Preliminary Final Preview v Peel Thunder

SOUTH Fremantle hosts Peel Thunder in Sunday's WAFL preliminary final at Fremantle Community Bank Oval with the Bulldogs looking to book in a spot in the grand final for the first time since 2009.

South Fremantle will either qualify for its first WAFL Grand Final since 2009 or Peel Thunder its first in history by winning Sunday's preliminary final.

Subiaco awaits in the 2016 Grand Final next Sunday at Domain Stadium with the Lions shooting for a second premiership hat-trick of the past decade, but winning into a decider will be a new experience for the majority of whichever team wins Sunday's preliminary final.

The reserves and colts preliminary finals will also be held at Fremantle Community Bank Oval on Sunday. Perth takes on East Perth in the colts starting at 9am and then Claremont faces East Fremantle in the reserves starting at 11.45am.

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South Fremantle played in seven finals series in eight years between 2004-11 including Grand Finals in 2006, 2007 and 2009 where the Bulldogs won premierships in 2005 and 2009, but it has dried up since then.

South Fremantle had four straight years of not playing finals coming into 2016 but the Bulldogs had a strong season with a 15-5 record to finish in second position on the ladder before beating West Perth by 52 points in the qualifying final.

That was the Bulldogs' first finals victory since the 2009 Grand Final before a loss in last Sunday's second semi-final against Subiaco at Medibank Stadium by 40 points.

South Fremantle has just three players in its team that will line-up against Peel on Sunday with previous WAFL Grand Final experience and only one of those was with the Bulldogs.

Ashton Hams is a dual premiership player at South Fremantle while Blayne Wilson played in the losing Grand Finals at East Perth in 2013 and 2014, and Josh Pullman was part of Swan Districts' losing Grand Final team of 2008.

Peel, meanwhile, has now won the first two finals in the club's history the past two weeks defeating East Perth by 49 points in the elimination final at Bendigo Bank Stadium and then downing West Perth in the first semi-final at HBF Arena.

That's on the back of making the finals for the first time last year and losing to the Falcons in a qualifying final and the Royals in a first semi-final.

Peel's team does feature some more WAFL Grand Final experience than South Fremantle though. 

Clancee Pearce is a premiership player with Swan Districts in 2010 while Nick Suban won a flag with Claremont in 2012, Josh Deluca with Subiaco in 2014 and Shane Yarran with the Lions both the past two years.

Rory O'Brien and Jonathon Griffin both played in East Fremantle's Grand Final loss in 2012.

Either way, whoever wins Sunday's preliminary final will then go on to the Grand Final with a majority of their line-up taking on the hardened Subiaco on the big stage for the first time.

South Fremantle coach Todd Curley is looking forward to the challenge that Peel presents on Sunday with a Grand Final berth on the line.

"They're a good, quality outfit and are well organised and well coached with some experienced players that lead pretty well. They will be a big challenge for us but we think we are up for it," Curley said.

"It's nice to play at home but we are quite happy to play anywhere and I think the only away games we've lost all year have been against Subi here. It's good to play at home with the familiarity of your own rooms and everything so from that point it's good.

"It's also good for our footy club and our fans. They might train there a lot but they haven’t played there too often. It's a different kettle of fish but they will be comfortable as well a lot of them.

"But at the end of the day you have the carrot of going into a grand final if you win and if not you start planning for next year. It's the second last game of the year and if you win you're in a grand final so that's a pretty big carrot."

Neither team will look to make too many changes from last Sunday but South Fremantle will be glad to welcome back Ashton Hams from a one-week suspension to had some class, experience and ball-winning ability to the Bulldogs' line-up.

Adam Guglielmana remains a 125-game WAFL veteran but is yet to play a final at league level having played the past two weeks in the reserves on return from a hamstring injury.

He is a chance to come in and play on Sunday against Peel with former Thunder defender Chris Luff another one in the selection mix with the Bulldogs.

The biggest decision to be made at Peel appears to surround what to do with their big men.

Jack Hannath played as back up ruckman and a key forward target in the elimination final win over East Perth but Griffin replaced him in that role against West Perth in the first semi-final.

Zac Clarke is a lock to continue leading the way but the Thunder have to firstly decide on whether they want both Hannath or Griffin in the team together, or if one of them then the tough choice surrounds which one.

South Fremantle and Peel have met twice this season with the Bulldogs winning on both occasions by 41 points at Fremantle Community Bank Oval in Round 9 and then at Bendigo Bank Stadium by 32 points in Round 13.

However, the Bulldogs have actually been better on the road than at home this season winning six of 10 games at Fremantle Community Bank Oval but then 10 of 12 away from the port.

The ground will also hold no fears for the majority of the Thunder line-up with their Fremantle-listed players used to it as their training base while O'Brien won his last six derbies at the ground while at East Fremantle and Bootsma is a former South Fremantle product.

LEAGUE PRELIMINARY FINAL
SOUTH FREMANTLE v PEEL THUNDER - FREMANTLE COMMUNITY BANK OVAL, SUNDAY 2.40PM
Broadcast – Channel 7, 720 ABC Perth, 91.3 SportFM, KIX Digital

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