WAFL RD 4 PREVIEW

RD 4 WAFL PREVIEW | v WEST PERTH

South Fremantle is in unfamiliar territory having to now try and bounce back from a loss when they take on the winless West Perth at HIF Health Insurance Oval on Sunday in Round 4 of the WAFL season.

For the first time since Round 6 last year, South Fremantle are coming into a game this Sunday coming off a defeat in the WAFL when they take on West Perth at Joondalup.

It’s part of a big day of action at HIF Health Insurance Oval beginning with the WAFLW contest at 9:15am with the Reserves to follow at 11:25am with the League game next at 2:10pm, and it all wraps up when the Colts lock horns starting at 5:30pm.

South Fremantle heads to Joondalup having gone down to Claremont at Fremantle Community Bank Oval by just five points having been 21 points in front early in the fourth quarter.

That snapped a 17-game winning streak for South Fremantle that will remain the equal longest in the history of the club and now the Bulldogs will attempt to bounce back on Sunday against the Falcons.

Last time South Fremantle lost was Round 5 last year against the West Coast Eagles. The response was beating Claremont by 17 points the next week and that was the start of a run 17 straight victories including claiming the 2025 premiership.

South Fremantle take on a West Perth team on Sunday who are the lone team yet to win a game in 2026 with the Falcons having lost all three matches by an average of 37 points including going down to Swan Districts by 22 last Saturday at Steel Blue Oval.

The last time the two teams did battle in the WAFL was Round 19 last year with South Fremantle on the way to the premiership and West Perth about to miss out on playing finals for a third straight season.

That turned out being a 62-point triumph for the Bulldogs at Fremantle Community Bank Oval on the back of also winning by 27 points back in Round 4 at Joondalup.

South Fremantle have now won four straight against West Perth with the last win for the Falcons over the Bulldogs coming back in Round 18, 2023.

Traditionally South Fremantle have always enjoyed making the trip up to Joondalup to play as well. Dating back to 1994, they have now won 22 of the 34 times they have played at the now named HIF Health Insurance Oval.

That has included the Bulldogs winning on their last two ventures north with that 27-point win last year and an 18-point victory back in 2014, and going back further they have won seven of the last 10 times against West Perth at Joondalup.

South Fremantle premiership winning rising star Roan O’Hehir like the rest of the team was in the unusual situation early in the week trying to dissect a loss before quickly turning their attention to preparing for West Perth this Sunday.

“Obviously we missed a lot of opportunities in that last quarter where we really probably should have put a few goals away and got up more on the scoreboard,” O’Hehir told 91.3 SportFM.

“It’s obviously hard to deal with a loss after not losing for so long, but we just do a review over the first couple of days after the loss and then we start to focus in on preparing for the next week.

“We’re just focusing now on this week against West Perth and we’re looking forward to getting up there, and it’s a ground we’ve always enjoyed playing at.”

Following on from the WAFLW match up that will open the day’s action at Joondalup on Sunday, the Reserves will be in action with South Fremantle playing West Perth from 11:25am.

The Bulldogs are fresh off a 15-point loss in the Reserves last Saturday at home to Claremont to now have a 1-2 record on the season ahead of taking on a Falcons team who have one win and one defeat so far in 2026 in the Reserves.

The Colts contest will then wrap up the big Sunday of action at HIF Health Insurance Oval with that match up getting underway at 5:30pm.

The Bulldogs won a thriller against Claremont at Fremantle Community Bank Oval by four points last Saturday to now have a perfect 3-0 record to start the 2026 season as they take on a West Perth team who have split their opening two matches.