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Close clashes fuel rivalry

Bill MonaghanJoondalup Times

But we did not put them away on the scoreboard when we had our opportunities in the two-point loss at Bassendean Oval.

Im not sure why we have produced so many good contests against Swans in recent years.

All I know is each season we tend to be vying for similar ladder positions and the Swans always manage to put a quality group of players on the park.

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This has fuelled friendly rivalry and banter between both clubs.

The clashes are well received by the public and attract good crowds.

We expect another tough contest against Claremont at Arena Joondalup this weekend.

They jumped us physically to beat us by 20 points the last time we played them, but we worked our way back into the game with a significant inside-50 advantage.

We expect Kody Manning to be out for another week with a thigh issue, but Andrew Strijk will return after being a late withdrawal last week.

While Manning has been out longer than anticipated, he had some scans and they did not reveal anything too nasty. It's just a matter of getting him through a series of rehab exercises and we'll see how he trains next week.

He has not done a lot of running and kicking.

Midfielder Aaron Black plays his 100th game, which is a great achievement at 22 years old.

He's a wonderful young player, which was evident in him winning the Sandover Medal last year.

We think there's still a lot of growth left in his football, both mentally and physically.

But his hard work and willingness to put his body on the line is second to none.

We're really excited to be part of his growth and development.