WAFL RD 17 PREVIEW

RD 17 WAFL PREVIEW | v EAGLES

South Fremantle will look to continue their WAFL momentum from before last week’s bye when they return to action this Sunday to take on the West Coast Eagles at Mineral Resources Park.

The Bulldogs were building some momentum into their WAFL premiership defence before the bye last week ahead of taking on the Eagles at the Lathlain venue this Sunday with the game to get underway at 11:10am.

South Fremantle currently sit in fourth position on the WAFL ladder with a 9-5 record to be only percentage out of second position while West Coast are seventh at 7-7 and also just percentage from fifth position.

So it’s a big game for both teams with the Bulldogs having the chance to end the round in second spot while the Eagles could very well break into the top five should they be victorious.

Prior to the bye last week, South Fremantle had won their past three games against Swan Districts, Claremont and Subiaco to consolidate themselves inside the top five while West Coast are coming off beating West Perth to stay in the finals hunt.

The last time the two teams played in the WAFL was back in Round 6 of this season at Fremantle Community Bank Oval when South Fremantle scored the 19.11 (125) to 10.4 (64) victory.

On that day, Cooper Clarke-Dehring kicked five goals for the Bulldogs with Jordan Boullineau adding three, and two each to Mitch Geier, Sam Otto, Aaron Drage, Lucas Robinson and Brandon Donaldson.

Jake Florenca also racked up 29 possessions, Isiah Winder 27, Tom Blechynden 23, Ethan Hughes 22 and Lucas Robinson 21.

The Bulldogs also beat the Eagles by 87 points in the last round of the 2025 season with South Fremantle going on to win the premiership and West Coast to claim another wooden spoon.

But earlier last year in Round 5 and the Eagles were the only team to beat the Bulldogs for the season when they triumphed at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.

Overall, South Fremantle have won 10 of the 13 meetings in the WAFL between the two sides since West Coast entered the competition in 2019 including six of the last seven now.

Coming off the bye last weekend and then the win against Swan Districts prior to that, South Fremantle have made four changes for the match up with the Eagles on Sunday.

Jordan Boullineau returns from suspension with Jamaine Jones, Cameron Maynard and Sam Otto also coming into the line-up.

Going out for the Bulldogs are Cooper Clarke-Dehring, Lucas Cattalini, Callum Copeland and Brandon Donaldson.

West Coast are coming off a win that kept their season alive last Saturday against West Perth and from that team, Malakai Champion and Corey Hitchcock come in to take on South Fremantle.

Going out for the Eagles are Callum Jamieson and Cooper Duff-Tytler.

With the League team playing the Eagles on Sunday, it means it’s a second straight bye for both the Colts and Reserves from South Fremantle.

The Colts currently sit on top of the ladder with an 11-2 record to be a game and percentage clear of the second placed Claremont following the 75-point win last up against Swan Districts in Round 15.

The Reserves are currently in seventh position on the ladder with a 5-8 record after losing to the undefeated Swan Districts two weeks ago but they are only two games out of fifth position so finals are still a possibility over the last month of the season.