Round 11 Men’s Preview v East Fremantle

Swan Districts hits the road again in Round 11 of the WAFL Men’s season with the task to try and knock off the second placed East Fremantle on Saturday afternoon.

East Fremantle have returned to their redeveloped home ground in 2025 and Saturday will present the first opportunity for Swan Districts to play at the new-look The Good Grocer Park.

The action on Saturday will get underway with the colts match up at 9:15am with the reserves to follow at 11:45am and then the league contest will start at 2:30pm.

Swan Districts arrives at The Good Grocer Park for the league match up looking to respond to last week’s 15-point loss in what was a competitive showing against the third placed Perth at Steel Blue Oval.

So Swans will be looking for a similarly strong showing against the Sharks this Saturday and to put the pressure on the home team who are needing to win to maintain their hold on second position on the WAFL Men’s ladder.

East Fremantle had the bye last weekend following a strong 39-point win the prior week against West Perth at Joondalup which saw them bounce back from a disappointing WA Day loss at the hands of South Fremantle.

Swan Districts come into Round 11 with a 2-7 record on the season while East Fremantle are 7-2 so they have the exact opposite records, but the black-and-whites will be confident of putting in a strong showing.

Despite the eventual 45-point win for East Fremantle when the teams last met back in Round 5 at Steel Blue Oval, that was a strong showing for the most part from Swan Districts until things blew out in the second half with the Sharks kicking eight goals in the third quarter.

However, Leigh Kohlmann did kick five goals so he will be looking for another big performance while Jesse Turner racked up 32 possessions, Aidan Clarke 28, Nathan Blakely 26, Zane Trew 24, Jye Chalcraft 20 and Jarvis Pina 18.

As a result of that win, the Sharks have now won eight in-a-row against Swans and that’s despite Swan Districts reaching the preliminary final last year but losing twice to East Fremantle during the season.

The last time Swans beat the Sharks was all the way back in Round 8, 2021, while Saturday’s game is also the first time they have played at the now redeveloped East Fremantle Oval since Round 17, 2021.

The last time Swans won at Shark Park was Round 9, 2020, in the shortened Covid season.

Following last Saturday’s loss to Perth, Swan Districts have added Brodyn Fitzgerald, Otis Harvey, Evan Smith and Tom Smith to take on the Sharks with nobody named out at this stage.

East Fremantle is fresh off the bye and a win against West Perth, and from that team have added Kobe Austin, Austin Ball, Phoenix Knight, Michael Tassone and Griffin Vladich.

The Sharks do lose prime midfielder Harry Marsh to a hamstring injury.

The day will begin with the colts contest with Swan Districts knocking on the door of a top four position with a 4-4 record while East Fremantle are in second position at 6-2.

Swans beat Perth in a tight affair by eight points in the colts last Saturday at Steel Blue Oval and will be looking to keep that momentum going this week against an East Fremantle team who beat West Perth by 43 points two weeks ago prior to the Round 10 bye.

Then in the reserves, Swan Districts come into the clash with East Fremantle currently in fourth position with a 6-2 record while the Sharks are in sixth place at 3-5.

Swans suffered a loss last Saturday at home to Perth by 35 points and will be attempting to bounce back against a Sharks team who had a thumping 57-point win against West Perth two weeks ago.