McDonald's WAFL Round 14 PreviewFriday, June 26, 2015 - 7:25 PM - by Chris Pike

ROUND 14 of the WAFL is one with plenty at stake as West Perth looks to challenge the league-leading Subiaco while South Fremantle, Swan Districts, Claremont, Peel Thunder and East Fremantle continue to fight over positions in the top five.

All four Round 14 matches take place on Saturday afternoon starting at Fremantle Oval at 1.40pm with South Fremantle taking on Swan Districts with both teams entering the clash on 6-6 records.

Then at 2.15pm, West Perth takes on Subiaco at HBF Arena in a battle of the WAFL's top two teams while East Fremantle plays Claremont at ATOM Stadium and Peel Thunder hosts Perth at Bendigo Bank Stadium.

WEST PERTH (7-4, 2nd) v SUBIACO (10-1, 1st) – HBF ARENA, SATURDAY 2.15PM
Selected teams 
Broadcast – 91.3 SportFM 

West Perth hosts Subiaco in a battle between the two WAFL teams at HBF Arena on Saturday as the Falcons look to celebrate the annual International Football Festival by proving that the league-leading Lions aren’t as invincible as they appear to be.

A massive afternoon is planned at HBF Arena for the International Football Festival with another big crowd expected in recognition of the multiculturalism of the West Perth zone in the northern corridor, and to attract the migrants to the region to the game of Australian Rules football.

It has proved a tremendous success with big crowds attending the past two seasons and now plenty is planned again on Saturday including a citizenship ceremony, international food stalls, the Falcons wearing a specially designed jumper and then a Gaelic Football showcase match to close the day.

However, the game itself is set to be a beauty between first and second on the WAFL ladder heading into Round 14 of the 2015 season.

Subiaco has dominated the WAFL so far this season having now won eight straight matches to be three games clear on top of the ladder with a 10-1 record coming off winning the 2014 premiership.

Right now, the Lions are the raging premiership favourites and just to make it worse for the rest of the competition, they are yet to field their strongest 22 yet this season and in recent weeks have added Sam Menegola and Kyal Horsley to an already prolific midfield group.

However, West Perth has now won its last two games impressively against Peel Thunder and South Fremantle either side of the bye to enter the clash with Subiaco in good form with a 7-4 record and to be a game clear in second position.

Subiaco and West Perth met earlier this season back in Round 4 and that was a contest to savour with the added fire caused by an early morning nightclub incident featuring players from both teams leading into it.

It was a twilight fixture at Medibank Stadium on that Saturday and in wet conditions throughout the second half, Subiaco ending up prevailing 9.11 (65) to 6.12 (48) in what was the start of the Lions' current eight-game winning run with them coming off their only loss of the season to East Perth on Good Friday.

There are no outs of the West Perth team at this stage despite premiership stars Jordan Jones (hamstring) and Rohan Kerr (back) both appearing to now be out for the rest of the season with surgery-requiring injuries.

There is pressure on for spots at the Falcons, though, with hard-leading forward Matt Fowler a chance to return from injury while Brent Fotheringham has continued to build strong reserves form to push for a debut with West Perth having previously played at East Perth and Peel Thunder.

Mitch van Berlo is the other player in the mix to breaking into a Falcons team that is coming off a strong win over South Fremantle and looking to claim a third straight victory to head into next week's bye with plenty of momentum and further secured in second position.

Subiaco has no need to make changes to a dominant outfit that has now won eight straight to be three games clear on top of the ladder, but there are important premiership players ready to come back into the line-up.

Five-time premiership player Darren Rumble looks set to return after missing just the one game with a calf injury while full-forward Matt Boland appears like he will come in after one reserves game where he kicked two goals.

Boland was one of the players at the centre of that nightclub brawl and was subsequently delisted by Subiaco while injured, but he was put back on the list when healthy and now after one reserves game, could give the Lions yet another option in attack.

Ray Daniels and Dylan Elliott are also trying to break into the Subiaco line-up with nobody named out at this stage from the team that took care of Claremont at the Showground last Saturday.

SOUTH FREMANTLE (6-6, 6th) v SWAN DISTRICTS (6-6, 3rd) – FREMANTLE OVAL, SATURDAY 1.40PM
Selected teams 
Broadcast – 7mate, KIX Digital

South Fremantle and Swan Districts are two of the teams locked in a battle for positions inside the WAFL's top five and both enter Saturday's clash at Fremantle Oval on identical win-loss records.

The Bulldogs and Swans are not only doing battle with a spot in the top five at stake, but they are also playing for the John Todd Cup.

That is named in honour of the man who coached both clubs to premierships, and who just last Saturday was elevated to Legend status in the South Fremantle Football Club Hall of Fame for the combination of his contribution to the Bulldogs as a star player and premiership coach.

Little separates the Bulldogs and Swans so far this season with both on 6-6 records with the black-and-whites only sitting in third position thanks to a strong percentage while South Fremantle has a poor percentage and as a result currently sits in sixth spot.

South Fremantle has had a rollercoaster season so far winning its first three games, losing its next three and then beating East Perth, losing to Peel, beating East Fremantle and Perth, and most recently losing its last two games to Subiaco and West Perth.

Swan Districts has also been up and down but the black-and-whites have won their last two games, and three of their last four, to appear to be building some momentum.

The winner on Saturday will likely sit in third position at the end of the round, and Swans could even jump into second depending on other results while the loser will likely end up out of the top five and needing to bounce back quickly.

South Fremantle and Swan Districts met back in Round 4 this season and heading into that clash, the Bulldogs were unbeaten after wins to start the year over West Perth, Perth and Claremont, while Swans had thrashed Perth and lost to East Perth prior to the Round 3 bye.

It was Swan Districts who prevailed on that Saturday afternoon at Steel Blue Oval winning by 21 points and handing South Fremantle its first loss of 2015.

South Fremantle's forward-line hasn’t fired the past two weeks and it's Josh Pullman who has paid the price at selection for that, despite the possibility of other players who haven’t been living up to their reputation not quite producing the desired results in attack.

The absence of dual Bernie Naylor Medallist Ben Saunders as well as premiership and state small forward Cory Dell'Olio has hurt the Bulldogs over the last couple of weeks, and despite good performances up the ground against Subiaco and West Perth, they haven’t found a way to goal.

Pullman was outstanding three weeks ago with four goals in South Fremantle's win over Perth but he's struggled the past two weeks and as a result he is the scapegoat for the underperforming forward-line over the past fortnight.

There is good news at selection, though, with Dell'Olio to return from a calf injury that has sidelined him against the Lions and Falcons.

Chris Luff has come to the Bulldogs this season after playing as a defender at Peel Thunder, and while he might be required in defence against Swan Districts, coach Todd Curley might use him as a forward target for something different. Or Zac Strom might be used forward with Luff in defence.

Toby Bairstow is in the mix to return to South Fremantle's midfield as well after he racked up 38 possessions in the reserves last Saturday against West Perth with Ben Sokol also a chance to strengthen the forward-line after four goals last week in the reserves.

Matthew Gundry could also return while Jarrod Parry is also out of the team for the Bulldogs.

Aaron Elari has been in scintillating form for Swan Districts for much of this season including anther 25 possessions against his former side Perth last week, but he is out of Saturday's clash with South Fremantle delaying his 100th WAFL game for at least another week.

There are in-form players in the reserves for Swans looking for a chance in the league side, though, with Rudy Riddoch coming off kicking five goals last week against Perth while Jason Daniels had 18 possessions, Warrick Wilson 17 and Ben Whitsed 29.

EAST FREMANTLE (5-7, 8th) v CLAREMONT (5-6, 7th) – ATOM STADIUM, SATURDAY 2.15PM
Selected teams 
Broadcast – 720 ABC Perth

East Fremantle and Claremont are two teams currently sitting outside of the WAFL top five and both with just five wins for the 2015 season so far, and needing to win on Saturday at ATOM Stadium to remain in touch for a finals position.

The Sharks and Tigers had every reason to expect to be finals participants in 2015 with East Fremantle coming off making the preliminary final in 2014, and Claremont finishing last year on fire to only narrowly miss out on the top four.

However, the loser of Saturday's clash at ATOM Stadium will now be in real danger of losing touch with the top five with East Fremantle coming into the game at 5-7 and Claremont on 5-6.

East Fremantle was looking good only six weeks ago at 5-2 and sitting on solid in second position but five straight losses since at the hands of West Perth, South Fremantle, Subiaco, Swan Districts and East Perth to now be in real danger of losing touch for a finals spot.

Claremont, meanwhile, started the year with five losses, then won the next five and had no answers for Subiaco last Saturday at the Showground losing by 37 points.

Both teams now need to bounce back on Saturday and with plenty at stake, there's every chance it could replicate their meeting earlier this season.

East Fremantle and Claremont met at ATOM Stadium back in Round 4 and on that occasion both teams were coming off heavy losses, and to try and build some momentum into their season.

And it was a thrilling contest all afternoon and late in the game it appeared Claremont had done enough to get home, but East Fremantle kicked the last goal of the game through Jake Schleicher to claim the victory and to keep the Tigers winless in 2015.

It's a must-win game for East Fremantle if it wants to stay in the finals hunt in 2015 and the Sharks will have added motivation to try and win in the final game of former captain, and 105-game midfielder Mark McGough.

McGough has announced that Saturday will be the final game of his outstanding WAFL career at East Fremantle that began back in 2010 when the former Collingwood and St Kilda AFL midfielder headed west.

He proved outstanding both as a prolific ball-winning on-baller and leader including in an East Fremantle team that made the 2012 grand final, and decided to play on despite a delayed start in 2015 due to getting married.

The form of the 31-year-old has suggested he is good enough to still play on as well but he's made the decision to retire to focus on work and family life now. With the Sharks looking to rebuild under a new coach with a young playing group, he felt the time was right.

That means he will join the also recently-retired Bradd Dalziell on the sidelines along with star forward George Hampson who has a knee injury, but McGough's good friend and state defender Andrew Stephen will return from a hamstring injury for his farewell game.

Barry Barone, Cameron Crisafio and Brandon Ellis are also a chance to come into the team for East Fremantle. Julian Locantro and Jake Schleicher go out of the team that lost to East Perth last Saturday at Medibank Stadium.

Last week against Subiaco, big man Darcy Cameron made way in the Claremont team for premiership ruckman Mitch Andrews and despite Andrews playing well with 14 touches and 27 hit outs, the mix of talls for the Tigers didn’t quite work against the Lions.

Cameron had 38 hit outs in the reserves and a result comes back into the mix to return to the Claremont team against East Fremantle with Isaac Baum, Matthew Palfrey and Francis Watson all in the mix to get another chance in the side for the Tigers.

PEEL THUNDER (6-5, 5th) v PERTH (1-11, 9th) – BENDIGO BANK STADIUM, SATURDAY 2.15PM
Selected teams 

Peel Thunder can move a step closer to a historic first ever WAFL finals appearance with a win over Perth at Bendigo Bank Stadium on Saturday.

Peel is coming off the bye last week and prior to that recorded a hard-earned 22-point win over East Perth and now the Thunder will be looking to back that up, and if they can they will improve to a 7-5 record and be in a good position at playing finals for the first time ever.

Despite winning just the one game this season, though, the Demons have put in competitive showings more often than not including for most of the afternoon against Swan Districts and certainly last time they played Peel, so they won't be handing the four points to the Thunder.

While Peel has never played finals since entering the WAFL in 1997, Perth hasn’t in that time period either with the two clubs sharing the most wooden spoons in those 18 years, but the Thunder appear capable of changing that in 2015 while the Demons are on track for another bottom place finish.

Peel and Perth met back in Round 4 at Lathlain Park and for most of the contest the Demons looked set to record their first win of the season until the Thunder kicked six goals in the final quarter to snatch a thrilling five-point victory.

Peel has some big inclusions for the clash with Perth as well and two of those players have a point to prove to Fremantle coach Ross Lyon.

Despite having proving himself a quality and important AFL player, Tendai Mzungu has again found his way out of the Fremantle team after just two games this season, but he will be back for the Thunder on Saturday and looking to again put in a performance tough to ignore by Lyon.

And key forward Matt Taberner had run out of chances to stand up a key forward target at AFL level this season, but the Dockers are still needing him to stand up and if he can put in a strong performance on Saturday, and most importantly kicks goals, he'll be straight back for the Dockers.

That pair join Paul Duffield and Zac Clarke as players dropped from the AFL in recent weeks but desperate to get back into the Fremantle team with the only to do that being to play dominant WAFL football at Peel.

Dylan Winton, Kieran May and Josh Deluca are the other Peel players looking to break into the league side while Matt de Boer goes out after playing in Fremantle's AFL win over Collingwood at Domain Stadium on Thursday night.

The timing couldn’t be worse for Perth to lose experienced defender Chris Billings who has been in terrific stopping form for much of the season.

His absence leaves big jobs to do for his replacement Cameron Jones along with Brent Latch, David Johnston and Sam Garstone in defence up against the likes of Taberner, Craig Moller and Clarke.

Blake Borrett looks set to come into the Perth side to play as the ruckman to allow Johnston to allow to his more suited role as a defender with Michael Sinclair and Scott Doncon also in the mix to return for the Demons as they chase their second win of the season.