Round 11 Preview v Peel Thunder

SOUTH Fremantle is back home to Fremantle Community Bank Oval on Saturday to take on Peel Thunder for the first time in 2018 needing a win to consolidate second position on the WAFL ladder.

Two of the past six clashes between South Fremantle and Peel Thunder have come during the finals series of the past two years so the clubs are on stranger to take on one another with plenty on the line, and that's certainly the case at Fremantle Community Bank Oval on Saturday.

South Fremantle comes into the game in second position on the WAFL ladder still a game and percentage clear of the third placed West Perth. 

But coach Todd Curley deserves to be concerned with their losses within the past three weeks against Claremont and Perth. 

They might have each been by only a goal, but prior to that the Bulldogs had been in tremendous form winning five straight matches impressively since a first up loss to Subiaco. 

While they did rebound strongly to beat East Fremantle by 73 points in the WA Day Foundation Derby, it hasn’t been the three-week period South Fremantle was hoping for and a loss on Saturday to Peel and the Bulldogs could even find themselves dropping to third position on the ladder if West Perth beats Claremont at the same time.

Peel, on the other hand, has struck form for the first time in 2018 in recent weeks with the premiers of the past two WAFL seasons winning consecutive matches against Claremont and West Perth the last two weeks.

That has improved the Thunder to a 4-5 record on the season and they will likely enter the top five with a third straight win this Saturday up against the Bulldogs.

The game will be the first meeting between the two clubs of 2018 and since the qualifying final of 2017 when Peel beat South Fremantle by 18 points at Fremantle Community Bank Oval in front of 3500 people.

The Thunder went on to win a second straight premiership while the Bulldogs ended up losing a second successive preliminary final. The previous year it was Peel who beat South Fremantle in the preliminary final, also at the port by 39 points.

South Fremantle, though, has won four of the past five meetings in home and away season contests with Peel including by 34 points in Round 23 last year in Mandurah. They also won by 43 points in Round 3 of 2017, 32 points in Round 13, 2016 and 41 points in Round 9, 2016.

So the Bulldogs have proven they can perform well against the Thunder in recent years despite the losses in the preliminary final of 2016 and qualifying final of 2017.

South Fremantle will welcome back 196-game veteran Ashton Hams to take on Peel after the five-day break in between the WA Day Foundation Derby and then Saturday's match with Perth at Lathlain Park proved too much for his 31-year-old legs.

Zac Strom, Steve Verrier and Adam McIntosh also come back into the mix for South Fremantle to take on Peel at Fremantle Community Bank Oval on Saturday.

South Fremantle's leading goalkicker of 2017, Blaine Johnson, goes out for the Bulldogs having gone goalless in each of his past four matches. 

He had kicked 11 goals in the opening five games of 2018 to give him 109 goals in his first 50 matches with South Fremantle. 

But he has managed a combined 0.8 against East Perth, Claremont, East Fremantle and Perth since the State game break and now goes out of the side on Saturday against Peel.

There are plenty of changes at Peel once again for Saturday's contest with South Fremantle despite the Thunder having strung wins together for the first time in 2018.

The big men department for Peel will be significantly strengthened with the returns of ruck pair Sean Darcy and Scott Jones. Darcy is back from a knee injury and Jones from having made his AFL debut over the last couple of weeks for Fremantle.

Taylin Duman and Harley Bennell are two other Fremantle-listed players to return for Peel on Saturday with Haydn Matthews, Michael Tassone, Kaine Ah Chee, James Kirby, Josh McMahon and Nick Merritt added to the squad also.

Michael Johnson is out for Peel through suspension with Griffin Logue is also injured while in-form defender Ethan Hughes has travelled with Fremantle to Melbourne for the clash with Carlton at Etihad Stadium on Saturday.

Dual premiership player Ben Hancock is another to go out of the Peel line-up for the clash with South Fremantle at Fremantle Community Bank Oval on Saturday.

ROUND 11
SOUTH FREMANTLE v PEEL THUNDER – FREMANTLE COMMUNITY BANK OVAL, SATURDAY 2.15PM
Broadcast – Noongar Radio, HFM, Footy Radio

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