Semi Finals WAFLW PreviewFriday, June 30, 2023 - 10:39 AM - by Chris Pike

IT'S finals time in the WAFLW this Sunday with Claremont and South Fremantle fighting over being the first team to be into the grand final while East Fremantle and Swan Districts are battling just to stay alive.

After a terrific home and away season in the WAFLW where it wasn’t until the very last day where the top four teams were officially confirmed, the race for the premiership begins this Sunday afternoon.

The grand final will take place on Saturday July 15 at Lathlain's Mineral Resources Park with the first team that will be part of that to be decided this Sunday afternoon.

The finals action begins at Fremantle Community Bank Oval at 12pm on Sunday with the first semi-final between East Fremantle and Swan Districts. The winner will advance to next week's preliminary final while the season will be over for the loser.

Next up at Revo Fitness Stadium is the battle of the top two teams from the home and away season with Claremont playing host to South Fremantle.

Claremont is yet to taste defeat in 2023 and the reigning premiers have the chance to move straight into the grand final on Sunday at home as they come up against a South Fremantle team taking part in their first WAFLW finals series in their fourth season in the competition.

While the winner advances straight to the grand final, the loser earns a second chance and will host the preliminary final next week against the winner of the East Fremantle-Swan Districts match up.

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Meanwhile, the finals in the Rogers Cup begin on Sunday as well starting with the first semi-final which will see Claremont take on East Perth at Revo Fitness Stadium from 10am.

Next up will be the second semi-final between West Perth and South Fremantle also at Claremont's Revo Fitness Stadium from 12pm with the winner to go straight into the grand final for 2023.

FIRST SEMI-FINAL: EAST FREMANTLE v SWAN DISTRICTS – SUNDAY 12.00PM

East Fremantle and Swan Districts will be thinking their best football is still capable of taking them a long way over the next three weeks in the WAFLW finals, but only one will still be alive after Sunday's first semi-final.

East Fremantle and Swan Districts do battle in the first semi-final at Fremantle Community Bank Oval with the winner to stay alive and move into the preliminary final to play the loser of the second semi-final between Claremont and South Fremantle.

However, the season will be over for the loser and given the potential both teams possess, that will be considered a disappointing finish to be out after the first week of the finals.

Swan Districts and East Fremantle played one another twice throughout the WAFLW home and away season with Swans winning by 29 points at Steel Blue Oval back in Round 8.

In that game, 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.

The more recent encounter took place in Round 15 at the WACA Ground under lights on a Saturday evening with Swan Districts also beating East Fremantle by 14 points with that victory ultimately sealing their finals position.

In that victory, Taylah Edwards was brilliant for Swans kicking four goals with Zappara adding two while Mahony had another 19 disposals to go with 10 tackles. Hope Ugle-Hayward also had 15 disposals and nine tackles, and Tyla Fitzgerald 14 touches and eight tackles.

Reilly and Grace Freeman kicked two goals apiece for East Fremantle with Beth Beckett collecting 18 possessions (10 tackles), Caylen Crook 13, Gomes 12 and Wong 12 (11 tackles).

Going back further, 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.

From the East Fremantle team that beat Peel Thunder last week to guarantee their finals position, Grace Freeman, Laura Catherine, Nadya Browne, Ashlee Atkins and Tessa Lynch have all been added to the squad for the first semi-final.

The only out at this stage from that Sharks team that beat the Thunder is Georgie Cleaver.

Swan Districts has made just the one change coming into Sunday's first semi-final against East Fremantle with Teyharna Curry coming into the line-up.

Going out from the Swans team that lost narrowly to the second placed South Fremantle last week is Hope Arrowsmith.

SECOND SEMI-FINAL: CLAREMONT v SOUTH FREMANTLE – SUNDAY 2.00PM

One of Claremont and South Fremantle will be the first team to win their way into the WAFLW grand final for 2023 when they meet in Sunday's second semi-final at Revo Fitness Stadium.

The Tigers and Bulldogs finished as the top two teams at the end of the home and away season in the WAFLW competition to now set up this Sunday's second semi-final at Revo Fitness Stadium.

The winner will move straight into the grand final on Saturday July 15 at Lathlain's Mineral Resources Park with Claremont looking for the chance to make it back-to-back premierships, and South Fremantle to get there for the first time.

On the back of winning that premiership last year, Claremont has dominated the WAFLW competition this season and didn’t taste a defeat. The closest they came was with a draw with East Fremantle but outside of that and the Tigers won their other 13 matches.

That saw Claremont finish three games clear on top of the ladder to claim the minor premiership but South Fremantle also was two games clear to end up in second spot to earn the finals double chance.

South Fremantle have been gradually building over their first four seasons in the WAFLW and have now turned themselves into a top two team having won 10 matches in 2023 along with losing just three games of which two were with Claremont, and having a draw.

Last time the two teams met was in Round 11 this season with Claremont beating South Fremantle 8.4 (52) to 3.5 (23).

In that win, Rachel Ortlepp, Jacinta Valentini and Georgia Webb all kicked two goals for Claremont with Jayme Harken racking up 24 touches, Matilda Sergeant 20, Claire Ortlepp 17 and Andie Payne 16.

Molly O'Hehir kicked two goals for South Fremantle with Ariana Hetherington finishing with 14 possessions and 27 hit outs. Charli Wicksteed also had 12 touches, Zoe Huggett 12, Lauren Vecchio 11 and O'Hehir 11.

Prior to that, going back over the eight games the two teams played against one another and Claremont won each of them at an average of 47.4 points.

Prior to the first clash between them this season, South Fremantle had never kicked more than three goals in a game against Claremont had one goalless performance, and four others with just the one goal to their credit.

The Tigers had dominated the Bulldogs including kicking 13 goals against them once, 11 on another occasion, nine on another two times and then eight in three games too.

Claremont has added Eva Campo, Hayley Colvin, Tazma Hutson, Charlotte Tompkin and Kate Orme to the squad it will select its final team of 21 from to take on South Fremantle in Sunday's second semi-final.

The only out at this stage from the Tigers side that beat East Perth to finish the home and away season last week is Jayde Musika.

South Fremantle has made two changes for Sunday's second semi-final against Claremont with Megan Bain and Dakoda Hallam the two players coming into the side.

Going out of the team that scored a narrow win against Swan Districts last week is Liusaidh Gilchrist and Hannah Young.