ANZAC Day Derby Preview v East Fremantle

SOUTH Fremantle's past three games have been dominant with the Bulldogs looking to continue that hot form to return to top spot on the WAFL ladder ahead of the ANZAC Day Derby against East Fremantle at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.

The Bulldogs and Sharks do battle on ANZAC Day at Fremantle Community Bank Oval for what has now become an annual event to commemorate the occasion.

The game will begin at 4.10pm at the port and will be telecast live on 7mate from 4pm.

Match Day Info – ANZAC Day Derby 
Player Column – Josh Pullman Round 6 
Coach Post Match – Todd Curley Round 5 

South Fremantle comes into the contest on the back of some imposing form and the Bulldogs entered the round on top of the WAFL ladder.

They have been replaced at the moment by Subiaco but will return there with a win over the Sharks on Tuesday.

South Fremantle opened the season with a 39-point win over Subiaco before a hiccup against Swan Districts. But the Bulldogs have responded emphatically to beat Peel Thunder by 43 points, West Perth by 103 and Claremont by 65.

That means they are in some ominous form entering the ANZAC Day Derby against the winless East Fremantle.

The Sharks have lost to Claremont by 62 points, Peel Thunder by 86, Perth by 13 and Swan Districts by 32 to open the season with the four defeats to remain on the bottom of the ladder.

East Fremantle is the only winless team left in the competition as well but will be hoping things turn around in the derby on Tuesday.

South Fremantle and East Fremantle began making the ANZAC Derby an annual event back in 2009. The new tradition started with a bang with South Fremantle winning by a goal kicked by Toby Bairstow following a hotly disputed deliberate out of bounds call against Rob Young.

A year later East Fremantle won at East Fremantle Oval by 46 points but South Fremantle turned it around to win by 29 points on home turf in 2011.

The Sharks scored a thumping 85-point win at East Fremantle Oval in 2012 and then won by 29 at Fremantle Community Bank Oval a year later.

South Fremantle returned the favour with a 17-point victory at Shark Park in 2014 with East Fremantle then winning at Fremantle Community Bank Oval by the same margin in 2015.

Last year the ANZAC Derby was held at East Fremantle Oval with South Fremantle storming home in a frantic finish to win by seven points in front of over 3000 people.

South Fremantle also ended the remarkable of the away team winning derbies in Round 19 last year beating East Fremantle at home by 30 points.

Prior to that, the previous 13 derbies had been won by the visiting side.

While East Fremantle has been outscored over the first four games across all four quarters, the last terms have been particularly disappointing and that could spell trouble against South Fremantle if the trend continues.

Over the season so far, South Fremantle has outscored its opponents by 122 points in final quarters alone while East Fremantle has lost its four last terms by a total of 85 points.

South Fremantle has to make one forced changed from its team that beat Claremont back on Good Friday also at Fremantle Community Bank Oval with Ashton Hams injuring a hamstring.

Jacob Dragovich, Jarrod Garlett and Jarrod Parry are the three players fighting to replace Hams in the line-up on ANZAC Day.

Key defender Josh Pullman is also a chance to return to the side but with Chris Luff, Blayne Wilson and Marlion Pickett doing so well in key defensive roles, it's not an easy spot to get back.

East Fremantle fought hard against Swan Districts last Saturday but ultimately were overrun to lose by 32 points.

From that side, 99-game wingman Sean Henson loses his place in the Sharks side as does former Demon Joel Kalajzic.

Dion Anthony, Tom Bennett, Josh Cuneo, Carl Green and Alex Moreno are all in the mix to return for East Fremantle as the Sharks hunt that elusive first victory of 2017. 

ROUND 6 – ANZAC DAY DERBY
SOUTH FREMANTLE v EAST FREMANTLE – FREMANTLE COMMUNITY BANK OVAL, TUESDAY 4.10PM
Broadcast – 7mate, 720 ABC Perth

LEAGUE TEAMS, LIVE STATS 
RESERVES TEAMS, LIVE STATS