Round 16 Preview Claremont vs. Peel Thunder

Claremont will travel to Bendigo Bank Stadium to face Peel Thunder having recorded consecutive wins for the first time this season.

The Tigers were too good for South Fremantle in “Naidoc Round”, while Peel suffered a 63-point defeat against league-leaders East Perth.

The Tigers are enjoying a purple patch after a difficult start to the season, while Peel have recorded just the two wins in 2014.

The Tigers ran out 28-point winners in the corresponding fixture back in round six, and will be looking to build on their recent run of impressive performances.

Captain Jake Murphy played a half in the Reserves’ win over the Bulldogs, while teammate Aaron Holt made an impressive return from a hamstring injury.

Both players will push their cases for a senior recall, however, competition for spots is a healthy dilemma that coach Michael Broadbridge has on his hands.

The Tigers have not conceded more than 12 goals in a game since round 8, with team-defence a key factor in the team’s resurgence.

Peel on the other hand, are conceding on average 11.6 goals per game during the same time, highlighting the importance of the battle in the midfield.

This is an area in which the Tigers have been dominant in recent weeks, with the likes of Luke Blackwell, Ryan Neates, Matt Orzel, Sam Fong, Ben Daniher, and Corey Yeo capitalising on the excellent ruck work of Mark Seaby and Mitch Andrews.

Jack Bradshaw has spent more time in the forward line and in the process kicked 8 goals in the past two games.

The Tigers have won the past four encounters against Peel, and also the past six clashes between the two sides at Bendigo Bank Stadium.

In fact, you have to go all the way back to round five, 2008 to when Peel last tasted success against the Tigers at the venue.

If the trend were to continue, the Tigers could find themselves level with West Perth on six wins for the season.

Bounce down is at 2.05pm.