WAFL Round 4 PreviewFriday, April 10, 2015 - 12:59 PM - by Chris Pike

ALL four Round 4 WAFL matches will take place on Saturday afternoon highlighted by East Fremantle and Claremont desperate for a win, a Subiaco and West Perth grudge match, enthralling duel between Swan Districts and South Fremantle, and Peel looking for consecutive wins.

Three of the four matches will bounce down at 2.15pm with East Fremantle hosting Claremont at ATOM Stadium, Swan Districts taking on South Fremantle at Bassendean's Steel Blue Oval and Perth hosting Peel Thunder at Lathlain Park.

Then the twilight fixture is between Subiaco and West Perth at Leederville's Medibank Stadium starting at 4.15pm. East Perth has the bye following wins over Swan Districts and Subiaco after the Round 1 loss to East Fremantle.

EAST FREMANTLE (1-2, 7th) v CLAREMONT (0-2, 8th) – ATOM STADIUM, SATURDAY 2.15PM
Selected teams 
Broadcast – 91.3 SportFM 

East Fremantle and Claremont both had high hopes coming into the 2015 WAFL season and while it's far too early to panic, the loser on Saturday at ATOM Stadium will have lost three matches on the trot and will have plenty of catch up work to do on the teams in the top five.

East Fremantle started its season in tremendously impressive fashion beating East Perth by 55 points at Domain Stadium, but the Sharks have since lost to Subiaco by 47 points and Peel Thunder by 55.

Scoring goals was always going to be an issue for the Sharks coming into the season and despite five goals from Brandon Ellis in Round 2, they haven’t really found a solution.

Their strength has been the defence in recent years but now without Steven Dodd and Tom Howlett, the Sharks have conceded 32 goals the past two weeks.

However, with big man James Bristow back and a midfield still consisting of Rory O'Brien, Bradd Dalziell and Liam Anthony, East Fremantle will be confident of bouncing back at home on Saturday.

Claremont, on the other hand, hasn’t been able to field close to its strongest team yet in 2015 and the result has been a 45-point loss in Round 1 to Subiaco and then a 38-point defeat at the hands of South Fremantle last Friday.

The Tigers now will be looking to try and avoid a 0-3 start to the season having also started 2014 in disappointing fashion losing eight of their first 11 games before coming roaring home winning their last six to only narrowly miss out on playing finals.

East Fremantle loses star Brock O'Brien after he went down injured during last Saturday loss against his former team Peel. O'Brien was in brilliant form to start the season with a near best on ground display against East Perth with 21 possessions and a trademark long goal.

He then had another strong game with 23 touches, nine marks and a goal in the loss to Subiaco before getting hurt against Peel last Saturday.

Barry Barone, Jason Bristow, Miles Franklin and Tom Hooker are all in the mix to come into the East Fremantle team to play Claremont on Saturday.

Barone has returned to East Fremantle this season after previously playing colts in 2013 and the 19-year-old has been impressive in all three reserves matches including 25 possessions last week against Peel to make a strong case to make his league debut this Saturday.

Franklin has also been in good form including having 20 touches, nine marks, seven inside 50s and a goal in the reserves against Peel while Hooker put in a commanding performance with 25 disposals and two goals.

Bristow also looks fit to make his first appearance of the season and the big man will be required both in the ruck and to provide a key forward target particularly with Claremont's team featuring Mitch Andrews, Kepler Bradley, Brandon Franz and perhaps Anton Hamp and Beau Maister.

Claremont hasn’t had the start to the season it hoped but the signs were good in the reserves back on Good Friday against South Fremantle with Maister, Tom Swift and Hamp all coming through unscathed, and showing good signs.

Swift will be given at least another week in the reserves this Saturday against East Fremantle but Hamp and Maister could come straight back into the Tigers' line-up.

Maister had a horror pre-season on return to Claremont after three years with St Kilda struck down with a golden staff infection, but he is now back up and running and after two goals last week in the reserves could provide the Tigers with a much-needed target in attack.

Hamp also had an interrupted pre-season, but has now strung together two matches in the reserves and will come into the Claremont side capable of holding down a key position post either in attack or defence.

Toby Plant is also in the mix to make his debut with Claremont after being recruited from Port Melbourne in the VFL. The 21-year-old midfielder had a slow start in Round 1 but was impressive with 19 possessions last Friday against South Fremantle.

Jack Beeck is another in the mix to make his league debut with the Tigers after some solid form to start the season in the reserves.

Haydn Busher is the only Claremont player out at this stage and he appears a natural omission particularly if both Maister and Hamp end up taking their place in the team.

SWAN DISTRICTS (1-1, 5th) v SOUTH FREMANTLE (3-0, 1st) – STEEL BLUE OVAL, SATURDAY 2.15PM
Selected teams 
Broadcast – KIX Digital

Swan Districts and South Fremantle have both made encouraging starts to the 2015 WAFL season and that should lead to what looms as a fascinating battle at Steel Blue Oval on Saturday.

Swans started their season with a thumping 96-point win over Perth at home and then stormed home against East Perth in Round 2 before coming up 13 points short prior to the bye last week.

South Fremantle, meanwhile, has beaten West Perth, Perth and Claremont to start the season to remain the only unbeaten team left in the competition and to sit on top of the ladder.

The Bulldogs have now won eight straight matches dating back to winning the last five in 2014 as well, but there seems little doubt that the clash with Swans on Saturday at Bassendean is their biggest test of the new season to date.

The two teams played out some fascinating battles in 2014 with Swan Districts winning a tight affair by 13 points at Steel Blue Oval in Round 4 with the Bulldogs being made to pay for wasting plenty of goal scoring chances early.

South Fremantle was then on track for what could have been a season-saving win in Round 13 at Fremantle Oval leading by 35 points in terribly wet conditions during the second quarter and still by five goals at the last change, but then Swans stormed home.

The black-and-whites kicked the only six goals of the final quarter to win by five points after Ryan Davis kicked the match-winner in the dying seconds.

South Fremantle got a measure of revenge in Round 21 winning by 46 points at Steel Blue Oval with Josh Pullman booting five goals and Ashton Hams racking up 43 possessions, but Swans were on their way to the finals and the Bulldogs weren’t.

Swan Districts has had a fortnight to freshen up after its narrow loss to East Perth where the black-and-whites finished right over the top of the Royals before falling 13 points short.

From that team, Tom Smirk and Jacob Burnham go out of the side but Swans have some handy inclusions.

Kirk Ugle heads that list after he missed the game with East Perth and now the creative defender not only returns to add some attack to Swans' back-line, but he also looms as the likely opponent for South Fremantle's Cory Dell'Olio who is preparing for his second game of the season.

Levi Ridley, Warrick Wilson, Nelson Ansey and Sean Fletcher are all pushing for selection with Swan Districts as well with all four coming off playing in last year's colts premiership.

Ridley is the son of triple East Perth premiership star Paul and was a key player in Swans' colts premiership success of last year and now could make his league debut this Saturday against the Bulldogs.

Wilson is another colts premiership player from last year and after 39 possessions in the first two reserves games of the season, he comes into calculation for a league debut as well.

Ansey is a lively half-forward who comes into the mix after two solid reserves games to start the season following last year's colts premiership while Fletcher has also stepped up this year to kick four goals in two reserves matches following last year's colts success.

South Fremantle loses reigning fairest and best winner Haiden Schloithe with an ankle injury suffered late in the Good Friday win over Claremont last week, but depth is something that's not a concern at the Bulldogs at present.

Anthony Collica had a solid game in the league team in Round 1 with 18 possessions but he then missed Round 2 and returned in the reserves last Friday and played well with 27 disposals and a goal to press his claims for a recall and to help make up for the loss of Schloithe.

Jacob Dragovich has taken the step up from the colts this year to play three strong reserves matches, including 20 possessions and a goal against Claremont last Friday, to put himself in the mix for a league debut this Saturday against Swan Districts.

Matthew Gundry played some good league football late in 2014 and has been in solid reserves form putting the small defender in the running for his first senior match of 2015 while key forward Josh Pullman remains a chance to return after being a late withdrawal against Claremont.

Pullman started the season well the first two weeks providing a strong forward target alongside Ben Saunders and James Sellar.

His withdrawal last Friday caused a bit of a reshuffle with Zac Strom playing his role in attack while Chris Luff came into the side to make his South Fremantle debut by holding down a key defensive spot after previously playing 43 games with Peel Thunder.

Further highlighting the depth at South Fremantle early in the season is the fact that Toby Bairstow (30 possessions in the reserves last week), John Sgherza (seven goals), Ben Sokol (18 touches, three goals), Adam Carter (17 disposals), Bailey Matera (18) and Tim Stewart (24) are unable to get a look in for the league team at the moment.

PERTH (0-3, 9th) v PEEL THUNDER (1-1, 6th) – LATHLAIN PARK, SATURDAY 2.15PM
Selected teams  

Perth and Peel Thunder were left in a battle over the wooden spoon last year in what has been a familiar occurrence this century, but now the Demons are left desperately searching for a win early in 2015 while the Thunder are showing impressive form.

Perth ended up losing its last 14 matches of 2014 to end up finishing on the bottom of the ladder and now the Demons have lost their opening three games of 2015 to currently sit on a 17-match losing streak.

Perth had a good finish against South Fremantle in Round 2 to only lose by 10 points, but either side of that has been a 96-point loss to Swan Districts and 79-point defeat at the hands of West Perth but the Demons struggling for competitiveness.

Peel, on the other hand, only narrowly lost to West Perth by seven points in Round 2 at HBF Arena and then put in a dominant performance last Saturday to beat East Fremantle by 55 points at Bendigo Bank Stadium.

Perth lost four of its most important players from the 10-point loss to South Fremantle before the eventual 79-point defeat to West Perth with captain Dene White, AFL premiership players Chance Bateman and Mitch Morton, and another ex-AFL player Jarryd Morton all out injured.

Those four are among the Demons best and most important half-dozen players so it was always going to be a tough afternoon at HBF Arena against the Falcons, but Perth looks set to have at least two of those players return.

White was perhaps the player most missed after he had racked up 35 possessions against South Fremantle and even though Aidan Tropiano and Liam McKenna worked hard in the midfield last week, they were overwhelmed by the depth that the Falcons could throw up against them.

Bateman is also a chance to return to add some experience and running power to the Perth line-up. He got hurt early against the Bulldogs, but was fit enough to do the running duties last week against West Perth so is a good chance to take on Peel this Saturday.

Kane Ransted is also a chance to come in for his first league appearance since 2013. He has returned to the club this season and now could add to his 71 matches likely as a forward option with the Demons desperate for a target in attack.

He had eight shots on goal in the reserves last week against West Perth, kicking three from his 22 possessions and eight marks.

Michael Florio is another experienced Perth player who could make his first league appearance of the season. Following a limited pre-season, he has played the first three weeks in the reserves and after 24 possessions last week, could add to the league side this Saturday.

Between White, Bateman, Ransted and Florio, they provide 287 games of WAFL experience back into the Perth line-up not to mention the 177 AFL matches played by Bateman.

Hayden Tanner is also in the mix to return straight into the Perth side after playing the first two games in the league side of the season, and then missing last week's loss to West Perth.

At this stage, Daniel Arangio and Joel Kalajzic are the two players out of the Perth team but if White, Bateman, Ransted, Florio and possibly Tanner all make the final 22, there will be more players to lose their spot from that team that lost heavily to the Falcons.

Peel put in a commanding performance last Saturday to beat East Fremantle but three players could have impressed Ross Lyon sufficiently to have earned an AFL call up to take on Geelong on Sunday.

Tendai Mzungu returned from a hamstring injury to pick up 25 possessions while Matt Taberner kicked four goals from 14 touches and seven marks while Hayden Crozier finished the game with 17 touches and two goals.

However, even if Peel does lose those three players they appear well placed to cover for them with Connor Blakely set to return after missing out on his AFL debut last week against Port Adelaide. He had 30 possessions the previous week for Peel against West Perth.

Big man Craig Moller will come into the Thunder line-up to add some further size if Taberner goes out of the forward-line while Cruize Garlett, Ben Hancock, Dylan Winton and Nathan Fahey are all capable inclusions.

Garlett has been in terrific form the first two games of the season in the reserves combining for 72 possessions while Hancock had 19 disposals last week against East Fremantle and Winton racked up 27 touches in the colts.

Fahey also showed his ability to perform at league level in the Round 2 loss to West Perth with two goals in his league debut.

SUBIACO (2-1, 3rd) v WEST PERTH (2-1, 2nd) – MEDIBANK STADIUM, SATURDAY 2.15PM
Selected teams 

Subiaco and West Perth are the last two WAFL premiers, have no love lost between them, have both won two of their opening three games of the season and that should all equate to quite the battle at Medibank Stadium on Saturday.

West Perth won the 2013 WAFL premiership before going on to miss the finals altogether last year and then starting 2015 in disappointing fashion with a loss to South Fremantle.

However, the Falcons have now bounced back well beating Peel Thunder and Perth the past two weeks to build some momentum into the clash with Subiaco on Saturday leading into the Round 5 bye and then clash with Swan Districts on the Anzac Day weekend.

Subiaco won the 2014 premiership while also being the warm outsiders going into the grand final against East Perth much like West Perth was the previous year.

The Lions then started the 2015 season in style beating Claremont by 45 points and East Fremantle by 47 but then came back to earth on Good Friday last week in the battle of the Leederville co-tenants losing to East Perth by 64 points.

There is also added interest in the contest following the early morning incident between players of both clubs a fortnight ago.

However, the WAFC and both clubs were quick to act on that situation, and with the majority of the players involved not playing on Saturday anyway, it will quickly be forgotten one the game is underway.

However, with the difference stark between a 3-1 or 2-2 start to the season, bot the Falcons and Lions will be throwing everything into scoring what could prove to be a pivotal win.

Subiaco has made at least four changes from its team that lost to East Perth by 64 points on Good Friday with Braden Fimmano and Reece Blechynden losing their places in the side after quiet games combining for just 18 possessions between them.

However, the loss of captain Kyal Horsley and star forward Shane Yarran will prove harder to cover.

Horsley worked hard still for 19 possessions and seven tackles on Good Friday against the Royals following a best on ground 35-disposal performance in Round 2 against East Fremantle.

The premiership captain will now miss the clash with West Perth as will Yarran through a one-week suspension following his hit on Will Schofield in last week's clash with East Perth.

Coming off an outstanding first season in the WAFL where he was a key player in the eventual premiership, Yarran has started 2015 in scintillating form kicking 13 goals from three games but now the Lions will need to cover for his absence against the Falcons.

Premiership full-forward Matt Boland remains out of the team and so does Chris Deluca, so Subiaco will need to rely on Clancy Wheeler, Michael Wood and Rhys Waters to lead the way with their goal kicking.

With at least four players going out of the Subiaco team, Ray Daniels, Dylan Elliott, Will Fetherstonhaugh, Aaron Heal, Hayden Kennedy, Simon Moore and Tom Smith are all in the mix to come in to play West Perth this Saturday.

West Perth continues to have no luck with its key position stocks and now has lost another this week to face Subiaco with Marcus Adams out of the side.

Adams has been in outstanding form over the first three weeks of the season as a key defender. Despite making his name at centre half-forward for much of last season,

Adams has appeared right at home in the back-line with his strength, marking ability, spoiling prowess, ability to read the play and then set up attacks going back the other way all adding up to make him look like a natural defender.

Certainly at this stage of the season he would be a contender for a spot in the State team in that role in the WA side that will play South Australia at Lathlain Park on Saturday May 23.

However, he goes out of the West Perth team now this week to play Subiaco joining fellow key position players Max Alexander and Jordan Jones on the sidelines with that pair also having played defensive roles so far in 2015.

It will now require a makeshift back-line for the Falcons at least this week. Nick Rodda has looked right at home at centre half-back and will need to continue to do so but Drew Rohde might have to play back now after some impressive early season forward across half-forward.

It might also open the opportunity for Sam Rotham to make his league debut with the 194cm 18-year-old having settled seamlessly into playing in the reserves over the first week of 2015 having stepped up from 10 matches in the colts last year.

Ray Bartholomew, Corey Chalmers and Trent Manzone are also pushing to return to the West Perth line-up to face Subiaco on Saturday.

Premiership player and 173-game veteran Bartholomew has taken going back to the reserves the last two weeks on the chin picking up 39 touches in the two games while Manzone across half-back, and Chalmers across half-forward continue to play well to put themselves in the mix.