Round 9 WAFLW Preview v Peel Thunder

Swan Districts has now strung together three consecutive victories and could break into the top four with another win against Peel Thunder at Steel Blue Oval on Sunday.

While Swan Districts opened the WAFLW season losing the first four matches, they have now built some impressive momentum with the three consecutive wins coming into Sunday's clash with the Thunder at Steel Blue Oval.

The WAFLW clash will begin at 2pm on Sunday afternoon at the Bassendean venue.

Meanwhile, the Swan Districts Rogers Cup team will play East Perth on Sunday at 12pm at Leederville Oval.

Coming into the clash, the Royals sit in fourth position with a 4-3 record while Swans are sixth at 3-4 so it's a game with plenty at stake for both clubs as they jostle over a top four position.

As for the WAFLW contest, Swan Districts comes into the game with Peel on home turf on Sunday with some impressive momentum behind them.

Swans started the 2023 season with losses at the hands of Peel, Subiaco, Claremont and South Fremantle, but the last three games have seen impressive wins over West Perth, East Perth and East Fremantle.

That has suddenly put the Swans right in the finals hunt once again and coming into Round 9, they sit only a game and percentage behind the third placed East Fremantle, and only half a game behind the fourth placed Subiaco.

Swans have a 3-4 record now after the opening seven games with a solid percentage of 115.2.

So a win against the Thunder at Steel Blue Oval on Sunday and suddenly the black-and-whites could break into the top four either at the expense of East Fremantle or Subiaco depending on how other results across the competition go this weekend.

Swan Districts comes up against a Peel team currently struggling this season as well with just two wins from seven matches.

The 2023 season started for both Swans and the Thunder with a Round 1 clash against one another and that saw Peel score the 4.3 (27) to 2.10 (22) victory at Mandurah's Lane Group Stadium.

On that occasion, Ebonee Hardie kicked two goals for the Thunder while captain Ebony Dowson amassed 24 possessions while Jade Briggs finished with 19 touches, Jaide Britton 17, Evie Cowcher 14 and Abby Barnden 14.

Swan Districts' goals were kicked by Kayley King and Courtney Zappara with captain Jess Cox racking up 28 disposals to go with eight tackles, six inside-50 entries and five marks.

Carys D'Addario also had 17 possessions for the Swans, King 15, Tyla Fitzgerald 14 and Lily Paterson 14.

The two clubs have developed quite the rivalry already in the early years of the WAFLW competition.

You can go back to the Grand Final of 2021 where Peel Thunder pulled off the upset win against a Swan Districts team who had been the standout team in the competition right throughout the season.

The rivalry continued last year with Swans ending the quest for a premiership hat-trick of the Thunder with the black-and-whites winning the first semi-final to reach the preliminary final before losing to eventual premiers Claremont.