WAFL RD 9 PREVIEW

RD 9 WAFL PREVIEW | v EAST PERTH

South Fremantle and East Perth will meet for the first time in the WAFL since last year’s Grand Final and both teams are attempting to bounce back from losses in their respective WA Day derby matches on Monday.

South Fremantle were the dominant team of the 2025 WAFL season but East Perth came with a distinctive game plan to try to take them out of their game in the Grand Final at Optus Stadium, and it almost worked.

But the Bulldogs managed to hold on in a frantic finish for the premiership and now this Sunday at Leederville’s Sullivan Logistics Stadium will be the first time the teams have played one another since then.

The League clash will get underway at 2:10pm with the day beginning with the Colts at 8:55am and then the Reserves at 11:25am.

South Fremantle lost on WA Day to East Fremantle for the first time in a decade back on Monday with the 34-point defeat while East Perth also went down to the previously winless West Perth by four points at Joondalup’s HIF Health Insurance Oval.

That leaves South Fremantle sitting in third position on the WAFL ladder with a 5-3 record as they take on an East Perth team sitting fourth at 4-4.

South Fremantle come into Sunday’s clash having won four straight now against East Perth including that Grand Final by two points last year along with in Round 10 and 18 last year as well as the second semi-final.

South Fremantle premiership defender Jacob Sax is now 34 games into his career with South Fremantle to be a regular member of the back-line and he’s looking forward to the chance on Sunday to bounce back from the WA Day derby loss quickly.

“We don’t feel like we’re far off and we think there’s a couple of easy things we can fix and we’ll be back to our best as a team,” Sax told 91.3 SportFM.

“Hopefully on Sunday we can back to our best and get the result we’re after.”

The Sunday action at Sullivan Logistics Stadium gets underway at 8:55am with the Colts contest between South Fremantle and East Perth.

South Fremantle come into the clash trying to bounce back from Monday’s 12-point defeat in the derby at home to East Fremantle while East Perth also lost on WA Day up at Joondalup to West Perth by 69 points.

That was a first loss of the season in the Colts for South Fremantle with them now coming into Sunday’s contest in second position with a 6-1 record while East Perth are seventh with two wins and five defeats so far in 2026.

That leads into the Reserves clash between South Fremantle and East Perth that gets underway at Leederville at 11:25am.

The Bulldogs will be looking to keep their momentum going after the WA Day derby victory by 15 points against East Fremantle while East Perth lost to West Perth at Joondalup by nine points also on the Monday public holiday.

South Fremantle are currently sitting in third position in the Reserves with a 4-3 record while East Perth are fourth also with a 4-3 record and only a miniscule percentage behind the Bulldogs setting the stage for what should be a tremendous contest.