Second Semi-Final Preview v East Perth

The next game that Swan Districts wins will see them qualify for a first Grand Final since 2010 and the first opportunity presents in Saturday's second semi-final against East Perth at Leederville.

Swan Districts will be taking on East Perth on Saturday afternoon at Sullivan Logistics Stadium with the winner to advance to the Grand Final at Optus Stadium on Sunday September 22.

Last time Swans made a Grand Final in 2010 and won the premiership it was also on the back of beating East Perth in a preliminary final so they will be looking to repeat the dose and be the first team into the decider for 2024 by Saturday evening.

Swan Districts booked a spot in the second semi-final by beating Peel Thunder last week in the qualifying final in Mandurah on the back of ending the home and away season in third spot as they take on an East Perth team who finished on top and had the week off.

The last time the two teams played was back in Round 12 of this year at Steel Blue Oval where Swans prevailed in a thriller to win by a point thanks to Tom Edwards kicking the match-winning goal just before the siren.

While Edwards won't be there on Saturday due to being in concussion protocols and nor will co-captain Jesse Turner with a knee injury and gun on-baller Aidan Clarke with suspension, Swans' depth has been a great strength this season.

The last time Swans played the Royals in a final was back in 2013 which was the first semi-final in front of 5452 people at Steel Blue Oval with East Perth ending the season of the black-and-whites with the 28-point win on the way to making the Grand Final.

Prior to that and the last finals meeting was the preliminary final of 2010 also at Steel Blue Oval and that was a win for Swan Districts in front of a monster crowd of 11,251 people with the black-and-whites winning the premiership in remarkable fashion a week later.

Saturday's second semi-final will just the 10th finals meeting between the two teams in history and just the second ever second semi-final contest.

The only other one took place back in 1961 at Subiaco Oval and East Perth won that game but Swans turned the tide two weeks later to win the club's first ever premiership.

Swan Districts midfielder Josh Cipro tasted the first finals win in his 93-game career last Saturday and is confident of achieving his dream of reaching a Grand Final even without Turner, Clarke and Edwards while fully aware how tough East Perth will be.

"They finished top of the ladder for a reason obviously and they are a very good team, and all teams playing at this point of the year obviously are," Cipro said.

"From the outside looking in, you can see they are a team that's very well balanced across all three lines, and it will be obviously a tough game and nothing is going to be easy from here on in.

"We'll go in with a plan on trying to neutralise certain players and the way that they play, and also try to focus as much as possible on how we want to play.

"Sometimes in finals it comes down to who can get to the ball first or who is the hardest team on the day because the intensity is always up. So hopefully that can be us and we're very excited about the opportunity."

From the Swans team that beat Peel in Mandurah last Saturday, Jesse Turner and Aidan Clarke go out of the team through injury and suspension respectively.

The players in contention to come into the Swan Districts line-up are Ayden Cartwright, Max Chipper, Brandon Erceg, Brodyn Fitzgerald, Matthew Germs and Brenton Hilton.

East Perth had last weekend off after finishing in top spot and from the team that beat Peel back in Round 21 to secure the minor premiership, Angus Scott, Nick Bonomelli, Jedd Edwards and Patrick Reilly have been added to the squad.

No one has been named out for the Royals at this stage.

Meanwhile, Swan Districts colts will also be in action on Saturday morning at Sullivan Logistics Stadium taking part in a first semi-final against West Perth starting at 9.10am.

Swans finished the home and away season in fourth position before beating Perth by two points in a thriller last Saturday in Mandurah in the elimination final to keep their season alive.

They will now take on a West Perth team who finished in second spot before losing to Subiaco by 25 points last Sunday in the qualifying final.

The two teams will now do battle on Saturday morning looking to keep their season alive with the winner to advance to a preliminary final next weekend against either Claremont or Subiaco.