly changed in only one week suddenly making Saturday's clash between the two teams at HBF Arena a massive one.

East Fremantle remains in the box seat to finish in fourth position currently holding a 10-7 record but the Sharks have now lost three of their last four games, and their last two, to now be in a position of needing to win one of their last three games.

The first opportunity comes this Saturday against a West Perth team who found some form and confidence last week in a 56-point domination of the finals bound Swan Districts.

If West Perth wins, then suddenly the Falcons are in a position where if they win their last two games against Claremont and Peel, and East Fremantle loses its last two games against the finals bound Swan Districts and Subiaco, then the reigning premiers will play finals and the Sharks won't.

An East Fremantle win on Saturday and fourth position is sewn up and the race for finals positions is over so it's a contest with plenty on the line and with one team coming in off a thumping win against the third-placed team, and the other after being thumped by the team in third last position on the ladder.

East Fremantle was every bit as disappointing last week in a 43-point loss to South Fremantle as West Perth was impressive in beating Swan Districts, but the Sharks have beaten the Falcons twice already in 2014.

The first came in Round 1 when the Sharks dominated the opening three quarters but the Falcons came flying home to only fall three points short. Then in Round 12 also at HBF Arena, East Fremantle finished all over West Perth to end up winning by nine points.

West Perth put in a dominant performance last week to beat Swan Districts and revive life back into its season again, and the Falcons again this week will still be without Andrew Strijk, Kody Manning, Nick Rodda and Matt Fowler to face the Sharks this week.

There are no outs to the West Perth team at this stage from that one that dominated Swan Districts but Corey Chalmers, Aidan Lynch and Steve Potente are pushing to break into the team.

Potente made his return in the reserves last week and had a particularly strong first quarter on his way to finishing with 16 possessions in his first game since injuring a knee in West Perth's win over South Fremantle in Round 14.

Bradd Dalziell has likely been East Fremantle's best player so far throughout the 2014 season and he is a massive out for the Sharks as they head to Joondalup to take on the Falcons on Saturday.

Tom Hooker and Ryan Lester-Smith are the other omissions from the East Fremantle team that lost in disappointing fashion to South Fremantle last Saturday.

Tyler Chalwell, James Depane, Jordan Dorotich, Michael Edwards, Jamie McNamara and Boston Williamson are the East Fremantle players vying for selection in the league side.

McNamara will be a welcome return from injury after missing the last four games and his presence is especially important given the absence of Dalziell.

Depane had a solid season last year for the Sharks but had a slow start to 2014 with injury and only now is in contention for his first league game of the season after 27 possessions and 10 marks in the reserves last week against South Fremantle.

SWAN DISTRICTS (12-5, 3rd) v EAST PERTH (13-3, 1st) – HANDS OVAL, BUNBURY, SATURDAY 2.05PM
Selected teams

Bunbury hosts a WAFL game yet again on Saturday with the top-of-the-ladder East Perth playing the third-placed Swan Districts with both finals bound teams looking to bounce back from disappointing losses last week.

East Perth lost to Subiaco last Saturday by 28 points to end the Royals' 10-game winning streak, but they do remain on top of the ladder and do still sit in prime position to claim the minor premiership.

Swan Districts, meanwhile, is guaranteed of playing finals in 2014 but looks set to only be able to finish in third position and is coming off a 56-point loss to West Perth last week which saw Swans score one behind in the first half and only one goal up until three quarter-time.

East Perth and Swan Districts are still mostly likely to finish first and third on the ladder come the end of the home and away season no matter the result in Bunbury on Saturday, but both will be determined to get back on the winner's list and start to tune up for the finals.

The match will be the sixth WAFL fixture played in Bunbury and the third since 2007, and third between Swan Districts and East Perth.

The first clash was back in Round 1, 1984 when 6573 turned out to watch the Royals beat Swans in a high-scoring thriller 19.13 (127) to 16.17 (113).

Swans and the Royals last met in Bunbury in Round 7, 1995 and again it was East Perth who was victorious by 69 points in front of 3500 people.

The other matches in Bunbury saw East Perth beat West Perth in 1997, Peel beat Swan Districts in 2007 and then the Thunder again win this time over Claremont in 2008.

Star veteran forward Tim Geappen goes out of the Swan Districts team through suspension while captain Tallan Ames is out due to the after effects of concussion following last Saturday's horror loss to West Perth.

They will both be dearly missed against East Perth as well with Geappen having kicked 37 goals for the season so far and Ames would have been desperately needed likely to match up on East Perth full-forward Josh Smith.

Important midfielders Matt Riggio, Blaine Boekhorst and Adam Faulkner all go out of the side for Swan Districts as well having averaged a combined 64 possessions a game so far in 2014.

Small forward Matthew Jukes is the other to lose his place in the side after last week's loss to the Falcons.

Veteran premiership defender Justin Simpson is a welcome return for Swan Districts after missing the last two weeks with a calf strain.

Dylan Harvey, Nathan Broad, Jacob Burnham, Jason Daniels, Jesse Manton, Tom Smirk and Brandon Jetta are then the other players in contention to play for Swans in Bunbury against the Royals.

Harvey could come in to offer some support to Nathan Blakely in the ruck with the 24-year-old a chance to add to his three league games from 2011 and 2012.

Broad did play the first three games of the season for Swans and then played three more matches between Rounds 12 and 14, and now the 21-year-old defender is a chance to return after some good form in the reserves.

Burnham has played six league matches this season and showed some good signs, but when he's been in the reserves he has been outstanding including a strong performance last week with 20 possessions and eight marks against West Perth.

Daniels made his league debut in Round 14 of this year and had just seven possessions, but he has gone back to 61 possessions in his three reserves matches since to put himself back in contention for his second league appearance.

Manton continues to show strong form in the reserves as well with another 21 possessions last week while Jetta had a good game last Saturday with 23 disposals against West Perth.

Smirk is a chance to make his league debut as well with the 25-year-old having showed solid form in the reserves with his 15 matches this year.

While Swan Districts loses its star defender, East Perth regains theirs with Kyle Anderson returning after being sidelined with a shoulder injury since the Royals Foxtel Cup defeat at the hands of Williamstown.

West Coast running defender Jacob Brennan also returns for East Perth with Steven Wityk, Tom Shanahan and Dylan Main keeping themselves in the mix for selection due to continued solid form in the reserves.

Dom Sheed will also return for East Perth after being dropped by the Eagles and unless Adam Carter or Ashley Smith receive a surprise late call up to play Collingwood on Sunday, they should also line up in Bunbury on Saturday for the league-leading Royals.

CLAREMONT (7-9, 6th) v PERTH (3-14, 9th) – CLAREMONT SHOWGROUND, SATURDAY 2.05PM
Selected teams

Claremont takes on the bottom-placed Perth at the Claremont Showground on Saturday with the Tigers remarkably still in finals contention despite a horror start to the 2014 season.

Claremont's season looked all but over losing six of its first eight matches and not only losing those six games, but doing so by a massive average losing margin of over 12 goals.

However, the Tigers have done a remarkable job to rebuild themselves within a single season and has now won four of their last five matches with the only loss in that run coming by two points against Peel Thunder at Bendigo Bank Stadium.

That means that if Claremont wins its last four games of the season against Perth, Subiaco, West Perth and East Perth, then the Tigers could still finish up in fourth position on the ladder at the expense of East Fremantle if the Sharks lose their last three matches of the season as well.

Because of Claremont's big losses earlier in the season, it does need to significantly boost its percentage as well and there is every reason for the Tigers to think they can do that this week against the Demons.

Perth has now lost 11 matches in-a-row following last week's 65-point loss at home Peel which now sees the Demons a game and percentage clear on the bottom of the ladder coming into Round 20.

Perth and Claremont first met back in Round 1 when the Demons were on fire and the Tigers yet to click, and Perth won by 65 points.

Perth was on top of the ladder after that and Claremont on bottom, but now the Demons are last and look likely to stay there while the Tigers are one of the form teams of the competition and an outside chance of still making the finals.

Matthew Goyder, Jack Richardson and Keifer Yu are vying to return to the Claremont line-up following the bye and with the Tigers still trying to stay alive for an unlikely run to the finals after their horror start to the season.

There are no outs at this stage from the side that beat the fourth-placed East Fremantle by 17 points a fortnight ago.

Perth loses two more important players in ruckman Mitch Leyendekkers and the versatile Michael Florio to add to a list of players missing that already includes Mitch, Cale and Jarryd Morton, Brett Hodge, Haydn Busher and Paul Bevan.

Youngster Cameron Jones also goes out of the Perth line-up that lost to Peel at home last Saturday.

Perth will be glad to welcome back key defender Jared Risol after a four-week injury absence and after Chris Billings also returned last week, it does make the Demons' defence significantly stronger.

Brennan Stack is also a chance to return from the reserves to strengthen Perth's forward-line and provide a potent goal scoring option when he is on song.

Matthew Welburn, Brent Edmonds and Clem Smith are also in contention to return for the Demons with Mitchell Browne a chance to make his league debut as an 18-year-old.

SOUTH FREMANTLE (5-11, 7th) v PEEL THUNDER (4-12, 8th) – FREMANTLE OVAL, SATURDAY 2.05PM
Selected teams
 
South Fremantle and Peel Thunder both can't make finals in 2014, but also look unlikely to be able to claim the wooden spoon either with each side coming into Saturday's clash at Fremantle Oval after thumping victories.

South Fremantle won its fifth game of the season last Saturday when beating East Fremantle by 43 points in the final derby of 2014.

Peel Thunder was also impressive thumping Perth by 65 points at Lathlain Park.

Those results saw Peel move one game and percentage clear of Perth on the bottom of the ladder and South Fremantle went two games clear of that bottom spot, so both teams now look likely to be out of contention to claim the wooden spoon for 2014.

Both will also be looking to continue that strong form built last weekend and to also gain some momentum over the other because they will again meet also at Fremantle Oval on a Saturday afternoon in Round 23.

Last time the two teams met was at Mandurah's Bendigo Bank Stadium in Round 9 when Peel won by 24 points in what was the Thunder's first win of the season and also ended a three-game losing streak for the Bulldogs.

Paul Mugambwa goes out of the South Fremantle side that beat East Fremantle last Saturday with Josh Pullman his likely replacement in the forward-line if the Bulldogs decide they do need another option in attack.

Pullman had a terrific game last week in the reserves finishing with 23 possessions, 10 marks and two goals against East Fremantle to put himself right in the mix.

The versatile Adam Guglielmana looks set to return from a hamstring injury he suffered in the Round 15 loss to Claremont while Mitch Carter and Marlon Pickett continue to press their claims to return to the league side with some consistent form in the reserves for the Bulldogs.

There are plenty of changes at Peel from the team that ended up thrashing Perth last Saturday.

Perhaps the most significant of those is the return of exciting small forward Michael Walters who has made a quicker than expected return from injury to now look to impress so much on Saturday in his first game back that he gets straight back into the Dockers line-up next week.

Josh Bootsma, Brad Walsh, Dylan Winton, Ben Hancock, Kyle Westwood, Mitch Green and Sam Barndon are other Thunder players pressing for a spot in the league side.

Fremantle's Colin Sylvia, Tom Sheridan and Michael Apeness go out of the Peel side through injury while Max Duffy and Hayden Crozier have been selected to play for the Dockers against Geelong on Saturday after outstanding performances last Saturday against Perth.

Captain James Flaherty is also out of the Peel side meaning the Thunder will need to find another match-up for South Fremantle full-forward Ben Saunders.

Alex Silvagni and Matt Taberner have been named as emergencies for Fremantle on Saturday night, but both are still likely starters for Peel on Saturday afternoon against the Bulldogs.