TOPIC:

Unless there is a major slump it looks like Subiaco, South Fremantle and West Perth will occupy the first three places on the ladder in whatever order. So who will sneak into 4th and 5th?
Currently Peel are 4th on 8 wins with a percentage of 102. Their remaining 5 games are against
Perth (away)
Claremont (home)
EP (away)
Subi (home)
Claremont (away)
You would think they would need to win 3 of these to make sure of their position. A lot will depend on how many Fremantle players are available to them at the back end of the season.

East Perth are 5th on 8 wins with a percentage of 100. Their remaining 5 games are against
Claremont (away)
Peel (home)
Subiaco
South Freo(home)
East Freo (home)

A pretty tough draw this, again they would be favourites to beat the Tigers but would probably need to find 2 other wins from that draw to get in.

East Fremantle are 6th on 7 wins and a percentage of 101. They have five games to go and play
Swans ( away)
South Freo (away)
Perth (away)
Claremont (home)
East Perth (home)

Not a bad draw although they would need to win 4 of 5 to be sure of playing in September. This means they would have to regain the confidence they have lost over the past month. It may come down to an elimination final in the last game.

Perth are 7th on 6 wins and a percentage of 77. They have 6 games left

Peel (home)
West Perth(away)
South Fremantle (away)
East Freo (home)
Swans (away)
South Freo (home)

Even though it is possible for Perth to make the top 5, their poor percentage would mean they would have to win 5 or possibly all 6 of these games to ensure their position. Unfortunately this is highly unlikely. They must beat Peel at Cunderdin this Saturday to stay in the race.

My prediction is that East Perth will finish 4th and the Sharks will sneak into 5th, just tipping out Peel.

What are others thinking?

If Perth beat - and it is a big if - Peel and East Freo - then neither of these two teams will win another game.

If Perth can do the above and (not forgetting they have 6 games left unlike the rest of them with 5) win two of their other tougher assignments in

WP away / one of the two games against SF / and SD away - then they would deserve to be there.

I expect Claremont to win 4 of their last six too though.

So

Peel and EF gone if Perth beat them. Therefore Perth in but I suspect

Claremont to sneak in if Perth do that but then fall over against SD, SF x 2, and WP - which would be the norm.

For the Demons their focus should be entirely on Peel this weekend. Can not afford to be thinking to far ahead. Need to take it one week at a time.

It's there for the taking for Perth, EF are in a hole at the moment I can't see EP losing more than one more game they should make it, I'll go out on a limb and predict Peel won't win another game this year.

The Tigers will have too much to do and will fall short, if Perth can beat Peel,EF and Swans they may just sneak in, but in saying that they'll more than likely have to cause an upset against either WP or SF at home.

East Fremantle have a great chance to jump back into the top 5 next week when they play Perth at Lathlain. If they can win this, they should replace the loser of the Alignment derby.

EF have played 17 games whereas Perth and Claremont have played 16

EF bye next week

If they Loose against Perth at Lathlain the week after and

Claremont dont'' loose another game

They are in a world of hurt

mikeh wrote: East Fremantle have a great chance to jump back into the top 5 next week when they play Perth at Lathlain. If they can win this, they should replace the loser of the Alignment derby.

Silly me, the Sharks have a bye next week, so they cant jump into the top 5 next week, but they can replace Peel Thunder in round 21 if Peel lose to East Perth next week and they can beat the Dee's in a fortnight.

Wp still making a big run for second spot.

There is no question about 4th spot. It is East Perths who will finish with 44 points.

PT, EF and Claremont will finish on 36 - assuming Perth beat EF @ Lathlain in two weeks.

If Perth do beat East Freo and also beat Swans as expected and can sneak one win from SF who they play twice they would also finish on 36 but come 8th on the ladder.

Another last two finish for Perth is the best they can hope for.

The 5th spot on the league ladder is going to be a tussle. East Fremantle's next match is an Away game at Lathlain against Perth. Then 2 Home games to follow, the first against Claremont and the final qualifying match against the alignment. Both Perth and EF are currently fairly evenly matched and if East Freo wish to play Finals, they'll need to win against Perth to kick-start their Finals aspirations. The following week, they are no certainties to beat Claremont either. East Fremantle currently have an efficiency rating of 102, whilst Claremont sit around 117. And Claremont averages 14 goals when playing away whilst The Sharks average 11 at Home. They'd fancy their chances in the final qualifying match to bowl the alignment over. To win all their remaining matches would be the best scenario, because the alignments will not win all their remaining matches. If East Freo can sneak into the top part of the ladder, we'll have 4 Wafl clubs in the Finals series.
It's far too late for Perth as they've had 3 consecutive losses after the bye. East Fremantle's remaining qualifying matches are going to be most interesting.