WAFL Round 15 Preview

ROUND 15 of the WAFL season sees a grand final rematch take place in Kununurra, West Perth, East Perth, Perth and Swan Districts continue to fight over three spots in the top-four and bottom sides South Fremantle and Peel trying to cause an upset.

All games are on Saturday afternoon as Claremont and East Fremantle meet in a rematch of last year's grand final in Kununurra with bounce down set for 1.45pm.

Then in the usual 2.05 time slot back in Perth, Swan Districts hosts West Perth at Bassendean's Steel Blue Oval, South Fremantle takes on Perth at Fremantle Oval and East Perth battles Peel Thunder at Leederville's Medibank Stadium.

The seventh-placed Subiaco has the bye following losses to Swan Districts and West Perth after a run of three straight victories.

CLAREMONT (11-1, 1st) v EAST FREMANTLE (5-7, 6th) – KUNUNNURA, SATURDAY 1.45PM

Selected teams

Claremont and East Fremantle travel to Kununurra this Saturday in a grand final rematch from 2012 with the Tigers simply looking to maintain their run to a fourth straight minor premiership while the Sharks desperately need to win to stay in touch with the top-four.

Claremont had the bye last weekend following a Foxtel Cup victory over Queensland's Southport at Patersons Stadium and prior to that the Tigers bounced back from their first loss of the season to Subiaco to beat both West Perth and Peel in an impressive two performances.

That means that Claremont sits on an 11-1 record just past the halfway mark of the 2013 to be well on track for a fourth straight minor premiership with the Tigers having won two premierships and making a grand final in that time.

East Fremantle made last year's grand final and put in a spirited showing before eventually losing to Claremont.

However, things haven't gone to plan for the Sharks so far this season and in particular in recent times.

The Sharks were travelling reasonably well early on in the season winning four of their first six matches but since then things haven’t gone as smoothly.

East Fremantle lost a shoot out against West Perth by 23 points and then were outplayed by Claremont at Claremont Oval in Round 9 to lose by 42 points.

Following the State game break, East Fremantle then were smashed by South Fremantle in the Foundation Derby but rebounded with a solid 35-point victory over Peel.

However, losses since to West Perth and East Perth have left the Sharks on shaky ground in sixth position on the ladder and with just a 5-7 record.

Claremont loses Patrick McGinnity, Andrew Foster and Anton Hamp from the team that beat Peel Thunder two weeks ago before its Foxtel Cup victory over Southport four days later.

There are some handy inclusions, though, led by the returning Simpson Medallist Paul Medhurst as well as Fremantle's Alex Silvagni.

East Fremantle loses Fremantle's Max Duffy and West Coast's Brad Sheppard from the side that lost to East Perth last Saturday in a spirited contest.

Veteran pair Richard Hadley and Steven Dodd are important inclusions for the Sharks to take on the Tigers with Cameron Symonds, Jack Perham, Aidan Tropiano and Tom Hooker pressing for selection.

CLICK HERE for a full preview of Round 15 WAFL action

Courtesy of www.wafl.com.au