Round 1 Match Preview

Round 1 will see a vastly different Swan Districts outfit take to the field from the side that lost to West Perth by just four points in the first week of last season’s finals series.

A total of nine changes have been made by league coach, Adam Pickering, and his assistants, to take on East Perth at Leederville Oval today.

The retirements of Matt Riggio, Alex Howard and Lewis Jetta have opened the door for some new talent to make their way into the side, along with players that were floating between the Reserves and League in 2021.

All four off-season recruits will be on show, with Tobe Watson and Jarvis Pina returning from their time at Fremantle to take their places in the forward line and midfield, respectively. Will Collins has been named at Centre Half Back after a brief stint at West Coast, and Ryan Kemp who has travelled to WA from the VFL will come off the bench.

Debutants Bryce Watson and Elijah Hewett will play their first league games since being elevated from the Colts program, while Tarir Bayok, Mitchell Bain and Tom Edwards make their way back into the top side.

The Swans haven’t defeated East Perth in a Round 1 clash since 1986, and historically the two teams have never played in a season opener against each other at Leederville Oval.

Coming up against a Royals side who the black and whites were able to defeat in both encounters last year, the Swans will be looking to start their season off strong in 2022 from 2:10pm today. Don’t miss it!

Friday, April 15^th

East Perth vs Swan Districts, Leederville Oval, 2:10pm

Full Back:           [19] Chris Jones, [35] Brandon Erceg, [42] Jackson Beck

Half Back:           [38] Anthony Stevens, [18] Will Collins, [41] Bryce Watson

Centre:               [11] Jarvis Pina, [5] Jesse Palmer, [29] Jesse Turner

Half Forward:    [16] Tarir Bayok, [15] Brayden Noble, [4] Tobe Watson

Full Forward:     [10] Nathan Ireland, [28] Tony Notte, [26] Elijah Hewett

Followers:          [23] Matthew Germs, [9] Sam Fisher, [7] Aidan Clarke

Interchange:      [3] Mitchell Bain, [14] Thomas Edwards, [22] Ryan Kemp, [32] Jak Watson

Emergencies:     [44] Benjamin Hewett, [21] Brodie Morris, [1] Jehb Odonohue, [8] Lachlan Riley

In:                        W. Collins, B. Watson, J. Pina, T. Bayok, T. Watson, E. Hewett, M. Bain, T. Edwards, R. Kemp

Out:                     L. Jetta, F. Anderson, L. Riley, W. Reidy, J. Cipro, M. Riggio, A. Howard, G. Ottaviano, J. Odonohue