RD 18 PREVIEW | v WEST PERTH

SOUTH Fremantle will be playing host to reigning premiers West Perth at Fremantle Community Bank Oval on Sunday afternoon in Round 18 of the WAFL.

South Fremantle might be out of finals contention with three rounds of the 2023 season remaining, but the Bulldogs do have the chance to deliver a dagger blow to their premiership defence at home on Sunday afternoon.

The Bulldogs are attempting to bounce back from losing their past two matches to East Fremantle and Swan Districts where again they have been in a good position at three quarter-time but been unable to complete the deal.

West Perth, meanwhile, has no choice but to leave Fremantle Community Bank Oval with a win if it wants to remain any chance of playing finals as the reigning premiers.

The Falcons have now won their last three matches to keep their season alive but with three games to go, they remain two matches behind the fifth placed Claremont so West Perth must keep winning and hope a team inside the top five keeps losing.

The two teams have already met once so far this season and that was back in Round 9 at Pentanet Stadium with West Perth dominating the finish to come from behind with six goals to nil in the final quarter to claim the 12.14 (86) to 9.5 (59) victory.

West Perth's co-captain Aaron Black kicked three goals in that win with Joe Hinder chipping in with two goals as did Noah Pegoraro as he began to show what he was capable as a forward target alongside Tyler Keitel.

Shane Nelson also racked up 33 possessions for the Falcons, Zac Guadagnin 26, Nathan Murray 25, Luke Meadows 23, Hinder 23 and Koopah Todd 22.

Zac Strom kicked three goals on the day for South Fremantle with Brandon Donaldson and Manfred Kelly both adding two. 

Jake Florenca finished up with 30 touches to go with 10 tackles for the Bulldogs with Tom Blechynden compiling 28 disposals, Dylan Main 26, George Wessels 21, Chad Pearson 21 and Toby McQuilkin 19. 

Prior to that clash back in Round 9, the two teams played out a thrilling draw in Round 15 last year with both sides on the way to another finals campaign with West Perth eventually ending the season as premiers.

West Perth had also won the two games prior to that in Round 20, 2021 and Round 4, 2022 so the Bulldogs now have not defeated the Falcons since Round 1, 2021 when they prevailed by 21 points as reigning premiers at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.

With three rounds of the season to go, West Perth is the third best attacking team in the competition with 83.5 points a game but the Falcons come eighth defensively conceding 70.6.

It's the opposite case with South Fremantle with the Bulldogs still strong defensively conceding only 65.5 points to be ranked fourth, but they are only ahead of West Coast in attack with 61.5 points a game.

West Perth is the sixth best ball winning team in the competition with 330.3 disposals to have 3.5 more than their opponents. South Fremantle is only ahead of Subiaco and West Coast with 312.4 possessions which is 10.3 fewer than the teams they play against.

Over the course of the season, South Fremantle has been ranked seventh across each of the first three quarters outscoring their opponents by 21 points in opening stanzas, 17 in the second and 11 in the third.

However, last quarters have been a concern for the Bulldogs where they are only performing better than West Coast. They have been outscored by 109 points in final terms so far this season including a goalless effort last week against Swan Districts.

West Perth is the fourth best starting team across the WAFL having outscored their opponents by 60 points so far this season while also coming fourth in second terms having outscored their opposition by 76 points.

The Falcons are then sixth in second halves having outscored their opponents by 30 points in the third stanzas and 27 in the fourth.