Bulldogs to tackle Royals, Tigers in WAFL pre-season

SOUTH Fremantle will have two strong hit outs against East Perth and Claremont this pre-season leading into the opening round of the 2017 McDonald's WAFL Premiership Season.

Preparations are now ramping up with the season rapidly approaching with South Fremantle looking to build on a strong 2016 campaign where all three grades qualified for the finals having at one point sitting on top of the ladder.

The Bulldogs league side managed to beat West Perth in the qualifying final and then made it all the way through to the preliminary final in their first appearance in September action since 2011.

Now South Fremantle is looking to build on that further during 2017 and that will begin with pre-season clashes against East Perth and Claremont leading into Round 1 against Subiaco at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.

The first pre-season hit out for the Bulldogs is against the Royals at Leederville Oval on Saturday February 25.

East Perth is still aligned with the West Coast Eagles and has a new coach for 2017 with Luke Webster replacing Jaymie Graham.

The Royals will likely have a team with some Eagles players looking to impress ahead of the AFL season so it will be a good early test for the Bulldogs. The league match will bounce down at 6.05pm at Leederville Oval.

South Fremantle then won't have an official pre-season hit out the following weekend but on Saturday March 11 the Bulldogs will take on Claremont at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.

Claremont might have missed the finals narrowly in 2016, but the Tigers were unlucky not to win more games having lost the majority of their games by two goals or less.

They have now recruited strongly and have a new coach in charge with Darren Harris arriving at Claremont so it will be another strong challenge for South Fremantle ahead of the 2017 season.

It will be a full day of action at Fremantle Community Bank Oval starting with the 16s contest and culminating with the league clash that begins at 4.15pm.

That all leads into South Fremantle hosting Subiaco in Round 1 of the season at Fremantle Community Bank Oval with that contest set to get underway also at 4.15pm.

SOUTH FREMANTLE PRE-SEASON FIXTURES
SATURDAY FEBRUARY 25 v EAST PERTH
Leederville Oval
Colts: 1.30pm
Reserves: 4.00pm
League: 6.05pm

SATURDAY MARCH 11 v CLAREMONT
Fremantle Community Bank Oval
Colts: 11.00am
Reserves: 1.30pm
League: 4.15pm