McDonald's WAFL Round 12 PreviewFriday, June 12, 2015 - 2:35 PM - by Chris Pike

ROUND 12 of the 2015 WAFL season features one big game on Saturday between the league-leaders and a team trying to cement a top-five position while Sunday features three intriguing match ups including two significant milestones, and one team under a new coach for the first time.

The standalone match on Saturday afternoon features Subiaco taking on South Fremantle at Leederville's Medibank Stadium.

Then on Sunday, East Fremantle takes on Swan Districts at ATOM Stadium with Brad Dodd in charge of the Sharks for the first time and Tony Notte celebrating his 150th game milestone for Swans.

Peel Thunder will also host East Perth at Mandurah's Bendigo Bank Stadium with Perth then taking on Claremont in Beau Maister's 100th WAFL game at Lathlain Park to close out the round.

The second placed West Perth as the bye in Round 12.

SUBIACO (8-1, 1st) v SOUTH FREMANTLE (6-4, 3rd) – MEDIBANK STADIUM, SATURDAY 2.15PM
Selected teams 
Broadcast – KIX Digital

Subiaco looks to be an unstoppable force coming into Saturday's clash with South Fremantle at Medibank Stadium with the Lions looking to move three games clear on top of the ladder, but the Bulldogs are trying to record a consecutive win as well.

Subiaco is coming off winning the premiership in 2014 and now since a hiccup on Good Friday against East Perth, has won six straight matches in dominant fashion to now sit two games clear on top of the ladder.

The Lions are only just working their way towards fielding their strongest 22 for the first time this season as well so there's every chance they can still be getting better despite already appearing to be the standard bearer so far for the WAFL in 2015.

South Fremantle, like most teams in the competition this year, has had an up and down season but its last two games have been impressive with a five-point win over East Fremantle and 38-point victory over Perth in the space of five days.

The Bulldogs kicked the last four goals on WA Day to beat East Fremantle and then booted seven goals to one in the last quarter to beat Perth last Saturday to see them improve to a 6-4 record in third position, but taking on the Lions is a whole different challenge altogether.

Subiaco and South Fremantle met back in Round 5 at Fremantle Oval and after a competitive first quarter, the Lions dominated after quarter-time piling on 20 goals to six to end up winning by a thumping 89 points.

Subiaco is now getting closer to fielding its strongest 22 with captain Kyal Horsley set to make his return on Saturday to take on South Fremantle.

That comes a week after Sam Menegola made a stunning debut appearance this season for Subiaco in last week's big win over East Fremantle as he finished with a best on ground performance with 35 possessions and two goals.

Now premiership captain Horsley is set to make his return from a calf injury that has kept him sidelined since Round 3.

The 27-year-old went close to winning the Sandover Medal last year despite missing three games during the season and is a more than handy inclusion now for a Lions team that is currently looking unstoppable at the halfway mark of the 2015 season.

Jordan Bestry and Luke Norriss are two more Subiaco players in the mix at the selection table after consistently strong form in the reserves.

While highlighting the Lions' strength is that good form from Reece Blechynden, Simon Moore, Joel Ashman and Braden Fimmano in the reserves isn’t enough to break into the league side at present.

South Fremantle has done well the last two rounds to beat East Fremantle and Perth despite the absence of full-forward Ben Saunders, and midfielders Tim Kelly, Haiden Schloithe and Jacob Martinez.

While Saunders now won't be back for several weeks with a hamstring injury after returning last Saturday from an ankle problem and Martinez will be given at least one more week back in the reserves for the Bulldogs, Schloithe and Kelly look likely to come back to play Subiaco.

Schloithe injured an ankle back on Good Friday against Claremont, but has now played in the reserves against both East Fremantle and Perth.

He had 18 possessions in just a half against the Sharks and then despite receiving some rough treatment last Saturday against Perth, still managed 21 disposals, six marks, six inside 50s and a goal to show that he's ready for a league recall. 

Kelly too is right to return after missing the win over the Demons after being knocked unconscious in the WA Day Foundation Derby win over East Fremantle the previous Monday.

Adam Carter also missed the game against Perth and could come straight back into the team for South Fremantle with another creative small defender Jason Maskos also in the mix to be called up following 21 possessions, seven tackles, six marks and four inside 50s in the reserves last Saturday against the Demons.

Ruckman Josh Branchi is the only out of the South Fremantle team at this stage after not quite being able to have the same impact against Perth as he did on debut against East Fremantle.

PEEL THUNDER (5-5, 5th) v EAST PERTH (5-5, 4th) – BENDIGO BANK STADIUM, SUNDAY 2.15PM
Selected teams 

Peel Thunder and East Perth meet at Bendigo Bank Stadium on Sunday with precious little separating the teams so far this season, and with a spot in the top-five up for grabs.

Both Peel and East Perth enter the contest with 5-5 records with the Royals only narrowly ahead in fourth position thanks to a superior percentage, but the winner could potentially end up as high as second spot by Sunday night, while the loser will likely be out of the top-five altogether.

Peel and East Perth have both had up and down seasons to date much like the rest of the sides in the competition so far in 2015.

Peel lost its first game to West Perth but then went on the club's first ever four-game winning streak, but since then has lost four of its last five games. There was an impressive 44-point win over South Fremantle thrown in, but losses to Swan Districts, Subiaco, Claremont and West Perth have been largely disappointing.

However, the Thunder did get back to playing some good football in one of the games of the season last Saturday against West Perth despite the four-point loss to the Falcons in the finish.

East Perth, meanwhile, has found some form again the last two weeks with strong wins over West Perth and Swan Districts that came on the back of a horror run of three losses against South Fremantle, the Falcons and then Claremont.

A lot of focus any time East Perth and Peel plays might be on their alignments with West Coast and Fremantle respectively, but both teams have some high quality WAFL players at their disposal that could very well end up deciding the result.

Peel continues to be well served by captain Brendon Jones along with Leroy Jetta, Gerald Ugle, Josh Mathers, Josh Bootsma, Ben Hancock and Cruize Garlett could be among the inclusions, while East Perth still has Brendan Lee, Craig Wulff, Paul Johnson, Freddie Clutterbuck, Steven Payne, Jarrad Oakley-Nicholls, Nathan Blee and Garry Moss.

Peel and East Perth played earlier this season back in Round 5 and in that meeting at Medibank Stadium, Peel won a low-scoring and strongly contested battle by 23 points on the back of kicking seven goals to three in the second half after trailing by 11 points at quarter-time, and six points at the long break.

Peel is coming off a tight loss to West Perth and could have a whole host of changes for the clash with East Perth now on Sunday.

Tendai Mzungu and Jack Hannath both played well for the Thunder last Saturday and now have been called up to play for Fremantle against the Gold Coast Suns at Metricon Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Meanwhile, Paul Duffield, Jonathon Griffin and Matt de Boer have all travelled with the Dockers to the Gold Coast as emergencies but they will still have time to return to line up for Peel on Sunday unless they are late inclusions for Fremantle to play in the AFL clash.

The presence in the Fremantle team of none, one, two or three of Griffin, Duffield and de Boer might end up going a long way to determining Peel's chances of beating East Perth so it's a nervous wait for the Thunder to find out what eventuates with the trio.

There are some strong guaranteed inclusions for Peel, though, and that list is head by Zac Clarke who will play his first WAFL match since Round 3 last year, and just his 15th since 2010 having become a permanent member of the Dockers side in the AFL ever since.

Former North Melbourne midfielder Cruize Garlett is also in line to play just his third league game of the season for Peel and first since Round 5 despite not playing in the reserves last Saturday against West Perth.

Tom Vandeleur was dropped back to the reserves last week and played solidly with 17 possessions, six marks and a goal so could come straight back in on Sunday to take on the Royals.

Laine Wilkins, Corey Morris, Mitch Gill, Kieran May, Kyle Shanahan, Harrison Tyler, Mitch Wallace and Scott Ugle are the other players for the Thunder who could all push into the league side dependant on how many positions open up with the availability of the Fremantle players.

On top of Mzungu and Hannath as being definite outs of the Peel side, Nathan Fahey, Brayden Lawler, Josh Deluca and Sean Hurley have all been named out of the team to take on East Perth on Sunday.

Jack Darling and Xavier Ellis both had a big impact for East Perth in the win over Swan Districts last Saturday with Darling kicking five goals and Ellis racking up 27 possessions so it's no surprise that on the back of that they have been called up to play for West Coast against Essendon at Domain Stadium on Saturday.

The news is far from all bad at selection for the Royals, though, with Darling's role as a tall forward set to be filled by the returning Fraser McInnes who makes way in the West Coast line-up for the return of Darling.

With Scott Lycett, McInnes and Paul Johnson all sharing roles in the forward-line and the ruck, it's more than a handy trio that the Royals will go into the game with.

West Coast running defender Jamie Bennell will also play for East Perth while another dropped Eagle Jackson Nelson could play his first game in the WAFL as well while veteran AFL wingman Matt Rosa looks likely to return with East Perth on the comeback from a hamstring injury.

Shayne Hille was unlucky to be dropped back to the reserves last week against Swan Districts and delivered a strong showing in the reserves with 30 possessions while Tom Shanahan also racked up another 28 disposals with both now right back in the mix for a league call up on Sunday.

Clayton Giblett, Scott Jones, Beau Chatley and Agid Gardoud are also in the mix to come into the East Perth side on Sunday against Peel as well.

EAST FREMANTLE (5-5, 6th) v SWAN DISTRICTS (4-6, 7th) – ATOM STADIUM, SUNDAY 2.15PM
Selected teams 
Broadcast – 91.3 SportFM 

East Fremantle and Swan Districts both need to start getting back to some winning form to remain in touch with the top-five, but the Sharks have had a dramatic week with a changeover in coach while the black-and-whites have some added motivation of a significant milestone.

East Fremantle has lost its last three games either side of the State game and the Sharks will play under caretaker coach Brad Dodd for the first time this Sunday at ATOM Stadium against Swan Districts.

Dodd replaces Steve Malaxos who parted company with the club on Monday after being in charge at the Sharks since 2011 and taking them to a grand final in 2012, and preliminary final in 2014 along the way.

Dodd had a strong playing career as a hard-at-it midfielder in the WAFL with East Fremantle and Claremont, and AFL with Fremantle, and is a premiership assistant coach in the WAFL with the Tigers as well before joining the Sharks.

His job now is to get East Fremantle back to winning after losses to West Perth, South Fremantle and Subiaco since a win over Perth that came on the back of a record-breaking first quarter, but then a disappointing final three quarters.

The Sharks have slipped out of the top-five as a result and sit on a 5-5 record and with the worst percentage in the WAFL of any club barring Perth, but they could be as high as third again by Sunday night with a win over Swans.

The black-and-whites have played some good football this season, including in a loss to East Perth to 17 points last Saturday, but they only sit on a 4-6 record to be beginning to lose touch with the top-five, and a loss on Sunday would leave them with a lot to do in order to play finals again in 2015.

Swans will also be celebrating the 150th game of versatile big man Tony Notte which will see him earn life membership at the black-and-whites.

The 25-year-old has now turned himself into one of the most versatile and consistent big men in the competition who is equally capable of playing as a marking option in attack, an outstanding repeller of opposition attacks in defence and pinch-hit ruckman.

East Fremantle put together a strong performance the last time the teams met at Steel Blue Oval back in Round 5 and dominated from start to finish to end up beating Swan Districts 16.7 (103) to 10.12 (72).

The hopes of new coach Dodd getting off to a winning start in his time in charge of the Sharks for the rest of the season haven’t been helped at the selection table with three key players all going out of the side.

George Hampson has been East Fremantle's most dangerous forward so far this season kicking 13 goals in his seven games, but he goes out of the team.

He and Bradd Dalziell almost single-handedly won the WA Day Foundation Derby for East Fremantle against South Fremantle, but now Dalziell has retired and Hampson is out injured robbing the Sharks of their two most dangerous and natural goalkicking options.

And to add further insult to that is key forward Jack Perham also going out of the East Fremantle line-up but his form hasn’t stacked up so far in 2015 with just the eight goals in 10 matches while playing permanently as a tall forward option.

East Fremantle's best defender this season so far following the loss of Steven Dodd and Tom Howlett at the end of 2014, and then injuries to Andrew Stephen and Matthew Jupp so far in 2015, has been Sam Read.

He has done some tremendous jobs on the WAFL's best and most dangerous forwards, but he's now out of the East Fremantle side for Sunday's clash with Swan Districts where a likely role up against Tim Geappen most likely awaited him.

The inclusions at East Fremantle are all youthful ones as well with Jake Schleicher now set to return after two games back in the reserves from injury, while Brandon Ellis is set to come straight back in after one week in the reserves with two goals last Saturday against Subiaco.

Dylan Coulthard, Josh Cuneo, Jack Fletcher, Miles Franklin and Fraser Perry are the other East Fremantle players in the mix to come into the league side to take on Swan Districts.

Justin Simpson is still on the sidelines injured for Swan Districts but another premiership star Tim Geappen is set to return after missing just the one game with a hamstring injury suffered in the third quarter of the win two weeks ago against Perth at Steel Blue Oval.

Joel Houghton had a disappointing showing in that win over Perth two weeks ago and subsequently played in the reserves last Saturday against East Perth, and his three goals were enough to put him back in the mix for a call up this week.

Albert Dean racked up 42 possessions in the reserves last Saturday and the 19-year-old small midfielder can't do much more to bang down the door to earn his league debut.

Warrick Wilson (22 possessions) and Jacob Coniglio (19 touches) could get the call up for the black-and-whites after good reserves form while Tom Smirk could come straight back into the league side despite having played just the three games this season, and not at all since Round 6.

Defender Josh Kirkup and ruckman Jake Nuich are the two players named out of the Swan Districts team to face East Fremantle at this stage.

PERTH (1-9, 9th) v CLAREMONT (4-5, 8th) – LATHLAIN PARK, SUNDAY 2.40PM
Selected teams 
Broadcast – Channel 7

Perth and Claremont do battle in the final game of the weekend for the Pyke Cup at Lathlain Park with the Demons hunting for their second win of the season and the Tigers looking to make it five straight.

The Demons and Tigers will play for the Pyke Cup named in honour of Frank and Don Pyke, with Frank having played 130 matches with Perth where he was a premiership player in 1966, and his son Don who was a 1987 and 1996 Claremont premiership player before and after a decorated dual AFL premiership career with the West Coast Eagles.

The Demons have been competitive for much of the 2015 season aside from a few anomalies with thumpings at the hands of Swan Districts, West Perth and East Perth along the way.

Perth's only win of the season came against Claremont and the Demons have been competitive in losses to Subiaco, East Fremantle, Swan Districts and South Fremantle since a 103-point loss to East Perth, but just hasn’t been able to get over the line for win No. 2.

Claremont, meanwhile, had a disastrous start to the season losing its opening five games but has bounced back impressively since with wins over West Perth, Swan Districts, East Perth and Peel Thunder prior to the bye last weekend.

The Tigers can now really close in on a top-five position with a win over Perth on Sunday in what is also the 100th WAFL appearance of key position star Beau Maister who has returned to the Tigers this season after a stint in the AFL with St Kilda.

Maister played much of his early WAFL career while on West Coast's list as a key defender but in 2011 he became a permanent forward, kicking 42 goals in the premiership year and then starring in the grand final win over East Fremantle with five goals to win the Simpson Medal.

Now after three years with the Saints, he has returned to the Tigers and continues to build his form solidly after a health scare during pre-season.

Perth and Claremont played one another back in Round 5 with neither team having recorded a win at that stage, and it was the Demons who prevailed by nine points in a thriller at the Claremont Showground.

However, since then the Demons have failed to add to that one-win account while the Tigers have won their last four matches and haven’t tasted defeat since Round 6 against Peel Thunder.

Perth was right in the game last Saturday against South Fremantle before being overrun in the last quarter, and at this stage the only player from that side to pay the price is Mitch Browne who has been dropped to play in the reserves against Claremont this Sunday at Lathlain Park.

The Demons went into the game last week against the Bulldogs without a recognised ruckman and David Johnston competed well up against both Josh Branchi and Brock Higgins, but he will get some help on Sunday with Christian Eyres set to play his first league game since Round 4.

Lively forward Brennan Stack kicked three goals in the reserves last week and could come into the league side this week to provide another dangerous option to go along with Mitch and Jarryd Morton, Lachlan Dennis, Jacob Payne and Cody Leggett.

Kurtis Chester and Kane Ransted could also receive a call up for the Demons after some solid form in the reserves by the pair. Last week, Chester had 19 possessions and two goals, and Ransted 22 disposals and a goal.

Claremont was in outstanding form prior to the bye last weekend having recorded four straight victories with the Tigers now having a relatively settled team for the first time this year as well.

Aaron Holt goes out of the Claremont line-up with a toe injury but there are some handy players trying to break into the side.

Oliver Tate looks set to be right to return after missing the game two weeks ago against Peel to injury after some impressive ball-winning form in his first season in the WAFL.

Premiership ruckman Mitch Andrews has dominated in the reserves the last two weeks as well to continue to push a strong case forward for a call up, but it's a tough decision for the coaching staff with Mark Seaby, Darcy Cameron, Kepler Bradley and Haydn Busher already in the side.

Keegan Knott has been in outstanding form as a small forward in the reserves the last three games kicking 14 goals but with Jack Bradshaw, Ian Richardson and Shan McAdam playing similar roles in the league side as well, it's not an easy job for the coaches to find a spot for him either.

Isaac Baum and Matthew Palfrey are in the mix to break into the Claremont team as well to take on Perth on Sunday at Lathlain Park.