Round 2 WAFL Preview v East Fremantle

Swan Districts will make its first home appearance of 2023 at Steel Blue Oval on Saturday hosting East Fremantle and desperate to make up for the one-point Round 1 loss.

Swans will welcome their return to Bassendean for Round 2 on Saturday afternoon to take on East Fremantle with the black-and-whites not only hunting the first win of the season, but also the first under new coach Andrew Pruyn.

The day's action at Steel Blue Oval will begin with the colts match up between the Swans and Sharks at 9.10am with the reserves match to follow at 11.40am with the league game to bounce down at 2.10pm.

Swan Districts and East Fremantle suffered Round 1 losses by a combined five points so both will be desperate to open their accounts for 2023 when they clash at Steel Blue Oval.

Swan Districts were nine points up during the fourth quarter on the back of a dominant third quarter before losing to East Perth by a point on Good Friday.

Later that same day and East Fremantle was 27 points up against Peel Thunder in Mandurah late in the third quarter but went on to concede the game's last five goals to lose by four points.

Now neither team will be wanting to start the new season going 0-2 with the Swans trying to get back to finals in 2023 and the Sharks attempting to stay there setting the stage for what should be a terrific contest at Steel Blue Oval.

Swan Districts might have lost its opening game of the season but the one-point loss to East Perth will be one the black-and-whites feel they let slip after a dominant third quarter and holding a nine-point lead during the fourth term.

Jesse Palmer and Lachlan Riley kicked two goals each for Swan Districts while Aidan Clarke (38 possessions) and Jesse Turner (36) were dominant presences through the middle.

Tobe Watson also gathered 25 disposals for Swans, Sam Fisher 25, Jarvis Pina 21 and co-captain Brandon Erceg 17.

East Fremantle will feel it let one slip on Good Friday against Peel Thunder in Mandurah having led by as much 27 points before giving up the last five goals of the contest to lose by four points.

Despite the loss, there was plenty of good signs for the Sharks as they look to back up last year's preliminary final finish. Luke English kicked three goals with Tom Bennett, Eddie Simpson and Brayden Lawler adding two apiece.

Milan Murdock finished with 29 possessions for the Sharks, Kyle Baskerville 25, Cam Eardley 24, Harry Marsh 21, Reuben McGuire 21 (17 hit outs) and Josh Schoenfeld 21.

Saturday's contest will be the first time the two teams have played since East Fremantle thrashed Swan Districts by 78 points in Round 18 last year at the WACA Ground.

The last time they met at Steel Blue Oval was Round 2 last year with the Sharks also beating Swans by nine points.

East Fremantle has now won its last three games against Swan Districts with the last win for the black-and-whites against the Sharks coming in Round 8, 2021 by 44 points also at Steel Blue Oval.

Swan Districts will be attempting to bounce back from a tough loss last week to East Perth to open the season with the black-and-whites now making five changes from that team coming into the clash with East Fremantle at home on Saturday.

Lewis Tester will come in to make his debut for Swan Districts on Saturday while Will Collins will come back in to strengthen the defence while Seb Bright, Ben Hewett and Jiah Reidy are the other inclusions to take on the Sharks.

Going out from last week's team for Swan Districts are Tarir Bayok, Cian Ehlers, Riley Hardeman, Greg Ottaviano and Lachlan Riley.

East Fremantle also suffered a difficult loss to stomach to open the season after leading virtually the whole way against Peel in Mandurah, and the Sharks have some handy potential inclusions to now take on Swan Districts with on Saturday.

Matthew Burton, Sam Collins, Josh Cripps, Alex Montauban and Max Murphy have all been added to the East Fremantle squad while vice-captain Jarrad Jansen is the only out at this stage.