Round 20 Preview v Peel Thunder

SOUTH Fremantle’s fading finals hopes go on the line on Saturday against Peel at Fremantle Oval with the Thunder already looking safe in the top five, and looking to make a step towards earning a home final.

South Fremantle has now lost its last two games against East Perth and Subiaco since beating East Fremantle to now fall outside of the top five, and with a poor percentage, the Bulldogs will likely need to win their remaining three matches to remain a chance to play finals.

South Fremantle is currently just percentage behind the fifth place Claremont but with a bye to come next week, the Bulldogs only have three games to go so beating Peel this Saturday, West Perth in Round 22 and then the Thunder again in Round 23 will be needed if finals are to eventuate.

However, the task ahead on Saturday against Peel won’t be an easy one with the Thunder fresh off the bye last week on the back of three straight wins against East Fremantle, Claremont and Swan Districts.

The Thunder are shooting for their second ever four-game winning streak now on Saturday and given they already sit safe in third position with a 10-6 record, they could finish the round in second position with a win and that would put them in prime position for a home final to start their first ever finals campaign in just over a month’s time.

South Fremantle have played Peel just the once so far this season but now Saturday’s clash will be the first of two between the sides over the last four weeks of the 2015 campaign.

The first meeting was a cold and wet day at Fremantle Oval, and proved to be a day to forget for South Fremantle with Peel playing a more disciplined and committed brand of football, and coming away with the 12.13 (85) to 5.11 (41) victory.

South Fremantle has some mixed news at selection with Craig White going out of the team with a shoulder injury that he suffered in the final minutes of last Saturday’s loss to Subiaco at Medibank Stadium.

That sees him join Blayne Wilson on the sidelines with a shoulder injury but captain Ryan Cook will return after missing last week’s clash with the Lions with his own shoulder complaint.

Zac Strom put in a good performance in the ruck in the reserves last Saturday and looks likely to return to the league side on Saturday, but that will be as defender as South Fremantle tries to cover Peel’s tall forwards Matt Taberner, Craig Moller, Sean Hurley and potentially Jack Hannath and/or Zac Clarke.

James Laurino has been banging down the door for his first league appearance since Round 24, 2013 and after missing most of 2014 with a knee reconstruction.

The 22-year-old hard running midfielder had another 35 possessions, seven tackles and six inside-50 entries in the reserves last week against Subiaco to be right in the mix to take on Peel on Saturday.

Tim Stewart is also in terrific form in the midfield in the reserves team that’s clear on top of the ladder and another 31 possessions last week sees the 20-year-old from Katanning a strong prospect to make his league debut on Saturday against Peel at Fremantle Oval.

Dual Bernie Naylor Medal winner Ben Saunders is also set to play his second consecutive game in the reserves on return from a hamstring injury.

With Lachie Weller having made his AFL debut at Fremantle last week, Connor Blakely a chance to make his debut this week against St Kilda at Etihad Stadium and with Zac Dawson and Zac Clarke in the mix to play with the Dockers as well, there’s a chance all four will go out of the Peel side that beat Swan Districts two weeks ago to the one that lines up on Saturday against South Fremantle.

However, if any of those four miss out on selection to play with the Dockers against the Saints then there is still the chance that they line up for the Thunder against the Bulldogs at Fremantle Oval.

Tendai Mzungu has also been named out of the Peel team for Saturday but there are some strong inclusions led by key forward Matt Taberner who will provide the Thunder with a strong focal point in attack, and he will also be desperate to push his case forward for an AFL call up with a big game.

Max Duffy will also return from injury to line up with Peel while Laine Wilkins, Brennan Gillam, Dylan Winton, Mitch Gill, Kieran May and Eddie Dann all come into the mix to line-up for the Thunder as well against South Fremantle at Fremantle Oval.

RESERVES SQUAD
M Banks, T Bennell, N Borovac, A Carter, M Carter, B Collier, M Gundry, K Matera, B Matera, B McPhail, S Mills, P Mugambwa, S Panizza, D Ross, B Saunders, J Sgherza, B Sokol, K Stewart, N Strom, Z Strom, J Tartaglia, B Verrier, D Warrell

COLTS SQUAD
M Barritt, D Brown, D Burke, D Cabassi, B Colbung, J Collard, B Corner, C Datson, Z De San Miguel, B Donaldson, M Dzelebdzic, J Florenca, J Foster, C Foster, J Lachlan, D Maguang, J McMaster, J Mirco, J Mudge, J Musika, A Nodari, C Pearson, T Pickett, A Robinson, B Strickland, Z Sumich, S Thompson