Round 20 v Peel Thunder

SOUTH Fremantle and Peel Thunder both can’t make finals in 2014, but also look unlikely to be able to claim the wooden spoon either with each side coming into Saturday’s clash at Fremantle Oval after thumping victories.

South Fremantle won its fifth game of the season last Saturday when beating East Fremantle by 43 points in the final derby of 2014.

Peel Thunder was also impressive thumping Perth by 65 points at Lathlain Park.

Those results saw Peel move one game and percentage clear of Perth on the bottom of the ladder and South Fremantle went two games clear of that bottom spot, so both teams now look likely to be out of contention to claim the wooden spoon for 2014.

Both will also be looking to continue that strong form built last weekend and to also gain some momentum over the other because they will again meet also at Fremantle Oval on a Saturday afternoon in Round 23.

Last time the two teams met was at Mandurah’s Bendigo Bank Stadium in Round 9 when Peel won by 24 points in what was the Thunder’s first win of the season and also ended a three-game losing streak for the Bulldogs.

Paul Mugambwa goes out of the South Fremantle side that beat East Fremantle last Saturday with Josh Pullman his likely replacement in the forward-line if the Bulldogs decide they do need another option in attack.

Pullman had a terrific game last week in the reserves finishing with 23 possessions, 10 marks and two goals against East Fremantle to put himself right in the mix.

The versatile Adam Guglielmana looks set to return from a hamstring injury he suffered in the Round 15 loss to Claremont while Mitch Carter and Marlon Pickett continue to press their claims to return to the league side with some consistent form in the reserves for the Bulldogs.

There are plenty of changes at Peel from the team that ended up thrashing Perth last Saturday.

Perhaps the most significant of those is the return of exciting small forward Michael Walters who has made a quicker than expected return from injury to now look to impress so much on Saturday in his first game back that he gets straight back into the Dockers line-up next week.

Josh Bootsma, Brad Walsh, Dylan Winton, Ben Hancock, Kyle Westwood, Mitch Green and Sam Barndon are other Thunder players pressing for a spot in the league side.

Fremantle’s Colin Sylvia, Tom Sheridan and Michael Apeness go out of the Peel side through injury while Max Duffy and Hayden Crozier have been selected to play for the Dockers against Geelong on Saturday after outstanding performances last Saturday against Perth.

Captain James Flaherty is also out of the Peel side meaning the Thunder will need to find another match-up for South Fremantle full-forward Ben Saunders.

Alex Silvagni and Matt Taberner have been named as emergencies for Fremantle on Saturday night, but both are still likely starters for Peel on Saturday afternoon against the Bulldogs.

RESERVES TEAM
M Bolger, S Borovac, J Branchi, M Carter, E Collard, J Culleton, J D’Vauz, B Fimmano, J Garlett, A Gillespie, A Guglielmana, J Hall, L Harvey, B Hill, C Loersch, J Maskos, K Matera, B Matera, A McIntosh, S Mills, M Nicholson, N Olds, S Panizza, M Pickett, J Pullman, M Russell, J Sgherza, T Stewart, J Tartaglia

COLTS TEAM
Ah Siu, D Brown, D Cabassi, J Collard, J Depane, B Donaldson, J Florenca, J Foster, W Frampton, M Grubelich, C Loersch, B Matera, G McLeod, J McMaster, B McPhail, J Mirco, D Moore, A Nodari, L Pearson, A Robinson, C Salmon, K Stewart, N Strom, S Williamson