Round 22 Preview - Perth v East PerthSaturday, August 19, 2017 - 2:12 AM - by Chris Pike

PERTH has one last chance to finish its disappointing season on a positive note at Lathlain Park this Saturday, the only problem is standing in the way is an in-form East Perth building plenty of momentum ahead of the finals.

The Demons have the bye in the last round of the 2017 WAFL season making Saturday clash at home the Royals the last of the campaign for the home team.

Perth comes into the game on the bottom of the ladder percentage below East Fremantle having lost 11 matches in succession.

It's the opposite story for East Perth with the Royals having now won their past three games to be sitting in fifth position with a 9-9 record.

With Perth not having won since Round 9 against Claremont and with East Perth in its best form of the season it might appear a mismatch on paper heading into Saturday's contest at Lathlain Park, but the Demons will be desperate to dispel that.

The Demons were significantly more competitive for four quarters last Saturday in only losing to Peel Thunder by 21 points. A win on Saturday against the Royals would go a long way to them avoiding the wooden spoon for 2017.

But even a competitive showing could help Perth's percentage again leapfrog that of East Fremantle's unless the Sharks win one of their last two matches.

However, either way Perth is going to be finishing last or second last in 2017.

East Perth has significantly more to play for and the wins the past three weeks against Claremont, West Perth and Swan Districts have put the Royals in a strong position to play finals for a sixth straight season.

The Royals now sit in fifth position on the WAFL ladder but have a better percentage than Swan Districts who is a game ahead, and of West Perth who is behind on that percentage and then Claremont who is two games further back.

A win for East Perth on Saturday and it is guaranteed of playing finals in 2017 no matter what happens in the final round against Subiaco. What that game could then decide is how high the Royals end up finishing and if they are able to squeeze in for a finals double chance or a home final.

But a loss could be catastrophic to East Perth's hopes of playing finals so there will be no taking Perth lightly from anyone at the Royals.

There will be added motivation for East Perth as well with co-captain Kyle Anderson celebrating his 100th appearance for the Royals.

Standout East Perth defender proud to reach 100 games 

East Perth has certainly had the better of recent meetings with East Perth as well including a 20-point victory back in Round 6 this season at Leederville Oval.

Looking further back and the Royals have won their past 10 clashes with the Demons by an average of 48.3 points. Perth's last win against East Perth came in Round 7, 2013.

For Perth's last game of 2017, Blake Johnson, Joseph Ugle, Andries Mercer, Lennon Marlin, Brad McPhail and Callum Marshall are all in contention for selection to take on East Perth.

Meanwhile, Kristian Cary, John Levien and Brant Colledge go out of the side from the line-up that lost to Peel by 21 points last Saturday.

East Perth beat Swan Districts last Saturday by 54 points at Leederville Oval and now from that side, Sharrod Wellingham and Jackson Nelson come in after being dropped from West Coast's team to take on the GWS Giants in Sydney on Saturday.

Simon Tunbridge is also on track to make his first league appearance of the season to continue his comeback trail from a knee reconstruction. He has spent the past two weeks in the reserves.

Tom Hodgson, Tarir Bayok and Nathan Eaton are the other players in the selection mix for the Royals.

Scott Jones got out of the East Perth team with an ankle injury while West Coast half-back Tom Cole is also an out for the Royals.

PERTH (2-17, 9th) v EAST PERTH (9-9, 5th) – LATHLAIN PARK, SATURDAY 2.15PM
Selected teams, live stats 
Broadcast – Footy Radio (WAFL App)