McDonald's WAFL Round 8 PreviewFriday, May 8, 2015 - 3:29 PM - by Chris Pike

ROUND 8 of the McDonald's WAFL Premiership season takes place everywhere from Mandurah to Joondalup to Mt Barker and to East Fremantle, and features some tantalising match ups on both Saturday afternoon and Sunday.

The Round 8 action gets underway on Saturday afternoon with a top-of-the-table clash between Peel Thunder and Subiaco at Mandurah's Bendigo Bank Stadium.

The first Perth derby of 2015 then takes place at Joondalup's HBF Arena with West Perth and East Perth both coming off losses, and sitting on 3-3 records coming into the contest.

Claremont and Swan Districts then do battle at Sounness Park in Mt Barker with both teams coming off impressive wins while on Sunday, East Fremantle hosts Perth at ATOM Stadium.

PEEL THUNDER (4-2, 2nd) v SUBIACO (5-1, 1st) – BENDIGO BANK STADIUM, SATURDAY 2.15PM
Selected teams 
Broadcast – KIX Digital, 91.3 SportFM 

Peel Thunder can close the gap with Subiaco on top of the WAFL ladder on Saturday when they take on the reigning premiers at Bendigo Bank Stadium in a battle of the top two teams.

Peel had won four games straight for the first time in the club's history prior to a disappointing 47-point loss to Swan Districts at Steel Blue Oval last Saturday so the Thunder will be determined to bounce back quickly.

By losing, Peel also fell a game and percentage behind Subiaco on the ladder with the Lions coming off the bye and scoring an uninspiring yet comfortable 36-point victory over Perth last Saturday at Lathlain Park.

Subiaco might have suffered a 64-point loss to East Perth back on Good Friday, but the Lions' five wins this season over Claremont, East Fremantle, Perth, South Fremantle and West Perth have been emphatic with an average winning margin of 46.8 points.

Peel is yet to lose at home this season, though, having beaten Claremont and East Fremantle in their opening two matches of the year at Bendigo Bank Stadium.

Connor Blakely, Tom Sheridan and Jonathon Griffin have all been added to the squad for Fremantle against Essendon on Saturday night at Domain Stadium, but all three are just emergencies so remain a chance to still line-up for Peel.

And if they do, it provides Peel with a quality ruckman and two prolific ball winning midfielders.

Alex Pearce does go out of the Peel team for sure with him to make his AFL debut with the Dockers due to the injury to Luke McPharlin while key forward Michael Apeness is also out for the Thunder after a quiet game last week in the loss to Swan Districts.

Peel does have some strong inclusions, though, including Jack Hannath who will partner with Griffin meaning that a massive task awaits for Subiaco's David Madut against two AFL-listed ruckmen.

Tanner Smith also returns after missing the last three weeks through injury with Ed Langdon also returning following missing last week's loss to Swan Districts.

Tendai Mzungu was the unlucky man to make way for Hayden Ballantyne in the Fremantle team last week and now drops back to play with Peel to find some form and match fitness again this Saturday against Subiaco.

Stephen Kane, Nathan Fahey, Mitch Gill and Sean Hurley are all in the mix to play with the Thunder as well after some solid reserves form from each of them.

Subiaco is still missing a host of its key players including captain Kyal Horsley, Fremantle recruit Sam Menegola and premiership forward Matt Boland and Lachlan Delahunty, but the Lions are starting to get closer to their best team.

Premiership small forward Chris Deluca could play his first league game of the season after returning in the reserves last week with 15 possessions and two goals against Perth.

Kyle Halligan was also impressive in the reserves last week with 20 disposals and six goals to make a strong case to return to the league side for the Lions for the first time this year.

Michael Wood and Declan Jackson have also been in solid form in recent weeks in the reserves to keep their names in the mix with Subiaco.

WEST PERTH (3-3, 7th) v EAST PERTH (3-3, 6th) – HBF ARENA, SATURDAY 2.15PM
Selected teams 
Broadcast – 720 ABC Perth

West Perth and East Perth meet in the first Perth derby of 2015 at HBF Arena on Saturday with both clubs coming off a loss and both sitting on 3-3 records.

That means that there is plenty riding on the result with the winner to improve to a 4-3 record and to likely move up into the top five while the loser will slide to 3-4 and be behind the eight ball after eight rounds.

Both the Falcons and Royals are coming off disappointing losses last weekend with West Perth becoming the first team to lose to Claremont this season while East Perth finished strongly with the last three goals, but still lost to South Fremantle by 13 points.

That means that both teams are now sitting on 3-3 records putting extra heat on a derby that already has plenty of intensity on it naturally.

The derby rivalry is without question the fiercest in the WAFL both on and off the field, and there is certainly no love lost between the two teams at present, and results in recent times in derbies have been fascinating.

East Perth won the last two meetings last year by 16 points and 21 points, but West Perth prior to that had scored a 100-point win in Round 4 last year and that was on the back of winning the 2013 grand final by 49 points.

Corey Chalmers goes out of the West Perth team from the one that lost to Claremont last Saturday while Trent Manzone is also out of the Falcons' line-up.

Marc Crisp, Kaidyn Fullgrabe, Andrew Strijk, Blake Wilhelm and Mitch van Berlo are all in the mix to come into the West Perth team to face East Perth in the first derby of the season at HBF Arena.

Strijk was a late withdrawal last week against Claremont and should come straight back in for this week's clash with East Perth.

Fullgrabe has put himself in the mix for his league debut with some strong reserves form including 23 possessions and 10 marks last week against Claremont.

Wilhelm has strung together consistent form right throughout the season and had another 27 disposals last week to be in the mix to return while Mitch van Berlo is a chance to return to help strengthen the West Perth defensive unit.

Premiership player Crisp has been working hard in the reserves as well to continue to give himself a chance of his first league match since Round 1.

Brant Colledge and Mark Hutchings have again been named to West Coast's extended squad to take on Port Adelaide on Sunday, but are still more likely to again play for the Royals on Saturday in the derby to continue to lead the way in the midfield.

At this stage, East Perth co-captain Brendan Lee has been named to play but remains in doubt after coming off during the third quarter of last week's loss to South Fremantle with a tight hamstring.

Tom Shanahan, Rowen Powell, Malcolm Karpany, Brandon Hughes and Scott Jones all come into calculations to come into the East Perth side as well to take on West Perth.

Shanahan racked up another 42 possessions and 11 marks last week in the reserves to continue his strong form while Hughes had 12 disposals and Jones 12 to go with six marks, 25 hit outs and a goal.

Karpany is set to return after missing the last four weeks through injury and Powell is also set to return after missing last week's loss to South Fremantle following an encouraging debut with two goals against Perth the previous week.

CLAREMONT (1-5, 8th) v SWAN DISTRICTS (3-3, 5th) – SOUNNESS PARK (MT BARKER), SATURDAY 2.15PM
Selected teams 

Claremont and Swan Districts are both coming off impressive victories upon heading to Mt Barker this Saturday with the Tigers looking to start building some momentum, and Swans trying to further consolidate their position inside the top five.

Claremont finally got its first win on the board last Saturday beating West Perth by 20 points at the Showground and now the Tigers head to the country to host the clash with Swans at Sounness Park in Mt Barker.

It was a crucial win for Claremont after losing the first six games of the season in what had been a disappointing opening especially considering the Tigers ended 2014 so well winning their last six matches to only narrowly miss out on playing finals.

Swan Districts, though, certainly won't be handing Claremont a second straight win with the black-and-whites responding to a heartbreaking last gasp loss against West Perth on the Anzac Day holiday Monday to then record a tremendous 47-point win over Peel Thunder at Steel Blue Oval.

Not much has separated the two teams over the past five years either beginning with a remarkable five matches between them in 2010. Claremont won three of those meetings, including the second semi-final by 50 points before Swan Districts won a classic grand final by a point.

Claremont then won all three meetings with Swan Districts in 2011 on the way to its first of two premierships before they split their four games in 2012 evenly including the Tigers again winning the second semi-final by 32 points.

Then in 2013, Claremont won two of the three matches before last year Swan Districts won by 26 points in Round 9 before the Tigers won by 26 points in Round 14, and by three points in Round 17.

The game will be the first ever WAFL match held at Sounness Park but it is a town with a strong football culture and history, and has provided plenty of outstanding talent over the year.

Current South Fremantle full-forward Ben Saunders, who began his career with Claremont, hails from Mt Barker while Aaron Sandilands began his career with the Mt Barker Bulls and Merv Neagle has coached and played for them as well.

Claremont is coming off its first win of the season last Saturday against West Perth and despite still being without premiership players Jake Murphy, Tom Swift and Beau Maister, the Tigers are starting to get together a settled line-up for the first time this season.

There are players pressing their claims to come into the league side Claremont, though, with John Williams having a good game in the reserves last week with 17 possessions, eight marks and a goal.

Shane McAdam started the season brightly with six goals in his first two league games, but he's now been back in the reserves the last two weeks and was better last Saturday against West Perth with 22 possessions, eight marks, six inside-50 entries and a goal.

Maximillian Bentley has also played some good football in the midfield so far this season in the league team and had a solid game in the reserves last week with another 19 possessions to put himself in the mix for a call up.

Joel Houghton put in a big effort in the ruck last week for Swan Districts up against Jonathon Griffin and Craig Moller from Peel Thunder, and more than held his own, but he hasn’t come up for this week's trip to Mt Barker to take on Claremont.

However, the troops might be returning for Swan Districts with full-forward Ricky Cary returning from suspension while ruckman Nathan Blakely could be back to play his first game of the season following a nasty finger injury suffered late in the pre-season.

Midfielder Adam Faulkner also returns for Swans after missing the win over Peel Thunder last week while the versatile Aaron Elari set to return as well.

EAST FREMANTLE (4-2, 3rd) v PERTH (1-6, 9th) – ATOM STADIUM, SUNDAY 11.40AM
Selected teams 
Broadcast – Channel 7, 720 ABC Perth

East Fremantle will be looking for a fourth straight win hosting the bottom of the ladder Perth on Sunday at ATOM Stadium.

The match begins at 11.40am at the newly named East Fremantle Oval with it being broadcast on both Channel 7 and 720 ABC Perth to close out the Round 8 action.

East Fremantle has now won its last three matches following a disappointing 55-point loss to Peel Thunder back in Round 3.

Since then, the Sharks have beaten Claremont by three points, Swan Districts by 31 and South Fremantle by 17 prior to the bye last weekend to enter this Sunday's clash with Perth both fresh and full of confidence.

Perth might only have lost to Subiaco by 36 points last Saturday, but the Demons only kicked three goals for the afternoon in perfect football conditions.

Despite a drought breaking loss to Claremont back in Round 5, Perth's six losses this season have come at an average of almost 55 points.

Perth beat East Fremantle twice in 2009 but since then the Sharks have won 11 straight matches over the Demons but the average has been under five goals.

And even though the Sharks beat the Demons twice last year, it was only by nine points and 10 points respectively despite Perth going on to claim the wooden spoon and East Fremantle narrowly missing out on at least making the grand final.

East Fremantle has some mixed news at selection coming off the bye and looking to continue its winning form going at home to Perth with the game beginning on Sunday morning and broadcast on Channel 7.

Former captain and 100-game veteran Mark McGough is set to play his first game of the year after missing the first six games of the season due to a combination of a back injury and getting married.

McGough will add some further depth to East Fremantle's already strong midfield that includes Liam Anthony, Jamie McNamara, Cameron Eardley, Jake Schleicher and Sean Henson.

While the Sharks will miss Bradd Dalziell who hasn’t pulled up from the Anzac Derby win over South Fremantle at Fremantle Oval prior to the bye, it is one area they are well equipped to cover.

Josh Cuneo, Jack Fletcher, Aaron Holmes and Julian Locantro are all in the mix to come into the East Fremantle team as well following some strong form in the reserves.

Cuneo has been playing well the last season and-a-half in the reserves and could make his debut with Locantro a chance to play his first game for East Fremantle following another strong game with 19 possessions and two goals in the reserves against South Fremantle.

Fletcher worked hard in the ruck with 21 hit outs two weeks ago in the reserves as well to get back in the mix with Holmes picking up another 21 disposals to put himself in the mix for a league debut as well.

Blake Borrett put in a solid showing in the ruck for Perth last Saturday against Subiaco with 14 possessions and 26 hit outs, but he goes out of the team to play East Fremantle on Sunday with the experienced Michael Florio also out of the Demons team.

Perth does regain some talent and experience to battle East Fremantle with led by Mitch Morton who made a return in the reserves last week against Subiaco with 26 possessions and seven marks.

Liam McKenna worked hard in the reserves to push his case for a recall racking up 30 disposals and laying 10 tackles while Daniel O'Sullivan is back after missing a week with an injury suffered early in the game against East Perth a fortnight ago.

Sam McGillivray and Sam Garstone have both been in solid form in the reserves for the Demons to put themselves in the mix for a league debut as well.