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ROUND 20 PREVIEW V EAST FREMANTLE

Friday, August 7, 2015 - 3:30 PM by Chris Pike

WEST Perth's second position goes on the line as the Falcons head to ATOM Stadium on Saturday facing an East Fremantle team desperate to find some positives after a horror second half of the 2015 WAFL season.

West Perth is all but guaranteed of playing finals football in 2015 currently sitting in second position on the ladder with a 10-6 record, but last Sunday's nail-biting loss to East Perth did see the Falcons miss an opportunity to be more secure in that spot.

With the second placed team earning a home final in the first week of the new look finals set up, it's a highly sought after position with Subiaco having already locked away the minor premiership but West Perth could slip down the ladder with a loss to East Fremantle on Saturday.

The Falcons could potentially fall to fourth position with a loss to the Sharks and if Peel Thunder and East Perth both win their matches on Saturday as well, but a win could see them a game clear if it happens that the Thunder go down to South Fremantle.

East Fremantle, meanwhile, is just desperate to try and find some positives to take out of a 2015 season that has quickly turned into a nightmare.

The Sharks came into the season rightfully expecting to go well after narrowly missing the grand final last year, and they started well winning five of their first seven games of 2015.

However, East Fremantle has lost its last nine games since including against Perth last Saturday at Lathlain Park with the Sharks remaining winless under new coach Brad Dodd since he replaced Steve Malaxos.

West Perth and East Fremantle have played just each other just the once this season and now Saturday's clash will be their second and last meeting of 2015.

Back in Round 9 at HBF Arena, it was West Perth who was on top for most of the afternoon and then kicked five goals to three in the last quarter to end up beating East Fremantle by 32 points.

West Perth has some mixed news at selection with the return of premiership players Kody Manning and Steve Potente, and key players Luke Meadows and Kris Shannon, but also losing another premiership player, versatile key position big man Nick Rodda.

Rodda was in terrific form last week in the loss to East Perth at both ends of the ground, but he hurt his shoulder late in the contest and as a result is unavailable to take on East Fremantle on Saturday.

However, Manning, Potente, Shannon and Meadows are all important inclusions for West Perth and all of them strengthen the forward-line to provide some more support for Michael Lourey, Matt Fowler, Matthew Johnson and Corey Chalmers.

Tim Sutherland remains in contention to make his league debut and with Rodda going out of the team, who could come in to both support Marcus Adams and Tyler Keitel in defence, and Chris Keunen in the ruck.

Dean Munns is also a chance to become another West Perth debutant this season to provide some extra grunt in the midfield while last week's debutant Callum Papertalk as well as Brayden Antonio join Rodda out of the team to take on the Sharks on Saturday.

East Fremantle is desperate to find a combination that could end its horror nine-game losing streak and as a result Barry Barone and Jayden Schofield go out of the team to take on West Perth from the one that lost to Perth last Saturday.

Brandon Ellis, Sean Henson, Adrian Ricciardello, Jake Schleicher and Andrew Stokes are the East Fremantle in the mix to come back into the league side to take on the Falcons.

Brock O'Brien desperately needs some help up forward and Ellis looks to be the best chance of providing that after kicking four goals in the reserves last week while Ricciardello has proven himself capable of playing at both ends of the ground.

Sean Henson was dropped to the reserves last week and took it well picking up 30 possessions while Schleicher had another 25 disposals and Stokes could come in and provide Rob Young and Jack Fletcher some support in the ruck.

RESERVES SQUAD
M Alexander, B Antonio, M Ashfield, J Batterham, M Crisp, M Douglas, C Franklin, K Fullgrabe, M Geraghty, J Gray, M Hamilton, C Hinchcliffe, A Innes, J Kirwen, T Manners, B McGillivray, S Money, T Moulton, C Papertalk, M Peirce, S Rotham, M Walley, B Walton, H Yarran

COLTS SQUAD
N Alexandre, A Allen, M Antonio, K Barnsley, K Coleman, A Corbett, R Dolman, E Hills, K Hindmarsh, J Horgan, J Jennings, E Larmett, C Lynch, N Marinovich, B Mountford, E Mullane, S Nelson, T O'Brien, J Romanelli, J Rotham, L Saunders, L Sherriffs, J Turner, B Zanon