Round 16 Preview v Peel Thunder

SOUTH Fremantle will look to bounce back quickly from last week's loss to Subiaco up against Peel Thunder at Bendigo Bank Stadium on Saturday in what is Shaun Bewick's 100th appearance for the Bulldogs.

Having played one another in each of the past two WAFL finals series, Peel and South Fremantle are no strangers to each other and there is plenty at stake again in Saturday's contest at Bendigo Bank Stadium.

Peel comes into the contest in eighth position on the WAFL ladder with a 5-8 record so the premiers of the last two seasons need a win to stay in the finals race in 2018.

South Fremantle remains in second position at 9-4 but following last week's 61-point loss to Subiaco, the Bulldogs now only hold a one-game gap on the third place West Perth. 

That is ahead of the Round 17 bye and then a clash with West Perth so Saturday's game against Peel shapes as a season-defining one for the Bulldogs. 

A win and South Fremantle is all but locked into second position. A loss and they will be left fighting over that second spot for the rest of the home and away season.

Peel might be as far done as eighth position right now with the Thunder having lost three of their past four games, but a win over South Fremantle and they could very well be back inside the top five by Saturday night again.

Before last Saturday's loss to Subiaco where South Fremantle kicked just three goals and lost by 61 points, the Bulldogs had been playing well with three straight wins over Peel, East Perth and Claremont.

But it was the nature of last week's loss to the Lions that would have been of concern to coach Todd Curley with South Fremantle's score of 3.10 (28) the club's lowest since Round 23, 2004.

However, Peel also suffered a similarly disappointing loss to Subiaco the previous week where they were goalless for more than three quarters and ended up scoring just 2.5 (17) in a 52-point loss.

The two teams have already met once this year back in Round 11 with South Fremantle proving too good winning by 35 points at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.

While Peel beat South Fremantle in last year's qualifying final and the previous year's preliminary final, the Bulldogs have beaten the Thunder in five of the previous six home and away matches the two clubs have taken part in.

South Fremantle has another milestone to celebrate on the day too with wingman turned defender Shaun Bewick reaching 100 games with the Bulldogs. He began his career at West Perth where he played 30 league games before crossing to South Fremantle.

Most of his 99 matches with the Bulldogs were played as a wingman but over the 12 months he has played more of a role down back and done so impressively along with being handed some run-with roles. 

He will now become a 100-game South Fremantle having become a popular and consistent member of the Bulldogs since crossing in 2012.

South Fremantle coach Todd Curley was at West Perth when Bewick was starting his WAFL journey and is happy for him to now reach 100 games at the one club to book his name on the locker.

"He was playing colts when I was coaching up at West Perth and he's been at South since I've been here," Curley said. 

"He's a great clubman, works hard and does everything right. He probably wasn’t at his best today but he had plenty of friends. He has been pretty consistent and it will be a great milestone for him to play 100 club games."

South Fremantle loses a couple more experienced players for the trip to Mandurah with triple Bernie Naylor Medallist Ben Saunders and State ruckman Brock Higgins pulling up sore from last Saturday's loss to Subiaco at Leederville Oval.

They join Ashton Hams out of the line-up with the Bulldogs missing 430 games of WAFL experience in the absence of the trio.

However, South Fremantle is set to welcome back 103-game premiership winning small forward Cory Dell'Olio while Jake Solomon could be recalled for his first appearance of the season to carry the load in the ruck in the absence of Higgins.

Zac Strom should also return after missing last week against Subiaco with Daniel Cabassi and Kyle Russell in the selection mix for the Bulldogs as well.

There are plenty of changes at Peel coming into the clash following the loss to Perth last Saturday and with changes again happening at Fremantle in the AFL.

Taylin Duman and Darcy Tucker are confirmed out of the Peel side having been named to play for Fremantle against Essendon at Etihad Stadium on Saturday. Michael Johnson remains an emergency with the Dockers but he did fly to Melbourne so won't be playing for the Thunder.

However, Danyle Pearce, Brady Grey and Mitch Crowden still should all take the field for Peel against South Fremantle but Michael Apeness won't having gone down injured early last Saturday against Perth.

Sam Switkowski should make his long-awaited return for the Thunder with James Kirby, Haydn Matthews, Brad McGowan, Josh McMahon, Tom North, Matthew Piggott, Oliver Walton and Chris Wrigley the other players in the selection hunt.

ROUND 16
SOUTH FREMANTLE v PEEL THUNDER – BENDIGO BANK STADIUM, SATURDAY 2.15PM
Broadcast – 91.3 SportFM

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