RD 3 PREVIEW | V CLAREMONT

SOUTH Fremantle's rivalry resumes with Claremont on Saturday at Fremantle Community Bank Oval with Haiden Schloithe hoping the Bulldogs string wins together before he thinks about his testimonial dinner.

It's going to be quite the memorable day and evening at Fremantle Community Bank Oval on Saturday with South Fremantle hosting Claremont before one of the finest ever servants of the club will be receiving a testimonial dinner.

Having such an event will be decidedly more enjoyable if it's on the back of a win and that will be the focus of the Bulldogs as they take on the Tigers with the WAFL contest beginning at 2.10pm.

The day's action begins at 11.25am with the reserves contest between South Fremantle and Claremont before the colts fixture wraps up proceedings from 5pm.

South Fremantle will host Claremont on the back of opening its account for the season last week beating the West Coast Eagles by 88 points at Mineral Resources Park.

That came on the back of a disappointing Round 1 loss at home to East Perth by 39 points, but the Bulldogs will be looking to keep the momentum going now back at Fremantle Community Bank Oval on Saturday afternoon.

South Fremantle take on a Claremont team yet to win so far in 2024 having lost to West Perth in a heart stopper back in Round 1 and then suffering a biggest loss in 16 years last week when thumped by East Fremantle by 90 points at Revo Fitness Stadium.

That sets up a fascinating renewal of the rivalry between the Bulldogs and Tigers on Saturday afternoon between two teams in recent years met in the 2020 WAFL grand final, and preliminary finals of 2019 and 2021.

There are no changes from the South Fremantle team that beat West Coast last week.

Claremont, meanwhile, has added Kieran Gowdie, Jack Musika and Jasper Peace come the line-up.

Going out for the Tigers are Lawrence Evans, Louis Passera and Ronin O'Connor.

Before thinking about anything else on Saturday, Schloithe's focus is on making sure South Fremantle put together a four quarter performance to get the win against Claremont.

"Obviously in Round 1 they lost with one of the final kicks of the game and then last week they would have been pretty disappointed with their performance, but we've had some great battles with them over the years," Schloithe said.

"They've been a fantastic club so no doubt they will be looking to bounce back on the weekend. If we don't bring our best we'll end up getting our pants pulled down."

Despite having retired at the end of the 2022 season and stepping away from the WAFL in 2023, Schloithe has wasted no time picking right back up where he left off in the midfield for the Bulldogs.

Already having played 200 games, won five fairest and best awards and playing in a premiership, he had nothing left to prove but he also saw South Fremantle struggle last year, and couldn’t sit back and not help out while he was still physically able to.

"Obviously when I retired I was mentally and physically pretty tired, and I just needed to step away and having the year off more so mentally refreshed me above everything else," he said.

"Obviously seeing the way that the club went last year and how disappointing it was made me really motivated to come back and help the group, and help the club get back up the ladder where we belong.

"I did retire when I was still playing some reasonable football so I thought why not come back when I was still only 30 so I was really motivated to come back and help the club get back up the ladder."

Schloithe is then honoured that the South Fremantle Football Club is hosting a testimonial for him after the game on Saturday night.

"It will be an extremely special day and obviously these things don’t come around too often," Schloithe said.

"More importantly we win the game of footy firstly against Claremont and then to just be able to have so many different people in the room at the one time that have had a massive impact with me at the footy club and outside of footy as well will be pretty special."

SOUTH Fremantle's rivalry resumes with Claremont on Saturday at Fremantle Community Bank Oval with Haiden Schloithe hoping the Bulldogs string wins together before he thinks about his testimonial dinner.

It's going to be quite the memorable day and evening at Fremantle Community Bank Oval on Saturday with South Fremantle hosting Claremont before one of the finest ever servants of the club will be receiving a testimonial dinner.

Having such an event will be decidedly more enjoyable if it's on the back of a win and that will be the focus of the Bulldogs as they take on the Tigers with the WAFL contest beginning at 2.10pm.

The day's action begins at 11.25am with the reserves contest between South Fremantle and Claremont before the colts fixture wraps up proceedings from 5pm.

South Fremantle will host Claremont on the back of opening its account for the season last week beating the West Coast Eagles by 88 points at Mineral Resources Park.

That came on the back of a disappointing Round 1 loss at home to East Perth by 39 points, but the Bulldogs will be looking to keep the momentum going now back at Fremantle Community Bank Oval on Saturday afternoon.

South Fremantle take on a Claremont team yet to win so far in 2024 having lost to West Perth in a heart stopper back in Round 1 and then suffering a biggest loss in 16 years last week when thumped by East Fremantle by 90 points at Revo Fitness Stadium.

That sets up a fascinating renewal of the rivalry between the Bulldogs and Tigers on Saturday afternoon between two teams in recent years met in the 2020 WAFL grand final, and preliminary finals of 2019 and 2021.

There are no changes from the South Fremantle team that beat West Coast last week.

Claremont, meanwhile, has added Kieran Gowdie, Jack Musika and Jasper Peace come the line-up.

Going out for the Tigers are Lawrence Evans, Louis Passera and Ronin O'Connor.

Before thinking about anything else on Saturday, Schloithe's focus is on making sure South Fremantle put together a four quarter performance to get the win against Claremont.

"Obviously in Round 1 they lost with one of the final kicks of the game and then last week they would have been pretty disappointed with their performance, but we've had some great battles with them over the years," Schloithe said.

"They've been a fantastic club so no doubt they will be looking to bounce back on the weekend. If we don't bring our best we'll end up getting our pants pulled down."

Despite having retired at the end of the 2022 season and stepping away from the WAFL in 2023, Schloithe has wasted no time picking right back up where he left off in the midfield for the Bulldogs.

Already having played 200 games, won five fairest and best awards and playing in a premiership, he had nothing left to prove but he also saw South Fremantle struggle last year, and couldn’t sit back and not help out while he was still physically able to.

"Obviously when I retired I was mentally and physically pretty tired, and I just needed to step away and having the year off more so mentally refreshed me above everything else," he said.

"Obviously seeing the way that the club went last year and how disappointing it was made me really motivated to come back and help the group, and help the club get back up the ladder where we belong.

"I did retire when I was still playing some reasonable football so I thought why not come back when I was still only 30 so I was really motivated to come back and help the club get back up the ladder."

Schloithe is then honoured that the South Fremantle Football Club is hosting a testimonial for him after the game on Saturday night.

"It will be an extremely special day and obviously these things don’t come around too often," Schloithe said.

"More importantly we win the game of footy firstly against Claremont and then to just be able to have so many different people in the room at the one time that have had a massive impact with me at the footy club and outside of footy as well will be pretty special."