Round 7 Preview v East Perth

SOUTH Fremantle heads to Leederville Oval on Saturday to take on an in-form East Perth with the equally on fire Bulldogs out to make it five consecutive WAFL wins to secure second position on the ladder.

It shapes as a tantalising match up between two teams who were in terrific form prior to last week's break for the State game when the Royals and Bulldogs meet at Leederville Oval on Saturday.

East Perth and South Fremantle both started their respective seasons with losses to Subiaco but since then neither has suffered defeats and have won four games in succession.

The Bulldogs had the bye in Round 1 and then lost to Subiaco by 58 points in Round 2. But since then they have rediscovered some of the form that has seen them reach preliminary finals the past two seasons.

South Fremantle has won its last four matches against West Perth, East Fremantle, Claremont and Swan Districts by an average of 35.5 points.

The Royals lost to Subiaco by 118 points in Round 1 back on Good Friday but since then have looked good beating West Perth, Perth, Peel Thunder and East Fremantle by an average of 48.5 points.

Now the two in-form teams on four-game winning streaks put that on the line with second position at stake at Leederville Oval on Saturday.

There were just the three players across the two teams who played in last Saturday's WAFL State game victory over the SANFL at Adelaide Oval by 26 points.

South Fremantle had two players representing WA for the first time with Brock Higgins finishing with nine possessions, four tackles and 17 hit outs, and Blaine Johnson two goals to go with 16 possessions and four inside-50 entries.

That was after Haiden Schloithe, Ashton Hams, Ryan Cook, Nick Suban, Marlion Pickett and Ben Saunders all either missed selection or were ruled unavailable.

Sharrod Wellingham was East Perth's one representative and he was one of the best afield with 27 possessions, five marks and a goal.

South Fremantle has outscored its opponents by 17 points in first quarters, 26 in second terms and 46 in last stanzas, but been outscored in third quarters.

East Perth is the second best starting team in the competition having outscored its opponents by 69 points over its opening five games. They have still won their second and third quarters too, but then been outscored by three points in final quarters.

But during their respective four-game winning streaks, East Perth has averaged 64.3 more possessions than its opponents while scoring 115.8 points a game and conceding just 67.3.

South Fremantle has only averaged 5.3 more disposals during its four-game winning run but has scored an average of 105 points while conceding only 69.5.

Little has separated the two teams in recent years with wins and losses being traded between them ever since East Perth went on a run of winning five of six meetings from Round 9, 2012 through Round 12, 2014.

Saturday's game will be the first time they have played one another at Leederville Oval since Round 22, 2016 when South Fremantle beat East Perth by four points.

South Fremantle was missing a host of key players two weeks ago when the Bulldogs still managed to beat Swan Districts by 13 points and they will again be without Steven Edwards, Jarrod Parry, Tom Vandeleur and Jason Maskos against East Perth on Saturday.

But South Fremantle will regain the services of three of its most important and experienced players with Blayne Wilson, Ashton Hams and Haiden Schloithe bringing a combined 433 games in the WAFL back into the side with them.

East Perth has three more than handy additions to take on South Fremantle with from its team that beat East Fremantle two weeks ago. Co-captains Kyle Anderson and Patrick McGinnity along with reigning fairest and best winner Nathan Blee all return for the Royals.

Mitch Fraser remains a chance for his first league game since Round 1 last year when the 2016 FD Book Medal winner had to undergo a knee reconstruction. Jaxon Cahill, Mitch Dobson, Nathan Eaton, Nelson Waite and Will Young have all been included in the Royals squad.

Brendon Ah Chee has held his spot in the West Coast team to play Richmond at Optus Stadium on Sunday so he's out of the Royals line-up along with Oscar Allen and Malcolm Karpany.

ROUND 7
SOUTH FREMANTLE v EAST PERTH – LEEDERVILLE OVAL, SATURDAY 2.15PM
Broadcast – HFM, Footy Radio

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