WAFL RD 8 PREVIEW | AGS WA DAY DERBY

RD 8 WAFL PREVIEW | v EAST FREO

South Fremantle haven’t had to try and bounce back from losses too much the past 18 months and will be looking to do that now on Monday on home turf in the WA Day derby against East Fremantle.

It’s the biggest day on the Western Australian football calendar again this Monday for the WA Day derby with the Bulldogs playing host to the Sharks at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.

Both teams bring some mixed form into the 2026 edition of the famous day as well to only add to the intrigue with the Bulldogs coming off a loss in Mandurah to Peel Thunder last Saturday while the Sharks beat the West Coast Eagles at the same time on their home deck.

That leaves South Fremantle coming into the match up sitting still in second position on the WAFL ladder as reigning premiers with a 5-2 record while the Sharks improved to a 3-4 record in eighth position with that victory.

On the way to winning the premiership last year, South Fremantle beat East Fremantle in the WA Day derby emphatically by 54 points in front of a crowd of just over 5000 people.

South Fremantle have won eight straight WA Day derbies now with East Fremantle’s last win on the occasion all the way back in 2016 while overall, the Bulldogs have won 18 of the last 20 meetings between the two teams.

Former defender turned South Fremantle forward Jordan Boullineau is looking forward to the chance for the Bulldogs to bounce back from last week’s loss to Peel.

“I think Whitey will keep our preparation pretty similar and just fine tune a few small things, and they’re not big fixes and I think they are things that are easily adjusted,” Boullineau said on The Kennel on 91.3 SportFM.

“I think if we can get on top of those and have a good, four quarter game then we should be able to come away with the W.

“They’ve (East Fremantle) had a few changes since the last time we came up against them but so have we so it should be a good day.

“It always seems to be a wet and muddy one with a lot of sore bodies after it so hopefully the crowd rolls in and we can get it done at home.”

It will be the Reserves first up on WA Day at Fremantle Community Bank Oval with the derby action getting underway at 10am.

South Fremantle are fresh off holding on in a tight one last Saturday to beat Peel Thunder by four points while East Fremantle had the bye and prior to the State game break suffered a 117-point defeat at the hands of Swan Districts.

That leaves the Bulldogs coming into WA Day with a 3-3 record in fourth position in the Reserves while the Sharks are in last place without a win and an average losing margin of 75.3 points.

The Colts contest will then wrap up the WA Day derby action at Fremantle Community Bank Oval with the game getting underway at 4pm.

South Fremantle scored the 16-point win in the Colts last Friday night in Mandurah against Peel Thunder while East Fremantle hasn’t played since losing to Swan Districts back on Saturday May 9.

That leaves South Fremantle remaining undefeated in 2026 in the Colts with a perfect 6-0 record while East Fremantle are in third place with a 4-2 record.