Anzac Derby Preview v East Fremantle

SOUTH Fremantle is shooting for a fifth straight win to open 2016 and a seventh consecutive victory at East Fremantle's ATOM Stadium in Saturday's annual Anzac Derby.

The Bulldogs put their undefeated record on the line after four straight wins to open the season and having won on their last six visits to Shark Park.

East Fremantle and South Fremantle have made the Anzac Derby an annual tradition now since 2009 and Saturday's clash at ATOM Stadium looks set to be another classic.

The Sharks and Bulldogs both missed the finals in 2015, but have started the 2016 season in encouraging fashion and a win in the Anzac Derby would be the ideal way to really have some momentum six rounds into the new year.

South Fremantle comes into the clash undefeated after four games of the season following a 35-point win over West Perth, 50-point victory against Swan Districts, 40-point triumph over East Perth and then a 98-point thrashing of Perth last Saturday in the biggest win of the WAFL season.

The Bulldogs will now return to the top of the ladder with a win on Saturday that will see them take on the also undefeated Subiaco next Saturday at Fremantle Community Bank Oval with both on 5-0 records.

East Fremantle, meanwhile, sits in fourth position with a 2-2 record after wins over Swan Districts and West Perth, but having suffered defeats to Peel Thunder and Claremont.

The Anzac Derby has now been an annual tradition since 2009 and in that year it began in style with a thriller at Fremantle Oval when Toby Bairstow kicked the winning goal for the Bulldogs after a Rob Young deliberate out of bounds decision with 5484 people looking on.

East Fremantle scored a strong 46-point win over the reigning premier South Fremantle in 2010 before the Bulldogs answered back winning by 29 points in 2011 with 4225 watching on.

It was a thumping 85-point win for East Fremantle in 2012 at ATOM Stadium and the Sharks again won by 29 points in 2013 before the Bulldogs hit back with a 17-point victory in 2014. 

Then last year at Fremantle Oval, East Fremantle recorded a 17-point win with over 5000 fans watching on.

Remarkably, South Fremantle has won its last six matches against East Fremantle at ATOM Stadium. The Sharks' last win on their home turf in a derby came back in the Anzac clash of 2012. The visiting team has won the last 11 derbies in a fascinating run of results.

One of the biggest factors in South Fremantle's success so far this season has been the settled team they have been able to take the field with.

Despite losing Jarrod Parry for the season and Brock Higgins suffering a calf injury, the squad has been fully fit and then Chris Luff has been the only other player missing when he was overseas travelling.

As a result, the Bulldogs have made only one change to the team over the first four games and that saw Bailey Matera replace Jacob Martinez in the 22 ahead of the Round 3 clash with East Perth.

Again this week there are no outs from South Fremantle's team at this stage from the one that beat Perth by 98 points last Saturday.

There are plenty of players pushing for selection in the reserves though, with that team also undefeated after four games of the 2016 season.

Experienced wingman Shaun Bewick continues to play well and had another 30 possessions, 12 marks and two goals last Saturday against with Perth with James Laurino also contributing 26 disposals and Jacob Dragovich 24 to put themselves in the selection mix.

East Fremantle loses ruckman Andrew Stokes from the team that lost to Claremont last Saturday with Jack Fletcher set to take his place after 32 hit outs in the reserves last Saturday.

His job will be team with James Bristow to take on impressive South Fremantle big man Josh Branchi who continues to carry the load for the Bulldogs in the middle in the absence of Brock Higgins.

Higgins returned in the reserves last Saturday against Perth and put in a strong showing but will still need some more time at that level to return to full form and fitness.

Dangerous forward Brandon Ellis found some form in the reserves last week kicking four goals and with his previous derby history of kicking three goals in an East Fremantle win on WA Day in 2014, he could earn a call up to add some extra firepower for the Sharks.

Josh Cuneo continues to perform solidly in the reserves to keep his name in the mix at the Sharks while Miles Franklin is also in the discussion after 22 possessions and a goal in the reserves last week against Claremont.

South Fremantle coach Todd Curley is looking forward to the contest on Saturday.

"The good thing about derbies over the years are that it really doesn’t matter where you are on the ladder, they are always fierce and tight games that you want to play in. We look forward to it," Curley said.

ROUND 6
EAST FREMANTLE (2-2, 4th) v SOUTH FREMANTLE (4-0, 2nd) – ATOM STADIUM, SATURDAY 2.40PM
Broadcast – 720 ABC Perth, Channel 7

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