WAFL Round 16 PreviewFriday, July 11, 2014 - 11:30 AM - by Chris Pike

THE WAFL's longest winning and losing streaks go on the line in Round 16 of the 2014 WAFL season with East Perth and East Fremantle looking to keep winning, and Perth and South Fremantle out to end their respective losing streaks.

There are four matches all at 2.05pm on Saturday afternoon with East Perth playing East Fremantle at Leederville's Medibank Stadium, Peel Thunder hosting Claremont at Mandurah's Bendigo Bank Stadium, Perth taking on South Fremantle at Lathlain Park and West Perth playing Subiaco at Joondalup HBF's Arena.

The second-placed Swan Districts has the bye.

EAST PERTH (11-2, 1st) v EAST FREMANTLE (9-4, 4th) – MEDIBANK STADIUM, SATURDAY 2.05PM
Selected teams

East Perth and East Fremantle enter Saturday's clash at Medibank Stadium having won a combined 14 straight matches between them but something will have to give against the first and fourth-placed teams.

East Perth remains on top of the WAFL ladder heading into the round percentage ahead of Swan Districts with a 10-2 win-loss record and having now won eight straight matches since losing to Subiaco on Good Friday back in Round 5.

East Fremantle, meanwhile, has been in outstanding form of late as well having now won six straight matches to be entrenched in fourth position on the ladder.

The Sharks started the season well with three wins in their first four matches but then went on a three-game losing run to South Fremantle, East Perth and Swan Districts, but they now haven’t lost a game since Round 8.

The big difference between East Perth and East Fremantle in their winnings runs has been that the Royals have dominated their opponents and the Sharks have come away with several close victories.

East Fremantle's averaging winning margin in its six straight wins has been just under 13 points while East Perth's wins have come by an average of over 43 points.

East Fremantle will also have to be mindful to start the game well because it hasn’t been the Sharks strong suit throughout the season.

The Sharks have been outscored by their opponents by almost 12 goals in the first quarters this season but they have outscored their opponents by almost 17 goals over the final three quarters.

Meanwhile, the Royals have dominated their first halves this season outscoring their opposition by over 40 goals while being less dominant in second halves only outscoring their opponents by 110 points in total.

East Perth has plenty of changes from its team that thrashed Peel Thunder last week mostly caused by the changes that the West Coast Eagles have made for its clash with Brisbane on Saturday night at the Gabba.

Simon Tunbridge, Dom Sheed, Blayne Wilson and Ashley Smith have all been added to the Eagles line-up to face the Lions.

Brant Colledge is also out with an ankle injury after a blistering first half last week against Peel.

East Perth will also again be without West Coast big men Scott Lycett and Callum Sinclair who have made a big impact at times this year, but the Royals are well-equipped to be without them with Paul Johnson and Josh Smith in their midst.

Showing East Perth's depth and quality, the inclusions are at least the equal of the players going out of the team this week as well.

West Coast pair Sharrod Wellingham and Jamie Cripps have been dropped following last Sunday's loss to the Sydney Swans so will be determined to play well for East Perth to get back in the mix with the Eagles.

Dean Cadwallader also looks set to play his first league game since last year's grand final with the Royals with Jacob Payne, Julian Locantro, Matt Gordon, Beau Chatley and Dylan Main all fighting for a spot in the East Perth side as well.

A large factor in East Fremantle's winning streak over the past two months has been the stability in the squad and that is again the case for the most part despite state midfielder Jamie McNamara going out of the side with a knee complaint.

There are some more than handy inclusions for the Sharks, though, with former skipper Mark McGough and former Fremantle defender Brock O'Brien to return after missing last week's win voer Perth.

McGough missed that win because of a wedding he attended but prior to that he had been in outstanding form averaging almost 27 possessions in his six matches this season after missing the opening six games with a hand injury.

O'Brien as well has been terrific this season for the Sharks returning to a role across half-back where he can set up play with his raking left-foot.

WEST PERTH (6-7, 5th) v SUBIACO (9-4, 3rd) – ARENA JOONDALUP, SATURDAY 2.05PM
Selected teams

West Perth needs to beat Subiaco to keep its slim finals hopes alive in 2014 as the Falcons celebrate an International Football Festival at HBF Arena in Joondalup.

West Perth has now fallen three games outside of the four following last week's loss to Swan Districts and another loss to the third-placed Subiaco will mean that the Falcons finals chances are just about officially over.

West Perth has been unable to build any momentum all season along coming off last year's premiership.

The Falcons lost their first two matches of 2014 to East Fremantle and Claremont before bouncing back with wins over Perth and East Perth.

West Perth then lost two straight games again this time to Swan Districts and South Fremantle before once more rebounding with successive wins over Peel Thunder and Subiaco. Since then, West Perth lost to East Perth, beat Claremont, lost to East Fremantle, beat South Fremantle and then last week lost to Swan Districts at home.

All of that means that the Falcons virtually have to win all their remaining seven matches this season against Subiaco, East Perth, East Fremantle, Swan Districts, Claremont, Perth and Peel Thunder in order to make the finals in 2014 and to defend their premiership.

Subiaco won its first five games of 2014, then lost three of four matches between Rounds 7-10 and now have regained its best form with three wins from its last four matches prior to the bye last weekend.

Jack Thrum goes out of the West Perth side after copping a heavy knock in the opening minutes last week against Swan Districts that saw him sidelined for the rest of the afternoon.

West Perth is then weighing up several options of players to come into the team with forward Max Alexander a chance to come in and make his official WAFL debut having already played in two Foxtel Cup matches this year.

Brayden Antonio was best afield last week in the reserves with 29 possessions and two goals to put himself back in the mix to play his 14th league match since making his debut in X012.

Aidan Lynch has also emerged this year into a midfielder of note for the future and he's a chance to come into side this week to make his first appearance in the league side just weeks after being best afield in the Foxtel Cup semi-final win over the Western Storm at Patersons Stadium.

Lively half-forward Mitch McPhee is in the mix for West Perth as well having also done well with three goals in that Foxtel Cup win over the Storm.

Subiaco had the bye last weekend following its win over Peel Thunder, but that hasn’t given full-forward Matt Boland enough time to recover from a hamstring injury.

He goes out of the team leading the Bernie Naylor Medal race as the league's leading goalkicker with 38 majors so far this season.

James Garcia and Ryan Wade also go out of the Subiaco side that beat Peel a fortnight ago.

Lachlan Delahunty is back for Subiaco to help make up for the absence of Boland with the versatile big man returning from injury that has sidelined him since the Round 11 victory over Swan Districts at Steel Blue Oval.

Dylan Clarke, Chris Deluca, Will Fetherstonhaugh, Craig Hoskins and Simon Moore are all in the mix to play for Subiaco as well.

PERTH (3-10, 7th) v SOUTH FREMANTLE (3-10, 8th) – LATHLAIN PARK, SATURDAY 2.05PM
Selected teams

Perth and South Fremantle have plenty in common heading into Saturday's clash at Lathlain Park with the Cable-Michael Cup on the line named in honour of WA football legends Barry Cable and Stephen Michael.

The Demons and Bulldogs are now on a combined 13-match losing streak as well, both are on identical 3-10 records and desperate to avoid the wooden spoon and are also without a senior coach for 2015 right now with Trevor Williams in charge of Perth for the rest of 2014 and Paul Hasleby seeing out the season with the Bulldogs.

Perth and South Fremantle have both been the poorest performing teams in the WAFL over the past month and while finals are a faraway dream only, neither will want to stay in contention for the wooden spoon.

The winner from Saturday's clash between the Demons and Bulldogs will go a long way to avoiding finishing last while the loser could even be on the bottom of the ladder come Saturday night if Peel is able to beat Claremont in Mandurah.

Perth started the season so impressively with wins over Claremont and South Fremantle, but has now only won one match since and is currently on a seven-match losing run since downing Peel back in Round 7.

South Fremantle appeared to be building some momentum with wins over West Perth, East Fremantle and Claremont between Rounds 5-7, but the Bulldogs haven’t won since to now be on a six-match losing streak.

Over the course of the season, Perth has started games poorly being outscored by 65 points in first quarter and then 70 points in second quarters before being much more competitive in second halves.

Meanwhile, South Fremantle has been good starters outscoring its opponents by 84 points in first quarters, but then being outscored by 96 points in second quarters, 96 points in third quarters and 108 in final terms throughout 2014 to date.

Perth put in a vastly-improved performance last Saturday against East Fremantle and that was largely because of a stronger looking side on paper.

And now the Demons again look set to be strengthened with the return of 18-year-old Clem Smith from his time with the WA State 18s which has put him high into draft calculations for later this year in the AFL.

Michael Florio is also a chance to come back for Perth after responding to being dropped last week with 26 possessions and eight marks in the reserves against East Fremantle.

Matthew Hunt and Ben Power are also back in contention to play in Perth's league side with Chapman Jones and Cameron Jones both in the mix to make his league debut.

The top three in South Fremantle's fairest and best count up to this point of the season could very well be occupied by Ryan Cook, Adam Guglielmana and Ashton Hams, and all three are out of this Saturday's clash with Perth.

Guglielmana hurt his hamstring during the second quarter last week against Claremont and then Cook and Hams were both sidelined during the second half not only hurting South Fremantle's chances of beating the Tigers, but now leaving them out of the team this week against Perth.

The absence of the team's best midfielder, best creative player across half-back or in the middle and an outstanding small defender or forward will be hard to cover for the Bulldogs, but it does open up opportunities for others to show what they are capable of.

Shaun Bewick was dropped last week and responded with 25 disposals in the reserves against Claremont while Josh Pullman, Jason Maskos, Mitch Carter and Ben Sokol were also dropped following the previous week's loss to West Perth and are now back in the mix to return.

Matthew Gundry again is a chance to make his league debut with South Fremantle as well.

PEEL THUNDER (2-11, 9th) v CLAREMONT (5-8, 6th) – BENDIGO BANK STADIUM, SATURDAY 2.05PM
Selected teams
 
Peel Thunder remains a chance to get off the bottom of the WAFL ladder with a win at home over Claremont on Saturday, but it won't be easy against a Tigers side that are vastly-improved from the one that started 2014.

Claremont comes into the game having won consecutive matches for the first time in 2014 and now the Tigers will be out to make it three straight while the Thunder are out to avoid losing a third successive match.

Peel Thunder loses impressive and hard-nosed midfielder Brady Grey for the clash with Claremont while also could be without key defender Alex Pearce if he makes the Dockers' final team to take on the GWS Giants on Sunday at Patersons Stadium.

Peel needs to find a way to be competitive for longer in matches as well. Over the course of 2014, the Thunder have only been outscored by 17 points in first halves but then by a massive 242 in second halves.

Youngster Stephen Kane is also out for Peel with a host of players, mostly youngsters, vying to get a crack in the Thunder line-up.

Dylan Winton, Ben Hancock, Josh Mathers, Toby Gianatti and Corey Morris are all in the mix to come into the Peel line-up and give the Thunder a chance to be off the bottom of the WAFL ladder come Saturday night.

Claremont has been in tremendous form of late and as a result has little reason for changing its line-up from last week's win over South Fremantle at the Claremont Showground.

However, Tom Ledger, Jack Richardson and Tom Willett are in contention to come into the line-up while captain Jake Murphy isn’t despite making his return in the reserves last week with 16 possessions.