SECOND SEMI-FINAL PREVIEW | v EAST PERTH

It’s a monster semi-final day for South Fremantle on Saturday at Fremantle Community Bank Oval with the league and colts teams playing for a WAFL grand final spot, and the reserves attempting to stay alive.

All three South Fremantle teams will be in action at Fremantle Community Bank Oval on Saturday starting at 8:30am with a colts derby second semi-final between the Bulldogs and East Fremantle.

That leads into the reserves first semi-final with South Fremantle playing East Perth with that game beginning at 11:05am.

Then there will be the league second semi-final with a spot in the grand final at Optus Stadium in two weeks’ time on the line when South Fremantle also takes on East Perth starting at 1:50pm.

South Fremantle finished the home and away season as the minor premiers with a 17-1 record and having won 13 matches in-a-row to earn a break in the opening weekend of the finals.

While the Bulldogs were freshening up, East Perth took on Claremont last Saturday in the qualifying final and the Royals scored an impressive 13-point victory at Revo Fitness Stadium.

Saturday’s second semi-final will see the winner advance to the grand final at Optus Stadium while the loser will have a second chance in next week’s preliminary final against either Claremont or Perth.

The contest will be the first time that the two teams have played in a final of any sort since the first semi-final of 2007 which was also at Fremantle Community Bank Oval with South Fremantle beating East Perth by 49 points.

First-year coach Craig White played in that win for the Bulldogs 18 years ago as they now not only play in a first finals meeting since then, but just a third since 1981.

South Fremantle captain Chad Perason is already a life member but will bring up his 150-game milestone on Saturday and is rightfully proud to be doing so.

“It’s obviously still a massive milestone and with the life membership being 130 now through South Fremantle, I got that in the middle of last year,” Pearson told 91.3 SportFM.

“But to now be able to go on and reach 150 games is pretty special and to give back to the club who have been fantastic for me from such a young age from colts all the way through.

“They’ve really supported me so to try to give back and play as many games as possible and get to the 150 mark is something that’s pretty special.”

From the South Fremantle team that beat West Coast two weeks ago by 87 points to close the home and away season, Riley Colborne, Dylan Main, Toby McQuilkin, Matthew Parker and Jacob Sax have been added to the squad.

The only out at this stage for the Bulldogs is Jordan Boullineau.

East Perth beat Claremont last Saturday in the qualifying final and from that team, Jonah Brooks, Jacob Msando, Jacob Spasevski and Liam Tedesco have been added to the squad.

Pearson is looking forward to beginning the finals series for the Bulldogs but is fully aware of the threat the Royals present.

“Obviously we’re looking forward to the game and it’s going to be a massive contest,” Pearson said.

“They’re obviously in some really good form and put in a really good performance against Claremont last week. We’ve been able to have the week off to fresh up and are really looking forward to this weekend now.”

The day’s action at Fremantle Community Bank Oval gets underway with the second semi-final for the colts with South Fremantle playing East Fremantle in a derby with a place in the grand final up for grabs.

The Bulldogs finished the colts season in top spot at 12-4 with the Sharks on the same record and it was South Fremantle who claimed the minor premiership thanks to percentage.

That earned the Bulldogs the week’s break to open the finals while East Fremantle took on Claremont in the qualifying final and score the 25-point victory to set up the derby second semi-final.

The winner between South Fremantle and East Fremantle will be the first team into the colts grand final at Optus Stadium while the loser will get a second chance in the preliminary final next week against either Claremont or West Perth.

That leads into the reserves match up for South Fremantle and it’s a first semi-final clash against East Perth.

South Fremantle’s reserves opened their finals campaign last week with a 13-point qualifying final loss to Swan Districts while East Perth beat Perth by 42 points in the elimination final.

That sets up Saturday’s first semi-final with the winner to advance to a preliminary final against either Claremont or Swan Districts while the loser’s season for 2025 will be over.