Round 14 WAFL Preview v Subiaco

Swan Districts remains at home at Steel Blue Oval this Sunday afternoon to play host to Subiaco looking to return to the WAFL winner's list and to keep any hopes of playing finals still in 2023 alive.

Swan Districts is coming off a tough loss also at home last week against East Perth with the eventual 48-point defeat leaving the black-and-whites on a 4-8 record for the season to be four games behind the fifth placed Subiaco coming into Sunday's game.

Going back to last week and the goals for Swans came from Jesse Palmer, Chris Jones, Jackson McLachlan and Jiah Reidy.

Jesse Turner racked up 44 possessions, Aidan Clarke 31, McLachlan 27, Jarvis Pina 24, Tobe Watson 18, Josh Cipro 17 and Nathan Blakely 17 to go with 25 hit outs in the ruck.

Subiaco is also coming off a loss to Peel Thunder at Leederville Oval last Saturday by 14 points after conceding the last two goals to now be sitting in fifth position on the WAFL ladder with an 8-4 record.

Ben Golding was Subiaco's lone multiple goalkicker last week with two while captain Leigh Kitchin collected 26 possessions, Taj Schofield 25, Stefan Giro 20, Liam Hickmott 19 and Drew Rohde 19.

Last time the two teams met was in Round 7 of this season and it was yet another heartbreaking loss for Swan Districts.

This time it was by just four points with Subiaco holding on to win the thriller at Leederville Oval.

On that day, Ben Sokol kicked two goals for Subiaco in a fascinating battle all afternoon with Tobe Watson while Liam Hickmott collected 34 possessions for the Lions, Max Walters 20, Jaxon McGowan 19, Wil Hickmott 17, Drew Rohde 17 and Rylie Morgan 17.

It was ultimately ruckman Zac Clarke who was the major difference between the two teams with him finishing with 26 disposals, 48 hit outs, nine marks and three tackles.

Aidan Clarke was playing his first game back from a hamstring injury and was tremendous for Swan Districts with 31 possessions, seven inside 50s, five marks and two goals.

Jarvis Pina also finished with 23 touches for Swans, Jackson McLachlan 22, Josh Cipro 19 and Tobe Watson 18.

Going back beyond that game between the two teams and they have split the past four matches with two wins apiece, but prior to that the Lions beat the Swans on 12 consecutive occasions.

That winning run for Subiaco against Swan Districts started back in Round 5, 2016 with the 12th straight victory coming in Round 7, 2021 before Swans broke through against the Lions with a one-point win in Round 12, 2021.

The last time the teams played at Steel Blue Oval was in Round 10 last year when Swan Districts scored a 51-point win against Subiaco. However, the Lions had won on their previous six visits to the Bassendean venue prior to that.

The day's action at Steel Blue Oval will begin with the colts match up on Sunday at 9.10am.

The Swan Districts colts come into the game in eighth position with two wins from the 11 games so far this season but are fresh off a strong 46-point win against East Perth last Saturday. Subiaco's colts also had a win last week against Peel to improve to an 8-3 record in third position.

The reserves match up then begins on Sunday at 11.40am with Swan Districts having lost last week to East Perth by 42 points despite remaining on top of the ladder two games clear with a 9-2 record.

Subiaco's reserves beat Peel Thunder by 42 points last Saturday as well to improve to a 7-4 record in third position.