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Round 10 WAFL PreviewFriday, June 16, 2023 - 10:49 AM - by Chris Pike
ROUND 10 in the WAFL sees the top and bottom teams take a rest with the bye while East Fremantle and Swan Districts try to enhance their finals prospects, and Subiaco, Peel Thunder and East Perth jostle over top two positions.
It shapes as a fascinating Round 10 in the WAFL as part of the 2023 season with the split rounds beginning with the league-leading Claremont and bottom placed West Coast Eagles the two teams to have the bye this weekend.
That sets the stage for the four matches that will take place this weekend and there's plenty at stake for all eight competing teams with Subiaco, Peel and East Perth all looking for a top two position, and to perhaps even leapfrog Claremont into top spot.
Then there's West Perth trying to gather momentum in its premiership defence, East Fremantle attempting to break back into the top five and Swan Districts out to also make it three wins on the trot to stay in the finals race.
Three of the four matches take place at 2.10pm on Saturday afternoon with East Fremantle to play Swan Districts at the WACA Ground.
Perth will also play host to Peel Thunder at Lathlain's Mineral Resources Park, and Subiaco will take on West Perth at Leederville Oval in the battle of the last two WAFL premiership winners.
The last game of the round on Sunday takes place at Fremantle Community Bank Oval with South Fremantle playing host to an East Perth team in hot form on the back of three consecutive wins.
WAFL TEAM OF THE WEEK – ROUND 9
All four colts matches begin at 9.10am this weekend with the reserves all starting at 11.40am.
On Saturday, that sees East Fremantle host Swan Districts at the WACA Ground while Perth is at home to Peel Thunder, and Subiaco plays West Perth at Leederville Oval.
South Fremantle hosts East Perth in the colts and reserves also on Sunday at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.
EAST FREMANTLE v SWAN DISTRICTS – SATURDAY 2.10PM
East Fremantle will be trying to arrest a losing slide and Swan Districts to keep its winning run going when the two teams clash at the WACA Ground on Saturday afternoon.
The Sharks now come into the clash for Round 10 in the WAFL having lost their past two matches to South Fremantle and East Perth to have now slipped outside of the top five as a result.
It's the opposite scenario for the Swans who have now won consecutive games for the first time this season with wins against the West Coast Eagles and Perth.
So with the Sharks trying to get back on the winner's list and potentially to move back into a finals position and Swans looking to make it three straight and close in on the top five further, it shapes as a fascinating match up.
Saturday's game at the WACA Ground will just be the second time since 1994 that Swan Districts has played at the venue.
That came last year also against East Fremantle with the Sharks ending up winning by 78 points on a rough day for Swans in what ended up being a costly defeat as they just missed out on playing finals in the finish.
It's incredible to think that Swan Districts hasn’t won a game at the WACA Ground since 1992, having lost the qualifying final of 1993 there to Claremont, the 1994 elimination final to Subiaco and then the Round 18 clash with East Fremantle last year.
The last win Swan Districts had at the famous venue was in Round 4, 1992 with the 31-point triumph against Subiaco. That was the last of a four-game winning run Swans had at the WACA and overall, they have 14 wins and 34 losses at the ground dating back to 1934.
Saturday's contest will just be the third time ever that the two teams have met at the WACA Ground. The first occasion was in Round 16, 1987 with Swan Districts winning by 45 points. Then there was East Fremantle's 78-point triumph last year.
The two teams have already met once this season and that was back in Round 2 at Steel Blue Oval and it proved to be one of the string of narrow losses that Swan Districts has suffered so far in 2023.
East Fremantle ended up winning the game 7.15 (57) to 7.11 (53) with Dillon O'Reilly kicking two goals for the Sharks while Milan Murdock gathered 34 disposals, Harry Marsh 30, Fraser Turner 29, Tom Joyce 28, Cam Eardley 23, Tom Bennett 22 and Josh Schoenfeld 22.
Ryan Kemp kicked two goals in the tight loss for Swan Districts with Sam Fisher racking up 32 possessions, Jesse Turner 26, Brandon Erceg 23 and Aidan Clarke 19 before he went off injured.
Interestingly coming into Round 10 and East Fremantle is ranked sixth both for points for and against so far this season while Swan Districts is ranked seventh in both areas.
The Sharks are scoring 79.6 points a game and conceding 66.3 while Swan Districts are scoring 72.8 while giving up 70.0.
Neither team have been big ball winning sides either so far this season with East Fremantle ranked sixth with 334.3 touches a game with Swan Districts placed eighth with 313.0 disposals.
However, the Sharks are averaging 20 more possessions than their opponents while the Swans are having three fewer than the teams they come up against.
East Fremantle is the best second quarter team in the competition having outscored their opponents by 93 points over the opening nine games.
The Sharks are also ranked fourth in first quarters, but then have been outscored throughout second halves to be ranked seventh in the third and seven in the fourth.
Swans are the second best starting team in the WAFL having outscored their opposition by 87 points but they have been then outscored by 57 points in the second stanzas to be ranked just ninth.
From there, Swan Districts is the fourth best third quarter team but third worst performing side in fourth terms.
From the Swan Districts team that beat Perth last Sunday, there are three changes with ruckman Nathan Blakely, versatile big man Nathan Ireland and the hard running Greg Ottaviano coming back into the line-up.
Going out from the Swans line-up that beat Perth are Ayden Cartright, Matthew Germs and Jesse Glass-McCasker who suffered a concussion during the second half of Sunday's match up with the Demons.
East Fremantle is attempting to snap a two-game losing streak on the back of defeats at the hands of South Fremantle and East Perth.
From the Sharks team that lost to the Royals last week, there are plenty of changes with Enrique Aiken-Featherstone, Lachlan Bailey, Jackson McDonald, Josh Ritchie and Chris Walker all into the side to take on Swan Districts.
Going out of the East Fremantle side are Matthew Burton, Corey Holmes, Tom Joyce, Milan Murdock, Cody Leggett and Josh Schoenfeld.
FOLLOW AND WATCH THE GAME LIVE HERE THANKS TO AFL.COM.AU
PERTH v PEEL THUNDER – SATURDAY 2.10PM
Perth and Peel Thunder have both lost their past two WAFL matches entering Saturday afternoon's match up at Lathlain's Mineral Resources Park.
The Demons are back on home turf having lost their past two games to Claremont and Swan Districts while the Thunder are playing their second straight away fixture having now lost consecutive games for the first time in 2023.
Perth would have felt especially hard done by to lose to Swan Districts last Sunday thanks to a goal after the siren with the Demons now needing a bounce back win on Saturday to remain in any contention of the top four.
Peel, meanwhile, was a game clear on top of the WAFL ladder before the last two losses to Subiaco and Claremont. They have only been by a combined eight points, but it's still seen the Thunder slip to 6-3 on the season and down to third position.
Like Perth, it was a tough loss to take for Peel last Saturday with Claremont snatching it with three goals in the final five minutes so both teams won't be short on motivation to hit back this week.
Saturday's game will be the second time the two teams have played one another this season with Peel holding Perth to one goal in Mandurah back in Round 2 on the way to an eventual 65-point victory.
In that win, Sebit Kuek kicked four goals for Peel while Karl Worner racked up 30 disposals, Traye Bennell 21, Ben Hancock 21 and Nathan Wilson 20.
Perth's lone goal was kicked by Sam Stubbs while Matt Taylor collected 34 possessions, Trent Manzone 33, Michael Sinclair 28, Jacob Coniglio 28, Charlie Thompson 25 and Corey Byrne 24.
That was a second straight win for Peel against Perth with the Thunder having won four of the past five meetings, and six of the past eight dating back to 2019.
Even at Lathlain have Peel enjoyed things against the Demons in recent times with three straight wins at the venue against the Demons, and winning seven of their last eight visits when it's been to play against Perth.
Despite having lost its last two matches to slip to third position on the ladder, Peel is still the best defensive team in the WAFL averaging just the 59.1 points against so far this season.
The Thunder are also fourth in attack with 82.4 points a game while Perth remains only ahead of West Coast in both areas, scoring 62.6 points themselves and conceding 87.6.
Despite that, Perth is second highest ball winning team in the competition at 351 possessions a game while Peel is fourth at 347. However, the Demons do only average three more touches a game than their opponents while the Thunder have 19 more than the teams they face.
Across the season so far, Perth is ranked eight for their performances in both first and second quarters, and then ninth in the third and fourth terms to only be placed ahead of the winless West Coast.
The Thunder are the worst starting team in the competition aside from the Eagles having been outscored by 58 points over the season so far. However, Peel is then the best finishing team by some way outscoring their opponents by 138 points.
The Thunder are then ranked second as well for their performances in both the second and third quarters.
Coming off last Sunday's heartbreaking after the siren loss to Swan Districts at Bassendean, Perth has made five changes to come into the clash on Saturday at home to Peel.
Ajang Ajang will come in for his first game of the season for the Demons as will lively forward Kristian Cary along with Jacob Coniglio, Jack Evans and Baxter Philip.
Going out for Perth are Jacques Barwick, Harry Quartermaine, Denzel More, the suspended Jack Cooley and two-time fairest and best winning midfielder Corey Byrne.
Peel is also on the look out to snap a two-game losing slide at Lathlain on Saturday with the Thunder making three changes coming into the clash with the Demons.
Hugh Davies, Tom Emmett and Ethan Stanley are the three players coming into the Thunder line-up to face the Demons.
Going out for Peel from the team that lost a thriller to Claremont last Saturday are Ty Anderson, Michael Sellwood and Neil Erasmus.
FOLLOW AND WATCH THE GAME LIVE HERE THANKS TO AFL.COM.AU
SUBIACO v WEST PERTH – SATURDAY 2.10PM
The last two WAFL premiership winning teams meet in another tantalising match up at Leederville Oval on Saturday with Subiaco at home to West Perth.
While it's Subiaco's home game, it's still the spiritual home of the Falcons with that connection to Leederville Oval only built on further when it was the venue of their premiership triumph last year.
So with Subiaco having won another premiership in 2021 and then West Perth's success last year, it adds to the intrigue of their Round 10 match up with both teams coming into the contest in winning form.
The Lions have now strung together three straight wins against Swan Districts, Peel Thunder and the West Coast Eagles to be only percentage out of top spot with a 7-2 record. With Claremont having the Round 10 bye, Subiaco will go top with a win on Saturday.
However, West Perth avoided a third consecutive loss last Sunday by coming back from a 36-point deficit to dominate the second half against South Fremantle and win by 27 points.
That win improved the Falcons to a 5-4 record to be back in fifth position and they will now be looking to build some momentum on the back of that.
It has been a fascinating recent history between the two teams including an impressive performance from Subiaco back in Round 4 of this season to score the 21-point win against the reigning premiers at Joondalup.
In that win, Ben Sokol and Ryan Borchet kicked two goals apiece for Subiaco while Zac Clarke dominated the ruck with 23 touches and 41 hit outs. Stefan Giro also had 21 disposals, Angus Dewar 20, Jaxon McGowan 20 and Liam Hickmott 19.
West Perth didn’t have a multiple goal scorer but Ben Johnson finished with 23 possessions, Luke Meadows 22, Aidan Lynch 22, Shane Nelson 21 and Mitch Peirce 21.
Going back to last year and with West Perth on the way to winning the premiership, the Falcons beat Subiaco twice by a combined 78 points. However, it was the Lions who won the premiership back in 2021 and in that season, they beat West Perth twice by a combined 23 points.
Until West Perth broke through to beat Subiaco back in 2020, Subiaco had won 10 straight meetings between the two teams so still coming into Saturday's match up, the Lions have won 13 of the previous 16 contests.
Despite having won their past three matches to now be only percentage off top spot, Subiaco's attack is still only rated the fifth highest scoring in the WAFL with 80.3 points a game over the opening nine rounds.
However, the Lions are placed third for points conceded having given up just 61.8 points a game. West Perth, meanwhile, is the second best scoring team with 87.0 points a game while the Falcons are placed fifth defensively giving up 66.2 points.
Subiaco only averages more possessions a game than West Coast with 311 while West Perth is fifth in that area collecting 335 disposals. That means the Lions average five fewer disposals a game than their opponents and the Falcons seven more than the teams they face.
Subiaco is the best performing third quarter team in the competition having outscored their opponents by 57 points across the opening nine rounds.
Then the Lions are ranked third in second quarters across the season while placed fourth in the final terms and seventh in the first.
West Perth is the third best performing team in both the opening and final terms of the season, outscoring their opponents by 54 points to start games, and then by 92 points to finish them. The Falcons are then ranked fifth in second quarters and sixth in the third.
Subiaco is coming off a massive win against West Coast last Saturday and from that team have made three changes with Angus Dewar, Jordan Faraone and Taj Schofield coming back into the line-up for the Lions for the clash with the Falcons.
Going out of the Subiaco team that beat West Coast by 129 points last week are Henry Berenger, Corey Hitchcock and Josh Robbins.
West Perth produced a tremendous second half last Sunday to beat South Fremantle and avoid a third straight loss.
From that team, the Falcons have made two changes with AFL and WAFL premiership winning midfielder Mark Hutchings coming in for his first game of the season along with versatile big man Tom O'Donnell.
His inclusion became necessary with Mark Hamilton and Sam Rotham the two players going out of the West Perth line-up from the side that beat South Fremantle last Sunday.
FOLLOW AND WATCH THE GAME LIVE HERE THANKS TO AFL.COM.AU
SOUTH FREMANTLE v EAST PERTH – SUNDAY 2.10PM
Clashes between South Fremantle and East Perth have been tight and hotly contested affairs in recent times, and there's every reason to expect more of the same on Sunday at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.
It's a must win affair for the Bulldogs too as they slipped further from finals calculations with last week's loss to West Perth.
South Fremantle was leading by 36 points during the second quarter but then were dominated in the second half to lose by 27 unable to build on the momentum from the 15th straight derby victory on WA Day.
That leaves South Fremantle with only eight premiership points on the board coming into Round 10 to be three games outside of the top five heightening the stakes for Sunday's match up at home to East Perth.
And that's a Royals team in hot form having won three straight against West Coast, West Perth and East Fremantle to be sitting in fourth position with a 6-3 record.
The two teams already did battle earlier this season in Round 6 at Leederville Oval and on that occasion South Fremantle produced a huge third quarter on the way to the eventual 29-point victory against the Royals.
On that day, South Fremantle kicked five goals to one in the third quarter to set up the win with Zac Strom, Brendon Ah Chee and George Wessels all kicking two goals apiece. Tom Blechynden racked up 28 possessions, Toby McQuilkin 25, Matthew Parker 24, Chad Pearson 22 and Glenn Byron 22.
For East Perth, Liam Tedesco kicked two goals and Hamish Brayshaw gathered 30 disposals, Angus Schumacher 28, Stan Wright 26, Nick Robertson 25, Mitch Crowden 22 and Angus Scott 20.
That victory meant that South Fremantle has won the previous three clashes with East Perth and going back further, 10 of the past 11 meetings between the two sides.
The lone win in that period for the Royals against the Bulldogs was by five points back in Round 10, 2021 at Leederville Oval.
South Fremantle has won five in-a-row against East Perth at Fremantle Community Bank Oval with the last win against the Royals down at the port coming by a point back in Round 10, 2017 in a thrilling finish where the winning behind was kicked by West Coast-listed big man Drew Petrie.
South Fremantle has again been good defensively this season conceding just 62.0 points a game to be ranked fourth defensively. But scoring has again been difficult for the Bulldogs and they have been putting up just 64.3 points a game to only be ranked ahead of Perth and West Coast.
East Perth, meanwhile, has become the highest scoring team in the WAFL with 92.8 points a game while the Royals coming in eighth defensively conceding 73.8 points.
East Perth is also the most prolific ball winning team across the WAFL averaging 354 possessions while South Fremantle is only ranked seventh with 325. That means the Royals are having 35 extra touches a game than their opponents and the Bulldogs just 11 more than theirs.
Over the opening nine matches, South Fremantle has been fairly consistent over the four quarters ranked fifth for their performances in the first terms, seventh in the second, fifth in the third and sixth in the fourth.
East Perth, on the other hand, remain far and away the best starting team in the league having outscored their opponents by an average of 19 points in the first quarters.
From there, the Royals are ranked sixth in second quarters, eighth in the third and fifth in the fourth.