Good Friday Footy | Match Preview

An excited East Fremantle Sharks outfit are ready for their season opening clash against Peel Thunder tomorrow at David Grays Arena.

Reuben McGuire will make his league debut in the annual Good Friday clash, alongside recruits Josh Schoenfeld, Luke English and Corey Chalmers. Jonathon Marsh and Dillion O’Reilly return to the Sharks senior side after a couple of years in the AFL system.

Nineteen-year-old McGuire’s debut comes off the back of impressive performances in our pre-season clashes, where he didn’t look out of place against some tough opposition.

Speaking about his debut, Reuben said he was feeling a mix of emotions.

“I’m definitely excited and relieved but I am also slightly nervous,” McGuire said.

“Overall, I am ready to get out there and play my role.”

 At 196 cm, Reuben is an athletic key position player. He pressed his case for debut in 2020 and was unlucky not to get his chance in the shortened season.

Senior Coach Bill Monaghan is taking a lot of positives after the Sharks ran over West Coast last week, booting five goals in the final quarter to win by 46 points.

“I thought the guys that played last week were fantastic, their effort and intent at the contest and the man at the ball was fantastic and that’s what we have been asking for,” Monaghan said.

“We rested a significant number of players who sat there and watched hoping they bring the same intent. If we play football like that every week then we are going to be in every game we play.”

The Thunder have returned to the alignment model in 2021 and could boast up to 10 AFL players tomorrow.

“It is always a little unknown with Peel based around what their AFL players are doing,” Monaghan said.

“But I think their 8-10 home grown players are very good, they have high-quality recruits, some really good young talent and then you mix that with the Fremantle Dockers players - they are going to play some really good footy this year so we need to be at our best to beat them.”

The Reserves will look to start their season off with a bang under new coach Bradd Dalziell. With a number of players pushing for league selection it’s set to be an exciting showing for the Blue and Whites.

Our Colts, under the tutelage of Adrian Ricciardello will be aiming to pick up from their late 2020 form that saw them feature in the preliminary finals, looking to go one step further this season.

In the first game of the day, the Futures will be determined to keep their winning record going in their clash against Peel.

Game Times:

9am Futures

11:10am Colts

1:40pm Reserves

4:10pm League |Live on Radio SEN | Live stream EFFC Facebook Page