Round 19 WAFL Preview

THE penultimate round of the 2022 WAFL season is full of intrigue with Swan Districts and Peel Thunder continuing to fight over the last remaining finals spot while the jostling between the top four goes on, and then it's a day of celebration for Subiaco.

There are five matches this weekend in Round 19 of the 2022 season with West Perth, Claremont, East Fremantle and South Fremantle still fighting over those top four positions while Peel Thunder and Swan Districts both have home matches as they battle over that fifth spot.

East Perth, Subiaco, Perth and West Coast might be just playing pride, but two of those clubs will have new coaches for the final two rounds of the season now and the Lions have plenty of reasons to lift on Saturday in honour of Leigh Kitchin and Lachlan Delahunty.

Four of the five Round 19 WAFL matches this weekend take place on Saturday afternoon including the second placed Claremont taking on the third placed East Fremantle at Revo Fitness Stadium.

The Tigers are sitting second on a five-game winning run but are just a game ahead of a Sharks team with a superior percentage so the winner of this game will be in prime position for a top two finish with a round to go in the 2022 season.

Subiaco will then be back at Leederville Oval for the last time this season to take on Perth with the Lions celebrating the 150th game of captain Leigh Kitchin while farewelling five-time premiership champion and Sandover Medallist Lachlan Delahunty.

However, it's the Demons who come into the game on winning form on the back of their drought breaking victory last Saturday night against the Eagles.

Peel Thunder will then be hosting the West Coast Eagles at Mandurah's Lane Group Stadium on Saturday afternoon. 

Peel is looking to bounce back from losing to Claremont last week to maintain their hold on fifth position while the Eagles are just looking for some pride now that they are guaranteed of the wooden spoon with just one win for the season.

There will then be another fascinating match up at Steel Blue Oval with Swan Districts playing host to West Perth in the last game of Saturday afternoon this round.

Swans slipped further percentage behind Peel last week with a big loss to East Fremantle to now mean they must win their last two matches to play finals again in 2022 which will be a big ask starting Saturday against the league-leading West Perth.

The Falcons also need to keep winning to maintain their hold on that top spot so there's plenty at stake between the two teams when they lock horns at the Bassendean venue.

The round will then wrap up on Sunday afternoon with South Fremantle at home to East Perth at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.

South Fremantle were emphatic beating Subiaco by 88 points last Saturday to guarantee themselves a seventh consecutive finals appearance and if the Bulldogs keep winning then a top two finish is still possible.

East Perth has had an eventful week with the departure of coach Jeremy Barnard so it will be fascinating how the Royals come out on the back of that as they attempt to snap a four-game losing slide.

WAFLW TEAM OF THE WEEK – ROUND 18

ROUND 18 WAFL WRAP

WAFL PREMIERSHIP SEASON 2022 – ROUND 19

CLAREMONT v EAST FREMANTLE

SUBIACO v PERTH

PEEL THUNDER v WEST COAST EAGLES

SWAN DISTRICTS v WEST PERTH

SOUTH FREMANTLE v EAST PERTH