Round 13 Men’s Preview v West Perth

Life after the legendary career of Tony Notte begins this Saturday for Swan Districts when they take on West Perth at Joondalup’s HIF Health Insurance Oval.

It was an emotional occasion last Saturday afternoon at Steel Blue Oval with Notte playing the 323rd and last game of his remarkable WAFL career with Swan Districts, but things move on quickly and now the first match without him is this Saturday against the Falcons.

The afternoon’s first fixture is the Reserves match up between Swans and the Falcons starting at 12:25pm with the Colts game to then follow on Saturday night beginning at 6pm.

Coming into the WAFL Men’s contest on Saturday afternoon and with both teams appearing out of finals contention coming into Round 13 and with seven games to play apiece, it does appear a fascinating contest.

Swan Districts currently sits in eighth position with a 3-8 record coming off last week’s 40-point defeat at the hands of East Perth at Steel Blue Oval.

West Perth, meanwhile, scored a nine-point win also on their home ground under caretaker coach Paul Sanzone against Peel Thunder to improve to a 4-7 record and in seventh position on the ladder.

The last time the two teams met was back in Round 1 of this season when West Perth did prevail over Swan Districts by 48 points at Steel Blue Oval.

On that day, Leigh Kohlmann kicked four goals for Swan Districts with Jesse Turner finishing with 44 possessions, Josh Cipro 27, Jye Chalcraft 23, Notte 20 and Jehb O’Donohue 20.

Prior to that and Swans had won three straight games over the Falcons including both meetings in 2024 by a combined 76 points so they will be looking to make it four out of the last five with a victory on Saturday afternoon.

Swans are looking to rebound from last week’s loss to East Perth with Nathan Blakely, Ayden Cartwright, Will Collins, Brodyn Fitzgerald, Chase Loftus and Evan Smith all into the line-up.

The two players going out at this stage are the retired Notte and former AFL player Brad Lynch.

West Perth is attempting to make it consecutive wins and from the team that beat Peel last week, Sam Rotham returns to the line-up for the Falcons with Aiden Nelson going out.

The Reserves clash gets things underway on Saturday afternoon at Joondalup with Swan Districts coming into the game in third position with a 7-3 record up against a West Perth team having just won their first game of 2025.

Swans suffered a 13-point loss to East Perth last week but do still remain in third spot and can further consolidate a finals place with a win against a Falcons team who broke through last Saturday against Peel Thunder.

The Colts game then takes place on Saturday night with Swan Districts currently in fourth position with a 5-5 record while West Perth is just ahead of them third at 7-3.

Swans beat East Perth by 68 points last Saturday in the Colts and will look to keep that momentum going now this Saturday at Joondalup against a West Perth team fresh off their own 32-point victory against Peel.