Subiaco Round Two Game Preview

Fresh from a dominant round one victory, Subiaco are set to make the trip to Fremantle Oval this Saturday for a blockbuster match with South Fremantle.

Subiaco and South Fremantle have been the dominant teams of the past two WAFL home and away seasons, finishing first and second on the ladder entering finals in both 2016 and 2017 and have played in some absorbing contests over recent seasons.

There most recent match was the 2017 Preliminary Final where Subiaco overcame a slow start to record a 32 point win on their way to a fourth straight Grand Final appearance. Earlier in 2017, the two teams split their season matches, each winning their home match.

As for this weekend's game, it promises to be an intriguing one, given Subiaco’s strong round one effort and given that South Fremantle had the bye in round one and are still yet to play in the 2018 season.

Subiaco has one confirmed change for this week, with the tough and physical Esperance product Ethan Burnett confirmed to make his WAFL league debut.

Burnett will be one of at least three inclusions after Max Walters, Greg Clark and Daniel Perkins were all ruled out for Saturday’s clash.

In an extended squad, veterans Chris Phelan and Jordan Lockyer were named to return alongside Braden Fimmano, Michael Braut and McKenzie Lawrence.

Meanwhile Subiaco are well aware of their opponents, with South Fremantle having had a settled side for the past three years and Subiaco will once again relish the challenge of taking on one of the WAFL’s toughest midfields and most potent forward lines.

It will be a full day of action at Fremantle Oval on Saturday with the 16’s game commencing at 9am, colts at 11am, reserves at 1.30pm before the league game commences at 4.15pm.

GAME CHANGERS

LAST HOME & AWAY LOSS

Worth noting is that Subiaco’s last home and away loss came in Round One of 2017 down at Fremantle Oval. Since that first up loss last year, Subiaco has gone on to win 20 consecutive home and away matches.

DEFENSIVE POST

Subiaco’s defence produced a strong round one effort holding East Perth to 10 goals. It would be expected the challenge will be tougher this week against a forward line presenting three strong tall targets. Declan Jackson and Jordan Lockyer have shown a strong history of holding South Fremantle’s tall forwards in check and with both potentially missing this week, eyes will be on the Subiaco back line to see who steps up.

GOAL KICKING ACCURACY

Last week Subiaco got great returns from Brad Stevenson, Rhys Waters and Ryan Borchet who combined to kick 15 goals without a miss. With an ongoing improvement towards set shot goal kicking, Subiaco will look to their forwards to again provide an accurate display in front of goals on Saturday.

RECENT FORM

Since 2015 Subiaco and South Fremantle have battled on nine occasions with Subiaco having won eight of those battles by an average winning margin of just under 40 points per contest. What has been significant in that run is that Subiaco have only conceded 100 points once, that being the one loss, in round one of 2017.