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Round 15 WAFLW PreviewFriday, June 16, 2023 - 10:41 AM - by Chris Pike
IT'S the penultimate round of the 2023 WAFLW season and while Claremont has locked away top spot, there remains three teams battling over the last three finals positions setting the stage for a fascinating weekend.
While two of the games in Round 15 don't have direct finals ramifications with Claremont having locked away top spot and then the bottom three teams West Perth, Peel Thunder and East Perth not in finals contention, all four matches will be well worth checking out.
All four games for Round 15 in the WAFLW take place across Saturday as well beginning at 2pm with Claremont playing host to West Perth at Revo Fitness Stadium.
At the same time on Saturday afternoon, South Fremantle plays host to Subiaco at Fremantle Community Bank Oval. It's a crucial game for both teams with the Bulldogs needing to win to remain in second position while the Lions can also break into the top four with a victory.
Next up on Saturday afternoon is a contest between the bottom two teams with Peel Thunder at home to East Perth at Mandurah's Lane Group Stadium. The Thunder are trying to snap a nine-game losing slide and the Royals still hunting a first win in their inaugural WAFLW season.
The round will then wrap up at the WACA Ground on Saturday evening beginning at 5pm with East Fremantle at home to Swan Districts. With the Sharks currently third at 7-4 with a draw and Swans fourth at 7-5, the stakes couldn’t be higher for both teams.
WAFLW TEAM OF THE WEEK – ROUNDS 13/14
Meanwhile, in Round 15 of the Rogers Cup Youth Girls competition three of the four matches will take place on Saturday.
The action gets underway with two games beginning at 12pm with Claremont hosting West Perth at Revo Fitness Stadium while South Fremantle takes on Subiaco at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.
Then on Saturday evening at 5.10pm, it's Perth still hunting a first win in their first season playing East Fremantle at Lathlain's Mineral Resources Park.
The round will then wrap up on Sunday at Steel Blue Oval with Swan Districts at home to Peel Thunder.
CLAREMONT v WEST PERTH – SATURDAY 2.00PM
West Perth will attempt to score the upset of the season and to record their biggest ever WAFLW win when taking on the minor premiership bound Claremont at Revo Fitness Stadium on Saturday.
Claremont guaranteed themselves of the minor premiership with the 21-point win last week against Swan Districts with the Tigers yet to lose still in 2023 on the back of winning last year's premiership.
Claremont has now won 11 games and had one draw this season to be guaranteed of finishing in top spot no matter how the last two games pan out.
That could potentially open the door for West Perth who might not quite still be in finals contention with two rounds remaining, but with five wins already this season the Falcons have shown dramatic improvement.
The last time the two teams met in the WAFLW competition was in Round 7 of this season with Claremont scoring the 36-point victory at Joondalup's Pentanet Stadium.
In that win, Adele Arnup kicked two goals for Claremont while Jasmin Stewart racked up 25 possessions, Jayme Harken 20, Matilda Sergeant 19, Sarah Viney 19 and Kate Orme 18.
Natasha Spurr was the goal kicker for West Perth to become the first Falcons player to kick a goal against Claremont in the WAFLW competition.
Brooke Hongell also had 17 possessions on that day for West Perth, Ebony Jackson 12, Karla Stagg 12, Taylor Ferguson 11 and Katherine Bennett 11.
Going back to last year and in the two meetings between the teams, West Perth didn’t manage to score a single behind in their first season in the WAFLW competition.
Claremont won those two encounters by 78 and 69 points respectively, and over the three meetings so far the Tigers have outscored the Falcons 27.28 (190) to 1.1 (7).
From the Claremont team that stayed undefeated last week by beating the on-fire Swan Districts, the Tigers have made four changes for this Saturday's match up with West Perth.
Coming into the Claremont team are Taylah Angel, Tess Blackburn, Amy Evans and Taylah Orzel.
Going out for the Tigers from that side that beat Swan Districts are Juliet Kelly, Charlotte Tompkin, Georgia Webb and Mackenzie Webb.
West Perth had the bye last week following a strong derby win the previous Sunday as they continue a vastly improved season even if finals will be just out of reach.
SOUTH FREMANTLE v SUBIACO – SATURDAY 2.00PM
The stakes couldn’t be more significant for both South Fremantle and Subiaco when they do battle at Fremantle Community Bank Oval on Saturday afternoon.
The two teams played out a draw to open the 2023 season and there's every reason to expect another terrific contest on Saturday with plenty on the line for both teams.
South Fremantle remains in second position on the WAFLW ladder but are now a little vulnerable on the back of losses the past two weeks against Claremont and East Fremantle.
Subiaco, meanwhile, had a dominant 41-point win last week against Peel Thunder to keep its finals hopes alive.
So coming into Saturday's match it's South Fremantle still in second place with eight wins, three losses and a draw while Subiaco is fifth with six wins, five losses and a draw.
The difference between a win and loss in the context of the season is significant for both teams meaning it shapes as an early finals type contest.
The two teams met earlier this season way back in Round 1 and played out a heart stopping draw at Leederville Oval to open the new season.
On that day, South Fremantle kicked the only goal of the final quarter and held Subiaco scoreless in the last term to secure the eventual draw.
Casey Byrne kicked two goals for South Fremantle while Kahra Sprlyan gathered 19 possessions, Luci Gilchrist 16, Ariana Hetherington 15 and Tahlea Mulder 15.
Kelsey Patterson kicked two goals in that draw for Subiaco with Olivia Crane finishing with 22 disposals, Tarni Golisano 20 and Joanne Cregg 15.
Going back to last year and Subiaco did beat South Fremantle in the last meeting by 47 points also at Leederville Oval but in Round 8 it was the Bulldogs who broke through to beat the Lions in emphatic fashion by 40 points at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.
South Fremantle will be looking to bounce back from the derby loss to East Fremantle on WA Day with the Bulldogs needing to keep winning to remain in second position on the WAFLW table.
Subiaco needs to keep winning as well if it wants to break into the finals over the last two weeks and build on last Saturday's win against Peel where the Lions kept the Thunder scoreless.
From that team for the Lions, Claudia Langley, Tess Lyons and Kelsey Patterson come into the side this week for the match up against South Fremantle.
Going out from the Subiaco team that defeated Peel last week are Lauren Bilaloski, Liana Burchell and Dahna Lee.
PEEL THUNDER v EAST PERTH – SATURDAY 3.45PM
Peel Thunder and East Perth might have been struggling for wins this season, but one of them will get a late season morale boost at Lane Group Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Peel might have two of its first three games this season, but the going has been tough since then with nine consecutive defeats including going scoreless against Subiaco last Saturday.
East Perth, meanwhile, has found the going tough in its inaugural WAFLW season just like South Fremantle and West Perth did previously when they entered the set up for the first time.
The Royals have lost their 12 matches this season so far by an average of 59.6 points.
However, what Saturday presents is a chance for Peel to snap its nine-game losing run or for East Perth to taste victory for the first time ever in the WAFLW.
With it being East Perth's first season in the WAFLW competition, the two teams have only met once previously and that was in Round 3 with Peel beating the Royals 5.6 (36) to 1.5 (11) at Leederville Oval.
In that win, Tanisha Anderson kicked three goals for the Thunder while Chloe Wrigley ended up with 23 possessions and 17 tackles.
Jaide Britton also gathered 17 disposals for Peel, Evie Cowcher 16, Ebony Dowson 16 and Greta McKinley 16.
Bronwyn Hansen was East Perth's goal kicker while Chloe Sauzier picked up 16 possessions, Jessica Valvasori 15, Madeleine Goodman 14 and Jessica Bolton 14.
That would prove to be Peel's last win so far this season so they will attempt to snap that nine-game losing streak at home on Saturday with East Perth chasing a first ever WAFLW victory.
Peel had a tough afternoon last Saturday going scoreless against Subiaco, but will be confident of snapping that losing streak against East Perth this Saturday.
Coming into the Thunder team to take on the Royals are Kayla Bradshaw, Makinley Minchin, Jessica Ruland, Katrina Shrewsbury and Anna Watts.
Going out from the Peel side who lost to Subiaco last week is Krystal Carter, Gracie Fenton, Tessa Kongras, Kate Newson and Kaitlyn Srhoj.
East Perth, meanwhile, had the bye last weekend on the back of the derby loss to West Perth the previous Sunday but will be looking at this as a chance to make history and record their first WAFLW victory.
EAST FREMANTLE v SWAN DISTRICTS – SATURDAY 5.00PM
East Fremantle and Swan Districts meet at the WACA Ground on Saturday evening in what could very well be a season defining contest for both teams.
The stakes couldn’t be more significant for both teams in the Round 15 WAFLW encounter at the WACA Ground with Swan Districts coming into the weekend in fourth position and East Fremantle in third.
The Sharks currently hold a 7-4 record with a draw with two games remaining while the Swans sit on a 7-5 record. The winner of Saturday night's clash will all but be guaranteed of playing finals in 2023 with one round to go while the loser will just about be in a must-win situation for the last game.
For Swan Districts, that means a clash with the currently second placed South Fremantle next Sunday at Steel Blue Oval while East Fremantle will finish the season with a likely win against the second last placed Peel Thunder in Mandurah.
Swan Districts saw its stunning seven-game winning streak come to an end last Sunday with a 21-point defeat to Claremont, but given the Tigers have not lost a game at all in 2023, there's certainly no shame in that.
Prior to that, Swans had won its previous seven matches in the WAFLW on the back of losing the first four games.
That included a win for Swan Districts against East Fremantle by 29 points back in Round 8 at Steel Blue Oval.
On that day, Courtney Zappara had a stunning performance for Swans with nine shots for four goals from 14 possessions and five marks. Ruby Mahony also had 25 touches for the black-and-whites, Kayley King 21 and Abbygail Bushby 17.
Chloe Reilly kicked three of East Fremantle's four goals for the day while Sharon Wong picked up 19 possessions, Ashleigh Gomes 19, Chloe Williams 13 and Jasmine Johansen 12.
Prior to that, the two teams hadn’t met since back in Round 10 last year. East Fremantle was too strong for Swan Districts winning by 40 points at Steel Blue Oval. Their other clash in 2022 was in Round 2 at East Fremantle Oval.
The Sharks won that contest too but it was a much tighter affair with the margin just seven points even though Swans finished with 12 scoring shots to nine for the game.
There are two changes to the Swan Districts team that lost last Sunday to Claremont coming into the crucial match up with East Fremantle.
Teyharna Curry and Ava Stewart are the two players coming into the Swan Districts team to face the Sharks while Kyah Chirichilli and Daisy Rigby go out of the side.
East Fremantle had the bye last weekend but prior to that were impressive in a derby victory against South Fremantle at the WACA Ground on WA Day.