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Not sure what happened to the original post for this topic but here we go for SD vs CL 2.0
Claremont are always very hard to beat at Tigerland and this will be no exception, we will have to play at our top.
 

Tiges were very good in the wet last week against a surprisingly competitive Subi. But your boys are streets ahead of Subi this year so should be a great contest on a much better surface than both Leederville or Basso,

This is a massive opportunity for Swans to elevate themselves from a team that is making up the numbers to a genuine finals contender. They have been competitive in every game they have played this season. 3 of their 5 losses have been by less than 10 points. The biggest defeat was 18 points at Joondalup.

Swans have an outstanding defensive unit, a serviceable midfield and a developing forward line. The big question is, do they really believe that they can beat Claremont on their home patch given that they have failed at the last 9 attempts, 6 at Claremont Oval and 3 at the Showgrounds? I sense that this team has a lot more fight in it and will give it a good crack. Victory here would set the team up for the last 4 games, West Coast and West Perth at home and the Sharks and Peel away. It would give them a lot of confidence to tackle these games, 3 of which will be tough encounters.

Would be great for the comp if Swans win, it will keep Freo at bay. If Freo make the finals it could easily be 2016 and 2017 all over again.

I didn't make it to the game so I will leave the comments on the specifics to those who did. But looking at the quarter by quarter scores it appears that Swans fought out the game well given that they had lost a number of key players including the captain. Looks like it was the same old suspects that dominated, Bolton, Rogers, Edwards and Lim got a ton of the ball as usual.
Looking at the big picture, Swans have now lost 4 games by less than 10 points, even though Bassendean Oval has become a bit of a fortress for them , they cannot buy a win away from home
Swans are now in a 4 week battle with Peel for 5th spot which culminates in the two teams playing off at Mandurah in the last round which will probably decide it. Both teams play West Coast before this which you would imagine will be percentage boosters for both teams. Swans other games are against East Fremantle and West Perth, Peel play South Fremantle and Claremont so wins for either team over the current top 4 will be crucial.

bloody great shame Swan Districts couldn't get their snouts over the line today - I'm a bit pissed the AFL mob have got into the top 5 through the back door like shite rats raiding a dunny
All of us have to dig a bit deeper in the run to the finals now

Poor effort from the Royals today, only having 5 scoring shots in the first half and 5 in the second. The mandurah pricks are now in the top part of the league ladder with better percentage than Swans. Next week Swan Districts have the Bye, which is why they needed to win today but fell agonisingly short. They will need to go all out for a big percentage boosting win the following week. Hopefully some of their injured players can recover and slot back in to the team.

Sadly this is shaping up like 2016 and 2017 for Peelmantle. I was cheering the Ducks on in that last qtr but Cl are a quality outfit.

The difference between this year and 2016/17 is that the AFL Dockers didnt make the finals in either year and if you remember, coach Lyon took advantage of some loopholes in the rules to "drop" some key players so that they were able to play enough games to qualify for WAFL finals. That won't happen this year because the Dockers senior team are playing finals so they won't be dropping anyone. Also I think that they have increased the number of games to qualify?  
The result of this will be that even if Peel scrape into 5th spot, their team will closely resemble the combination that they have played for most of the year. In that case I would be confident that the likes of West Perth, Sharks, Doggies and Claremont would have them well and truly covered.
Im still pretty confident that Swans will be able to grab 5th spot anyway, despite yesterdays result

Reckon every poster on here is hoping SD grab that finals spot over Peel mate....