WAFLW SEMI FINALS PREVIEW

SEMI FINALS WAFLW PREVIEW | v EF

The seasons for the WAFLW of South Fremantle and East Fremantle go on the line on Sunday when they lock horns in the first semi-final.

South Fremantle are back in WAFLW finals action and now they will take on East Fremantle in the first semi-final on Sunday at 12:30pm at The Good Grocer Park.

The Bulldogs finished the home and away season in fourth position with nine wins, six losses and a draw while the Sharks just earned home ground advantage on the back of a 10-6 record.

Now the winner of Sunday’s derby first semi-final will advance to a preliminary final against either Swan Districts or Claremont while the season will be over for the loser.

It will be the third time the two teams have played one another this WAFLW season with East Fremantle winning a one-point thriller in Round 9 on a Friday night leading into the WA Day long weekend.

That was after in Round 1 to open the season South Fremantle produced a dominant performance for the 7.11 (53) to 0.4 (4) victory at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.

It’s not the first time that there has been a derby finals match up in the WAFLW competition either and back in 2023 it was South Fremantle playing host to East Fremantle in the preliminary final at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.

It was a first finals appearance in the WAFLW for South Fremantle and they had finished in second place to earn the right to host the preliminary final having lost to Claremont in the second semi-final the week before.

But it was East Fremantle who ended up winning 7.3 (45) to 3.4 (22). Not only did the Sharks win that, but they went on to secure the premiership a week later with the 12-point victory in the Grand Final against Claremont.

There has been a mass turnover at both clubs since that 2023 preliminary final including Ash Gomes who played for East Fremantle that day now in South Fremantle colours as of 2026.

Then the only Bulldogs players who played in that game who are still part of the WAFLW program in 2026 are current captain Hunter Cronin, Lauren Vecchio, Ella Ward, Ella Matthews and Liusaidh Gilchrist.

South Fremantle assistant coach Nat Szelid is excited that it’s a derby final match up for the Bulldogs to look forward to and she can’t wait to see how the team performance on Sunday at The Good Grocer Park.

“It’s always a great feeling when we play against East Fremantle and I think it’s great for women’s footy as a whole to have a derby as a semi-final,” Szelid told Around the WAFL.

“Even if you don’t particularly come down to always watch WAFLW, I think we’ll get the crowd for a derby this week.

“I think it’s genuinely going to be a very tough contest and a good hit out, and I can’t lie, they’re a quality side and they’ve had some finals experience and have also earned their place in finals just as well as us.

“Finals are often won around that contest and the pressure with the contested possession, and then it’s about taking your little moments as well and making the most of your opportunities going forward so that’s what we really want to focus on.

“We want to focus on just playing our brand of football and I think that’s what will get us over the line this weekend.”

Meanwhile, South Fremantle’s Rogers Cup team didn’t quite qualify for finals in 2026 with their season finishing with a sixth place ending and a 6-10 record despite last week’s win against Claremont.