FOOTBALL
South Fremantle’s qualifying final against Peel on Saturday looks perfectly poised, with the Bulldogs enjoying a nine-game winning streak but their opponents, the Thunder, being the last team to take their scalp.
The Bulldogs are in serious form, having not lost since round 12 when Peel trumped them at home by one goal at Fremantle Oval.
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READ NOWBut in the stretch of nine games since, the Bulldogs have enjoyed an average winning margin of 45 points.
The run helped the Bulldogs, who will enjoy home ground advantage on Saturday, finish clear second on the table, four games ahead of Peel in third.
The Thunder, beaten by the Bulldogs by 34 points in the last round of the home and away season at Rushton Park, comfortably qualified for the finals and will be boosted by the availability of a number of AFL-listed Dockers.
As many as 15 Dockers will be available to play, although Harley Bennell, Luke Ryan and forward Brennan Cox have been ruled out.
Bounce-down between the Bulldogs and Peel at Fremantle Oval is at 2.10pm Saturday.
HOCKEY
The Fremantle Hockey Club premier 1 men will kick off their finals campaign this weekend with an elimination final against YMCC.
It’s make or break for Fremantle, who have to win this game to stay in the finals hunt, but the Magpies lost only three of their final 10 games and it is this late-season form that they will have to take into what is expected to be a tough, hard-fought game.
The two sides have met each other twice this season, fighting out a 2-2 draw in round 3 before Fremantle took the points with a 3-2 win in round 13.
Fremantle will also need to be wary of YMCC’s Jyi Connolly, who finished the regular season third on the league ladder for goals scored.
Fremantle takes on YMCC in the elimination final from 2.15pm on September 2 at the Perth Hockey Stadium.
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