Match Preview vs Swan Districts Round 19

Tale of the Tape – East Perth ground out a hard-fought win against an injury ravaged Perth last Saturday. Coming of a six-day break, it was clear Perth were under strict instructions to play tight man on man football to try and stay in the contest as long as they could. The Royals finally broke the arm wrestle in the second half with cleaner ball movement and tight pressure on their inexperienced opponents.

Aiden Lynch was one of the few who thrived in the conditions, whilst Tom Edwards-Baldwin was lively up forward kicking three to be the only multiple goal kicker of the match.

Swan Districts defeated an undermanned Peel by 52 points to remain three games clear of East Perth.

To make the finals, East Perth must win all three of their remaining matches by large margins and Swans must lose their last three. The Royals play Swans, East Fremantle and Subiaco, whilst Swans play South Fremantle and Claremont, both away, after this week’s fixture.

The Ins and Outs – The Royals have been faced to make two changes at this stage with skipper Jackson Ramsay to miss with a hamstring injury, whilst Matt Young is out due to illness.

Kade Dittmar will become player East Perth League player #1494 when he makes his debut this weekend. The 186cm, 90kg Augusta Margaret River product has had an impressive year in both the Colts and Reserves playing mainly as an inside midfielder.

Adam Boules, Mitch Dobson, Ben McGuire and Brad Fullgrabe have been named in the extended squad for the weekends match

Swans have made one change with Lewis Jetta coming out of last week’s side

Last time they met – A six goal to none first quarter was to much of a deficit for the Royals to make up. An inaccurate 10 behinds in the third quarter only added further pain for the Royals supporters as any hopes of a comeback were dashed. Eddie Simpson kicked five goals whilst Angus Scott collected 36 possessions. Sam Fisher was best on ground with a game high 37 touches.

Stat of the Week – Wil Young will become only the fourth East Perth player to play 100 Reserves games when he plays this week

Broadcast – This week’s match is broadcast on SEN Radio https://www.sen.com.au/wa/

Teams, Stats and Live Scores https://www.wafl.com.au/match/league-swan-districts-v-east-perth-round-19-2021