Round 6 Preview v South Fremantle

SWAN Districts coach Adam Pickering rates South Fremantle as the biggest rival to Subiaco's claim to be the best WAFL team right now so he's fully aware of the challenge awaiting the black-and-whites on Saturday.

Swans won their third game of the WAFL season last Saturday beating East Fremantle by 90 points at Steel Blue Oval in a tremendous and emphatic performance.

That was the ideal way for Swans to rebound following losses to Subiaco and West Perth after opening the 2018 season with wins against Perth and Peel Thunder.

Now Swans head to Fremantle Community Bank Oval to take on South Fremantle this Saturday to look to head into next week's break for the WAFL State game against the SANFL at the Adelaide Oval with an impressive win against what would be a big scalp.

South Fremantle comes into the game in good form too having won three straight matches against West Perth, East Fremantle and Claremont following a first up loss to Subiaco.

Both Swan Districts and South Fremantle have lost to Subiaco so far in 2018, by 96 and 58 points respectively, while also having thumping wins against East Fremantle the past fortnight.

Swans beat the Sharks by 90 points last Saturday and the Bulldogs beat them by 94 points the previous Sunday.

It will be the first time the two teams have met since South Fremantle beat Swan Districts by 80 points in the first semi-final last year also held at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.

And that 80-point win was despite a good start by Swans before the Bulldogs kicked 17 of the last 20 goals of the contest to book in a preliminary final appearance with Subiaco while ending the season of the black-and-whites.

Swans coach Adam Pickering is fully aware of the challenge that awaits his team against the Bulldogs on Saturday at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.

"It will be a tough game. In my opinion, I think they are the second best team in the comp at the moment," Pickering said.

"They started a bit slow with the bye and then into Subiaco in their first game, but they are starting to hit their straps with the way they are playing.

"They are playing their brand, they move the ball really well and have some really good senior players and are even across the board. It will be a really good game for us and another good test."

Coming off the Swan Districts team that beat East Fremantle by 90 points last Saturday at Steel Blue Oval, Freddie Clutterbuck, Brad Fullgrabe, Jarrad Blight and Brayden Hackett have been added to the squad.

Clutterbuck has now played two games back in the reserves from injury and was impressive with 30 possessions and 11 marks last Saturday against East Fremantle.

Fullgrabe also had a good performance with three goals to go with 15 touches, 10 hit outs and three goals while Blight and Hackett are again available for selection after missing last week against the Sharks.

Blight hasn’t played since the Round 2 victory against Peel.

Ben Holman goes out of the team having played the first five games of the season in defence for Swans while 116-game midfielder Adam Faulkner wasn’t able to force his way back into the side despite 29 possessions in the reserves last week.

WAFL SEASON 2018 – ROUND 6

Swan Districts v South Fremantle – Fremantle Community Bank Oval

League – 2.15pm

Reserves – 11.30am

Colts – 9.00am