WA DAY DERBY PREVIEW | v EAST FREMANTLE

SOUTH Fremantle will look to breathe life back into their 2023 WAFL season and keep its remarkable run going against East Fremantle in the WA Day Foundation Derby at the WACA Ground this Monday.

While East Fremantle comes into the annual WA Day clash in second position on the WAFL ladder and South Fremantle has won the three games from the first seven rounds yet still have just four premiership points on the board, that will go out the window on Monday.

South Fremantle is currently on the biggest winning streak in derby history having won 14 straight matches against East Fremantle. On top of that the Bulldogs have also never lost to the Sharks at the WACA Ground – although there’s been only one clash at the venue in the last 105 years.

The Bulldogs now come into the WA Day clash for 2023 looking to hit back from last week’s defeat at home to Perth with the last goal of the game, and to make it 15 consecutive derby victories and to stay in touch with the top five for this season.

This current winning streak South Fremantle is on in derbies is the second significant run this century, and the 14 games the Bulldogs have now won in-a-row over the Sharks has surpassed the 13 in-a-row from 2002-06.

It’s the biggest winning streak in derbies of all-time already and not only has South Fremantle won the last 14 clashes with East Fremantle, but since a WA Day win in 2002 for the Sharks, the Bulldogs have won 42 of the previous 56 derbies in a significant dominance over the past 20 years.

This current 14-game winning streak for South Fremantle over East Fremantle began with a five-goal win in Round 19, 2016.

Since then, the Bulldogs have won the next 13 derby battles by an average of 62.2 points. Those wins have ranged everywhere from a 2017 demolition by 145 points to last year’s two-point win on WA Day at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.

East Fremantle’s last win against South Fremantle was on WA Day 2016 at Fremantle Community Bank Oval when the Sharks won by 39 points.

From that game, only East Fremantle captain Matthew Jupp will also be out there this Monday while the only surviving South Fremantle players will be captain Dylan Main, 163-game veteran Zac Strom and premiership midfielder Jacob Dragovich.

Meanwhile at the WACA Ground, this will be the first ever WA Day Derby held at the venue and only the second time the two teams have ever met there other than a grand final.

They did play the 1916 and 1917 grand finals at the WACA which were both won by South Fremantle before playing there in Round 14 last year with the Bulldogs also winning by 33 points.

So not only has South Fremantle won 14 straight matches against East Fremantle, but the Bulldogs have also never lost to the Sharks at the WACA Ground coming into Monday’s contest.

One South Fremantle player who will be taking part in his first Fremantle derby on Monday is new recruit Jordan Gallucci, he is no stranger to the big stage.

Four of his 27 games in the AFL for the Adelaide Crows were in Showdowns against Port Adelaide, and even though he spent the past two years playing in the VFL with Williamstown before coming to South Fremantle, he still fondly remembers being part of that rivalry.

He now can’t wait to take part in his first Foundation Derby representing the Bulldogs on WA Day at the WACA Ground on Monday.

“I was lucky enough to play in a couple of Showdowns with Adelaide so I definitely know about being part of big rivalries and how much these games sort of mean to us as a club,” Gallucci said.

“It’s not only us as a club, but the fans as well so it’s going to be a really good day. I don’t think we’ve lost to them in 14 games which I’ve been notified about and I don’t think it really matters where we sit on the ladder, it’s going to be a good hit out.

“It’s going to be really good to get to play at the WACA as well and I’m really looking forward to it.”