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McDonald's WAFL Elimination Finals PreviewSaturday, September 5, 2015 - 1:06 PM - by Chris Pike

EAST Perth and Claremont put their WAFL seasons on the line for 2015 when they do battle in the elimination final at Medibank Stadium on Sunday.

The WAFL's new final five system introduced in 2015 now sees a first week of the finals that sees minor premiers Subiaco have the bye with West Perth and Peel Thunder playing in a qualifying final, and East Perth taking on Claremont in an elimination final.

The Royals and Tigers meet in a cut-throat clash at Medibank Stadium on Sunday with the winner to then face the loser of the West Perth-Peel clash in a first semi-final next Sunday, while the loser's season is over.

Meanwhile, the reserves and colts elimination finals will both take place at HBF Arena with the reserves starting the day with West Perth playing East Perth, and then in the colts East Fremantle takes on West Perth.

LEAGUE ELIMINATION FINAL
EAST PERTH (11-9, 4th) v CLAREMONT (10-10, 5th) – MEDIBANK STADIUM, SUNDAY 2.10PM
Selected teams 
Broadcast – 7mate, 720 ABC Perth

East Perth and Claremont have both found their best form of the season in the second half of 2015 and now the Royals and Tigers fight to stay alive when they do battle in the WAFL elimination final on Sunday at Medibank Stadium.

Yeo answers the call at Tigerland for new stars to emerge 

Royals small defender Fraser a big key to finals hopes 

Only one of the Royals and Tigers teams will still be alive by Sunday night but each of them are capable of doing some damage if they happen to advance.

East Perth ended up winning five of its last six matches to end the season on an 11-9 record to be in fourth position and to set up a home elimination final against Claremont as the Royals attempt to make a third successive WAFL grand final.

Prior to East Perth's two grand final appearances, Claremont was the dominant WAFL team having won four successive minor premierships, playing in three straight grand finals and winning two flags.

Now after an absence from the finals in 2014, the Tigers are back in the mix in 2015 but it was far from an easy journey for them to make it.

Claremont lost its first five games of the season but clawed its way back and then had a chance to secure a finals berth in Round 22 by beating Swan Districts, and the Tigers led by 22 points early in the third quarter before going on to lose.

That meant Claremont had to become the first team to beat West Perth at HBF Arena this season to make the finals, and the Tigers managed to do so but only courtesy of kicking the last four goals of the game after trailing by 25 points at the 10-minute mark of the last quarter.

East Perth and Claremont have played one another twice during the home and away season, and both took place in difficult conditions.

The Tigers won the first meeting in Round 9 at the Claremont Showground by 39 points while holding East Perth to its lowest ever score against them, while the Royals bounced back with a 10-point win in Round 20 at Medibank Stadium.

Now the winner of Sunday's clash will advance to a first semi-final next Sunday against the loser of the qualifying final at HBF Arena between West Perth and Peel Thunder either in Joondalup or Mandurah, while the loser's season ends.

It will also be fascinating to follow whether or not a loss means the retirement of some greats of the game, which could potentially include East Perth's Paul Johnson and Craig Wulff, and Claremont's Mark Seaby and Brandon Franz.

East Perth will again be missing West Coast big men Fraser McInnes and Scott Lycett to injury leaving a massive task for Johnson to carry the load in the ruck for the Royals up against Seaby, Mitch Andrews and potentially at times Kepler Bradley and Haydn Busher.

The Royals' team will be strengthened with the return of defender Tom Barrass and small forward Murray Newman from West Coast with midfielder Scott Selwood likely to line-up for East Perth for a second straight week as well.

The inclusion of Barrass is particularly important for East Perth for him to provide another key defensive option alongside Nathan Blee, Paddy Brophy and Kyle Anderson to help tackle Claremont's Bradley, Beau Maister and potentially Andrews, Seaby or Darcy Cameron.

Agid Gardoud is another potential inclusion for East Perth to provide some extra height with Beau Chatley in contention while Tom Shanahan continues to put himself in the mix with continued outstanding form in the reserves, and that included another 24 possessions and two goals last week against Subiaco in a nine-point loss against the side that finished in second position.

For perhaps the first time this season, Claremont is able to put a settled side on the park with no forced changes from last week where the Tigers beat West Perth to make the finals, and to take on East Perth this Sunday in the elimination final.

 

Captain Jake Murphy along with Seaby, Tom Swift, Maister, Bradley, Anton Hamp and Jordan McAllister are among the Claremont players who have had interrupted seasons to some degree at different stages at 2015, but all are now right to go come finals time for the Tigers.

Coach Michael Broadbridge will need to make the decision on which two ruckmen he takes into the game, though, with Darcy Cameron continuing to perform well in the reserves to make a strong case to replace either AFL and WAFL premiership big man Seaby, or dual WAFL premiership ruckman Andrews.

Lachlan Davey is another proven quality defender at Claremont and he had another 24 possessions, nine marks and a goal in the reserves last week to continue to put pressure on Tom Willett, McAllister and Hamp to keep their spots in the team for the finals.

Ben Higgs had 24 possessions in the reserves last week to keep his name in the mix to come in for Claremont as well to play East Perth on Sunday while Matthew Goyder is a consistent small man who can play either forward, back or in the midfield so he's another option to come into the team.

RESERVES ELIMINATION FINAL
WEST PERTH (10-2-8, 4th) v EAST PERTH (10-10, 5th) – HBF ARENA, SUNDAY 9AM 
Selected teams 

It's a Perth derby in a reserves elimination final to open proceedings at HBF Arena on Sunday morning with West Perth hosting East Perth with both putting their seasons on the line.

With East Perth's league side playing at Medibank Stadium later in the afternoon, it was decided that the reserves would pick up the early time slot at HBF Arena on Sunday with the Falcons hosting the Royals in the elimination final.

Little separated the two teams all season with West Perth and East Perth both winning 10 games apiece, but the Falcons claimed fourth position ahead of the Royals thanks to having two draws during the season.

West Perth and East Perth played one another three times throughout the home and away season with some vastly contrasting results.

West Perth scored a thumping 85-point win in Round 8 at HBF Arena before then on WA Day, it was a much tighter affair with the Falcons again coming away with a seven-point victory at Medibank Stadium.

However, the Royals were able to change the tide in Round 19 back again at Medibank Stadium with East Perth winning 14.14 (98) to 11.4 (70).

The winner will go on to take on the loser of Sunday's qualifying final between Subiaco and Swan Districts next Sunday, while the loser's season is over.

West Perth have a good blend of youth and experience in its reserves team for the elimination final with a host of players looking to keep themselves in contention for a league position throughout September as well.

League premiership player from 2013 Marc Crisp will feature for the Falcons in the reserves while Max Alexander, Brayden Antonio, Callum Papertalk, Sam Rotham, Tim Sutherland and Mitch van Berlo have all played league football in 2015, and could do so again during the finals.

The three emergencies from West Perth's league side to play Peel Thunder in the qualifying final will also play reserves on Sunday further strengthening the Falcons' line-up, and coming back with a point to prove.

East Perth's reserves team also features plenty of exciting talent including Julian Ameduri, Shayne Hille, Mitch Lague, Damian Lee and Lewis Wilson who have played league football in 2015 while the colts Jack Clarke Medal winner Stan Wright is set to play with the Royals as well.

Daniel Perkins has also stood up as an impressive key forward in the last month of the season to give the Royals a strong avenue to goal while like West Perth, the three East Perth emergencies from its league side should also take part in the reserves elimination final.

COLTS ELIMINATION FINAL
WEST PERTH (11-9, 5th) v EAST FREMANTLE (11-9, 4th) – HBF ARENA, SUNDAY 11.40AM
Selected teams 

West Perth's colts return to finals action for the first time in over a decade as the Falcons host East Fremantle at HBF Arena on Sunday in the WAFL elimination final.

East Fremantle's colts team is the only side from the Sharks to qualify for the finals and now they face a big ask to keep their season alive despite having finishing in fourth position ahead of West Perth on percentage at the end of the home and away season.

With West Perth's league and colts teams also earning home finals for Sunday, the colts contest between the Falcons and Sharks has been scheduled for HBF Arena with the later start time of 11.40am.

The winner between West Perth and East Fremantle will go on to face the loser of the colts qualifying final between Swan Districts and Peel Thunder next Sunday, while the loser's season will be over.

West Perth and East Fremantle played one another just twice during the home and away season with the Sharks winning the first meeting by 21 points at HBF Arena in Round 9.

The Falcons then turned the tide in emphatic fashion at ATOM Stadium in Round 20 recording a 7.4 (46) to 2.4 (16) victory.

There is plenty of exciting talent on either side as well with West Perth's side featuring Josh Rotham, Clint Hinchcliffe and Mitch Antonio who were all named in the WAFL Colts Team of the Year during the week as were East Fremantle's Joe Hebiton, Fraser Perry and Michael Cronan.