Round 11 Preview – Perth v East FremantleSaturday, June 16, 2018 - 8:44 AM - by Chris Pike

THEY have been the perennial struggles of the WAFL in recent years but Perth and East Fremantle couldn’t enter Saturday's clash at Lathlain Park with any more contrasting form lines.

While the Demons and Sharks both occupy the bottom two positions on the WAFL ladder like they did at the end of last year with three wins apiece, and they have shared three of the past four wooden spoons and it appears likely to happen again in 2018, they appear heading in different directions.

Perth comes into Saturday's clash at Lathlain Park on a high having beaten South Fremantle by a goal last Saturday and that was an impressive effort especially from the Demons considering they trailed by 20 points early in the last term.

And Perth hadn’t beaten South Fremantle since Round 2, 2014, but they pulled together to kick the last four goals of the game win by six points and to keep alive their dream of a first finals appearance since 1997.

Perth's form hasn’t been too bad stretching back further than that too. While they lost to Swan Districts by 30 points the week before, they had earlier led in that game by 40 points and while they lost to Subiaco by 40 points in Round 8, they also were within a goal early in the last term.

And prior to that the Demons beat Claremont in Round 7 by a point coming out of the State game break so they are in a good patch of form and that's something that certainly can't be said for East Fremantle.

The Sharks appear anchored to the bottom of the WAFL ladder with two wins for the season and a woeful percentage of 55, which is considerably lower than what they had last year even though they hadn’t won a game yet in 2017.

East Fremantle put in a spirited performance only three weeks ago to beat Peel Thunder on home turn by 24 points, but the response the past two weeks against South Fremantle and Subiaco has been disappointing.

The Sharks lost the WA Day Foundation Derby by 73 points and then certainly weren’t helped by the fixturing having to come up against the rampant Lions five days later coming off the bye. 

But they deserved to expect a better showing than losing by 103 points and having just 23 inside-50 entries and only kicking five goals for the game, and none until the 11-minute mark of the third quarter.

While East Fremantle needs to show some heart and fight by bouncing back with a competitive showing at Lathlain Park on Saturday, if Perth is serious about being a finals contender it's a game it has to win.

Working against Perth is the fact that East Fremantle has won the last three meetings between the two sides, including in Round 2 this year by seven points at East Fremantle Oval. All three of those wins, in fact, have been at Shark Park.

The last time they played at Lathlain Park was Round 4 last year and it was Perth winning on that occasion by 13 points and the Demons will look to repeat that dose on Saturday to stay in touch for a top five position.

Perth will welcome back 73-game ruckman Christian Eyres who has been sidelined since Round 4 but returned in the reserves last week and now will be primed to take on Jonathon Griffin in the ruck.

Zac Hill and Lennon Marlin are also added to the Demons squad from the team that beat South Fremantle last Saturday.

East Fremantle will be disappointed to still be without Nick Kommer who has proved a real difference maker when playing in 2018 but Jarrad Jansen will return to face Perth.

Tim Bockman, Aaron Holmes, Ryan Lester-Smith and Ambrose Ryan are the other players to come into the squad for the Sharks while Tom Marshall and Jesse Wynne go out.

PERTH (3-6, 8th) v EAST FREMANTLE (2-8,9th) – LATHLAIN PARK, SATURDAY 2.40PM
Selected teams, live stats 
Broadcast – Channel 7, Footy Radio