WAFL Round 22 PreviewFriday, August 16, 2013 - 1:06 PM - by Chris Pike

ALL four WAFL Round 22 matches across Saturday and Sunday have big implications for spots inside the top-four, with teams trying to stay in touch and indeed at the bottom of the ladder as well.

There is just the one match on Saturday afternoon with East Perth taking on Perth at Leederville's Medibank Stadium before three Sunday games with Peel hosting South Fremantle at Mandurah's Bendigo Bank Stadium, West Perth taking on East Fremantle at Arena Joondalup and Claremont battling Swan Districts at Claremont Oval.

EAST PERTH (10-7, 4th) v PERTH (9-8, 6th) – MEDIBANK STADIUM, SATURDAY 2.05PM
Selected teams

East Perth meet Perth in a crucial clash at Medibank Stadium in Saturday's standalone WAFL fixture with the Royals having a chance to go a long way to securing a finals berth and the Demons just trying to stay alive.

East Perth currently sits in fourth position on the ladder with a 10-7 record while Perth has slid down to sixth at 9-8 and with both virtually on an identical percentage, the four points at Leederville are just so crucial.

The Royals had lost two straight games to top-two teams West Perth and Claremont coming off a five-game winning run, but hit back in dominant fashion with 14 goals to three in the second half last Saturday to beat Subiaco by 68 points.

That has the Royals in a strong position to now play finals football in 2013 with games to finish against the sixth-placed Perth, eighth-placed South Fremantle and seventh-placed Subiaco.

However, Perth remains in the finals hunt if it wins against the Royals on Saturday ahead of matches to finish the season against Claremont and South Fremantle.

The Demons will likely need to win all three of those games to play in the finals for the first time since 1997, but while there is hope there is still something there worth fighting for despite the disappointment of last week's 60-point loss to West Perth in Moora.

The Royals and Demons have met twice already this season in front of two good crowds starting on Anzac Day when the Demons thumped the Royals by 51 points at Lathlain's Brownes Stadium in front of 3307 people.

However, East Perth hit back at the same venue in Round 13 to beat Perth by 18 points.

Even though Matt Rosa is named as an out at this stage for East Perth, he is only named as an emergency by West Coast to take on Geelong at Patersons Stadium on Saturday night.

That means he is still more than likely to line-up for the Royals on Saturday and he's a crucial player in their midfield after picking up 33 possessions last week in the win over Subiaco.

Rosa's West Coast teammate Adam Selwood retired during the week from the AFL but is still set to line-up for the Royals on Saturday against the Demons as well as is Cale Morton and Blayne Wilson who has been dropped following the Eagles win last Sunday over Essendon at Etihad Stadium.

Danny Chartres, Rowan Brookes and Ashley Boyes are three other players pressing to come into the East Perth line-up that is gearing up for a tilt at another finals campaign, but it has to make sure of a win against Perth to keep that on course.

Perth's job of beating East Perth to keep its finals hopes alive hasn’t been greatly helped at the selection table with ruckman Mitchell Lleyendekkers, midfielder Julian Jacobs and dangerous half-forward Matt Moody all going out of the Demons' team that lost in Moora to West Perth.

The Demons do welcome back No. 1 ruckman Christian Eyres, though and he has a massive task up against East Perth's Paul Johnson.

Hawthorn premiership midfielder Chance Bateman is also set to return for Perth after missing the game in Moora last Saturday with a sore hamstring with Kane Ransted, Brad Fry, Reese Richardson and Joel Houghton all pressing for selection in what is a must-win match for the Demons.

WEST PERTH (13-5, 2nd) v EAST FREMANTLE (9-8, 5th) – ARENA JOONDALUP, SUNDAY 2.05PM
Selected teams

West Perth and East Fremantle meet in another massive Round 22 clash at Arena Joondalup on Sunday with a big crowd expected with the Sharks needing to knock off the in-form second-placed Falcons.

West Perth is in outstanding form having now won three straight games and seven of its last eight games this season to sit on a 13-5 record to be looking strong in second position on the ladder to be on track for a double chance come finals time.

East Fremantle is just hoping to make the finals, though, coming off playing in last year's grand final but a mid-season then slump that saw the Sharks go on a run of losing six from seven matches to give themselves an uphill task.

However, East Fremantle has won its last four games against Subiaco, the Lions again, South Fremantle and Perth to put itself back within a chance but the Sharks do need to keep winning.

East Fremantle is still precariously placed with a 9-8 record and games to finish the season against West Perth, Swan Districts and Claremont so a win over the Falcons this Sunday is crucial.

The two teams have met twice already this season with West Perth winning a high-scoring affair 24.8 (152) to 21.3 (129) in Round 8 at East Fremantle Oval and then also at the same ground in Round 13 holding on to win by 14 points.

Not only does West Perth have the added motivation of trying to win for Ray Bartholomew's 150th WAFL game to earn him life membership at the club, it's also a big day set for Arena Joondalup to celebrate International Round.

Last year's day was a huge success with West Perth wearing a popular and striking jumper featuring the Union Jack with over 6000 people attending the game.

This year the Falcons will again wear a specially designed jumper with plenty in place to celebrate the day on Sunday including thousands of tickets already having been given to local school kids, a kids zone featuring bounce castles, face painting, a super slide, show bags and a free skills clinic.

There will also be international food stalls and a British beer tent featured around Arena Joondalup.

West Perth is likely the form team of the competition outside of its disappointing loss at home to South Fremantle back in Round 18 but does lose some more key players to injury this week against East Fremantle.

With Jay van Berlo, Michael Pettigrew, Michael Johnson and Matt Johnson already on the sidelines, Luke Tedesco and Chris Keunen are now out of the line-up to take on the Sharks with Jordan Jones also an unlikely starter.

However, the Falcons welcome back reigning Breckler Medal winner Mark Hutchings who was surprisingly dropped by West Coast last week despite some impressive AFL form.

Hutchings has averaged 27 possessions in his eight games for West Perth this season and adds some more bite to a midfield already including Matt Guadagnin, Shane Nelson, Steve Potente and Aaron Black.

Brayden Antonio, James Batterham, Ben McNamara and Luke Meadows are all in the mix to play for West Perth as well against East Fremantle, and if McNamara and Meadows are selected it will be their league debuts.

East Fremantle loses West Coast midfielder Daniel Kerr from the team that beat Perth two weeks ago before the Foxtel Cup grand final but his Eagles teammate Jacob Brennan does return.

Former Perth player Michael Edwards continues to push for his East Fremantle debut after crossing from the Demons to Sharks mid-season while young Fremantle half-forward Alex Howson a chance to make his official WAFL debut after previously playing for the Sharks in the Foxtel Cup.

Former Brisbane Lions-listed player Kieran King is also pressing his claims for selection with the Sharks for what would be his first league appearance for 2013.

CLAREMONT (15-2, 1st) v SWAN DISTRICTS (10-7, 3rd) – CLAREMONT OVAL, SUNDAY 2.05PM
Selected teams

Claremont might have dominated the WAFL competition over the last four years now but it hasn’t been the case against Swan Districts.

Swan Districts again travel to Claremont Oval to take on Claremont this Sunday after beating the Tigers on their home turf back in Round 17 by a commanding 39 points.

While Claremont has all but wrapped up its fourth straight WAFL minor premiership sitting on a 15-2 record with three games to go, Swan Districts has never been an easy obstacle for the Tigers to overcome.

Claremont won the minor premiership in 2010 and won straight through to the grand final with a commanding 50-point second semi-final victory but then Swans pulled off one of the most amazing one-point grand final wins in WAFL history.

Swan Districts had a down year in 2011 with Claremont comfortably winning all three meetings on the way to a premiership but in 2012, Swans pulled off two wins during the season against the Tigers before losing the second semi-final by 32 points.

The Tigers went on to win another premiership last year and then thumped Swans by 61 points in Round 3 at Bassendean's Steel Blue Oval to start the 2013 battles, but the black-and-whites hit back tremendously with a 39-point win back in Round 17.

Now Swans sit in third position on the WAFL ladder following back-to-back wins over Peel Thunder and can further consolidate a finals position with a win over Claremont on Sunday.

However, a loss and an East Perth win over Perth will see Swans drop to fourth and possibly even out of the four altogether if East Fremantle is also able to beat West Perth.

The Tigers regained some encouraging form two weeks ago before the bye with a 28-point win over the fourth-placed East Perth and now the two-time reigning premiers get some star players back as well to take on Swan Districts with.

Dual premiership 175-game veteran Trinity Handley is set to return after breaking his leg in Round 6 against West Perth. The 29-year-old has played two reserves games back and now is right to go against the black-and-whites this week.

Key forward Anton Hamp is also back after missing a week with a sore ankle and he is another important addition to the forward-line having booted 27 goals this season.

Hugo Breakey, Richard Cronin, Liam Smith and Keifer Yu are also fighting for a spot in the Claremont team as they look to impress ahead of another finals campaign.

Claremont does have two important outs, though, with Patrick McGinnity to play for West Coast against Geelong on Saturday night and Alex Silvagni named for Fremantle against Melbourne on Sunday.

There are no outs at this stage in the Swan Districts team that won a thriller over Peel last Saturday in Mandurah with Aaron Elari, Connor Blakely, Aidan Anderson, Nathan Blakely and Ricky Cary all pressing for selection.

PEEL THUNDER (3-15, 9th) v SOUTH FREMANTLE (4-13, 8th) – BENDIGO BANK STADIUM, SUNDAY 2.05PM
Selected teams

Peel Thunder and South Fremantle might not have a finals spot on the line when the two meet at Mandurah's Bendigo Bank Stadium on Sunday, but both will be desperate to win to try and avoid a wooden spoon.

Peel and South Fremantle has won just seven wins between them for the season but both at times have shown an ability to play some terrific football in patches so whichever team brings that for the longest on Sunday will likely come away victorious.

The Thunder is currently on the bottom with a 3-15 record and with a far inferior percentage to South Fremantle so to avoid the wooden spoon they likely will not only need to win on Sunday, but also beat Subiaco next week before having the bye in the final round.

Remarkably if Peel is able to win both its last two games, it could actually finish as high as seventh on the ladder still with Subiaco still a chance to finish last if the Thunder wins their last two games, and the Bulldogs manage to win one of their last two as well.

Peel is a much better team at home as well having won all three of its games at Bendigo Bank Stadium against Swan Districts, Subiaco and East Perth while also putting in strong performances against East Fremantle, Claremont, West Perth and Swan Districts last Saturday before only narrowly losing by six points.

South Fremantle, however, has been finding some improved form and consistency through the second half of the season and that began with a 15-point win over Peel at Fremantle Oval back in Round 9.

The Bulldogs then played tremendously to thump East Fremantle by 67 points in the Foundation Derby before four-straight losses but competitive efforts in particular against Perth and Claremont.

South Fremantle then was outstanding to beat the second-placed West Perth by 39 points at Arena Joondalup and after a slip up against East Fremantle, beat Subiaco prior to last week's bye.

Peel had a real chance to beat Swan Districts last week in Mandurah which would have moved the Thunder onto four wins along with South Fremantle, but it wasn’t to be and not having Fremantle pair Jesse Crichton and Viv Michie in the second half no doubt played a part late in the contest.

Michie now goes out of the side with his injury that will end a strong season for Peel that saw him average 25.6 possessions in his 16 games while Crichton remains in the line-up after being made unavailable in the second half last week by the Dockers.

Hayden Crozier and Matt Taberner have both been added to Fremantle's extended squad to take on Melbourne at the MCG on Sunday but both could still be a chance to play for Peel if not picked in the final team.

If they are, then Taberner gives Peel a good forward target while Crozier a ball-winning midfielder who can also go forward and kick a goal on his powerful left boot.

Peel could blood another debutant with Dylan Winton a chance to play after Brad Walsh was impressive last week against Swan Districts in his first league game.

Fremantle ruckman Jack Hannath also returns to partner Craig Moller in the Thunder line-up with Kelvin Lawrence, Corey Morris, Liam McKenna and Brennan Gillam all pressing for selection as well.

South Fremantle finished strongly two weeks ago against Subiaco to get its fourth win of the season and now the Bulldogs will regain Ashton Hams from West Coast unless the Eagles make a late change ahead of their clash with Geelong on Saturday night at Patersons Stadium.

Hams has been outstanding in his seven matches for South Fremantle this season averaging 24 possessions a game and kicking 16 goals.

Myles Bolger is a chance to come in and make his league debut to help out Sean Tighe in the ruck against Peel's Dockers pair Moller and Hannath.

South Fremantle could also blood another debutant in excitement machine from the colts Marlon Pickett with Tyler Hall another potential debutant.

Wingmen come midfielders Toby Bairstow and Alex Grima are also a chance to come in and add some experience, run and quality to the South Fremantle line-up.

The only out from the Bulldogs team that beat Subiaco a fortnight ago at this stage is lively forward John Sgherza.