Round 22 Preview v Subiaco

SOUTH Fremantle looks to continue its winning streak this Friday night against Subiaco at Fremantle Oval with the Bulldogs looking to beat a finals bound opponent for the third time in a month.

South Fremantle might not be in the running to play finals in 2014, but the Bulldogs have now won three straight matches and even more impressively is the fact that two of those have come against the fourth-placed East Fremantle and third-placed Swan Districts.

That means that the Bulldogs enter Friday night’s clash with the second-placed Subiaco full of confidence, but the Lions are guaranteed of a top-two finish this season and will be desperate to return to the winner’s list ahead of the finals.

Up until last week, Subiaco had won six straight matches including beating East Perth for the second time this season to book in a top-two finish and a guaranteed second semi-final appearance against its Medibank Stadium co-tenants East Perth.

The Lions lost by eight points to Claremont last Saturday at the Showground, but had won seven of their last eight matches prior that to understandably be a genuine premiership threat in 2014.

South Fremantle and Subiaco have already met twice this season with the Lions winning on both occasions, but the Bulldogs had their opportunity to win each clash also.

Subiaco beat South Fremantle by 38 points in Round 1 at Medibank Stadium but the Lions only kicked away in the final quarter on that occasion.

South Fremantle then led for much of the day at Fremantle Oval in Round 18 in tough conditions before Subiaco finished the better to end up winning by nine points.

Over the course of the season, both teams have been free-scoring outfits with Subiaco averaging 102 points a game to be the best in the league at scoring while South Fremantle averages 85 points a game to be the best at scoring outside the top-three, and the fourth best in the WAFL.

However, South Fremantle’s defence leaks the second most points in the league this season and Subiaco’s back-line is steady conceding just 79 points at the game to be third best in that area.

Also, both teams have been strong starting teams right throughout 2014 with Subiaco outscoring its opponents by 172 points in first quarter and South Fremantle by 97.

However, Subiaco is also the best finishing team in the WAFL with a 201-point advantage over its opposition during the year while South Fremantle has been outscored by its opponents by 196 points in second halves throughout 2014.

South Fremantle could very well go into the contest with the same 22 that beat Swan Districts so emphatically last Saturday out at Steel Blue Oval.

There have been no outs named to the side for the Bulldogs with only Paul Mugambwa, Steven Verrier and Adam McIntosh added to the squad.

Mugambwa played reserves last week against Swan Districts and did well with 18 possessions, nine marks and three goals to put himself in the mix again to add to his 136 league games with the Bulldogs.

Verrier has had a good season off half-back returning to South Fremantle this season from Richmond and now is in line to return this Friday night after missing last week’s win over Swan Districts.

McIntosh, meanwhile, has been working hard in the reserves over the past month and had another strong game last week with 37 possessions and 10 marks to get himself in the mix to add to his 47-game league career.

Meanwhile, pressure is really heating up for spots in the Subiaco team heading towards the finals with precious few positions up for grabs in the Lions side.

Exciting forward Shane Yarran is one player certain to return to the line-up and to be there come finals time unless he is injured.

He missed last week’s loss for Subiaco to Claremont and now is back to face South Fremantle this Friday night having previously

Kyle Halligan is the half-forward who loses his place in the Subiaco team as a result of Yarran’s return.

Dylan Clarke continues to kick goals in the reserves to put himself in the mix to come in to the Lions team as well with defender Aaron Heal and midfielder Will Fetherstonhaugh also in the mix to take part in Friday night football at Fremantle Oval.

RESERVES TEAM
M Bolger, S Borovac, J Branchi, M Carter, E Collard, J D’Vauz, J Garlett, M Gundry, J Hall, L Harvey, B Hill, J Maskos, K Matera, A McIntosh, S Mills, P Mugambwa, M Nicholson, N Olds, S Panizza, M Pickett, M Russell, J Sgherza, B Sokol, T Stewart, Z Strom, J Tartaglia

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