[Nikkkola]

Crucial round this week given the results of last weekend. Still hard to pick 4 winners and this weekend could also throw up some suprises I think.

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EAST FREMANTLE VS SWAN DISTRICTS @ East Fremantle Oval - Saturday

What a brilliant win by the Sharks against the tigers. Certainly the few AFL inclusions would have helped, however it was the EF pressure all round that unsettled the tigers. The Sharks are starting to show signs of the character that got them into the finals last season. Palmer could be an ommission this week given the Dockers injury woes. Rory O'Brien has been a real asset for the Sharks and appears to be playing like a man who is happy where he is. Its showing in his productivity and he is averaging 24 possesions a game. One player who could be part of the reason for the Sharks revival is young Monteath. He has lifted his tackling rate substancially and has already surpassed his tackling total for the entire year last year. These players are like gold for a football side and their stats dont nessessarily show anything spectacular, but their effectiveness for the team is huge. Swans have been hard to fathom and they need to find some consistancy in this game. Geappon and Hanson failed to have any impact last week compared to the previous week. This is a problem for Swans who rely on these two players greatly. Coniglio is now a targeted player and is being forced to handpass alot more. The Sharks will be mindful of what damage this young player can do & maybe Monteath would be a great match-up given his tackling pressure this year. Its hard to go past the Sharks in this game, though Swans are not without a chance. They have won a few games at Moss Street recently but they need to lift their last quarters. Swans fell back into old habits in the final term last week and the Sharks will be aware of this. It will be tight, but the Sharks for me.
- EAST FREMANTLE to win by 14 points

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SUBIACO VS PEEL THUNDER @ Medibank Stadium Leederville - Saturday

Subi were terrific last week and posted a moral boosting win over the reining premiers. Broadhurst continues to be a solid option for the Lions up forward and maybe he will excell without Anthony crowding that forward space. Though there is every chance Anthony could be back for Subi this week. Headland was productive for Subi in his first game back and Rix is dominating the WAFL in the ruck. This would be a bonus for the Subi rovers who will be licking their lips this week against a Peel side that is lacking across the board. Horsely & Hildebrandt are both averaging 20 disposals a game in 2011 and I expect that average to lift higher after this game. Peel would be happy with the Thornton brothers efforts, but young AFL rookie hopeful Scott Lycett appears to be finding the tempo a bit tough at the moment. He struggles to rack up adequate possessions or hit-outs and Rix could really take him to the sword on Saturday. Young Herring showed a bit during the pre-season and he needs to find more goals up forward for Peel to have any chance. Peel play in bursts and have done so for many years. Its after these bursts that is the problem as they drop off in a big way. Subiaco should not take them lightly and if they dont, they will win this game in a big way. I expect the Lions to kick a big score here and get a percentage boost that will be invaluable the longer the season goes on.
- SUBIACO to win by 85 points

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SOUTH FREMANTLE VS CLAREMONT @ Fremantle Oval - Saturday

The Bulldogs have had a tough few weeks and losing Graham could take its toll on them the longer the season goes. However they are capable of covering him as they do have some decent big men. Souths appeared to fall into the trap of over-using the handball against West Perth and they had as many hanpasses as kicks for the entire game. To me this makes no sense especially when your direct opposition has 160 more kicks than handpasses and wins by 12 goals. Souths come up against a side who does use the handpass more than any other side in the WAFL. The difference here is Claremont are generally good at it and when they have it right, it hurts. Souths need to bring the ball up forward quick and they missed Murphy in that area last time out. DelOllio has been fantastic this year and is in line to kick 50 goals this year by his current rate. McCarrey could be an option up forward, perhaps in bursts like Hunter at Swans. He was generally a forward at East Fremantle and did kick a few bags in his day down there. Claremont have shown they are not this unbreakable force we all thought they were. The Falcons have that mantle at the moment. Chad Jones is still finding his feet, if you can call 12 goals in 2 weeks as finding your feet. Claremonts biggest problem last week was Weedon and Broom. These two players did not fire a shot and when they play like that, they are a liability to the tigers. They are both young and will throw up performances like this occasionally. But it does show sides how Claremont can be put off balance when these two key forwards are stopped. Souths will be desperate to bounce back and a win will incredibly square them up with Claremont at 6-3 a peice.... But its hard to see Claremont fading again and normally you dont want to get them after a loss. Souths probably have the worst timing in this game as far facing the wounded tiger. But I think it will be a good game especially in the first half. The tigers to get things rolling after half time.
- CLAREMONT to win by 5 goals

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EAST PERTH vs PERTH @ Medibank Stadium Leederville - ***SUNDAY***

Why oh why a Sunday up against the live AFL up the road. Under the circumstances Id rather it played at Lathlain on the Saturday, but thats the WAFL organisation skills for you.... This is now a massive game for both clubs. East Perth have resembled a busted wheel for most of 2011. They have been competitive in nearly every game, but crashed when it counts. Injuries have killed them, but it cant be used as an excuse especially when they are 2-6... They have been missing some 9 or 10 players on average at various times this year from their finals side last year. But this and all the other dramas attached with 2011 are probably not going to help them from here on. East Perth are more than capable of digging themselves out of a hole as they have shown the past two years. Its the toll it takes in the process that will show eventually. The Royals biggest asset last year was their powerful ruck. This year its been flattened. Zac Clarke returns now and will shoulder the burden bigtime with Beeck gone for good, and Birrell out injured. That will make the Dockers happy (for once). Perth and East Perth will have a great battle around the middle. I rate Perth around the middle of the ground. They have some good players there with the obvious two being JKT and Young. East Perth has had great service from Lee averaging 27 disposals which is huge given the sides fortunes. Up foward the Demons have had Matthew Moody put in some solid efforts, and East Perths Pettifer has slowly improved his productivity. Though 14.18 shows he has been slightly inacurrate at times. Perth probably lack one key thing and thats polish. Last week they had more disposals than West Perth, which is a big effort. They failed to hurt them when it counted. But at least they didnt capitulate after the familiar disaster against Claremont the previous week. There are signs Perth will get better and this game has plenty riding on it for both clubs. I will tip on the bias side, but Perth are seriously as big chance here.
- EAST PERTH by 3 points

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Gday again all, hope others have a crack this week.

[bactrimtab]

GREAT to see you back Gas...we've been missing u on here mate!

[Forex Trading Software]

Swans by 4 or 5 goals
Subi by a cricket score
East Perth by quite a few...Perth will play East Perth back into form
Claremont by 5 or 6 goals


As a Perth supporter the Perth V East Perth game will tell me just how much we have improved this season in all honesty if we are on the right track we should win this one.
I am tipping EP by quite a bit based on our form over the past 3 weeks and our recent history against EP.
I reckon we still have the same positional problems as we had last season and pre-season,why??????????

[Seiblybiozy]

great stuff Gas!

[Coollabioto]

Good to see you back gasman.

Claremont should belt Souths.

Perth to beat the ferals.

Easts to beat Swans.

$$ubi to smash Peel.

[slowlexrese]

Yeh good to see you back Gas.

As per usual i will hold off on my tips until i see the line ups.

[Aqgkvwzm]

Welcome back after your self-imposed (Idi Amin-style) exile, Gasman. Having to work every Saturday, I welcome Sunday WAFL games as it means I can attend. I'll certainly catch up with macs at the footy and it would be good to finally meet you. And hopefully I'll get to meet DemonsDen as well. Should be a great game - ironically, from an East Perth perspective, I'd feel more confident if we were playing Perth at Lathlain rather than Leederville.

[verybigf]

Gday fitzy, Ive been offered box seats at the AFL down the road through work.... which is why I am pissed off with EP and the WAFL for playing this game on Sunday.... bloody stupid.

If they (the WAFL) double booked Leederville like they have, then it should have been either a double-header or played it at Lathlain.

Soory mate, will meet you one day.

[valiumcheapll]

Gday fitzy, Ive been offered box seats at the AFL down the road through work.... which is why I am pissed off with EP and the WAFL for playing this game on Sunday.... bloody stupid.

If they (the WAFL) double booked Leederville like they have, then it should have been either a double-header or played it at Lathlain.

Soory mate, will meet you one day.

good to see you back gasman. all hands on deck, don't be a stranger

[WapSaibiar]

Gday fitzy, Ive been offered box seats at the AFL down the road through work.... which is why I am pissed off with EP and the WAFL for playing this game on Sunday.... bloody stupid.

If they (the WAFL) double booked Leederville like they have, then it should have been either a double-header or played it at Lathlain.

Soory mate, will meet you one day.

No worries, Gas. Have a few sherberts for me at the Wet Toast E-girls v Worse Than Bullfrogs game.

[lE3l6Lgn]

Sub
ef
c
p

[SasV7ReJ]

Subi
SD
CL
Perth

[VIDEOHITE]

I think we'll see 3 out of the 4 games being rather close...

Sub by 65 points - starting to hit their straps Subi, can’t see Peel troubling them at all here

EF by 19 points - Great win last week & whilst they lose Palmer & Griffin, think they will be too strong for SD

CL by 21 points - Reckon this will be a lot closer than most punters are predicting here...South have named a good side, though suspect there might be a change or 2 b4 bounce down on Saturday...South could also regain Gaff & still some big outs for CL...South will push them for the majority but CL to be a bit too strong in the end

EP by 15 points - another hard fought contest...hard to tip this with NO TEAMS up yet!!! But think EP might just get over the line here - I reserve the right to change this one once the teams are up...

[marketheal]

CL by 21 points - Reckon this will be a lot closer than most punters are predicting here...South have named a good side, though suspect there might be a change or 2 b4 bounce down on Saturday...South could also regain Gaff & still some big outs for CL...South will push them for the majority but CL to be a bit too strong in the end

I agree, it should be a cracker. Watching the SF vs Su game the other week, South looked a classy unit. Much different from when Perth knocked em off by a point.

Su
CL
EP
EF (toss a coin on that one)

[Malinguenem]

What a great day of results.

EF just about put an end to Swans finals chances, Swans play Claremont in their next game. Great game to watch and a very thrilling finish. EF can play a lot better though and were lucky to win. If they play to their potential then they can win the flag but they are very hit and miss, they seem to play 15 minutes of good footy then 10 minutes of bad footy.

Peel knocking off $$ubi. HAHAHAHAHA. I remember wanking $$ubi supporters giving it to me last year on FG when Peel beat WP, what goes around comes around.

Glad Claremont came over the top and snatched the points. Can't stand Paul Haselby he's a disgrace.

[fubyFrery]

Yeh it looked i was going to be 0 and 3 Robbo until Claremont came home with a wet sail. South supporters must be spewing.

[JonDopl]

Geez, great win by Peel.... didnt see that coming after Subi's great win the previous week. I sense Subi may have had the game won before it started, no disrespect to Peel as it was a great effort.

The Sharks only kicked 2 goals in the second half but they defended brilliantly. I watched (on TV) young Brennan of EF play a terrific backmans game. This kid could be as good as his dad if he stays focused. Will be a huge bonus for EF this year and in the finals. I reckon the Sharks have the makings of a finals side in 2011, though there is a long way to go.

Souths let a vital one slip and what a boost that would have been for them if they had of claimed Claremonts scalp. The Tigers are really having to work for wins this year, despite the theory they are a shoe-in for the flag. They will need to work for it by the looks. But a good win for them at Fremantle on Saturday.

I wasnt at the EP v P game yesterday but obviously the Royals are getting some resemblance of form back. Intersting they left Prior in the ressies another week after kicking 8 last week. Maybe he just needs a bit of extra fitness. Both clubs are now 2 games out of the four & some huge games ahead now. Still time given its still early in the year (sort of). Will EP travel to Darwin with a make-shift side? The bye would have been welcomed by a few I would think. Dont be suprised to see a host of palyers rested for the Big Foundation Day Derby in a fortnight. That game is more important for EP.

What a round next week. Peel will be giving Souths a few shivers during the week. Call me stupid (many do) but I already sense something happening at Basso on Saturday for the SDv CL game. Perth and Subi travelling flat at present but a win for either will be like gold. Expect a real battle at Lathlain. And the Sharks travel to Joondy on Sunday to take on the Falcons who are just flying. That will be a great game. The team selections will be crucial.